General MC discussion

Redirecting here since this isn't PS3 talk, it's just regular old MC goodness. SO...

Soothsayer wrote:

It's gotten to the point where I am this close to whipping out the graph paper to get the designs just right.

Yep, I did the graph paper thing when I made a HUGE HUGE horizontal window (skylight?). Vader was serving a vanilla world and I believe the PC version was 1.7.2. It was the version where they added horses, horse armor, and stained glass. Vader and I had built up a damn big, nice house on the edge of a desert. We had about a week into exploring and building, with a little strip mining as well. Shortly after was when Lady Lit started playing with us, and we started noticing that we hadn't really seen any villages yet and we were way too short on emeralds. We started exploring further out, and next thing you know, I'm like 4000 blocks west and did NOT feel like walking back. I made an outpost in a mountain in the frozen tundra.

Of course, I wanted resources before making the trek back, so the outpost grew. I expanded downwards, as the snow covered landscape was too.... don't know. I just preferred the dark places. Once I started my workshop, I needed paper. I carved out a little nook, placed some strips of sand with water in between, and started my first indoor garden with sugar cane. Then came the potatoes. Then I wanted a SAFE steady supply of wood, so I carved and carved and ended up with a HUGE underground botanical garden, filled with trees, veggies, arches, waterfalls, and a stained glass face sculpture that looking back kinda resembled the green goblin without the hat. ANYWAY...Once I found out trees grow better in sunlight than torchlight, and glass still allows that sunlight to work in MC, I opened the roof of my HUGE HUGE tree chamber and proceeded to make a stained glass window over the whole thing! Got about halfway across before I realized the colored glass could be used for a design, and after several screw ups, I grabbed some graph paper and drew my design. Then I built it. It was awesome, I think.

Since it was vanilla, I don't really miss that 'world', but I sure do miss our structures. Our starter house that turned into a mansion. My snow outpost...HA! Just remembered I called it McMurdo Station! I wound up making a Nether portal to make it back home quicker. Actually made an enclosed cobblestone tunnel all the way back. Vader and Lady Lit helped and we made an entire "Nether Highway" system. Vader and I made the skybridge, which was a one block wide stone path about 80 blocks up that ran from the starter house all the way to McMurdo. Thank god for mods with portals!!!

Sticky Pistons

In my creative world, I was attempting to make a retractable staircase. When lowered, it would remain flush with the ground; when elevated, it would raise up. This wouldn't be a normal staircase, but rather steps of the one block nature.

When making this set-up, I discovered a couple things. One: things don't stick to a sticky piston, and two: a sticky piston atop a sticky piston just doesn't work. They do, but... let me explain.

Regarding a double stack sticky piston, the way I set it up was as such: the base piston was normal, had a redstone wire going to it. At the height of extension, where the second block would be, I placed a redstone torch. When the first piston would lift the second, the second would activate. However, for some reason, the second piston would not stick to the first, but rather would affix itself to the block along side.

I noticed this same behavior with other builds I would work on... one of which was a gate that would blend with a vertical surface.

Believe me, I was quite irate; why weren't the sticky pistons sticky? The plans I was making should work, but they weren't!

So, today I broke down and looked at the Minecraft wiki. Well, a couple sites actually, before I found an answer. Repeaters. Seems a sticky piston cannot pull down an extended piston, so my use of a redstone torch is bad; no big deal, easy enough to fix. I'll have to add a repeater in the line so that the upper turns off / retracts first.

There is a problem with this. I think I would need two repeaters, one for each piston. The second piston would have to be on click one or two, whereas the base would have to be on click three. This is so the second piston activates before the base; being elevated is no big deal, as the base will always raise before the second, but this arrangement would be necessary so that the second lowers first.

Now then, that should work, yes?

...

Thought about it a bit more. Knowing that anything we think of has probably already been done, I decided to go to youtube... found this. A limiter?

You know what I would like to see in Minecraft? The inclusion of a local map. Oh sure, it's fine to see an image of the world that you've explored, but I want something a bit more, well I suppose I could say local, but that seems redundant. I want a map that will show the mines that I've dug in relation to me, and the routes I've traveled. Sure would take the guesswork out of trying to find my way about, especially when I come across an underground cavern.

I miss McMurdo Station...

VaderXanth wrote:

I miss McMurdo Station...

That was where I made my first snowman golem! And the bastard wouldn't DIE!!! I had that huge enclosed pool of lava for a light source and he kept wandering around leaving snow trails and hanging out around the lava and he wouldn't melt! I shoulda named him....

There I was, sitting at Shopko while Steve was getting an eye exam, when I had an idea. Now, because Minecraft has been around for a while this probably isn't a new idea. Scratch that, I can guarantee it isn't a new idea, but I'm posting it anyway, without having checked it first.

Within the creative section of Minecraft, perfectly flat world... maybe wipe out all the ground as well, right Dien to the bedrock... use this area to build Legos.

Yeah, I know, but until I check this idea out online, it's still a new idea to me. Hear me out.

You can take any Lego instructions you have lying around, or maybe perhaps go online and download any plans you want. Since we all know that three thin panels equals the thickness of a standard block, one crafting brick would equal one flat panel. Three blocks stacked atop each other would then equal the thickness of a standard block.

Now, I don't know how many bricks side to side we'd need to equal one of those singular Lego block pieces, the kind with one round bump. Mentally looking at things, I would almost guess that we'd need a 2x2 section to equal the one piece Lego.

This sound right to everyone?

Anyway, now that I've shared my idea, I'll go online and check out how many times this new idea has made the rounds. AND I'm good to check for some blueprints.