New Game – Spawn Near Village

Started up another new game. I got lucky and spawned right near a village. For this game, I’m not even going to build a house, at least not at first. It’s easier to take over a villager’s house for the first few nights. Once I have enough building materials, I think I’ll build a mansion or a castle in the center of the village.

Here I am collecting stuff in the village I spawned near.

The first thing I’m going to do here is collect some materials. I like raiding the village houses to find chests with lots of stuff in them. I’ll also build a crafting table, a furnace, and a chest near the middle of town. It’s a good place to start.

Here I am with my little home base in the center of the village.

I started chopping down some nearby trees to gather some wood, and with my first set of tools, I’m ready to explore a cavern beneath the village. I aim to collect enough coal and iron to get the furnace going and upgrade my simple wood and stone tools.

The sun is setting at the end of my first day in the new village.

Before much time goes by, the sun is already setting on the end of my first day in this new world. I better pick a house to go inside to escape the zombies, skeletons, and creepers. It’s nice that this village has an Iron Golem to help keep me safe from the mobs.

A Village Virus – Chapter 1

The following is a story I have written in Minecraft. It is inspired by the current events surrounding the pandemic of the Coronavirus and Covid-19. School is out and I’m bored, so I’m playing a lot of Minecraft right now.

I wake up in a field, wondering where I am.

I’ve just awoken. I’m standing in a field of grass, confused about where I am. I look around and the scene is unfamiliar to me. Where am I? How did I get here? So many questions swarm through my head like moths racing around a porch light.

I might be here a while, so I collect some seeds.

Wherever I am, I might be here a while, so I focus on the essentials. I’ll need some seeds to plant wheat for food, and soon I will need to collect some wood to build a shelter. Or I’ll need to examine my surroundings to see if I can spot any signs of civilization.

I have spotted a desert village in the distance.

As I climb a nearby hill, I spot a desert village in the distance. It has two tall towers illuminated by the rays of the rising sun. I move quickly towards the small village in hopes of finding food, shelter, and the hope of speaking with its inhabitants. If I’m lucky, I’ll soon find out where I am. And more importantly, how to get back home.

I arrive in the nearby desert village and start to explore.

When I arrive at the village, I see many villagers out and about. Unfortunately, they are not very talkative. They only mumble to themselves with a distinctive, “Hrmmm.” I struggle to communicate with them at all, although they seem friendly and non-threatening. They do not mind my presence, and I decide to explore the village in hope of finding clues as to where I am.

I lead sheep through the village.

I lead chickens from a nearby meadow to the village.

The villagers point to an empty stable at the back of their village, near a small cave. They seem to be letting me know it is mine for the using. These villagers are strange. They have welcomed me into their town, but expect me to take care of all my needs on my own. Still, I welcome their limited hospitality. It’s better than sleeping out in the fields.

I get quickly to work, finding sheep and chickens in a nearby meadow. I lead them back to the stable, where I can breed them for food, wool, and feathers.

The sun sets behind the hills outside of this wonderful desert village.

Before I know it, the day has come to an end. The sun sets behind the hills outside of the village. I pause to take in the beauty of the scene and feel glad that I am safe here in this village. If I only knew about the evil which would begin to descend once that last ray of sunlight disappeared…

 

A Minecraft Journey in Survival Mode

Some people like Creative Mode. Some people like Multiplayer Servers. Me, I like Survival Mode.

This is my journal of one journey through Survival Mode. Let’s see how long it lasts.

Day 1 – The Minecraft Adventure Begins

I spawn. I begin my new adventure in a forest. It is a forest of birch and oak trees. I am without tools, other than my bare hands. With them I punch the birch tree in front of me. I punch and punch and punch until a chunk of wood falls. My adventure has begun.

The first day here, I keep myself busy with collecting wood, mostly from nearby birch trees. Soon I have enough to fashion a crafting table, and then some wood planks, and then sticks. Soon I have proper tools, such as a wooden axe, a wooden pick axe, and a wooden shovel.

With my axe, I am able to chop down trees at a much faster pace, and soon I have plenty of wood to make enough planks to create a small house.

I know I’ll want some windows in my house so that I can watch the passing of the night into day. I use my wooden shovel to dig some sand. Later, I will melt it in a furnace and create glass for windows.

For now, I leave this spot in search of chickens. Along the way, I pick up some wheat seeds, which chickens are known to like. With these seeds in my hand, I will tame and lure the chickens back to my simple wooden hut. There, I will breed them for eggs and meat.

My wooden house is built, but it has no roof. I’m not worried because the walls are high enough to keep the chickens inside and the dangerous mobs out. The first night in Minecraft can be vicious and scary without torches for light, and sturdy walls for safety and comfort.

I must stay inside for the night as I have no weapons to fight with. But I do have a shovel and pickaxe, so I begin to dig down. Deep down into the ground, where I hope to find iron, gold, and diamonds.

I am lucky and find iron almost immediately. I am able to melt it in my furnace and soon I have iron bars. As night descends further into darkness, I keep digging down.

Day 2

Night gives way to dawn and light begins to peek over the walls of my house. Ready for adventure, I boldly step outside, and…

Boom!

I am ambushed by a Creeper. I barely had time to see him as he was waiting outside near my door. I survive the explosion, but an entire section of my house wall is destroyed, and my chickens begin to escape in the confusion.

And just then, it begins to rain.

I re-build the walls and re-capture my chickens. One everything is restored, other than the large hole outside, I decide to craft a wooden hoe and plant the remaining wheat seeds. The wheat will be used to make bread and to lure some sheep and cows back to my house. Before I do that, I think I’ll build an outdoor pen to hold all the animals. Otherwise, it will get crowded, and very smelly, inside my tiny little wooden house.

But I do need to make a bed. For that I need wool from sheep. And to get the wool, I need shears. Using some of my iron bars, I craft a pair of shears at my crafting table. Then I head out in search of some sheep.

I find three sheep. One white, one brown, and one black. I use the shears to collect some wool, and just in time because the sheep started getting eaten by wolves that are lurking nearby.

I shed a tear of sorrow at the death of one of the sheep, but at least it left behind some mutton, and once I cook it, I’ll have a tasty sheep snack.

Tired from the work, I head back to my house and craft a brown bed. Exhausted, I lie back and fall asleep.

Day 3

I decide to head outside again, this time making sure no Creepers are waiting outside my door. It’s time to expand my exploration beyond the small area around my house.

I find a hill and am attacked by a baby zombie. I might need to name this place Ambush Alley, because every time I step outside my door, I am ambushed by a mob.

I am fortunate that the zombie perishes in the sunlight as he chases me back to my house. This time, I craft an iron sword before venturing out again.

I return to the hill and climb to the top, where I get a good view of my surroundings. It seems that everywhere I look, there is plenty of forest. Well, it least it means that I’ll never run out of wood.

Day 4

This day was mostly a day of exploring and chopping wood. I am surrounded by forest. There are oak and birch trees everywhere.

I had my first encounter with another person. A wandering trader appeared nearby my house with his two llamas. I asked him what he was selling, but nothing interested me and it was all too expensive. He wanted an emerald in payment for wheat seeds, which I can pick up from the ground for free.

As night begins to fall, I return to my humble wooden home and craft a set of iron armor. I have decided to venture outside in the dark and need to be prepared for battle.

Battle soon comes, as a skeleton appears on the hillside near my home. His arrows sting and I lose much of my health, but I am triumphant with my trusty iron sword and the skeleton is soon no more. I have earned my monster hunter achievement.

Day 5

To be continued…

ChunkWorld – A Tour

You’ve probably heard about ChunkWorld and maybe even seen some of the images and screenshots or one of the YouTube video walkthroughs. It’s a map that contains 64 different buildings that all fit into a 16×16 “chunk” in Minecraft. It’s not easy to create such beautiful architecture in such small places, but this map has some impressive examples.

ChunkWorld is an amazing collection that was originally released in 2016 by MCNoodlor and then revised in 2017. You can read the original Reddit thread here.

I recently downloaded the map and decided to put together a tour. So far, I’ve gone through a handful of the 64 buildings on the map and will add to this post as I have time to tour all of them.

All of the ChunkWorld Buildings

Notes on My Setup

A few notes on my setup and screenshots. I’m loading the map in Creative Mode and I’m running with the SereneHD texture pack and Sildur’s Vibrant Shaders (Medium). I just happen to like this combination of looks in screenshots.

• Download SereneHD texture pack
• Download Sildur’s Vibrant Shaders

OK, let’s take the tour…

Desert Sanctum

The Desert Sanctum is the first building you’ll see when you spawn in the ChunkWorld map. It’s a beautiful building crafted primarily out of sand and sandstone, making it fit right into a desert biome. A staircase leads to a simple opening lit by two torches.

Inside, the sanctum is plain, with sand and sandstone walls. A small genie head rests on a simple altar beneath two torches.

Here is the “official” model sheet for the Desert Sanctum, courtesy of MCNoodlor, the creator of ChunkWorld.

Ancient Gardens

The Anicent Gardens is a pretty 3-story tower with leaves hanging outside the arches and windows. The design is a nod to the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Inside, you’ll find more plants, of course. But there are also some benches to sit and admire the gardens, along with some torch lighting to maintain a peaceful and serene mood.

Here’s the official model sheet of the Ancient Gardens:

Medieval Manor

Behold the Medieval Manor. This tall household boasts a simple golden yellow color and a beautiful, ornate curved roof. It also features some nice decorative touches, including a small flower garden out front. It is several stories tall, and a ladder inside the building will allow you to travel between floors.

The entryway inside the Medieval Manor.

One of the interior floors of the Medieval Manor

Here’s the official model sheet for the Medieval Manor.

More Coming Soon

I know, I know. I have a lot more to write about. I’m working through all 64 buildings on the ChunkWorld Map. Check back here soon and I promise to have more written!

Minecraft Wallpapers – A Small Collection

Minecraft can seem crude and blocky, but it can also be beautiful. Especially when you make it extra special snazzy with texture packs and shaders. I have put together a small but beautiful collection of Minecraft Wallpapers for you to enjoy. Not playing Minecraft yet? Here are some tips on how to play Minecraft for free.

Endless green

A Minecraft village at sunset

Creepers!

Norse statues at night

A Norse villager

Bright light in Minecraft

A beautiful vanilla Minecraft scene.

Tiny village almost swallowed by the landscape

Ancient statue in Minecraft

A beautiful landscape

Getting into Anime

Let me start by saying I didn’t want to get into Anime, but since all of my friends are watching it all the time and lately it’s all they want to talk about (well, anime and Fortnite), I decided to try to get “into” it.

I started watching some anime shows on Kissanime and even on Netflix, but I wasn’t liking what I saw. I think a big decision you need to make is whether to go with dubbed or subbed (more on that later).

Then I found this guide and it is amazing:

The Beginner’s Guide to Anime (Odyssey)

It’s a little dated because the article is three years old, but it has some really good suggestions of how to get into Anime if you’re totally new to everything, like me. It even recommends some different series to start watching and I agree with all of their choices.

I think whether or not you get into anime is highly dependent on what you choose to watch first. They recommend:

• Cowboy Bebop
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Attack on Titan

These are all really good choices. These series all have deep storylines and strong characters. They are not as silly or cartoonish as a lot of other anime series.

 

Season 9 in Fortnite is Here

Season 9 got underway with authority in Fortnite. At the end of Season 8, we were treated to a massive volcanic explosion that destroyed Tilted Towers and much of Retail Row.

Well, both Tilted Towers and Retail Row have recovered, but with new names and new looks.

Neo Tilted is the name of the new Tilted Towers. It is a city of the future, with gleaming skyscrapers and a special air-powered tube you can use to travel around the city. It’s called the Slip Stream.

A futuristic look for Tilted Towers, now known as Neo Tilted.

Retail Row is now Mega Mall. It has a giant indoor mall with several different stores. It also has a Slip Stream that encircles the area.

This is a full map of the entire Fortnite Island (courtesy fierce moon)

Fortnite Map for Season 9

Another brand new area awaits exploration: Pressure Plant.

This is a new area that has been built on top of the volcano.

Most of the other areas on the map remain the same from Season 8.

One additional and major change: a Slip Stream tube that travels around the entire center of the island and the creation of seven Sky Platforms. These are giant metal rigs that “float” up in the sky. All of these changes make traveling the length of the island much easier.

As with all new seasons, there are a lot of new outfits and weapons. I bought a Battle Pass on the first day and am working my way up through the levels in hopes of getting some of the top tier items. I like the Demi outfit, but that doesn’t unlock until tier 87, so I have some heavy Fortnite grinding to attend to.

 

 

The Ice Storm Cometh in Fortnite

I took a break from Minecraft this weekend to play Fortnite and take part in the in-game event on Saturday.

The event itself was very cool. The Ice King, who was suspended in a frozen sphere above the island, busted out in a big way and then summoned a massive storm and ice monsters to cover the entire island.

Before the event, just the bottom-left portion of the map (Polar Peak, Happy Hamlet, etc.) was snow-bound. Now the entire map is covered in snow!

There are new Ice Storm challenges to complete and each challenge that you complete will earn you 500 XP. That’s not very much, but it’s still fun to do them. This is a list of all the available Ice Storm challenges so far:

1. Complete Ice Storm challenges (6)
2. Destroy Ice Fiends (250)
3. Deal damage with explosive weapons to the Ice Legion (5,000)
4. Destroy Ice Brutes (100)
5. Deal damage with Assault Rifles or Pistols to the Ice Legion (10,000)

There will be more added over the next few days. It’s around two per day or something like that.

Your Five Killer Minecraft Map Tools

While using Minecraft to create maps creates lots of fun, in some cases, it can require a large amount of effort if you desire to create something amazing. That is why, Minecraft has got some of the best tools that are very much helpful in the general process of creating maps. These tools are considered to be the best by most of the Minecraft fans. They are helpful in the creation of any type of adventure maps whether it is a puzzle, a parkour or even some kind of settlements. Below are 5 of the best Minecraft map tools that one should understand:

MC Edit

MC Edit is among the most popular tools for making Minecraft maps that are widely known out there. It is very comfortable to work with it, and its selection of abundant tools that provide the basis for creating highly complex maps within a very short time. It uses several data files that are Minecraft schematic which allows one to conveniently transfer their creations from the MC Edit directly into your Minecraft application. The majority of the map creators broadly use this tool for the purpose of sharing their functions online. The best known component for MC Edit is certainly that one can certainly copy and paste huge chunks of globe in one location to the various other and therefore it is not essential to build the same framework twice. You just need to make just a single one and and make copies depending on your preferences.

World Painter

World Painter is another straightforward tool that’s designed to help a person in painting Minecraft surfaces just as as in standard Microsoft Color program. It really is convenient enough and requirements minimal prior experience or understanding with any design software program. This tool can be super intuitive and is thought to have a higher compatibility with Minecraft schematics, and therefore an individual can have the ability to make structures in MC Edit and conveniently upload them into his custom made world. Other activities that can also be performed including redistributing ores in the underground and creating caverns as gain access to means to the ores.

World Maker

When someone gets sick and tired of similar basic and biomes or set ups in Minecraft, they might transformation to World Maker which really is an unique tool that gives completely different worlds in comparison with the ones you have already been seeing most through. By usage of this software, one can make huge floating islands in the sky that are included in water bubbles largely, planetoids which have beneficial ores, forests protected with big trees among a great many other items. Also, one encounters brand-new types of plant life, desert volcanoes, mobs, portals to various other worlds, etc . which are simply a portion of what one will see in this tool.

Block Topograph

This is an ideal tool for players of Minecraft Pocket Edition which really is a free world editor and viewer for mobile devices. Most of the individuals to get lost in new areas of Minecraft whereby this tool turns out to be of great help to them since it will enable one to see his or her exact locations together with other markings that indicate objects like villages, mobs, and even types of surface. Also, an individual can simply tap the spot he or she wants to spawn at by just using this tool to teleport to any map location.

MC Dungeon

This tool is comparable to World Maker only that it majorly focuses on generating types of dungeons that are exclusive. They won’t be empty, but full of all kind of hidden treasures and secrets that are generated using some procedures from where an element of surprise arises. The Hard Mode is known to provide additional spawners with mobs that await players in the darkness. The rewards are also higher just as the number of secret doors and traps. For those who like to scavenge for treasures in unknown areas of Minecraft, then this tool is excellent.

In summary, these are among the best Minecraft map tools that should be well understood by all individuals due to the fact that one will be able to generate different types of maps with ease and thus ending up in a situation whereby interest is created more and more.

More Tools – Stuff for Screenshots

UPDATE – It’s been at least two years since I wrote this guide and since then the tools have changed a lot. I’m using more tools and mods now, especially for improving the speed of Minecraft and for working with maps and screenshots.

The most important tool I use is Optifine. If you have been playing Minecraft for a while, then you have probably heard about Optifine. It really improves the visual display of Minecraft. By tweaking all the settings, you can improve your display and framerate. It also lets you use a nearly unlimited amount of shaders, which let you give Minecraft a very distinctive look and feel. This is great for making really impressive screenshots of the game, like this one:

A village in Minecraft at night

To get images like this, do the following:

1. Download Optifine
2. Find some shaders, like Sildur’s or BSL
3. Set it up right! There’s a guide to Optifine here on Reddit.

Soon you’ll be creating beautiful screenshots!

An Introduction To The World Of Minecraft

Following Ryse’s trailer the Halo remake was officially announced. Showing screens from the original and the graphically enhanced version. Instead of the game just getting a new look it seems as though it was pretty much built from the ground up. It showed assassinations from Reach being used in the multiplayer. It will come with 7 graphically enhanced mulitplayer maps from the original with full XBox Live multiplayer and co-op support. It launches 11/15/11 with the title Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary.

minecraft maps Programming an XBLIG isn’t for everybody. This isn’t some cut and paste, construct your own simple flash game through a web interface. You still have to deal with code, and your game still has to adhere to standards (i.e. not crash and give the player an experience, not a static image).

For example, if I contract to rent a server from one of the dozens of nationwide companies that provide that service for any of the COD series, I get to decide the rules, the weapons that are allowed or not, and the game types, length of game, score limits, etc.

Now you are ready to create. “But what about mobs, armor and all those things?” you may ask. Well, those can be found in the minecraft.jar. Using the process covered in the thread with the templates you can resize the .png to the resolution needed.

minecraft servers #2 is a new game, released 11/11/11. It’s set 200 years after Oblivion, putting the player in the province of Skyrim on the continent Tamriel. Skyrim is a large RPG game that gives you plenty of freedom with your character. Want to be a giant nord with a battle ax? A sneaky elf with daggers? A furry with a klepto problem? What about a giant furry with daggers? It’s all possible in Skyrim. Skyrim has a nice, though rather short main quest, with a massive amount of side quests and land to explore. Also, like Oblivion and Morrowind before it, there are plenty of mods, with more being constantly added. The best part however is that almost nothing is bolted down, and you can steal massive amounts of stuff until your home looks like this.

Set up your website for maximum search engine ranking by using relevant keywords in the URL. Search engines place a fair amount of weight on the terms used in the URL, as long as those keywords also appear elsewhere on your page. Even if you cannot control the domain name used for your site, the names of your pages should be up to you.