Minecraft

[Cutter John]

I think the formula for Obsidian is moving water has to pass over still lava. Otherwise it turns to cobblestone.

I seem to recall reading that iron only occurs 10 blocks below sea level or deeper. But yeah, mineshafting is the way to go.
Everyone has their own mining method. I usually build a 3 x 3 shaft with a one block notch in one side for ladders every other block (just step into the notch and slide slowly to the bottom. Then like Reverend said, glass roof, and torches on either side. For extra safety I build my shaft indoors with a matching skylight in the ceiling.
When you hit bedrock, (about 60 blocks down), dig down as far as you possibly can til you hit unbreakable bedrock. Then count up 10 blocks. Between levels 10 and 16 is where you'll also find diamond and redstone as well as iron and coal.

At the bottom, I'll open up a 10 x 10 x 3 room and set up a crafting table, crate, and furnace, then every third block, I'll start a two block horizontal tunnel around the circumfrence of the room, all radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. Just be very careful where you step, as theres also lava down there.

Had my first wolf encounter last night, but I'll save that story for a later post.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

When running water hits stationary (non-flowing) lava, it creates obsidian. If both the water and lava are flowing, you'll just get cobblestone.

 

[TheGodBen]

I seem to recall reading that iron only occurs 10 blocks below sea level or deeper. But yeah, mineshafting is the way to go.

Iron ore can exist 5 blocks above sea-level, but it's rare. According to the wiki, here's the levels where all the various ores can be found.

Coal: All levels
Iron: Up to level 67 (5 blocks above sea-level)
Gold: Up to level 35
Lapis Lazuli: Up to level 32, most common at level 19
Redstone: Up to level 18
Diamond: Up to level 18
Lava pools: Up to level 10, can very rarely be found on the surface.

If you're looking specifically for diamond, mining between levels 10 and 18 is safest because you wont risk lava pouring in on you, all you have to worry about is accidentally mining into a cave filled with creepers.

Mining obsidian is painfully slow, it takes 15 seconds for each block. If you really want to enter the Nether and don't want to go through the process of mining for diamonds and then mining all that obsidian, you can make a portal-shaped cast with dirt, use a bucket to fill it with lava and then pour water on it until you have an obsidian portal.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^

How many lava source blocks does it take for the mold method?

 

[Reverend]

1 lave source block + water = 1 obsidian block. You need a minimum of 10 blocks to make a portal.

 

[judge alba]

is it possible t drill into lava pool from above to send the lava to the service? like a volcanoe?

oh just found some vids on u-tube theres one on there about setting up a mine track that looks interesting.
going to try and take some screenshots of the devestation/er work i've cause in my area

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^

Use the F2 key, that might speed things up a little bit. The screenshot's saved in .minecraft in your computer's %appdata% directory.

 

[Cutter John]

Everyone be very careful with your wolves. I managed to train one Friday morning night. Had fun running around, even though they're not very bright and ocassionally slip off a cliff or walk into cactus. Unfortunately we were late getting home one night and ran into a trio of skeletons just outside my house. in the ensuing melee while dodging arrows, I managed to kill my poor wolf with my diamond sword.
I know its silly, but I ended up feeling bad about it for most of the day. Its amazing how attached you get to them.

I think I'm going to wait til I go back to my flat map before I try training another.

is it possible t drill into lava pool from above to send the lava to the service? like a volcanoe?

Not really. But you can make a bucket, pick some up, carry it to the surface and pour it out on the edge of a cliff. Same effect. Just be careful. That stuff will burn any wood it touches. Trees and houses. And you.

oh just found some vids on u-tube theres one on there about setting up a mine track that looks interesting.
going to try and take some screenshots of the devestation/er work i've cause in my area

Make sure you have LOTS of iron before you start a rail line. You need six pieces to make twelve sections of track. And another five to make a minecart.
Looking forward to seeing some screenshots. You can also make your arm and the menu vanish by pressing F1.

 

[TheGodBen]

is it possible t drill into lava pool from above to send the lava to the service? like a volcanoe?

Lava is like water in that there's source blocks that you can pick up with a bucket and transplant, and there's lava-flows that act like flowing water, except lava flows much more slowly and doesn't spread as far. Unlike water, you can't create an infinite pool of lava by making a 2x2 hole and placing lava source blocks in each corner, all lava obtained must come from source blocks that are usually found very deep underground.

I know its silly, but I ended up feeling bad about it for most of the day. Its amazing how attached you get to them.

That's why I don't like having dogs in video games, I've lost too many dogs in real life to want to lose another in a game. I wasn't going to bother with taming wolves in Minecraft for that reason, but when I found a wolf with two bones nearby I decided to experiment, expecting that she'd disappear if I walked far enough away. I didn't realise it was impossible for them to despawn. I'm thinking of telling her to sit in my castle most of the time just to keep her safe.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^

When I was just starting a new map (I'd accidentally burned my house down, along with all my stuff) I tried to box in a wolf with a bunch of dirt so I'd be able to find him again when I was ready to tame him. Unfortunately, once I accidentally clicked the wrong button all the nearby wolves became hostile when I hit their buddy they're tough little suckers!

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I accidentally punched a wolf a little bit ago and got a whole pack on me... That wasn't fun.

 

[Cutter John]

They don't take kindly to being attacked.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

The first time I encountered them, I smacked one of them with a pork chop and got attacked.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

On about the 5th world I've created since my main house burned down, I decided to make my stand. I've built a treehouse that is connected to the ground by virtue of a very large hill nearby. Unfortunately, because all the trees are blocking the sunlight, I'm going to have to burn/chop down quit a bit of them in order to make my house a bit safer and start some friendly mobs spawning... hopefully some wolves, too...

 

[Cutter John]

On about the 5th world I've created since my main house burned down, I decided to make my stand. I've built a treehouse that is connected to the ground by virtue of a very large hill nearby. Unfortunately, because all the trees are blocking the sunlight, I'm going to have to burn/chop down quit a bit of them in order to make my house a bit safer and start some friendly mobs spawning... hopefully some wolves, too...

Just put torches on all the trees.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

On about the 5th world I've created since my main house burned down, I decided to make my stand. I've built a treehouse that is connected to the ground by virtue of a very large hill nearby. Unfortunately, because all the trees are blocking the sunlight, I'm going to have to burn/chop down quit a bit of them in order to make my house a bit safer and start some friendly mobs spawning... hopefully some wolves, too...

Just put torches on all the trees.

I feel st00pid now. That would actually make my home a bit easier to see from a distance, too, on long journeys.

 

[Cutter John]

I feel st00pid now. That would actually make my home a bit easier to see from a distance, too, on long journeys.

Aww, don't worry about it. We're all in this together. The torches also attract animals at night, so you'll always have a ready supply of pork, leather, and wool.

When I go exploring I usually leave a trail of torches and cobblestone behind me to mark my path. Then later when I get to the Nether I make nice big flaming beacons on pillars to mark my house.

Oh, and since I just posted shots of my house over on the Minecraft forum, might as well put them in here too.

Heres my current treehouse. Gotta love the view.
It'll look a lot nicer once I finish the big freakin' airship on the right.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Nice digs, dude! I'm a sucker for anything built up in the sky.

I got a server last week and have been building on it with some friends.

I generate a topo view of the map every night: Link

The square on the left side, near the center line, is the spawn point. North of that is mostly where we've built. That bridge going all the way across the water is the result of my girlfriend and I getting totally lost in a massive cave system. When we came out to the surface, we had no idea where we were so we built a house and stored our loot. Once I figured out where we were relative to our usual building area, I built a bridge across the water, placing torches along the way. I'll probably replace it with a proper path in the future, but for now at least we can find our way back.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

Nice Cutter John. You must have psychically stolen my idea; I was thinking of making a TOS shuttle, complete with signs where consoles should be and hovering a block or two off the ground (thank you Notch for making most blocks immune to gravity!).

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, they better never take away floating blocks.