Minecraft

[TheGodBen]

I couldn't log on most of yesterday because I had to wait for the server to update to the version Notch released. When I finally got on late last night, I saw that there was another griefer attack, but this time they flooded most of the map (as in that video froot linked to. There was no physical damage, but getting rid of water from the top of my tower was a pain as it took me ages to get up there against the current. I lost some redstone from the flashing lights I had on the tower, but that was the only real loss.

People are still dealing with some leftover water today. I was helping to clear out a road that was flooded, when a guy offered me diamond blocks to clear out the water from his house for him. I spent about an hour clearing out his tower (he was hit very badly) and he paid me with 8 diamond blocks! Hurray, I'm a contract worker!

 

[Robert Maxwell]

All this griefer business is what's putting me off from even attempting SMP. If I jumped onto a server I doubt I would build anything for fear of some jackass wrecking it while I'm asleep.

 

[Lindley]

Someone needs to organize an in-game militia with guard shifts or something.

 

[Peak]

My new world (World 3 which I created after being too annoyed with my world 2 due to the fact that my base was too far from the Spawn-point and I keep getting lost all the time) is awesome.

A lot of awesome terrain and a lot of caves. I've already gotten lost in three of them. I have begun to build a cobblestone-road on the water, due to the fact that there's a lot of water and it seems the easiest way not to get lost (I am an expert to get lost in this games, it seems).

Still no redstone, so I can't make a compass.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

SMP, as I understand it, currently functions a lot like an IRC channel. So you have ops who can kick/ban people, but everyone else is equal in terms of power, and there may not always be an op awake and active on the server.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to have a "police" role where you can incarcerate/disable alleged griefers until an op can deal with them. Only users trusted by ops would be police, of course. I hear some servers already use "spawn jails," but those are proactive and a little rude (in my opinion.)

On SMP, does everyone spawn in the same location? Once PvP is available, and if it's totally unfettered, I could see griefing on PvP servers becoming very short-lived. You'd have to stage a substantial "invasion" if you wanted to be able to do much damage.

 

[TheGodBen]

This is the house I cleaned up (the owner posted the picture on the server's thread). It was quite tricky as there was source blocks all along the inside and outside walls.

All this griefer business is what's putting me off from even attempting SMP. If I jumped onto a server I doubt I would build anything for fear of some jackass wrecking it while I'm asleep.

If you build with cobblestone, it's not so bad as it doesn't catch fire. The ground floor of my house was heavily damaged one day, but it only took me five minutes to repair it as I had plenty of cobblestone and wood in my inventory. The trickiest things for me to repair are my redstone lights on my tower.

Someone needs to organize an in-game militia with guard shifts or something.

You need to be a mod to do anything effective against the griefers, ordinary users can't do anything except repair the damage. The problem with this particular server is that there's normally no mods at night, so some guys can log on and cause havoc over several hours. An Australian guy offered to be a mod so that he can patrol during those hours, but I don't know if anything has happened with that offer.

They're tightening on the exploits being used by the griefers, the worst problem on there today was some idiot posting offensive signs everywhere. But the griefers will probably find new exploits in time.

On SMP, does everyone spawn in the same location? Once PvP is available, and if it's totally unfettered, I could see griefing on PvP servers becoming very short-lived. You'd have to stage a substantial "invasion" if you wanted to be able to do much damage.

Everyone spawns in the same location, but when you log out and back in again, you respawn where you were when you logged out. There's also the ability to set a home location so that you can warp there from anywhere on the map (although I think that might be a mod installed on the server). I don't know how things will work when dying is introduced, presumably there'll be a mod that will allow you to respawn in your home rather than the communal spawn.

It will get better when Notch tightens up the inventory, because that's being controlled on the client right now rather than on the server. Flint and steal and water buckets are disabled on this server, but these guys are hacking fire and water into their inventory and placing them in the world. Once the inventory is stored on the server, it should be harder to hack these things into the game. They'll still be able to destroy blocks, but they'll need to spend time on the server making tools before they'd be able to do that.

 

[froot]

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.

http://gorzek.com/recipes.html

Wonderful, thank you so much! I have happily swiped this.



Peak, redstone becomes extremely plentiful once you dig down to the bedrock level. If you're not using it much, you may find you'll even ignore it after a while!

 

[Sephiroth]

*sneaks up behind TheGodBen* SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Like froot said, redstone is near bedrock level. It seems to be especially plentiful in lava caves--at least that's where I've found the most of it.

 

[Peak]

I found my way back finally... I found my unfinished bridge with all the torches...

My area (before I began to build the bridges over the water. There's a lot of nice mountains with a lot of really nice caves here): http://play.gbyte.dk/map/world3peak/

Currently, my plan is to build a road along all the water, so I always have an idea of where my main mine is.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've been steadily taking pictures of my activities in my current MC world. I'll get around to posting pictures, eventually. Last night I stumbled upon a lava cave while exploring/expanding my massive underground cave complex. I created several exits to the surface, one of which goes straight down to the lava area. I mined some obsidian and made a portal. I have to say I didn't find the Nether very impressive, although the sound the Ghasts make is just evil. Didn't see any pigmen and didn't stick around to get killed. I will probably go back to get some lightstone now that I've read you can mine it with your bare hands. I will probably grab myself a few stacks of netherstone and mud, too, for building purposes. I like some variety in my structures and my all-wood house is looking a bit dull. Maybe netherstone walls...

 

[Lindley]

I should probably play this at some point. I've been a bit put off by the block-like graphics, but then it occurred to me how awesome it would be if the blocks were based on LEGOs.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The laughably poor graphics kind of grow on you after a while. It is really a lot of fun once you get accustomed to it, but it depends on whether you like very self-directed games with no set goals.

 

[froot]

The laughably poor graphics kind of grow on you after a while. It is really a lot of fun once you get accustomed to it, but it depends on whether you like very self-directed games with no set goals.

Well, that's the sandbox game genre Could be there will be a way to "win" in Survival mode at some point, too.

The graphics are laughably poor on purpose, I think. The tools are intentionally giant 3D versions of their pixel sprites, for one thing. It's a style thing I think the game would lose a lot of its charm if it was modern-looking.

Texture packs like the Painterly Pack keep that old-school charm in the game while providing slightly better (not as saturated) textures, IMO. And Notch just hired a new artist, so the default textures might get a bit of a boost as well.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The laughably poor graphics kind of grow on you after a while. It is really a lot of fun once you get accustomed to it, but it depends on whether you like very self-directed games with no set goals.

Well, that's the sandbox game genre Could be there will be a way to "win" in Survival mode at some point, too.

The graphics are laughably poor on purpose, I think. The tools are intentionally giant 3D versions of their pixel sprites, for one thing. It's a style thing I think the game would lose a lot of its charm if it was modern-looking.

Texture packs like the Painterly Pack keep that old-school charm in the game while providing slightly better (not as saturated) textures, IMO. And Notch just hired a new artist, so the default textures might get a bit of a boost as well.

Yeah, although Notch has said the texture resolution won't be increased at all. That's fine with me. I'd like to see some performance boosting rather than graphical upgrades, to be honest.

 

[TheGodBen]

Peak, redstone becomes extremely plentiful once you dig down to the bedrock level. If you're not using it much, you may find you'll even ignore it after a while!

I always collect it even though I never use it, and I now have at least 10 full stacks of it. Maybe I should use it to build a flashing sign above my mountain base, Fort Jupiter.

*sneaks up behind TheGodBen* SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Damn you, I had just finished that window!

I should probably play this at some point. I've been a bit put off by the block-like graphics, but then it occurred to me how awesome it would be if the blocks were based on LEGOs.

I wouldn't worry about the graphics so much, the game is so immersive that I sometimes forget the dark cave I'm exploring is made out of giant blocks, and sometimes the game creates some stunning scenery.

So far this year, Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption were fighting for the top-spot as my game of the year, but now I'm almost tempted to give the prize to Minecraft. The only thing holding me back is that it's still not officially finished.

 

[SPCTRE]

 

[Canadave]

I just bit the bullet and downloaded this, and oh gods, is it ever addictive!

My first night was spent huddling in hastily walled-off cave, but I was eventually able to construct a proper shelter. Here's my home base so far. It's... well, not impressive at all, but it keeps the scary monsters out at night.

I've got a mine not too far away behind my shelter, where I've found both iron and coal. I think I need to study crafting recipes so I can figure out what I want to do with it next.

 

[froot]

^ Minepedia is your one-stop shop for crafting recipes and game info. Or you can look at Robert Maxwell's wondrous chart!

http://gorzek.com/recipes.html

Awesome base, but beware when buliding with wood - if you put fire or lava (torches are okay) anywhere near that stuff, you could be out a roof! The heat from fire and lava can set flammable blocks on fire, even from a bit of a distance.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've started working on a 100x100 castle. I laid down the outline just to get a sense for how big it's going to be. I think I need a lot of cobblestone.

There are two mountains I have to level out, and one corner of it hangs out over a beach. Sadly, this was the flattest area I could find anywhere near my spawn point. I have enough iron I can use iron pickaxes and shovels for everything, though. Helps move things along more quickly.

I haven't laid out the floor plan of the castle yet but it's big enough I put whatever I want in there. I've been meaning to create an underground tree farm, so I'll probably build that underneath.