This time I wanted to take a more high-tech but simpler route of making an XP farm by implementing a zombie crusher. It uses pistons to suffocate the mobs. All that I really needed was an idea for how to do the redstone. This video shows how the redstone was to be done. It was fairly simple to construct and works just as intended.
Perhaps the only thing I don't like about the redstone is how it's operated using a lever instead of a more convenient button. Until I get used to it I may end up botching a lot of zombie crushing.
Water streams and redstone in place, I was able to get a crude XP grinder working. Due to the variable armor points zombies appear to have, it's usually not a one hit kill. I will need to add a dispenser that outputs stone swords in order to get one hit kills.
The finished results, for now:
It is a really good start, but there is more I wish to do with it. I think I laid out my plans for the spider in another post but I've modified them slightly. They are as such:
- The main chamber, which has the killing spot, anvil, and a crafting table, will be roughly round. Not terribly large, but hopefully not small enough to feel cramped. A ladder will lead to the surface.
- At the surface will be a sort of little outpost with windows and a door. For the sake of convenience I will point the entrance toward my current main home.
- Connected to the main chamber will be a room for enchanting stuff. I will keep a stack or two of iron ingots here for making and repairing tools.
- I need to modify the spot where zombies gather because right now only one is able to get into the killing area. Perhaps I need to lower it and the redstone a few blocks.
- The spawning chamber will be made to look better, and controlled by redstone. When I hit a lever, pistons will hide jack-o'lanterns and cause dispensers to release water. Turning off the spawning chamber will light up the room and cause the water to be retracted.
- A dispenser/hopper/double chest system will be used to provide a steady supply of stone swords. I may also include a comparator and torch system to alert me when the chest is almost out of swords.
In a mineshaft I explored some time back I found a skeleton spawner and a cave spider spawner just a few blocks apart from each other. I'm thinking of using the piston crushing technique to make an automatic grinder. Water and gravity will push the skeletons and spiders to a central collection chamber. Every 20 minutes (controlled by how items despawn after 5 minutes when dropped) the pistons will activate, crushing the mobs. Their drops will fall into a dispenser beneath them.
This is all very nerdy and exciting for me.
