Server and blog news!

Note: Written before update 1.1.0 when the direction of the sunrise/set was fixed. North here is now west.

I ran twice this week on both Monday and Tuesday nights. There have been some in-world developments. Mt. Servermore is now done (now with four faces and seekrit bat cave!), as is the Granite line of the subway – well. “Done.” It runs to Wacker Tower and stops there pending expansion. Also during Monday’s game DoublePositive (the artist formerly known as Mathguy04) first showed me and 576875 how to build mostly waterless boat launchers (two exist high in the sky above spawn) and built a steak/leather grinder near spawn house, which is weirdly fascinating. And hey, free leather and meat, right? 576875 also has built a community mineshaft around the corner from Spawn, so people should feel free to dig around in there during survival games.

The area around Spawn is about as full as I’d like it to be (more so, but nvm), so I made an official rule calling for a moratorium on building any new structures within 64 blocks of spawn in any direction. I want people to build stuff! JUST NOT NEAR SPAWN, OKAY. It’s a big world, spread out. 🙂 I made some minor updates to the rule list; please check them out before playing.

Other world news: Now that I’m hosting in Survival more often, I’m trying to keep various chests around stocked with various supplies. I’ve also taken a liking to fishing (unsurprising, I loved fishing in World of Warcraft too) and the lake base that 576875 built a while back is fantastic for it aside from occasional attacks from baby zombies. I’m also digging out the Brick line, which will terminate not far from Mt. Servermore when it’s done. (again, “done” until westward expansion.)

Just for a change of pace, I went down to the southern terminus of the Netherrack line, where there is absolutely nothing aside from a “budder” house Beastie built at some point, took a hard left onto an adjacent landmass, and switched the game into survival. Aside from the flights to and from the main continent, I’ve been playing pure survival at max difficulty in this area. I’d been stuck in Creative mode for so long that I’d forgotten what a challenge resource management and staying alive is, especially as my little island home seems to be absolutely plagued with creepers. >_< It’s a nice break from everything else though.

Post slightly edited September 2017

And so it began. (Spawn House)

So going back exactly 8 months ago to late evening, July 18, 2014. The new update to Minecraft had just dropped for iOS and I was terribly excited. Since I’ve never been a PC player (and have no real interest in starting), this was going to be my first time experiencing infinite worlds, Enderman, biomes, wolves and several other things Kidzilla and Beastie liked to tell me about during their visits.

I updated MCPE on my phone, created a new infinite world, and pushed the button…

Anticipation!
Anticipation!

…and the image in the header appeared before me. Immediately I noticed how different everything looked from my last world. Grass everywhere. A deep river type thing stretching lazily in front of me to who even knows where. A dense copse of trees ahead, some of which looked very different from what I’d previously seen. If I squinted I could even see a mushroom off to the right. They’d been nearly nonexistent in my previous game. Best of all was looking ahead to that tree line and knowing behind it stretched a huge world waiting to be explored. (Interestingly though, I haven’t made too much of a foray westward as yet. Most of my explorations since have been to the North).

It being Survival mode though, I wanted to make a shelter before sundown. Like you do. So I made a 90 turn and started exploring the nearby landscape for a place to dig in and roost.

A good spot to start a home.
A good spot to start a home.

Spawn House has gotten a bit more… developed since.

Ground entrance to Spawn House.
Ground entrance to Spawn House.

That’s the same spot, roughly the same angle too. My, how the neighborhood has changed.

That's not a chimney! I hope...
That’s not a chimney! I hope…

Lets go inside. Up the hill and around a bit:

Upper entrance.
Upper entrance.
Inside the Spawn House.What looks like a fireplace is actually the ladder up to the tower.
Inside!

What looks like a chimney off the left actually has a ladder going all the way up to the top of the tower. We’ll get up there in a sec.

Second floor. I should probably furnish it at some point.
Second floor.
The Attic.
The Attic.

I should probably furnish up here at some point. Anyway now to go up a very long ladder…

Inside the Tower.
Inside the Tower.

It got way more fun being up here once I tinkered with my options.txt file. The view from up here as a result is pretty amazing.

Northwest Roads and... stuff! We'll visit sometime.
Northwest Roads and… stuff! We’ll visit sometime.
Looking to the Northeast. Haven't seen much that way.
Looking to the Northeast. Haven’t seen much that way.
Southwest view. Haven't explored much in that direction.
Southwest view. Haven’t explored much in that direction.
Looking northeast from the tower. Why there is a burnt our field of flaming netherrack covered in lava is for another post.
Back ooking northeast from the tower after the sun has set.

I’ll probably have explain why there is a burnt out field of flaming netherrack covered in lava in another post. Anyway, enough ogling the scenery, lets look around in the basement(s)!

Downstairs!
Downstairs!
I guess this is the ground level? it's the first room I carved out in the house.
I guess this is the ground level?

This is the first room I carved out in the house. Because punching rocks.

Fun fact – I’ve set those dark oak stairs on fire a couple times by mistake. I didn’t know then that even if there’s a solid barrier of cobblestone containing lava, it can still set surrounding wood on fire. Oops. Actually I’ve burned down the entire spawn house at least once during construction that way, which is why that chimney isn’t actually a chimney.

Basement with bed.
Basement with bed.
Got a lava pit you don't know what to do with? build a window and make it part of the decor?
Lava!

Got a lava pit you don’t know what to do with? build a window and make it part of the decor!

Wait there's more down?
Wait there’s more down?
Sub-basement 1.
Sub-basement 1.

I don’t even know what the kids did down here, the level is kinda trashed, hence the sign apologizing for the mess. I think they were trying to set up super secure beds or something.

Sub-basement 2
Sub-Basement 2.

If I’m mining out a space under a house in Survival I tend to leave behind these cobblestone warrens of platforms and stairs.

Bottom floor.!
Bottom floor.

Despite many warnings not to do so, this was the point where I got tired of carefully mining out levels and just went on ore hunts by mining down in checkerboard patterns. I only died a few times…

Subway Entrance
Subway Entrance

You can just see the platform through the doorway, but we’ll go out there another day.

So there you are, my first house in this world. Go big and go home, right?

World: Main
Location: spawn point (272 65 11) and Spawn House (220 69 6)
Mode: Survival
Build completed: ~July 2014