In preparations to move camp to the new spot, I've been enchanting books like crazy. Now I need an anvil to apply these enchantments. A couple good ones came up - high levels of Sharpness, Smite, and so on. The anvil will also be good for repairing my dream team armor and tools, whenever I get those.
I successfully made a good tunnel connecting my Nether portal to the portal of the new spot. Previously I made one branch of the path be diagonal, which ended up being a horrible idea. It's a long section, and I can't run through it. Even walking is impeded by constantly bumping into the sites.
My idea for the new place is going to be above ground. Yep, that's right, pretty soon I will no longer be a cave dweller. Not sure the exact dimensions of it yet. The structure will be circular, with the main room having one or three lava tubes reaching from ceiling to floor, and some basic useful blocks like a crafting table and anvil. Stairs will go up in the four cardinal directions to the upper floor, which will have several rooms devoted to a specific function. I might further expand this idea, I'm not sure yet.
Friend's Private Server
More progress has been made! I'm building it rather haphazardly, based upon what my mood and resources dictate. I started the second floor, which is really just a ring of slabs above the iron bars. I still need to put glass at eye-level, and then another block, and then I'll do the conical roof. There is still a basement to make, and a main floor to complete.
While chatting with the server owner, I asked if there was any kind of Nether hub. He said there wasn't, and when I mentioned possibly building one he encouraged it. The style is inspired (read: a darn near copy) by the Mindcrack server hub. The initial design has 12 slots where rail lines or walkways can be built. The Netherrack is just a placeholder; the slot owner can customize the slot. The design uses a lot of stone slab and sandstone. At first I thought it was kind of ugly, but it's grown on me and I sort of like it. A couple other members of the server got a look at the picture and seem to like what I made so far.
Other Thoughts
So, I've concluded something. Downer time. After over two years of playing this game, I still kind of suck at it. Specifically, when it comes to the planning and aesthetics parts. What do I mean? I can plan an idea, sometimes, but it rarely comes to completion. And when it comes to making things look good, for the most part you can forget it. That doesn't come naturally to me. Most of the clever or good stuff I've come up with has been a slightly modified copy of something else another person did. Aesthetics just isn't my thing, even with the guidelines I try to follow.
But what I am good at is game mechanics. Redstone, functional stuff. In short, I'm a Minecraft scientist. Perhaps this is something I need to put more focus on, to get more enjoyment out of the game. I may never build an exquisitely detailed castle, because I don't have the creativity for that. But, given sufficient knowledge and resources, I could make a self-repairing wall with embedded TNT cannons and arrow dispensers to defend that castle. That is where my skills lie - knowledge of the game and applying that knowledge.
