Minecraft

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by TheGodBen, Oct 23, 2010.

  1. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The Nether is surprisingly easy so long as you're careful and your first portal spawns in a cave. Just make a base with a roof 4-5 blocks high (so that ghasts are unlikely to spawn), don't attack the zombie pigmen, and you'll be safe. If you do spawn in a cavern with ghasts attacking you, just throw up a cobblestone building around your portal as ghasts can't destroy cobblestone. I use the Nether all the time as a fast travel network and the only bad thing about it is the noises the ghasts make.

    There's not much to do in the Nether right now, there's only three blocks and two mobs, but the fast-travel aspect is a huge advantage for large maps like mine.

    Multiplayer is good, but it has two major problems right now. The first is that health hasn't been implemented yet, so all you can do is build and explore without fear of dying. That's not so bad, and it's fun exploring some other people's buildings, but without a sense of danger it can be a bit dull. The other problem is the griefers. I logged on today to find that one of my windows was broken during the night, which wasn't such a big deal, considering. There's an area on that server called Sky City, which is a large floating platform you can purchase land on (using diamonds and gold you've mined) to build a structure. It's the exclusive area of the world, basically. Over the last 10 hours it was griefed very badly, some buildings were ruined, the ladder up to it was destroyed, and the bank was robbed. The guys that did it were banned, but the property owners up there now have to rebuild their stuff, and any goods that were stolen from them are gone. You can't collect and place water with buckets because the mods had to turn that ability off, too many griefers were using it to annoy people.
     
  2. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Wow. :lol: I think I'll stay out of MP for the time being, then. I don't even want to think about investing time into it if some dipshit is just going to fuck it up.

    Thanks for the tips on the Nether! I'll have to give it a try. I've got a lava pool I found under my base that I'll probably set up as an obsidian generator.
     
  3. froot

    froot Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Dear Notch:

    THANK YOU for taking away the new mob spawns. I look forward them being fixed so that they're a challenge - not something that makes me want to rip my hair out!

    TheGodBen
    , that server sounds suspiciously like the one griefed all to heck in this set of videos:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXK-C-xR-Kw

    Of course, a lot of servers probably have Sky Cities, I suppose.

    Either way, I've been avoiding SMP for that reason, myself. I'd love to build with other people, yet I don't trust anyone! Heck, I let my husband wander around my single player base the other day, and the first thing the man did was walk up and break one of my windows!

    Also, do you guys do YouTube? I like seeing what people make - you should fraps your cool stuff and post a link! :)
     
  4. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    I'd be happy to record some of my exploits in the near future, once I have something to show. I intend to build a lattice across the valley I'm inhabiting and construct a sky castle (naturally) with a shaft leading down to my spawn fortress.
     
  5. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's not so bad, just don't build near the spawn point. Most of the tall/fantastical buildings are built near the spawn, so griefers tend to stay in that area. I just walked down the road for a minute or two and built there, griefers tend not to go that far. During a major griefing session that left the Sky City looking like a warzone, all I lost was a single window. :lol:

    Nah, I don't think that's the server, there's very little snow on the server I'm on, and I haven't seen a single ice block yet. Sky Cities must be really common. ;)

    :lol:

    Luckily, most people online know how much work goes into making these structures, so they'll obey the rules of common decency. The griefers are just idiots that like to make trouble.

    I might if I can find a free alternative to Fraps that works well, but I don't have anything too impressive. I'm pleased with my mountain base and working portal network, but they're nothing to write home about.
     
  6. Capt. Vulcan

    Capt. Vulcan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Funny thing is the Wiki for the project links to a thread here at Trekbbs. Unfortunately all it shows is that people here can be kind of snobbish dorks.

    Quick question about Minecraft. I've seen the 1st survival video on youtube, how do you know how to make stuff? In the video he says you just put the materials in the shape of what you want and it makes it, but... does it tell you? Or is there like a chart or a recipe list or something? I'm tempted to get in to this, but not sure how much micro-managing or alt-tabbing to gamefaqs I want to do to make a pickaxe or what have you.
     
  7. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Check out Minepedia: Crafting recipes

    The list is expanded every time there's an update and something is added.

    I ended up making a diagram and using it as my desktop wallpaper on my second monitor so I can see what the recipes are as I'm playing. I don't have them all memorized yet. :lol:
     
  8. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    There's no tutorial or tool-tips for anything, but Notch is planning them once the game is finished; there's no point in making a tutorial now in case he changes things during development. The crafting page on the wiki is the only way to find out this stuff at the moment. It's not such a big deal, most of the recipes are easy to remember, and there's only 10-15 objects that you'll be making on a regular basis, most of the objects are speciality items that you'll make infrequently. Most of your time is spent building, mining and exploring, and you don't need a guide for that stuff.
     
  9. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    So, I've started using a little "resource saving" strategy when I'm mining: if I hit an area underground that's made of dirt, I switch to using my hands and burrow out all the dirt. I usually stand a good chance of finding coal, iron, and/or redstone in such areas, but primarily coal. And some of the underground dirt blobs are very large so you end up hollowing out quite a spacious area. Since it doesn't require any tools to do this (doing it with your hands is reasonably quick) it saves me consuming pickaxes.
     
  10. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I logged on this afternoon to find this:

    [​IMG]

    (Ignore the floating blocks in the distance, they're just a graphical glitch.)

    That's Sky City on fire. Here's another picture close up.

    [​IMG]

    Somehow, a band of griefers called the Red Faction Miners found a way to use fire on the server and they burned down practically all of Sky City. I spent about an hour with a few other guys trying to put out all the flames, which was difficult due to all the floating blocks. It was like the aftermath of a Mongol horde, practically the whole city was destroyed.

    My own home was fairly badly damaged, but I managed to repair most of it. They destroyed my chests in the house but, luckily, they were too stupid to find my hidden mine under a hill near my house, so all my gold, iron and diamonds were safe. All I need to do is fix one wall and get my flashing redstone lights working again, then my house will be good as new. But Sky City is absolutely ruined, and the mayor there gave up because of how upset he was.
     
  11. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Perhaps this is a stupid question but does no one make incremental backups of these persistent online worlds? At least that way they could revert to a backup from before something like this happened. Some people would lose their work but it would be better than just having everyone's work destroyed.
     
  12. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    Or, how about allowing one to install alarm systems which send a text to your phone when your structure is damaged. Then have a means to alert the moderators or take action against the offenders directly.
     
  13. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Once the game is in a more developed state I could see how certain areas might be assigned to specific players, and then forbid anyone else modifying blocks in that zone. That way you really could give people "property" in the game and have it be enforceable.
     
  14. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    There's backups made every hour, I think, but there was something like ten hours between the attack and the admin logging in, so a lot of people had repaired the damage to their buildings and did other stuff in that time. The admin held a vote if people wanted to do a rollback, a small few (including myself) voted yes, but the vast majority voted no. The admin doesn't like doing rollbacks anyway. When I first joined on Saturday, they did a 2-hour rollback for some reason and a lot of people bitched at him because they lost some of their work. A 10-hour rollback would have annoyed a lot more people.
     
  15. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    If the entire city was virtually destroyed I really wonder why people would be so against a rollback. Is it on principle that actions in the game world should have lasting consequences, or just petty bitching by people who don't want to lose whatever work they've done in the ensuing 10 hours, everyone else be damned?
     
  16. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Sky City only had around 20 residents, most of the map survived intact or with minimal damage. On Gerp's Island (where I live) I only saw one building (a treehouse) burned down, while most of the rest of the buildings took little to no damage. People living in these areas don't want a rollback that will only benefit the "elite" that lived in the fantastical city in the sky. It's almost like a form of class warfare.

    Interestingly, many people that were affected by the fire in the main settlement, or are just scared of further griefer attacks, appear to be taking part in an exodus to a location known as the Citadel. I followed the signs to it, and it's a small community around 15 minutes away from the main settlement, surrounded by walls or cliffs. I'm thinking of building a small house here myself, just for the hell of it.
     
  17. froot

    froot Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    That, sir, is a brilliant idea. I don't like leaving Minepedia up constantly because its white background makes windowed Minecraft all the harder to see when I'm somewhere dark :rommie:


    That's rotten you lost some of your stuff to fire, btw :( At least they weren't smart enough to dig for the buried treasure! Also, even though they're clearly total jerks, Red Faction Miners is a clever name. :) When I first heard about Minecraft, the first thing that honestly came to my mind was "I CAN DIG HOLES IN THE WALLS JUST LIKE RED FACTION?! I MUST BUY THIS GAME!" (Red Faction wasn't a fighting game to me; it was a hole-digging game. :rommie:) I think the second thought I had was something to do with Legos, but that's unrelated.
     
  18. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Thanks, froot! If anyone would like, I could make an up-to-date (and less haphazard) version and post it here. It's designed for HD monitors. I play Minecraft in 1080p on one, then have the chart in 1080p on the other. If there is any interest I could put a bit of work into it.

    Anyway, last night I continued with my "dirt clearing" strategy. It expanded my underground cave complex substantially--wound up connecting to several other cave systems. I cleared them out of dirt and resources and in a couple spots found I was near the surface, so I went ahead and dug my way out and set up some obvious entrance/exit points. I've now got three entryways fairly close together, but they lead to different parts of the cave system. They're connected to my spawn base via a lengthy underground tunnel. I need to make up a bunch of signs for navigating inside the complex, as it is easy to get lost. I intend to eventually clean up the complex and turn it into a series of rooms rather than just a bunch of crazy caves. Already did one room, probably a few hundred to go. :lol: At least I'll have an ample supply of cobblestone and gravel to work with.

    I also built a house out of wood and tried to make it look nice. I managed to make a chandelier (fence posts, wood, and torches, suspended from the ceiling.)

    After I got done with that I went exploring, found some new areas and some pumpkins. I took pictures of what I was doing so I might post those later.

    Once I have my stuff in a more refined state maybe I'll record a video tour. :lol:
     
  19. froot

    froot Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    ^ I'm totally interested in the chart! :) I have a 4:3 monitor, though, since it's a drawing monitor. I can always edit it down to fit, though.
     
  20. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    I've made the chart as a web page, so you can use it with Active Desktop (if you're so inclined) or just take a screenshot and scale it. At full resolution it doesn't quite take up the full browser window on a 1080p monitor. If you scaled it down 25% it would probably fit just fine in 4:3.

    I apologize if it's not well-organized. I nicked most of the images from Minepedia. :lol:

    http://gorzek.com/recipes.html