Having established firmer footing, I now turned my attention to the strange, thick roots that hung from the dirt platform.
Ripping a few free, I inspected them. These held power. Life itself seemed to pulse in my hands.
Experimenting with the roots, I fused a few together, just as I had the stones. I expected a block of roots - but what I got instead - well.
The emerald sapling that I held in my hands had a strong essence, as powerful in its way as the water spirit was.
I collected the rest of the roots. A strange feeling in my gut said I wouldn't get any more.
That done, I placed down a block of dirt several stone blocks away from my platform, and planted the tree there. It made me feel - better. I wasn't alone here. The water spirit, and now the tree, would be all the company I needed.
Showing posts with label Minecraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minecraft. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Tranquil Air - 5
My plan slowly came to fruition. The rocks I collected were feather-light once broken from the ground, just as the dirt had been. It was no great task to collect what should have been a literal ton of rock - and it all fit neatly into my pocket.
Satisfied that I had enough stone, I embraced the waters once again, sliding off the edge. I kept myself at a level just under my platform through sheer effort, and stuck stone after stone to the underside of the dirt. Stone, once placed, seemed to be immune to gravity, just as the dirt was. I soon discovered that the stone was happy to stick to itself, as well.
I could do a lot with such tools. I used to consider myself an artist, back before my impossibly potent magical talent in magic took over my life - and here were the most responsive materials I'd ever worked. I would make this world a work of art, I decided. My masterpiece.
After all, I had nothing but time and empty space.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Tranquil Air - 4
I was lucky. I managed to catch myself in the swift-moving waterfall several blocks below my platform.
The spirit of the water - welcomed me. I can't explain it any better than that - it sensed me, and I sensed it. I felt its movements, and it showed me how to move with it, even climbing against the current.
So, slowly, I climbed back up onto my platform, through the waterfall itself, soaked thoroughly, but alive.
The water spirit was disappointed, I think, that I had left it.
For my part, however, I knew that what I had just done was completely impossible without magic - in my world.
But, as I said before, gravity seems to be entirely arbitrary here. With nothing more than the screaming terror of the void below me - well.
All I knew then was that I did not want to fall into that gaping abyss. I knew, without knowing how, that it was death.
I sometimes wish for that early innocence.
The things I know now ....
The spirit of the water - welcomed me. I can't explain it any better than that - it sensed me, and I sensed it. I felt its movements, and it showed me how to move with it, even climbing against the current.
So, slowly, I climbed back up onto my platform, through the waterfall itself, soaked thoroughly, but alive.
The water spirit was disappointed, I think, that I had left it.
For my part, however, I knew that what I had just done was completely impossible without magic - in my world.
But, as I said before, gravity seems to be entirely arbitrary here. With nothing more than the screaming terror of the void below me - well.
All I knew then was that I did not want to fall into that gaping abyss. I knew, without knowing how, that it was death.
I sometimes wish for that early innocence.
The things I know now ....
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Tranquil Air - 3
I couldn't stay here, of course.
My thoughts turned to that first rock I'd discovered, and I decided to search for more.
It seemed like almost every time I searched through the dirt, I found another pebble, and before long I had enough rocks to make a block of stone as large as the dirt it had come from. Disconcertingly, the dirt cube was in no way diminished.
A plan came to mind, then. I held the stones together, and they fused into a block,just as I suspected they might. I ever-so-carefully held the block against the side of my dirt 'island' for a moment, two. I released my hold - and the stone stuck there.
Now I knew what I could do.
If I was stuck here, I could at least make it more comfortable for myself - I could expand the island by quite a bit in this fashion.
I looked once more off the side of my domain. There were thick roots jutting out of the bottom, and I was certain I could do something with those if I could only reach them.
Steeling myself, I reached for the magic that would make me lighter than air, out of reflex, and I jumped.
Only the magic wasn't there.
My thoughts turned to that first rock I'd discovered, and I decided to search for more.
It seemed like almost every time I searched through the dirt, I found another pebble, and before long I had enough rocks to make a block of stone as large as the dirt it had come from. Disconcertingly, the dirt cube was in no way diminished.
A plan came to mind, then. I held the stones together, and they fused into a block,just as I suspected they might. I ever-so-carefully held the block against the side of my dirt 'island' for a moment, two. I released my hold - and the stone stuck there.
Now I knew what I could do.
If I was stuck here, I could at least make it more comfortable for myself - I could expand the island by quite a bit in this fashion.
I looked once more off the side of my domain. There were thick roots jutting out of the bottom, and I was certain I could do something with those if I could only reach them.
Steeling myself, I reached for the magic that would make me lighter than air, out of reflex, and I jumped.
Only the magic wasn't there.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Tranquil Air - 2
I despaired.
For a while, I didn't know what to do.
I sat on the edge of my little self-imposed limbo, my feet dangling off into the void, and contemplated how very peaceful things were. No one could reach me here.
I'm confident, to this day, that it was my own power that brought me to this place. Of course I had made enemies. But no one, in the entirety of my world, had the power to do - this.
Except me.
Gravity is an arbitrary force here. I was pinned to the ground, my normal means of flight lost to me. However - the ground itself was a few yards of dirt floating in a void.
Idly, I combed my fingers through the grass. To my surprise, I found a rock. I dug a bit deeper, ripping away the foliage, and an entire cube of dirt pulled loose from the ground.
A cube, not a pile.
That was my first discovery. Whatever this world was, it was not the same as my own.
It seemed that this world was - compressed, somehow. Things were condensed down to their basic essences, such that I held a chunk of dirt, now no larger than my hand. I focused, and the dirt became even smaller, enough that it could fit in a pocket, with room for more. Setting the dirt down, I focused again, and it grew back to its original size - but no larger.
I broke the dirt once more - and this time, a large creature appeared in its place. Startled, I shoved the thing away, and it fell off into the void.
So, now my island was one "block" smaller.
Thus ended my first day. I watched the sun set beyond some distant horizon, and without really meaning to, I slept.
For the first time in years, I fell into true sleep, instead of some meditative trance. Perhaps I should have worried more about falling off into the void, but I was tired, and the sound of running water soothed me.
When I woke, I realized that such a sound could only mean one thing: I had water.
I looked down to confirm this. Flowing out of the side of my island was a seemingly inexhaustible waterfall. I dug into the island, always wary that another -creature - would appear, and found the source.
Like everything else in this world, it felt somewhat - blocky. But although it was refreshing to drink from, I couldn't scoop more than a double handful out at a time, and at the core of this source block, I could sense some kind of raw life. I'd need something that could capture the essence of this 'creature' to really have any effect here.
Part of me wanted - for science alone - to put a block of dirt into the water, to see if the dirt could obliterate that core when it returned to full size.
The rational side of me reasoned that I'd need this water to survive, and so I didn't try that.
Instead, I drank my fill, and turned my attention to what I could do here.
For a while, I didn't know what to do.
I sat on the edge of my little self-imposed limbo, my feet dangling off into the void, and contemplated how very peaceful things were. No one could reach me here.
I'm confident, to this day, that it was my own power that brought me to this place. Of course I had made enemies. But no one, in the entirety of my world, had the power to do - this.
Except me.
Gravity is an arbitrary force here. I was pinned to the ground, my normal means of flight lost to me. However - the ground itself was a few yards of dirt floating in a void.
Idly, I combed my fingers through the grass. To my surprise, I found a rock. I dug a bit deeper, ripping away the foliage, and an entire cube of dirt pulled loose from the ground.
A cube, not a pile.
That was my first discovery. Whatever this world was, it was not the same as my own.
It seemed that this world was - compressed, somehow. Things were condensed down to their basic essences, such that I held a chunk of dirt, now no larger than my hand. I focused, and the dirt became even smaller, enough that it could fit in a pocket, with room for more. Setting the dirt down, I focused again, and it grew back to its original size - but no larger.
I broke the dirt once more - and this time, a large creature appeared in its place. Startled, I shoved the thing away, and it fell off into the void.
So, now my island was one "block" smaller.
Thus ended my first day. I watched the sun set beyond some distant horizon, and without really meaning to, I slept.
For the first time in years, I fell into true sleep, instead of some meditative trance. Perhaps I should have worried more about falling off into the void, but I was tired, and the sound of running water soothed me.
When I woke, I realized that such a sound could only mean one thing: I had water.
I looked down to confirm this. Flowing out of the side of my island was a seemingly inexhaustible waterfall. I dug into the island, always wary that another -creature - would appear, and found the source.
Like everything else in this world, it felt somewhat - blocky. But although it was refreshing to drink from, I couldn't scoop more than a double handful out at a time, and at the core of this source block, I could sense some kind of raw life. I'd need something that could capture the essence of this 'creature' to really have any effect here.
Part of me wanted - for science alone - to put a block of dirt into the water, to see if the dirt could obliterate that core when it returned to full size.
The rational side of me reasoned that I'd need this water to survive, and so I didn't try that.
Instead, I drank my fill, and turned my attention to what I could do here.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Tranquil Air - 1
I wished for peace ...
... and I got it.
What had I done?
--
Hello.
My name - you know, I can't remember anymore. It's been so long.
As I sit down to write this, I am reminded how much has changed.
And so I begin, naturally, at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was the most powerful archmage my world had ever known. My power was without equal among mortals, perhaps even peerless among the gods. I didn't believe in deities. If they existed, they did nothing to influence our world, or such was my reasoning.
Perhaps it is my hubris that brought me so very low.
Regardless, my power was in high demand. I ended wars almost before they began, having no true loyalties outside myself. Any who could meet my price would earn my services for as long as they could pay. I used their enemies as fodder to hone my skills, demanding from myself nothing less than perfection.
The earth trembled, and the waters parted before me. Anything I could conceive of became reality.
Such power comes at a price, of course.
I wore myself thin. I had made no few enemies among men, though I rarely concerned myself with others. No, it was my pursuit of power that drove me. There was always another secret, always some new research, another technique. I began to sleep not at all, and I barely ate. What little I did consume was bland and tasteless. In my endless pursuit of perfection, ironically, I lost myself.
There is - or was - a saying. Be careful what you wish for.
On one fateful autumn day, I wished for peace. With all my heart - I wanted nothing more than a single moment of tranquility amidst all the chaos.
I remember I had been surrounded by sycophants, people who were supposed to serve me. They all had their own goals, their own desires, and none of them truly cared for me, except as a means to an end. Their chatter threatened to drive me mad.
"Silence!" I demanded.
The world went silent. Everyone stopped - all movement ceased. The world went gray - then black.
I found myself lying in the grass, staring up at a blue sky. I watched the clouds roll by, and I thought to myself how peaceful it was. Where had - everything - gone?
Standing up, I caught the first glimpse of my new reality.
I stood on the only land for as far as the eye could see. The patch of grass I stood on was perfectly square, and the edge dropped off into the void. Below was only darkness.
In a way, that was my first glimpse of the enemy.
I skittered back from the edge, curling in on myself.
What had I done?
... and I got it.
What had I done?
--
Hello.
My name - you know, I can't remember anymore. It's been so long.
As I sit down to write this, I am reminded how much has changed.
And so I begin, naturally, at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was the most powerful archmage my world had ever known. My power was without equal among mortals, perhaps even peerless among the gods. I didn't believe in deities. If they existed, they did nothing to influence our world, or such was my reasoning.
Perhaps it is my hubris that brought me so very low.
Regardless, my power was in high demand. I ended wars almost before they began, having no true loyalties outside myself. Any who could meet my price would earn my services for as long as they could pay. I used their enemies as fodder to hone my skills, demanding from myself nothing less than perfection.
The earth trembled, and the waters parted before me. Anything I could conceive of became reality.
Such power comes at a price, of course.
I wore myself thin. I had made no few enemies among men, though I rarely concerned myself with others. No, it was my pursuit of power that drove me. There was always another secret, always some new research, another technique. I began to sleep not at all, and I barely ate. What little I did consume was bland and tasteless. In my endless pursuit of perfection, ironically, I lost myself.
There is - or was - a saying. Be careful what you wish for.
On one fateful autumn day, I wished for peace. With all my heart - I wanted nothing more than a single moment of tranquility amidst all the chaos.
I remember I had been surrounded by sycophants, people who were supposed to serve me. They all had their own goals, their own desires, and none of them truly cared for me, except as a means to an end. Their chatter threatened to drive me mad.
"Silence!" I demanded.
The world went silent. Everyone stopped - all movement ceased. The world went gray - then black.
I found myself lying in the grass, staring up at a blue sky. I watched the clouds roll by, and I thought to myself how peaceful it was. Where had - everything - gone?
Standing up, I caught the first glimpse of my new reality.
I stood on the only land for as far as the eye could see. The patch of grass I stood on was perfectly square, and the edge dropped off into the void. Below was only darkness.
In a way, that was my first glimpse of the enemy.
I skittered back from the edge, curling in on myself.
What had I done?
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Thaumcraft 4.1.1.12 Part One
Or: Suddenly Magic
My game starts pretty much like any other minecraft experience: I'm in a savannah, with a few pigs nearby. I look for a tree, and, finding one, I punch it down and make a workbench, an axe, and a pickaxe.
Pretty standard stuff, all in all.
My mod list follows:
Thaumcraft
Ex Nihilo
Bibliocraft
Treecapitator
and Voxelmap.
The first thing I come across from Thaumcraft: An obsidian totem. I'm not gonna let that stand.
No, but seriously, I'm not. Those things spread taint, and this close to my original spawn, I want nothing to do with that. I immediately upgrade my pickaxe, therefore, and get to work.
My sacred work complete (I don't like taint), I head onwards. The next thing I come across of any value are some sheep, so I put them to death on the spot and get enough wool to make a bed.
Before long I find exactly what I'm looking for - a swath of magical forest.
I've found three different obsidian totems by now and dismantled all of them.
Oh hello.
I don't like these trees, on the one hand - on the other they're useful. Think of them as cave spider dungeons with some decent loot underneath.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
This also goes to the axe. Pick-axe, that is.
And here's my winnings.
My game starts pretty much like any other minecraft experience: I'm in a savannah, with a few pigs nearby. I look for a tree, and, finding one, I punch it down and make a workbench, an axe, and a pickaxe.
Pretty standard stuff, all in all.
My mod list follows:
Thaumcraft
Ex Nihilo
Bibliocraft
Treecapitator
and Voxelmap.
The first thing I come across from Thaumcraft: An obsidian totem. I'm not gonna let that stand.
No, but seriously, I'm not. Those things spread taint, and this close to my original spawn, I want nothing to do with that. I immediately upgrade my pickaxe, therefore, and get to work.
My sacred work complete (I don't like taint), I head onwards. The next thing I come across of any value are some sheep, so I put them to death on the spot and get enough wool to make a bed.
Before long I find exactly what I'm looking for - a swath of magical forest.
I've found three different obsidian totems by now and dismantled all of them.
Oh hello.
I don't like these trees, on the one hand - on the other they're useful. Think of them as cave spider dungeons with some decent loot underneath.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
This also goes to the axe. Pick-axe, that is.
And here's my winnings.
I decide to dismantle one of the three silverwood trees I've spotted. I left the node block in place - we'll see later if the node survived - and I replanted the single sapling I retrieved, because who doesn't want more silverwood, really?
Here's my take from the forest:
Next Up: Mining and gathering.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Surviving Better Than Wolves
I wrote this for a couple of my friends who keep dying on my server, (they've never played BTW period, much less Hardcore Hunger - one of them is actually new to MC in general) and I thought it might be useful to some people. It's all text, no screenshots or videos, so if you want screenshots and videos, might I suggest some of the other fantastic guides already present on this very forum?
There may be some minor spoilers, but I couldn't fit that in the title, so it's here.
If you don't want anything spoiled for you, why are you reading a how-to guide anyway?
Go get yourself killed a lot, that's what I did.
The scope of this is strictly the early stages of survival. It's more of a loose set of guidelines for what to do than a hard and fast guide. This encompasses what I've learned from my experiences so far. There is no one true way to actually play - this just seems to be the best way to pull it off without villages and without doing a lot of nomading.
That's a word now.
---
The goal of early survival is attaining a sustainable food supply.
Early Game Tools:
Wood Pickaxe, Wood Shovel, Stone Pickaxe, Stone Axe
Early Game "Weapons":
Stone Axe (Extremely low durability, use only in an emergency!)
---
Early Game Foods:
Brown Mushrooms, Pumpkin Seeds, Cooked Meat, Eggs
Note that mushrooms spread extremely slowly without bonemeal, which is not an immediately available resource, and pumpkins cannot be farmed until you have iron. Still, a nice dark mushroom-spreading area is a nice thought. Just be careful: it's quite possible that the mushroom farm will spawn monsters if you miscalculate even a little bit on the light level. It has to be low enough for mushrooms to spread, but high enough to keep monsters away - it's probably safer not to worry about it for now, especially if you're new to Minecraft in general and aren't sure what light level actually means.
Combat is to be avoided at all costs. Seriously, run away from combat if at all possible.
So the first thing you do in any version of Minecraft is punch wood. BTW is no different, so go gather a some wood. You'll want around ten wood logs to start with. Break them down into planks and the planks down into sticks, leaving enough wood for a wooden pickaxe. Mine all eleven cobblestone you can, and turn that cobblestone into a stone pickaxe and a furnace. Then mine more stone, then make a stone axe and some more stone pickaxes. If daylight still exists, consider getting more wood. You'll want it.
Do not go out at night if you can at all help it. If night falls and you're unprepared, dig a big hole and cry in it. Hopefully you won't starve.
Now that basic supplies are out of the way, let's discuss food.
If you find a swamp, harvest most of the brown mushrooms you find (leaving a handful under trees in case of emergency and for repopulation purposes). If you find pumpkins, collect them. Hunt for meat, but beware that animals run away, and chasing animals may be a greater waste of food resources than it returns. One porkchop is not worth three or four shanks off your food meter because you ran and jumped all over the place. Punch all the tall grass you find: hemp seeds will be an extremely vital part of the settling-down process.
Beware of over-hunting: You're not the only 'person' trying to eat animals now. Keep at least two of every animal penned up somehow, even if you don't have the crops to breed them just yet, as they will become important later in the tech tree.
If you don't care about wool, then sheep would be your best target for over-hunting early on; you simply don't need sheep if you don't want wool, and by end-game you'll have other food supplies.
When you think you've got enough resources to settle down, find a place you'd like to build. My ideal place is near a desert for optimal windmill usage, but a desert is not necessary, and I'm actually currently settling in a swamp by an ocean.
Chickens provide the earliest, easily-sustainable food source: feeding chickens hemp seeds from tall grass will provide eggs, which when thrown will either hatch into a baby chicken OR will give you a raw egg.
You want chickens around.
Raw egg can be mixed with brown mushrooms to create an omelet, which can then be cooked for best results. Alternatively, you can mix the egg with a bucket of milk and a bowl for scrambled eggs, which can also be cooked, or you can cook the egg alone for some benefit, if you never find milk or mushrooms.
If the chicken hatches, on the other hand, then you have access to more chicken meat or another source of eggs, depending on your preference, as soon as the baby chicken grows up.
It's important to note that you should create a safe chicken coop with a roof on top: the chickens' primary predators (other than you) do not care about walls!
After you've got your chicken situation settled, you should move on to farming properly. This will require at least eighteen iron ore to create the hoe, so it's time to start digging. You want as much iron and coal as you can get. Do not use the coal to smelt the iron you find; logs cook for variable times based on species but are now just about as effective as (char)coal in terms of fuel. You're going to want torches. Torches are important, and torches are much more valuable in BTW.
You will need a lot of stone pickaxes: the durability on them is not particularly spectacular, and you can no longer repair them by banging them together until they're fixed.
Suggestions for branch mining can be found all over the place, but I find that it's the most effective way to locate pretty much any mineral resource in vMC, and BTW doesn't change ore-spawning rules.
A general guideline I use is:
1: Dig to bedrock.
2: Go back up five blocks. This should put you right above the lava layer.
3: Dig in a straight line about three blocks high until you run into open air or something you can't actually mine.
4: Stop (it's hammer time).
5: Turn cobblestone into cobblestone slabs.
6: On your way back to the start of your mine, place half-slabs on the ground to prevent monster spawning.
7: Your mine will be very dark. You can use torches at important locations, but I would recommend only placing them as you absolutely need them: coal is much more valuable than cobblestone.
8: Dig side branches following the same guideline as #3.
9: Rinse and repeat.
You will also want stone stairs to take you to and from your mine. You can crawl up stairs when starving to death, but you can't jump. Besides, jumping wastes food resources. At this stage in the game, you do not have food resources to spare.
You should also consider this principle when terraforming the land around your home. Dirt half-slabs are an amazing invention. Use them liberally because you do not want to jump everywhere. You just don't. Stairs are also effective.
Running and jumping should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary.
So, mining. You have some options on what you want to create out of iron. If you find diamonds, consider saving up twenty-seven iron ore instead of just eighteen. Two diamonds can be used to make a hoe, and your first iron pickaxe is a major milestone. Otherwise, just save up the eighteen iron ore you need to make a hoe, and craft it as soon as possible.
Yes, I said a hoe for your first two diamonds. Not a sword. You want to avoid combat at all costs. Combat will cripple you, and crippled Steves die horribly. The end.
Now that you've gotten a hoe somehow (we'll go with magic for this one), it's time to start up your real farming endeavors.
If you were lucky enough to get pumpkins in your early nomadic stages, great! Add pumpkin seeds to your farm, leaving a blank plot of dirt for each stem you plant. Note that pumpkin growth is pretty slow, but you can eat pumpkin seeds raw for 1/2 a shank of hunger each, at the same level as brown mushrooms on their own. Pumpkin pie is not available at this level unless you somehow wandered across an inhabited village and it had wheat - this guide is mostly about surviving without a village, so we're skipping pumpkin pie entirely.
You will want a decently-sized farm for hemp and hemp-seeds regardless of the presence or absence of pumpkins. Not only will this assist with feeding your chickens, resulting in more eggs and chicken meat, but a good hemp farm is also the first step towards the first major technological development in BTW: the windmill. Remember that your hemp farm must have open air or glass above it - and nothing else - or the hemp won't grow.
If you've found any bones in your travels from dead skeletons, or temples, or other players who had bones on them when they died (get creative! And remember, don't engage in combat if you can help it) you may want a millstone and hand crank to make bonemeal. The exact recipes can be found on the wiki, found here:http://sargunster.com/btw/index.php?title=Main_Page, so go take a moment to look that up now. The materials are things you should already have on hand if you've been following along.
(Hint: Wood and stone. Entirely. Some of it has to be processed.)
The hand-crank drains hunger extremely quickly, so always make sure you've got food to spare for this!
Bonemeal does not grow plants instantly in BTW, nor even at the rate that vMC now provides. It does, however, accelerate plant growth, including hemp plants and pumpkin stems.
So, now's a good time to analyze your resources. Do you have enough food to power the hand-crank to make bonemeal, and regardless of that, do you have enough food to survive the wait for your plants to grow? You should also consider whether or not you've encountered any wolves yet. If you have, you may consider using the raw bones to tame them instead, as they are a vital part of the later tech tree, can help you in combat, and may do as a food source in a pinch.
Never directly attack your (or anyone else's) wolves. It won't end well. Also feeding them their fallen kin is a Bad Idea.
If you don't have bones, of course, this is obviously a pointless consideration until you feel you are ready to fight skeletons, you create a mob grinder, or until the dawn greets you with a lucky stockpile of monster drops.
Regardless of the presence or absence of bones, you should focus on improving your food supply so you can grind the roughly 70 hemp plants you'll need to collect for a windmill and axles. Remember to only cut the top half of the hemp plant, as it will grow back much, much faster than growing a whole new hemp plant.
More in-depth guides cover advancing through the tech tree from here. One of the best guides is actually the front page of the BTW wiki, so take a peek at that to see where you should go next.
At this point you're mostly settled in, so your survival is entirely dependent on you.
Some considerations for your next goal: a compass is nice for finding the original spawn point. Building a road back to the original spawn may help you find your way back to wherever it is you settled if you die. If you've died a few times, there are good odds you have no idea where either point actually is until you build a compass and/or a map.
You will also soon want a nether portal to continue climbing the tech tree. More diamonds are therefore in order, as Hardcore Buckets does not allow for the bucket method of building such a portal. Just make sure your nether portal is someplace secured from the outside world. Optimally, nothing (except you) comes out, nothing (except you) should go in.
That's basically it!
Feedback is appreciated, as well as any other tips for absolute, complete nooblets.
There may be some minor spoilers, but I couldn't fit that in the title, so it's here.
If you don't want anything spoiled for you, why are you reading a how-to guide anyway?
Go get yourself killed a lot, that's what I did.
The scope of this is strictly the early stages of survival. It's more of a loose set of guidelines for what to do than a hard and fast guide. This encompasses what I've learned from my experiences so far. There is no one true way to actually play - this just seems to be the best way to pull it off without villages and without doing a lot of nomading.
That's a word now.
---
The goal of early survival is attaining a sustainable food supply.
Early Game Tools:
Wood Pickaxe, Wood Shovel, Stone Pickaxe, Stone Axe
Early Game "Weapons":
Stone Axe (Extremely low durability, use only in an emergency!)
---
Early Game Foods:
Brown Mushrooms, Pumpkin Seeds, Cooked Meat, Eggs
Note that mushrooms spread extremely slowly without bonemeal, which is not an immediately available resource, and pumpkins cannot be farmed until you have iron. Still, a nice dark mushroom-spreading area is a nice thought. Just be careful: it's quite possible that the mushroom farm will spawn monsters if you miscalculate even a little bit on the light level. It has to be low enough for mushrooms to spread, but high enough to keep monsters away - it's probably safer not to worry about it for now, especially if you're new to Minecraft in general and aren't sure what light level actually means.
Combat is to be avoided at all costs. Seriously, run away from combat if at all possible.
So the first thing you do in any version of Minecraft is punch wood. BTW is no different, so go gather a some wood. You'll want around ten wood logs to start with. Break them down into planks and the planks down into sticks, leaving enough wood for a wooden pickaxe. Mine all eleven cobblestone you can, and turn that cobblestone into a stone pickaxe and a furnace. Then mine more stone, then make a stone axe and some more stone pickaxes. If daylight still exists, consider getting more wood. You'll want it.
Do not go out at night if you can at all help it. If night falls and you're unprepared, dig a big hole and cry in it. Hopefully you won't starve.
Now that basic supplies are out of the way, let's discuss food.
If you find a swamp, harvest most of the brown mushrooms you find (leaving a handful under trees in case of emergency and for repopulation purposes). If you find pumpkins, collect them. Hunt for meat, but beware that animals run away, and chasing animals may be a greater waste of food resources than it returns. One porkchop is not worth three or four shanks off your food meter because you ran and jumped all over the place. Punch all the tall grass you find: hemp seeds will be an extremely vital part of the settling-down process.
Beware of over-hunting: You're not the only 'person' trying to eat animals now. Keep at least two of every animal penned up somehow, even if you don't have the crops to breed them just yet, as they will become important later in the tech tree.
If you don't care about wool, then sheep would be your best target for over-hunting early on; you simply don't need sheep if you don't want wool, and by end-game you'll have other food supplies.
When you think you've got enough resources to settle down, find a place you'd like to build. My ideal place is near a desert for optimal windmill usage, but a desert is not necessary, and I'm actually currently settling in a swamp by an ocean.
Chickens provide the earliest, easily-sustainable food source: feeding chickens hemp seeds from tall grass will provide eggs, which when thrown will either hatch into a baby chicken OR will give you a raw egg.
You want chickens around.
Raw egg can be mixed with brown mushrooms to create an omelet, which can then be cooked for best results. Alternatively, you can mix the egg with a bucket of milk and a bowl for scrambled eggs, which can also be cooked, or you can cook the egg alone for some benefit, if you never find milk or mushrooms.
If the chicken hatches, on the other hand, then you have access to more chicken meat or another source of eggs, depending on your preference, as soon as the baby chicken grows up.
It's important to note that you should create a safe chicken coop with a roof on top: the chickens' primary predators (other than you) do not care about walls!
After you've got your chicken situation settled, you should move on to farming properly. This will require at least eighteen iron ore to create the hoe, so it's time to start digging. You want as much iron and coal as you can get. Do not use the coal to smelt the iron you find; logs cook for variable times based on species but are now just about as effective as (char)coal in terms of fuel. You're going to want torches. Torches are important, and torches are much more valuable in BTW.
You will need a lot of stone pickaxes: the durability on them is not particularly spectacular, and you can no longer repair them by banging them together until they're fixed.
Suggestions for branch mining can be found all over the place, but I find that it's the most effective way to locate pretty much any mineral resource in vMC, and BTW doesn't change ore-spawning rules.
A general guideline I use is:
1: Dig to bedrock.
2: Go back up five blocks. This should put you right above the lava layer.
3: Dig in a straight line about three blocks high until you run into open air or something you can't actually mine.
4: Stop (it's hammer time).
5: Turn cobblestone into cobblestone slabs.
6: On your way back to the start of your mine, place half-slabs on the ground to prevent monster spawning.
7: Your mine will be very dark. You can use torches at important locations, but I would recommend only placing them as you absolutely need them: coal is much more valuable than cobblestone.
8: Dig side branches following the same guideline as #3.
9: Rinse and repeat.
You will also want stone stairs to take you to and from your mine. You can crawl up stairs when starving to death, but you can't jump. Besides, jumping wastes food resources. At this stage in the game, you do not have food resources to spare.
You should also consider this principle when terraforming the land around your home. Dirt half-slabs are an amazing invention. Use them liberally because you do not want to jump everywhere. You just don't. Stairs are also effective.
Running and jumping should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary.
So, mining. You have some options on what you want to create out of iron. If you find diamonds, consider saving up twenty-seven iron ore instead of just eighteen. Two diamonds can be used to make a hoe, and your first iron pickaxe is a major milestone. Otherwise, just save up the eighteen iron ore you need to make a hoe, and craft it as soon as possible.
Yes, I said a hoe for your first two diamonds. Not a sword. You want to avoid combat at all costs. Combat will cripple you, and crippled Steves die horribly. The end.
Now that you've gotten a hoe somehow (we'll go with magic for this one), it's time to start up your real farming endeavors.
If you were lucky enough to get pumpkins in your early nomadic stages, great! Add pumpkin seeds to your farm, leaving a blank plot of dirt for each stem you plant. Note that pumpkin growth is pretty slow, but you can eat pumpkin seeds raw for 1/2 a shank of hunger each, at the same level as brown mushrooms on their own. Pumpkin pie is not available at this level unless you somehow wandered across an inhabited village and it had wheat - this guide is mostly about surviving without a village, so we're skipping pumpkin pie entirely.
You will want a decently-sized farm for hemp and hemp-seeds regardless of the presence or absence of pumpkins. Not only will this assist with feeding your chickens, resulting in more eggs and chicken meat, but a good hemp farm is also the first step towards the first major technological development in BTW: the windmill. Remember that your hemp farm must have open air or glass above it - and nothing else - or the hemp won't grow.
If you've found any bones in your travels from dead skeletons, or temples, or other players who had bones on them when they died (get creative! And remember, don't engage in combat if you can help it) you may want a millstone and hand crank to make bonemeal. The exact recipes can be found on the wiki, found here:http://sargunster.com/btw/index.php?title=Main_Page, so go take a moment to look that up now. The materials are things you should already have on hand if you've been following along.
(Hint: Wood and stone. Entirely. Some of it has to be processed.)
The hand-crank drains hunger extremely quickly, so always make sure you've got food to spare for this!
Bonemeal does not grow plants instantly in BTW, nor even at the rate that vMC now provides. It does, however, accelerate plant growth, including hemp plants and pumpkin stems.
So, now's a good time to analyze your resources. Do you have enough food to power the hand-crank to make bonemeal, and regardless of that, do you have enough food to survive the wait for your plants to grow? You should also consider whether or not you've encountered any wolves yet. If you have, you may consider using the raw bones to tame them instead, as they are a vital part of the later tech tree, can help you in combat, and may do as a food source in a pinch.
Never directly attack your (or anyone else's) wolves. It won't end well. Also feeding them their fallen kin is a Bad Idea.
If you don't have bones, of course, this is obviously a pointless consideration until you feel you are ready to fight skeletons, you create a mob grinder, or until the dawn greets you with a lucky stockpile of monster drops.
Regardless of the presence or absence of bones, you should focus on improving your food supply so you can grind the roughly 70 hemp plants you'll need to collect for a windmill and axles. Remember to only cut the top half of the hemp plant, as it will grow back much, much faster than growing a whole new hemp plant.
More in-depth guides cover advancing through the tech tree from here. One of the best guides is actually the front page of the BTW wiki, so take a peek at that to see where you should go next.
At this point you're mostly settled in, so your survival is entirely dependent on you.
Some considerations for your next goal: a compass is nice for finding the original spawn point. Building a road back to the original spawn may help you find your way back to wherever it is you settled if you die. If you've died a few times, there are good odds you have no idea where either point actually is until you build a compass and/or a map.
You will also soon want a nether portal to continue climbing the tech tree. More diamonds are therefore in order, as Hardcore Buckets does not allow for the bucket method of building such a portal. Just make sure your nether portal is someplace secured from the outside world. Optimally, nothing (except you) comes out, nothing (except you) should go in.
That's basically it!
Feedback is appreciated, as well as any other tips for absolute, complete nooblets.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Transmutation
Or: I take this and that, and turn it into something else.
Take a fragile, sick mind and screw it up into something almost healthy ....
Oh, I told myself I wouldn't cheat. Better than Wolves is my true love, and I couldn't bear to give up its pure automation and style. I respect and admire Flowerchild for sticking to his guns - for setting his foot down and saying that this would not stand.
But I am not made of such strong stuff. I am now keeping a second .jar file for a batch of mods with something more ... magical.
I am, of course, referring to the twin mods Equivalent Exchange 2 and Thaumcraft 2. Both deal with turning one thing into another, especially matter into energy, but they go about it in two entirely different ways.
EE2 adds a lot of what most people would define as 'end-game' content. That is, you should really only try tackling EE2 after establishing yourself in the unmodified world, getting a few diamonds and a lot of redstone together, that sort of thing. When you've gotten all that together, then you can start on the things that require literally hundreds of diamonds to create.
What you get out of those diamonds varies from things like axes that can chop down entire forests in a single swing, to things like armor that makes you basically impervious to damage, to amulets that let you drain oceans, or hammers that let you level mountains.
To help you get that far, EE2 adds a lot of low-level content as well, like the Talisman of Repair that fixes your gear for you, or the transmutation table that lets you turn any item into any other item of equivalent value. See what I did there?
To EE2, cobblestone is no different from smooth stone is no different from grass is no different from sand - all are equivalent in value, and any can be made by using your trusty philosopher's stone on another.
Heady stuff, and there's something simply awesome about turning a handful of lapis lazuli powder into an entire library.
Now let's take a look at Thaumcraft 2.
By comparison, initially there is at once more wonder and less power to be had from TC2. Thaumcraft 2 adds a lot to world generation, from little sparkling wisps that flutter around the sky, chiming ever so softly, to shimmering silver trees that can't be grown naturally, to tiny crystals deep in the earth filled with magical power. There are mysterious monoliths, and massive greatwood trees, strange zombies and tainted slimes. The magic in the world is fueled by an invisible force called 'aura,' which can be corrupted by an equally powerful force called 'taint.' Both occur naturally, but can be made much more powerful when cultivated by the player.
Everything the player does, he or she does to harness Vis, the natural power of the world, to create things every bit as wonderful as those things made available by Equivalent Exchange.
There is a somewhat slower pace to TC2 than EE2, in part because, although EE2 immediately allows you to transmute anything you have into anything else you've ever had, in TC2, every discovery beyond the first two or three blocks has to be researched at a Quaesitum, a block that benefits from being placed in the aforementioned library, and a lot of the things researched at the Quaesitum are completely random in nature. With enough resources available, everything in EE2 is immediately at your fingertips, even if you're playing completely legitimately, while TC2 doles the magic out a little at a time - and gives terrible consequences to rushing ahead without thought.
As both mods are dependent on the Minecraft Forge, neither are compatible with Better Than Wolves, which is really my only complaint so far. It's hardly the fault of the mods, but it does mean I have to keep my worlds separate, at least until the official API hits.
Back, and doing all right. Expect posts erratically as I have thoughts in my head.
Take a fragile, sick mind and screw it up into something almost healthy ....
Oh, I told myself I wouldn't cheat. Better than Wolves is my true love, and I couldn't bear to give up its pure automation and style. I respect and admire Flowerchild for sticking to his guns - for setting his foot down and saying that this would not stand.
But I am not made of such strong stuff. I am now keeping a second .jar file for a batch of mods with something more ... magical.
I am, of course, referring to the twin mods Equivalent Exchange 2 and Thaumcraft 2. Both deal with turning one thing into another, especially matter into energy, but they go about it in two entirely different ways.
EE2 adds a lot of what most people would define as 'end-game' content. That is, you should really only try tackling EE2 after establishing yourself in the unmodified world, getting a few diamonds and a lot of redstone together, that sort of thing. When you've gotten all that together, then you can start on the things that require literally hundreds of diamonds to create.
What you get out of those diamonds varies from things like axes that can chop down entire forests in a single swing, to things like armor that makes you basically impervious to damage, to amulets that let you drain oceans, or hammers that let you level mountains.
To help you get that far, EE2 adds a lot of low-level content as well, like the Talisman of Repair that fixes your gear for you, or the transmutation table that lets you turn any item into any other item of equivalent value. See what I did there?
To EE2, cobblestone is no different from smooth stone is no different from grass is no different from sand - all are equivalent in value, and any can be made by using your trusty philosopher's stone on another.
Heady stuff, and there's something simply awesome about turning a handful of lapis lazuli powder into an entire library.
Now let's take a look at Thaumcraft 2.
By comparison, initially there is at once more wonder and less power to be had from TC2. Thaumcraft 2 adds a lot to world generation, from little sparkling wisps that flutter around the sky, chiming ever so softly, to shimmering silver trees that can't be grown naturally, to tiny crystals deep in the earth filled with magical power. There are mysterious monoliths, and massive greatwood trees, strange zombies and tainted slimes. The magic in the world is fueled by an invisible force called 'aura,' which can be corrupted by an equally powerful force called 'taint.' Both occur naturally, but can be made much more powerful when cultivated by the player.
Everything the player does, he or she does to harness Vis, the natural power of the world, to create things every bit as wonderful as those things made available by Equivalent Exchange.
There is a somewhat slower pace to TC2 than EE2, in part because, although EE2 immediately allows you to transmute anything you have into anything else you've ever had, in TC2, every discovery beyond the first two or three blocks has to be researched at a Quaesitum, a block that benefits from being placed in the aforementioned library, and a lot of the things researched at the Quaesitum are completely random in nature. With enough resources available, everything in EE2 is immediately at your fingertips, even if you're playing completely legitimately, while TC2 doles the magic out a little at a time - and gives terrible consequences to rushing ahead without thought.
As both mods are dependent on the Minecraft Forge, neither are compatible with Better Than Wolves, which is really my only complaint so far. It's hardly the fault of the mods, but it does mean I have to keep my worlds separate, at least until the official API hits.
Back, and doing all right. Expect posts erratically as I have thoughts in my head.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Been Down, Been Up, It's Okay
So, I have a livestream.
My intention is to stream most nights 12:30-1AM CST - just game-related stuff. Minecraft, for now.
Check it out.
Not much to say.
The doctor has me on high-grade antidepressants that take the bleeding edge off the mania and the cutting edge off the despair. They also take the edges off my thoughts. My brain feels blurry.
'sokay though.
I may/may not actually have a thyroid problem after all. Secondary test shows levels are low, but not nearly so bad as they were before. Up, down, up, down.
I have an appointment next monday to speak with an endocrinologist about it.
Fun times.
Not feeling particularly anything right now. Kind of just ... empty.
'sokay.
Everything is okay.
Everything will be okay.
My intention is to stream most nights 12:30-1AM CST - just game-related stuff. Minecraft, for now.
Check it out.
Not much to say.
The doctor has me on high-grade antidepressants that take the bleeding edge off the mania and the cutting edge off the despair. They also take the edges off my thoughts. My brain feels blurry.
'sokay though.
I may/may not actually have a thyroid problem after all. Secondary test shows levels are low, but not nearly so bad as they were before. Up, down, up, down.
I have an appointment next monday to speak with an endocrinologist about it.
Fun times.
Not feeling particularly anything right now. Kind of just ... empty.
'sokay.
Everything is okay.
Everything will be okay.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Cubeaism 3 - What I Did
It took more effort than I expected, to destroy even a small portion of the portal. I chipped away at it for the better part of a day. It was hot, sweaty work, and it only reminded me how grimy I've become. But it was worth it. The portal wavered, then closed.
Then, I climbed the side of the shrine, dousing its flame with the ashy sand. It's not much, but it's all I can do for now.
In the future, I'll do more work on tearing it down completely.
With that completed, I started work on my own shelter. I brought some stone and wood to work with, but I haven't had a chance to purify the stone. Wooden planks it is.
It isn't much to look at, but it will keep me safe. The evil creatures of Net roam these lands at night - Terrae's eye burns them with sunlight.
Then, I climbed the side of the shrine, dousing its flame with the ashy sand. It's not much, but it's all I can do for now.
In the future, I'll do more work on tearing it down completely.
With that completed, I started work on my own shelter. I brought some stone and wood to work with, but I haven't had a chance to purify the stone. Wooden planks it is.
It isn't much to look at, but it will keep me safe. The evil creatures of Net roam these lands at night - Terrae's eye burns them with sunlight.
Which isn't to say I can't keep myself safe.
These lands are absolutely riddled with Net's minions, and there is only one solution for that ... problem.
 |
| Yes, that is a skeleton riding a spider. |
An initiate of Penna who has spoken her vows may not directly kill another living being, regardless of circumstance. She may also not consume any kind of meat, though fruits, breads, cakes, and even my favorite kind of food, doughnuts, are allowed.
I have not yet spoken my vows, and I always was a good shot with a bow. Mother would have died of embarrassment, I think, if I wasn't.
The creatures didn't even wait for me to leave my shelter. I had to defend myself from the moment I set foot outside.
On the other hand, the tall, destructive creatures known as Endermen, semi-solid and full of hate, are present in large numbers. Although somewhat difficult to combat, due to their nature, I killed three of them on my own, and the daylight did the rest. I collected five of their cores - their 'pearls,' so to speak. I think I can do something wonderful with these innately magical gems.
I still cannot stand what the followers of Net have done to my home, nor can I believe it was only one man to wreak so much harm. But hunting these evil creatures has brought me a measure of peace for the night.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Cubeaism 2 - What I Expected
This ... is not what I expected.
Right now I've bedded down in a small hovel with my supplies, waiting for day. I have to get my bearings.
There is a desert where my home once was. It's ... it's wrong, is what it is. I know the mountains here, I know is landscape.
There is a desert where my home once was. It's ... it's wrong, is what it is. I know the mountains here, I know is landscape.
This cannot have been the work of just one man. I'm going to need to collect some more supplies for this. I had planned to replant the forest, to rebuild what I remember of my home.
With this, I'll be lucky if I manage to build an oasis.
It isn't a complete loss. There is some forest in the surrounding areas, and a small grassland surrounding a lake not far from here.
Was this entire journey a waste? I hope not.
I wandered the edges of the desert for a while, my mind churning. This couldn't be right, I took a wrong turn. I was in the wrong place.
And then I found my old doll. Little Steve. He's a bit smudged and ashy, slightly charred - but recognizable.
I never thought I'd see him again, after I dropped him that night.
More than that, though, I found an explanation for what's happened here.
A shrine to Net, a black scar on the land, rose up out of the sand, a horrible reminder of an old wound. I'm positive it stands where the main shrine to Terrae once stood. It makes an awful kind of sense.
Tomorrow I will work on destroying it - I don't feel comfortable with that portal active. I can hear ... things ... scuttling about, beyond.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Cubeaism 1 - What They Said
((Story based on this thing here.))
They say that it took only one man to destroy my entire way of life.
My family were devout worshipers of Terrae, She Who is Life. We lived in a forest stronghold, with watchtowers placed in all directions. They hunted the wild animals for sustenance, and the evil creatures that dared enter our domain for sport. I was young and eager, and I wanted nothing more than to join them in the hunt.
Then, the fires came.
They say it was a man angered by the gods. He was what we now call an alchemist, a man who wielded great and terrible power.
One night, he walked unseen into our most sacred place and by merely raising his hands, he set all the forest ablaze. His presence burned so brightly that around him, the lakes dried up. The land itself burned.
Nothing was safe.
No one was safe.
My family fought valiantly, but there was no force of arms great enough to overcome the man.
I remember Mother telling me to run, flee the forest. She sent me to the disciples of Penna, where all may know peace and safety in their lofty temples.
My family were warriors.
I now follow a different path.
I will bring the blessed light of Penna to all the world, and I will use the same magic that man used.
Where he destroyed, I hope to rebuild.
Perhaps ... perhaps one day I will know what drove the man to act as he did.
I have left the safety of the Moon Garden Temple at the suggestion and blessing of my teachers. By myself, with the magic I now harness, I will build a new temple in Penna's blessed name.
I shall name it the Temple of Fallen Stars. It will stand above the charred ruin of my family's home, a monument in their honor.
So mote it be.
They say that it took only one man to destroy my entire way of life.
My family were devout worshipers of Terrae, She Who is Life. We lived in a forest stronghold, with watchtowers placed in all directions. They hunted the wild animals for sustenance, and the evil creatures that dared enter our domain for sport. I was young and eager, and I wanted nothing more than to join them in the hunt.
Then, the fires came.
They say it was a man angered by the gods. He was what we now call an alchemist, a man who wielded great and terrible power.
One night, he walked unseen into our most sacred place and by merely raising his hands, he set all the forest ablaze. His presence burned so brightly that around him, the lakes dried up. The land itself burned.
Nothing was safe.
No one was safe.
My family fought valiantly, but there was no force of arms great enough to overcome the man.
I remember Mother telling me to run, flee the forest. She sent me to the disciples of Penna, where all may know peace and safety in their lofty temples.
My family were warriors.
I now follow a different path.
I will bring the blessed light of Penna to all the world, and I will use the same magic that man used.
Where he destroyed, I hope to rebuild.
Perhaps ... perhaps one day I will know what drove the man to act as he did.
I have left the safety of the Moon Garden Temple at the suggestion and blessing of my teachers. By myself, with the magic I now harness, I will build a new temple in Penna's blessed name.
I shall name it the Temple of Fallen Stars. It will stand above the charred ruin of my family's home, a monument in their honor.
So mote it be.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Mod Interactivity - Equivalent Exchange, Better Than Wolves
(Because who needs emotion anyway?)
So, I've been playing around with mods in Minecraft recently, because when I get a game I tend to play it vanilla for a short stretch of time, then find out what other people have done to bend the engine's arm behind its back.
Minecraft is one of the better games out there to play modded, I think, and here's why:
Mod interactivity.
Hear me out - I know a lot of mods end up being incompatible with one another due to block IDs. And I know Notch pretty much deliberately made it hell to mod the game what with the code obfuscation and the lack of an official mod API and all.
However, once you get the blocks all in the game and past the inevitable black screen of death, lots of mods play really nicely together.
Here's an example: Right now I'm derping around with Better Than Wolves and Equivalent Exchange (plus a handful of others, notably Timber! and Clay Soldiers).
With Equivalent Exchange (it's an alchemy mod, by the way), once you get your philosopher's stone, you can turn a whole bunch of things into a whole bunch of other things at relatively low resource cost. In practice this means things like 'turn flowers into pumpkins into melons so you don't have to find a death mineshaft (oh god cave spiders why) to start farming resources.
It also gives you basically unlimited redstone and/or glowstone out of sugar cane, essentially turning all resources in the game (Lava is coal + redstone + bucket + philo stone) into renewable resources. Powerful stuff.
But how does that interact with Better than Wolves?
Let me explain what Better than Wolves is if you're not interested in googling it yourself (the name is a non-indicative jab at Notch's penchant for adding random trivial content) - the mod basically aims to add an endgame made of mechanical power to minecraft. To that end, you have things like windmills and water wheels, hemp plants and ground up souls of the damned, all to make you the undisputed ruler of your world. (So you can better crush any zombie uprisings, see?)
It also adds elevators which is just damn cool, I don't care who you are.
Now, your first water wheel generally will be made with glue because slimes are difficult to find and ridiculously rare besides. That involves a trip or several to the Nether to build a hibachi, plus the understanding of how to work mechanical power (if you just installed Better than Wolves you probably don't have that understanding) to stoke a fire using a bellows.
With Equivalent Exchange, instead of doing all that, you can take a bucket of water, some normal seeds, a sapling, and some sugarcane, and grind it all up until you've made a whole mess of slimeballs.
One of the cooler features of Better than Wolves is the block dispenser, which is critical to creating companion cubes (you monster), and also most forms of automated farming. Trouble is, it requires mossy cobblestone. I've only legitimately found a handful of dungeons in my entire time playing the game. The spider dungeon challenge aside, I've never really built anything out of mossy cobble because it's so damn rare.
Equivalent Exchange has a solution for that, as well! Seeds + Cobblestone = Mossy Cobblestone.
Basically, the two mods play off of each other in fun and interesting ways, because they both use the standard items - just in new and interesting ways. Sure I can't, say, transmute normal seeds into hemp seeds - but the mods compliment each other so nicely that sometimes I actually forget that isn't possible.
Of course, somebody else is doing something more impressive than I have the patience for with this combination, that's how I discovered it and that's ultimately why I downgraded back to 1.8.1 from the 1.9 prereleases. Good job, Stormweaver.
So, I've been playing around with mods in Minecraft recently, because when I get a game I tend to play it vanilla for a short stretch of time, then find out what other people have done to bend the engine's arm behind its back.
Minecraft is one of the better games out there to play modded, I think, and here's why:
Mod interactivity.
Hear me out - I know a lot of mods end up being incompatible with one another due to block IDs. And I know Notch pretty much deliberately made it hell to mod the game what with the code obfuscation and the lack of an official mod API and all.
However, once you get the blocks all in the game and past the inevitable black screen of death, lots of mods play really nicely together.
Here's an example: Right now I'm derping around with Better Than Wolves and Equivalent Exchange (plus a handful of others, notably Timber! and Clay Soldiers).
With Equivalent Exchange (it's an alchemy mod, by the way), once you get your philosopher's stone, you can turn a whole bunch of things into a whole bunch of other things at relatively low resource cost. In practice this means things like 'turn flowers into pumpkins into melons so you don't have to find a death mineshaft (oh god cave spiders why) to start farming resources.
It also gives you basically unlimited redstone and/or glowstone out of sugar cane, essentially turning all resources in the game (Lava is coal + redstone + bucket + philo stone) into renewable resources. Powerful stuff.
But how does that interact with Better than Wolves?
Let me explain what Better than Wolves is if you're not interested in googling it yourself (the name is a non-indicative jab at Notch's penchant for adding random trivial content) - the mod basically aims to add an endgame made of mechanical power to minecraft. To that end, you have things like windmills and water wheels, hemp plants and ground up souls of the damned, all to make you the undisputed ruler of your world. (So you can better crush any zombie uprisings, see?)
It also adds elevators which is just damn cool, I don't care who you are.
Now, your first water wheel generally will be made with glue because slimes are difficult to find and ridiculously rare besides. That involves a trip or several to the Nether to build a hibachi, plus the understanding of how to work mechanical power (if you just installed Better than Wolves you probably don't have that understanding) to stoke a fire using a bellows.
With Equivalent Exchange, instead of doing all that, you can take a bucket of water, some normal seeds, a sapling, and some sugarcane, and grind it all up until you've made a whole mess of slimeballs.
One of the cooler features of Better than Wolves is the block dispenser, which is critical to creating companion cubes (you monster), and also most forms of automated farming. Trouble is, it requires mossy cobblestone. I've only legitimately found a handful of dungeons in my entire time playing the game. The spider dungeon challenge aside, I've never really built anything out of mossy cobble because it's so damn rare.
Equivalent Exchange has a solution for that, as well! Seeds + Cobblestone = Mossy Cobblestone.
Basically, the two mods play off of each other in fun and interesting ways, because they both use the standard items - just in new and interesting ways. Sure I can't, say, transmute normal seeds into hemp seeds - but the mods compliment each other so nicely that sometimes I actually forget that isn't possible.
Of course, somebody else is doing something more impressive than I have the patience for with this combination, that's how I discovered it and that's ultimately why I downgraded back to 1.8.1 from the 1.9 prereleases. Good job, Stormweaver.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Another Status Update
Seems to be all I do, lately, sorry.
Gonna be writing a lot this next week because apparently they're taking away 99.99999% of our entertainment at work and if I don't do something I will go batshit insane, snap, and start strangling people with a mouse cord. Can't guarantee it'll be precisely on-time - we'll see how people are actually adhering before I say one way or another if I'm going to be a bad corporate slave or a good one. Who knows.
Feeeck.
Ren faire was amazing fun the first day, pretty cool the second day. I got some kind of a ... injury, I guess, on my eye. Light bruising, hurts like a bitch, kinda itches. Sucks. Wore an eyepatch the second day to keep myself from touching it (and to keep other people from noticing it doesn't open all the way right now.)
'sall good. Can see fine, no big.
Sunburn: reminding us pale fuckers why we're not supposed to actually see our primary star much. Also skin cancer, but I don't have that and I am very thankful. Very pink, however. Pain is a thing. Not terribly bad though.
I got a new charm - a "Mysteries" rune in pewter. I liked the cut of it at the faire, and it caught my eye, so I grabbed it up. Bought my pentagram at that stall last year, too. 's good. Guy's accommodating to weird people who get pulled around by their urges, but I guess if you get paid to and cater mostly to mystic types (and people who just think they are) anyway, it's the name of the game, no?
Hum ... So, I had a tarot reading by a lady who's got 30+ years of experience. It was ... interesting. Did a ten card spread and drew three cards for an 'angel blessing' thing.
The 'angel blessing' went as follows (might be colored by me putting on my people-friendly face):
1) Leadership
2) Peacefulness
3) Seeing the Good in Others
I don't really know about 1 - I have a very hard time seeing anything good about myself so ... yeah. You judge that, I'm not capable.
2, though - I hate conflict. I avoid it where I can, and ignore it when I can't. Rarely do I get embroiled in that kind of a thing. So yeah. Makes sense.
The third one ties into the second one - I can see just about every side of an argument and weigh them out equally. I just ... tend to ignore the bad parts when I can, because, well, see #2.
Don't quite completely remember all of the 10-card spread, but here's what I remember of it.
First card: The Emperor, inverted. (A very confused man, lol.) Fits well enough.
Second card: The Devil. (Obsessive. GIMME GIMME GIMME. I want things.)
Some other things turned up. Eighth card was the three of swords (gee, where have I seen you before, you little bastard.) Handful of pentacles, because I do worry over money a bit, don't I.
Things she pegged: "A very confused man" as the self card - Very much a tomboy, almost all of my hobbies are 'masculine' and such. I don't really think of myself in terms of gender, but I'm certainly not terribly feminine, tits aside. I don't actually understand women, and I have no interest whatsoever in mind games and obfuscation. The only times I don't say what I mean ... well, see #2 above. Pick and choose your battles, folks, because fighting is damn tiring and you lose more than you win. Always.
I do tend towards obsessive habits, yes. Granted. Moving on.
One of the themes she kept bringing up was that in relationships, A) I've been burned in the past and would like to avoid a repeat performance, and B) when I'm trying to initiate one, I tend to give far more than I get back ... which is actually how I get burned. I don't generally like relationships besides, and I usually don't actually want most of what people are supposed to get out of them ... also I tend not to initiate them in the first place (what can I say? Everyone I've connected with emotionally now has a relationship physically and is more like a sibling than a lover anyway).
How I got burned in the past? Well, the most recent one, I got what I wanted early on and didn't know how to kick the guy to the curb afterwards. Since, well, see #2, I tend to get entangled in shit I don't mean to and don't want to because it's easier than the alternatives.
So ... yeah. How about that obfuscation I don't do?
Oh, one thing it'd be nice if it were true - she claims that sometime in the next ten months I'll hit some kind of financial windfall that will make me happy.
Gods and goddesses all help me but I can't think of anything.
Maybe I'll win the lottery, lol.
In other news, baby animals! D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Do want.
... Aw. I did a Google vanity search and apparently my use-name is no longer unique to me. Oh well, on the forums I frequent I'll still prolly be the only one (which is better than I can say for Neko.)
Gonna be writing a lot this next week because apparently they're taking away 99.99999% of our entertainment at work and if I don't do something I will go batshit insane, snap, and start strangling people with a mouse cord. Can't guarantee it'll be precisely on-time - we'll see how people are actually adhering before I say one way or another if I'm going to be a bad corporate slave or a good one. Who knows.
Feeeck.
Ren faire was amazing fun the first day, pretty cool the second day. I got some kind of a ... injury, I guess, on my eye. Light bruising, hurts like a bitch, kinda itches. Sucks. Wore an eyepatch the second day to keep myself from touching it (and to keep other people from noticing it doesn't open all the way right now.)
'sall good. Can see fine, no big.
Sunburn: reminding us pale fuckers why we're not supposed to actually see our primary star much. Also skin cancer, but I don't have that and I am very thankful. Very pink, however. Pain is a thing. Not terribly bad though.
I got a new charm - a "Mysteries" rune in pewter. I liked the cut of it at the faire, and it caught my eye, so I grabbed it up. Bought my pentagram at that stall last year, too. 's good. Guy's accommodating to weird people who get pulled around by their urges, but I guess if you get paid to and cater mostly to mystic types (and people who just think they are) anyway, it's the name of the game, no?
Hum ... So, I had a tarot reading by a lady who's got 30+ years of experience. It was ... interesting. Did a ten card spread and drew three cards for an 'angel blessing' thing.
The 'angel blessing' went as follows (might be colored by me putting on my people-friendly face):
1) Leadership
2) Peacefulness
3) Seeing the Good in Others
I don't really know about 1 - I have a very hard time seeing anything good about myself so ... yeah. You judge that, I'm not capable.
2, though - I hate conflict. I avoid it where I can, and ignore it when I can't. Rarely do I get embroiled in that kind of a thing. So yeah. Makes sense.
The third one ties into the second one - I can see just about every side of an argument and weigh them out equally. I just ... tend to ignore the bad parts when I can, because, well, see #2.
Don't quite completely remember all of the 10-card spread, but here's what I remember of it.
First card: The Emperor, inverted. (A very confused man, lol.) Fits well enough.
Second card: The Devil. (Obsessive. GIMME GIMME GIMME. I want things.)
Some other things turned up. Eighth card was the three of swords (gee, where have I seen you before, you little bastard.) Handful of pentacles, because I do worry over money a bit, don't I.
Things she pegged: "A very confused man" as the self card - Very much a tomboy, almost all of my hobbies are 'masculine' and such. I don't really think of myself in terms of gender, but I'm certainly not terribly feminine, tits aside. I don't actually understand women, and I have no interest whatsoever in mind games and obfuscation. The only times I don't say what I mean ... well, see #2 above. Pick and choose your battles, folks, because fighting is damn tiring and you lose more than you win. Always.
I do tend towards obsessive habits, yes. Granted. Moving on.
One of the themes she kept bringing up was that in relationships, A) I've been burned in the past and would like to avoid a repeat performance, and B) when I'm trying to initiate one, I tend to give far more than I get back ... which is actually how I get burned. I don't generally like relationships besides, and I usually don't actually want most of what people are supposed to get out of them ... also I tend not to initiate them in the first place (what can I say? Everyone I've connected with emotionally now has a relationship physically and is more like a sibling than a lover anyway).
How I got burned in the past? Well, the most recent one, I got what I wanted early on and didn't know how to kick the guy to the curb afterwards. Since, well, see #2, I tend to get entangled in shit I don't mean to and don't want to because it's easier than the alternatives.
So ... yeah. How about that obfuscation I don't do?
Oh, one thing it'd be nice if it were true - she claims that sometime in the next ten months I'll hit some kind of financial windfall that will make me happy.
Gods and goddesses all help me but I can't think of anything.
Maybe I'll win the lottery, lol.
In other news, baby animals! D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Do want.
... Aw. I did a Google vanity search and apparently my use-name is no longer unique to me. Oh well, on the forums I frequent I'll still prolly be the only one (which is better than I can say for Neko.)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Minecraft 1.9 pre - Seed Water
You know, the only reason - the only reason - this entire post is not dedicated to gibberish about how awesome Dominion is (oh my god Dominion is awesome it's so fast and so much fun if you get a chance to try it you have to try it oh my gods and goddesses) is because the Minecraft 1.9 prerelease also came out and I got more time with Minecraft 1.9.
Oh my gods and goddesses Dominion is amazingly fun. It's just BAM POW ZOOM. I need to be over there! Now I'm over there! Oh damn the base ate my face. I'm alive again! KILL! So fast. Ridiculously fun. I got an hour with it and played three matches. Lost one because Dez DC'd early. :( AT&T did not want me to achieve victory. Dominion snowballs really hardcore. If you're losing to start with you'll prolly keep losing. If you're winning to start with, curbstomp harder so they can't get up.
Anyway, Minecraft 1.9, what to sayyyy ...
Well. First off, there's enough of a problem with the FPS just tanking for no reason that somebody already coded a fix for it. Two different people did, actually. If the first one doesn't work, try this one.
All the seeds changed, so that sucks. For example: I had an amazing Survival Island style seed I was mucking about with with the incredibly appropriate seed Water. It had a tree, enough grass you were guaranteed at least one seed unless you're just the unluckiest person on the planet, enough coal and clay that you could build a house out of bricks without too much trouble, and a massive hole that led into one of the biggest cave systems I've ever seen.
Just amazing.
Now, the Water seed takes you to a slightly different location.
This is what you see when first loading it - a very nice little pumpkin patch. There's also a bunch of sugar cane, a patch of red mushrooms, and enough brown mushrooms to seed your own mushroom biome with.
Nearby, there's a lovely little lava lake about here:
Oh my gods and goddesses Dominion is amazingly fun. It's just BAM POW ZOOM. I need to be over there! Now I'm over there! Oh damn the base ate my face. I'm alive again! KILL! So fast. Ridiculously fun. I got an hour with it and played three matches. Lost one because Dez DC'd early. :( AT&T did not want me to achieve victory. Dominion snowballs really hardcore. If you're losing to start with you'll prolly keep losing. If you're winning to start with, curbstomp harder so they can't get up.
Anyway, Minecraft 1.9, what to sayyyy ...
Well. First off, there's enough of a problem with the FPS just tanking for no reason that somebody already coded a fix for it. Two different people did, actually. If the first one doesn't work, try this one.
All the seeds changed, so that sucks. For example: I had an amazing Survival Island style seed I was mucking about with with the incredibly appropriate seed Water. It had a tree, enough grass you were guaranteed at least one seed unless you're just the unluckiest person on the planet, enough coal and clay that you could build a house out of bricks without too much trouble, and a massive hole that led into one of the biggest cave systems I've ever seen.
Just amazing.
Now, the Water seed takes you to a slightly different location.
This is what you see when first loading it - a very nice little pumpkin patch. There's also a bunch of sugar cane, a patch of red mushrooms, and enough brown mushrooms to seed your own mushroom biome with.
Nearby, there's a lovely little lava lake about here:
It's nice.
Oh, there are a bunch of sheep and more grass than you can shake a stick at, so you'll be able to get a bed. Even if you kill three sheep, you'll still be able to shear the rest later on for a plush bit of carpeting.
Finally, there's The Ravine:
All coordinates are approximate.
I like that the vines continue down into the ravine itself, too. There's at least 35 iron exposed in the first little chunk of exposed ravine, and more coal than you can shake a stick at.
All in all, it's now a very nice little starter seed, it's just not the Survival Island it used to be. Didn't actually get around to exploring the ravine, though - I got killed by my FPS tanking for no reason.
Oh, and apparently they're coding in Hardcore mode! Now Minecraft itself will keep me honest when I play hardcore. Yay!
More reason to hate creepers though.
Some Nether changes, a new automaton to make mob grinders more epic, more useless items, a massive Enderman nerf, three new mobs (one of which being the passive mobs that are holding the place of NPC Villagers), and of course it broke all mods and texture packs again, lol.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
R.A.R.E.
Recording.
Warning: No network connections found.
This is the Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction Unit 01.
The Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction Unit has crash-landed on a large, tier-three oxygen-rich planet. Preliminary analysis indicates that there may be sentient, carbon-based life-forms already inhabiting this planet. Investigation is required.
Preliminary analysis also indicates that this specific island, though resource-poor above-ground, appears to be situated above a large quantity of subterranean resources.
To better facilitate interaction with organic life-forms, and as part of the company's ecological initiative, the R.A.R.E. Unit 01 is composed of 35% organic material and can convert certain key organic materials into fuel.
During the landing sequence, all pre-processed fuels, all nonsentient technologies, and all purely organic life-forms stored in the R.A.R.E. shuttlecraft were lost.
Until the R.A.R.E. Unit 01 receive further instructions, it will continue with its mission alone.
Warning: No network connections found.
Objective one: Establish a base of operations suitable for long-term habitation by organic life-forms.
Secondary objectives:
A) Obtain a reliable source of organic materials for use as fuel.
B) Obtain a renewable source of organic materials for use in constructing temporary habitation.
C) Secure base of operations from hostile life-forms.
D) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
E) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
Objective two: Begin collection of valuable mineral resources.
Secondary objectives:
A) Craft tools of sufficient strength and durability to facilitate efficient collection of materials.
B) Craft some form of weaponry and/or body armor in case of hostile interactions with native life-forms.
C) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
D) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
Objective three: Deliver resources to home planet after sufficient number have been collected.
Secondary objectives:
A) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
B) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
C) Construct some fashion of interstellar travel if no crafts of sufficient size and power are able respond to S.O.S.
Warning: No network connections found.
Warning: Low power. Please recharge Unit 01 soon.
Transmitting on all frequencies: The Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction unit requests assistance. The R.A.R.E. Unit is almost completely out of fuel and a number of organic functions have already been suspended. All purely organic members of the R.A.R.E. Unit were killed during the landing sequence. The landing sequence also destroyed all methods of transportation, tools, and technologies save for R.A.R.E. Unit 01.
Warning: Data corruption detected in main hard drive. Transferring data to organic processors ... no organic processors detected. Attempting to synchronize with network database ... no network database found. Please restore Unit 01 to a good backup.
Warning: Organic functions temporarily suspended. Please resume functions immediately to avoid atrophy.
Warning: No network connections found.
Warning: Low power. Please recharge Unit 01 soon.
Warning: Hostile life-forms detected.
((This should be fun. I need to stretch that out at least ten minutes, possibly more. Pfeh.))
Warning: No network connections found.
This is the Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction Unit 01.
The Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction Unit has crash-landed on a large, tier-three oxygen-rich planet. Preliminary analysis indicates that there may be sentient, carbon-based life-forms already inhabiting this planet. Investigation is required.
Preliminary analysis also indicates that this specific island, though resource-poor above-ground, appears to be situated above a large quantity of subterranean resources.
To better facilitate interaction with organic life-forms, and as part of the company's ecological initiative, the R.A.R.E. Unit 01 is composed of 35% organic material and can convert certain key organic materials into fuel.
During the landing sequence, all pre-processed fuels, all nonsentient technologies, and all purely organic life-forms stored in the R.A.R.E. shuttlecraft were lost.
Until the R.A.R.E. Unit 01 receive further instructions, it will continue with its mission alone.
Warning: No network connections found.
Objective one: Establish a base of operations suitable for long-term habitation by organic life-forms.
Secondary objectives:
A) Obtain a reliable source of organic materials for use as fuel.
B) Obtain a renewable source of organic materials for use in constructing temporary habitation.
C) Secure base of operations from hostile life-forms.
D) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
E) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
Objective two: Begin collection of valuable mineral resources.
Secondary objectives:
A) Craft tools of sufficient strength and durability to facilitate efficient collection of materials.
B) Craft some form of weaponry and/or body armor in case of hostile interactions with native life-forms.
C) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
D) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
Objective three: Deliver resources to home planet after sufficient number have been collected.
Secondary objectives:
A) Report progress at earliest possible opportunity.
B) After initial report, report progress at least once every fourteen days, galactic standard time.
C) Construct some fashion of interstellar travel if no crafts of sufficient size and power are able respond to S.O.S.
Warning: No network connections found.
Warning: Low power. Please recharge Unit 01 soon.
Transmitting on all frequencies: The Remote Autonomous Resource Extraction unit requests assistance. The R.A.R.E. Unit is almost completely out of fuel and a number of organic functions have already been suspended. All purely organic members of the R.A.R.E. Unit were killed during the landing sequence. The landing sequence also destroyed all methods of transportation, tools, and technologies save for R.A.R.E. Unit 01.
Warning: Data corruption detected in main hard drive. Transferring data to organic processors ... no organic processors detected. Attempting to synchronize with network database ... no network database found. Please restore Unit 01 to a good backup.
Warning: Organic functions temporarily suspended. Please resume functions immediately to avoid atrophy.
Warning: No network connections found.
Warning: Low power. Please recharge Unit 01 soon.
Warning: Hostile life-forms detected.
((This should be fun. I need to stretch that out at least ten minutes, possibly more. Pfeh.))
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sick Again
Sorry, not much to say.
Apparently I've got a sinus infection and an ear infection. I'm really kinda prone to that sort of thing.
'sgreat. Back at work today though.
Uh. So.
Riven is really fun to play, on LoL. Bouncing everywhere. 's worse than WuKong. 's pretty cool though. Honestly I kinda dig her splash art & model, y'know? Don't see what all the bitching is about. Biggest problem is how easy it is to unintentionally towerdive. She's got an excess of forward momentum at all times.
The dash is cool. Manaless champion is also cool.
Bet she'd be amazing in a lane with Maokai. He gets that passive, where spells cast around him let him heal, right? She is constantly in motion and constantly casting spells.
Her voice sounds kinda ... odd. Girly. Which, y'know, female. But like girlish, rather than ANGRY WOMAN 'KGO. I feel like she's from some shoujo anime - like the tomboy bruiser to Lux's girly girl caster or something. (Amusement, Riven is ex-Noxus ... ish?, and Lux is from Demacia.)
Wonder how they'd do in a lane together, lol.
Things to try later on (assuming I ever get to play her because jeez everyone wants to):
How's triforce on her?
How's Sheen specifically on her? Manaless with no AP ratios at all, but that on-hit with her ability spam might be neat.
What's most effective - more attack speed or more attack damage, and I bet phantoms would be just silly on her for the move speed. Prolly depends on her AD ratios. Very spammable abilities though. Eh.
Oh - Also Minecraft 1.8 went live as opposed to leaked-and-promoted. So that's cool. SMP still has the Endermen bug (they literally can not see you right now on SMP).
Endermen ... I wish they weren't so easy to kill. I like the tie-in with the original mythos that they're affected by water, but really, two hits with a sword? In relation to that, I wish they weren't so common. Instead of one enderman screwing with the landscape, there's basically an army of them.
And they burn in sunlight. I don't really like that part either. One of the bigger scares of the Mythos was the fact that He didn't give a damn if it was day or night, y'know?
Eh.
Creative mode is hella fun.
Some of the lighting is still bugged.
Still waiting for a good, basic texture pack that's 1.8 compliant.
Gonna go try out single player now. Bet they're significantly scarier there when looking at them could actually hurt me. lol.
Oh, I also wish they didn't move around logs, wood, or cobblestone. Dirt, sand, gravel, sure, but random trees all over the landscape missing their middle bits is kinda disconcerting. And messy.
Apparently I've got a sinus infection and an ear infection. I'm really kinda prone to that sort of thing.
'sgreat. Back at work today though.
Uh. So.
Riven is really fun to play, on LoL. Bouncing everywhere. 's worse than WuKong. 's pretty cool though. Honestly I kinda dig her splash art & model, y'know? Don't see what all the bitching is about. Biggest problem is how easy it is to unintentionally towerdive. She's got an excess of forward momentum at all times.
The dash is cool. Manaless champion is also cool.
Bet she'd be amazing in a lane with Maokai. He gets that passive, where spells cast around him let him heal, right? She is constantly in motion and constantly casting spells.
Her voice sounds kinda ... odd. Girly. Which, y'know, female. But like girlish, rather than ANGRY WOMAN 'KGO. I feel like she's from some shoujo anime - like the tomboy bruiser to Lux's girly girl caster or something. (Amusement, Riven is ex-Noxus ... ish?, and Lux is from Demacia.)
Wonder how they'd do in a lane together, lol.
Things to try later on (assuming I ever get to play her because jeez everyone wants to):
How's triforce on her?
How's Sheen specifically on her? Manaless with no AP ratios at all, but that on-hit with her ability spam might be neat.
What's most effective - more attack speed or more attack damage, and I bet phantoms would be just silly on her for the move speed. Prolly depends on her AD ratios. Very spammable abilities though. Eh.
Oh - Also Minecraft 1.8 went live as opposed to leaked-and-promoted. So that's cool. SMP still has the Endermen bug (they literally can not see you right now on SMP).
Endermen ... I wish they weren't so easy to kill. I like the tie-in with the original mythos that they're affected by water, but really, two hits with a sword? In relation to that, I wish they weren't so common. Instead of one enderman screwing with the landscape, there's basically an army of them.
And they burn in sunlight. I don't really like that part either. One of the bigger scares of the Mythos was the fact that He didn't give a damn if it was day or night, y'know?
Eh.
Creative mode is hella fun.
Some of the lighting is still bugged.
Still waiting for a good, basic texture pack that's 1.8 compliant.
Gonna go try out single player now. Bet they're significantly scarier there when looking at them could actually hurt me. lol.
Oh, I also wish they didn't move around logs, wood, or cobblestone. Dirt, sand, gravel, sure, but random trees all over the landscape missing their middle bits is kinda disconcerting. And messy.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Youtube
Lots and lots of minecraft-related youtube vids. You should check them out. Mostly the new ones relate to 'things I'm wrapping up before 1.8 forces new worlds on us.'
Goodbye 1.7.3. Welcome 1.8 in all its buggy glory.
I am so sick right now my head asplode. :(
Goodbye 1.7.3. Welcome 1.8 in all its buggy glory.
I am so sick right now my head asplode. :(
Friday, September 9, 2011
Let's Play Minecraft!
Or: Neko Has No Sense of Self-Preservation
This one should actually get finished because a) I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun with it, b) like Nethack, there's the "I could die at any time from doing something retarded" factor, and c) I've got a rather tight deadline before I delete EVERYTHING to make way for 1.8.
Also goals. Actual goals should help keep me on track.
Also my computer died a while ago and ate my VtM - B save and that was kinda demoralizing.
Besides, it's not like I'm gonna use F3 to check mob positions or see-through ground or anything.
Keep an eye on this post; I'll post the other videos here as they come.
This one should actually get finished because a) I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun with it, b) like Nethack, there's the "I could die at any time from doing something retarded" factor, and c) I've got a rather tight deadline before I delete EVERYTHING to make way for 1.8.
Also goals. Actual goals should help keep me on track.
Also my computer died a while ago and ate my VtM - B save and that was kinda demoralizing.
I really do sound kinda emo, huh?
Technically, with the challenge as it was posted, you're not supposed to use any mods, but I am far, far too lazy to clean out my %appdata% for something random like this, especially with how much work I had to do to get Xie's and Plasticcraft to work together in the first place. The only appreciable point where my small selection of mods helps me is in this video, where I get health returned on par with hunting down a couple of pigs and stabbing them for chopping down a tree.Besides, it's not like I'm gonna use F3 to check mob positions or see-through ground or anything.
Keep an eye on this post; I'll post the other videos here as they come.
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