Digging in the Dirt - The Minecraft Thread

[ElPresidente]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9gzjpkz1c1qzd3eyo1_500.jpg

If your situation is fortunate enough to mean your dwelling is not located on the underside of a rock then it is likely you've heard about a little independent game making some very big (and profitable) waves - Minecraft.

Minecraft is a essentially a sandbox title that was inspired by another great independent phenomenon called Dwarf Fortress.

There is no 'game' as such. If you opt for classic mode you basically have a big playground on which to play Lego; using blocks to build objects in the game-world.

Survival mode... well perhaps it is best to let this excellent fan made trailer do the talking.

Unofficial Minecraft Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaMTedT6P0I)

You can even setup multiplayer servers for massive world sized projects. For instance what this guy plans to do with...

his 1:1 scale Starship Enterprise replica! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2-d5a3r94).

What you can do in this game is truly mind boggling. , others focus on creating [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1I8YQtwdy0]stupidly cool rollercoasters (]One guy has made a 16 bit computer[/url) while others simply want you to see as much of the world as possible (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asImTDkPWKA).

You can play this game anyway you want. The blog Towards Dawn (http://towardsdawns.blogspot.com/) chronicles Brendan Keogh's journey through the endless world of Minecraft and the many discoveries and adventures he has along the way. You can play the game as an explorer like Brendan, you can create endless mines through the earth, you can create glorious cities and structures for the world to admire, you can go about hunting the many creatures that haunt the lands. It is all up to you.

So I've created this thread for Minecraft fans to share their experiences and screenshots of their adventures and creations.

To kick things off here's a couple of screenshots from a project I've been working on to create a city made up out of floating islands. It's taking a while as the islands are hand made and I'm playing survival mode so I can't just spawn what I need but I'm happy with how the plaza has worked out...

http://members.iinet.net.au/~elpresidente/MConisland.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~elpresidente/MCfinishedisland.jpg

Here is the link for those interested in purchasing the game (www.minecraft.net).

[Six_by_Nine]

Heh, I used to play Minecraft before all this Creeper stuff with the health and all that. Since when was there swords?
At any rate, I miss just building stuff. :P I made a giant Companion Cube, along with a few nuclear missile bunkers. ;D EDIT: But that was back when it was FRICKIN' FREEEEEE!!! >:(

[ElPresidente]

Classic mode is still available for free which seems more your alley. There's more of a 'game' here than before and its grown beyond being a simple construction set.

Some of the adventures created by the emergent gameplay in survival mode are worth the price of admission. The following recollection is taken from the forums of the magazine I write for.

Anyone who follows my Twitter account may have noticed a slightly on edge Prez at the helm.

Damn... what a night of Minecraft.

Found a nearby cave system I'd yet to explore. It was just chock full of goodies. Spent an hour down there and for my efforts scored 18 gold, 12 iron, 3 diamond and 56 red stone.

When I ran out of picks I thought I should head back up, especially since I only had half health. Started to make the long trek out when I ran into skeletons.

Ran away (I was NOT going to lose this loot) and figured the safest bet was to dig a new tunnel out. As I didn't have picks this took me a good half hour. Every now and then I would break through into the cave system I had been exploring. But every time that happened all I could see was creepers all over the place. Blocked up the holes and kept digging up.

When I eventually hit soil I was elated. Finally I could go home and rest with my prizes. Dug through the dirt and hit, not daylight, but water.

I had dug up through the floor of the lake you can see in the first of my tower shots above.

I was drowning. Unfortunately I needed two blocks, not one to get out of this death trap and the one block I had to clear was stone. I dug like mad... but with no pick it was taking a long time and my breath was not going to hold out.

Eventually the rock gave way and I bobbed to the surface. Not far from the stairs to my tower.

It was a bitter sweet reunion with my abode since all I could think of was all that water flowing down the tunnel I'd dug out and, in turn, completely flooding my mine. The worst thing was that on the way up I passed numerous iron veins but given my lack of picks I couldn't get at them. I thought I would just have to live with the loss of all that untapped ore.

I waited until morning and went for a swim to see if I could find the hole I dug in the lake floor. It took a while but eventually I was able to find it.

I dove deep and sealed the cave with some blocks of wood.

Still unsure as to the fate of my mine. I climbed up on to dry land and tried to pick a spot I could dig down to the tunnel from which I made my damp escape. Eventually I manged to break through into the tunnel which was now bone dry.

Elated I went back home. Climbed to the top of my tower and celebrated by shooting chickens from the battlements with my bow.

[ElPresidente]

I swear, I'm this close to giving up on educating this board about good games that exist outside of Maxis' production lineup. :P

[BR_FL]

Minecraft should be on everyone's required "to play" list. I would type more... but I just found a hell of a lot of clay in Minecraft, which I need to dig up. :p

[ElementMK]

I'd write you a quick review of Minecraft, but I just found some redstone ore, and there's ... lava ... DIAMOND!

[Marie.M]

.. I have been dreaming about something like this for ages! Why have i not heard of Minecraft before? Thank you!

[ElPresidente]

Yeah, I've seen a couple of SeaNanners videos - namely the chicken freestyle which always gives me a giggle. :P

Oh and the correct name for those green critters is creepers if you were curious. :)

Also the Halloween update is now out - update your clients and journey to the new Hell dimension. A number of other updates have been added including biomes which mean your world now has areas with different climates. Makes exploring even more enjoyable than before.

[Fallaryn]

It's been a month or so since I've last played Minecraft - mostly because the server I go on is never usually up. *shakes fist at boyfriend* :lol:

[Rawra]

Heh, I used to play Minecraft before all this Creeper stuff with the health and all that. Since when was there swords?
At any rate, I miss just building stuff. :P I made a giant Companion Cube, along with a few nuclear missile bunkers. ;D EDIT: But that was back when it was FRICKIN' FREEEEEE!!! >:(

Creeper stuff? :rofl:
I played it once or twice. Though the graphics bored me out.

[ElPresidente]

You can still play classic mode for free on www.minecraft.net incidentally.

[apv301]

Minecraft is possibly the best game I've ever played.... EA and all their teams and employees just can't compare to what one man/demi-god/awesome-hat-enthusiast did! Notch amazes me.

[uscolonialmarine]

I have a Minecraft server if anyone wants to join. It is a kind of roleplay server with a few towns already built.
The IP is: 67.162.79.140

[kiwi_tea]

Necro, I know, but why start a new thread when this one exists.

...so my friend bought me this game. He said I had to have it. And OMFGBBQ he was right!! I swear, after I build Port Piston for The Sims 3 I'm going to build Niua Simoa in Minecraft. I love how some of the randomly seeded stuff is really beautiful all by itself, and quite convincing for... ...blocks. I'm trying to learn redstone circuits, it's difficult, but it's logic not maths, so my dyscalculia isn't interfering as it so often does. :)

The Sims 3 team should take a leaf or two out of Notch's playbook.

Also, I like that my Morbid Tower literally touches the clouds.

http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/3/2/0/7/7/3/8/MTS2_kiwi_tea_1181617_MorbidTower.jpg

I've never fallen in love with a game so quickly, I hope it lasts!

[TUN3R]

Can't even begin to say how much I envy Notch and the others.

But, this game is awesome, just wish I had the patience to finish ONE just ONE town before I give up and I blow the freaking thing to hell. That's always fun.