Minecraft: Finale!

Now, finale usually indicates a climactic ending filled with suspense and awesome, and while I can provide awesome, it's more of a satisfying "sweet" finale. I have established a base a good ways away from my spawn point, I traveled through the nether and successfully secured a safe path between the portals, and I've even turned to decorations and other neat things.

My base looks awesome at night.

I cleared out the dirt to make a flat courtyard; I found a small tunnel behind the back wall to use as an escape route; I hung my first picture on the wall; and my best achievement is an actual mini-port.

Half-blocks prevent water flow, yet allow me to exit the boat easily.

I spent several days spelunking with plenty of success, mining plenty of gold, diamond, and redstone. I started a small farm and was pleased by how easy it was to build off just one seed.

Mmmm... Wheat!

But best of everything was just wandering this new region, with amazing mountain formations and huge forests; it's truly breathtaking to stand on top of a mountain with the fog set to normal. It makes everything look so much bigger than reality, which is what I appreciated most of all.

Awww... too bad it's over, huh?

I have had such a great time playing through on hard, and while I still prefer the risk-free settings available, it has allowed me to have the full experience of Minecraft. I have a new appreciation for all the various materials and objects available in the Minecraft world, where diamond and TNT was once the only tools I used.

While this story has reached a conclusion, my time in Minecraft is just beginning. The next project I am working on is a special with one of the best and most awesome-filled sandbox games available: Just Cause 2.

More gaming goodness to come!

Minecraft: Day 7-Creepers

I was beginning to notice a pattern to my time in Minecraft; mine until I was bored of mining, then work above ground until nightfall. With my house complete I turned once again to the caverns winding way beneath my shelter. I had explored most of them, but as it always is in Minecraft, there is no end. Sure enough, while mining out some coal, I broke through into yet another cave.

This cave proved to be even more expansive, with pillars, sudden drops, narrow paths above chasms; it was perfect for an exploration addict like me. With iron and bits of diamond here and there, it was wonderful to be free to wander as I wished. I managed to kill both a skeleton and a creeper trapped behind a waterfall, behind which was even more cavern to explore. I felt bold, like Indiana Jones; treasure was available everywhere I looked, and danger was proving to be inconsequential. Sure, I'd take a hit every now and then, but I would be careful to return when my armor started getting... oh... my armor IS getting a little worn, isn't it. Well, time to turn back and find my way out...

Oh... yeah, this place is huge. It's very hard to tell where I came from, but I couldn't stop and fool around. Following my trail of torches proved to be difficult too; with a cave this big, I often had to pick between several different paths that might lead back out.

Nope, not that one. Those glowing red eyes in the distance could only belong to a spider, and I didn't need to take that kind of risk.

After what felt like hours, I finally began to recognize where I was. That waterfall trapping the skeleton and creeper earlier was the culprit, effectively hiding the way out. I picked up my pace, anxious to reach safety when up ahead I recognized the cold, cruel sound of my worst fear.

*TWANG*

Really? Why are you doing this to me? This was beginning to feel like the director from Left 4 Dead: a virtual intelligence that judged how well you were doing and decided how much death needed to be thrown at you to finish you off. The skeleton had the jump on me, nailing me with a direct hit before I had time to react. I had to backpedal a good distance to find a rock to cower behind, but the skeleton was fast approaching. It wouldn't have surprised my if this was the same abomination that killed me earlier; I would make sure it didn't have that opportunity again. Simultaneously swallowing some bacon and jumping out at the skeleton, the enclosed area gave me the advantage I lacked in our first encounter. Skeletons tend to strafe while they fire at you, but in this cave it only managed to trap itself in a corner, allowing me to better predict and dodge the arrows as I charged in for the kill.

Finally, the skeleton fell to the ground defeated. The encounter had drained a good bit of my health and my armor had gaping holes in it, but I was alive, and my nemesis dead. Elated, I hurried on, determined to make it back before anything else attacked. My good fortune continued when I spotted the exit to my stairwell; a sight for sore eyes to anyone lost in a cave.

This is where my good fortune ended.

The director was back, and this time he felt he had something to prove. Imagine, if you will, playing Left 4 Dead, successfully fighting of a hoard of zombies, finishing off the last hunter pinning your friend to the ground, seeing the safe house in the distance, knowing that you have no more health packs to help you along your way. Suddenly not one, but two tanks appear between you and safety. Yeah, that sucks.

As a way of foreshadowing, my framerate dropped suddenly, making it hard to move. There they were, a zombie and TWO creepers, just a few feet away blocking my path to freedom. I like to imagine that under normal circumstances I could have easily escaped them and found another route. But with my screen only updating every couple seconds, running away meant getting myself trapped in the same corner that was the downfall of the skeleton earlier. The dual exploding creepers sent my body flying several feet, and my armor several more. The game over screen flashed at me, and the taste of defeat made me gag.

Dead again so soon... with my stock of materials depleted from my last death, recovering now was going to be quite a task. Sure enough, there were no tools, no sticks, no wood to greet me when I made it back to my shelter after respawning. When morning came I would go out and gather more wood from the forest above my shelter. For now I sat and considered my options; I had for quite a while focused on building myself up enough to survive, but with death apparently haunting my every step it was starting to get a little tedious. I had little to show for all my efforts besides a the diamonds I had gathered earlier, but maybe that was enough. Maybe I was just stalling from what I really needed to do. At that point I determined, once I replenished my basic supplies I would build my first portal, and enter the Nether for the first time as a true mortal.

That's tomorrow, folks!

Minecraft: Day 6-Recovery

My first death in Hardmode... I had been careless, allowing my armor to degrade far past what I should have. Fortunately, I had stored a second set of armor in my shelter. With nightfall, I would have to wait until morning to try and recover my loot. Unfortunately another aspect of Hard in Minecraft is that fallen loot doesn't wait around for you. All that delicious roasted pork was lost, along with my bow, flint and steel, and tools. Fortunately, the trees I had planted on top of my shelter provided the necessary wood to replenish most of my needed supplies. I made sure to collect and replant any saplings the rapidly degrading leaves dropped, and I realized that this process was making my small forest grow exponentially. I possessed the power to turn this bleak wilderness into a utopia.

In the meantime I focused on supplementing my supplies. With the sudden depletion of pork, I decided to turn to a more readily available recourse: fish. While fish were not as effective as pork as a restorative, they were much easier to obtain. Although as much as I'd hoped it would work, fish did not actually take up residence in a bucket of water.

But still, I would have the option of fishing in the ocean that was literally right at my doorstep. For now, with my supplies finally replenished, I turned again to the tedium of mining for precious materials. The cavern I had uncovered earlier proved fruitful once more, and even when I reached a dead end it took only brief digging to uncover another cavern. This one was carved out by a giant underground river, stretching for miles into the darkness.

I followed the river down into the earth, and pretty soon I was forced to jump to the side to avoid being swept over the edge of a waterfall. Another important lesson is look before you leap, and sure enough I could see a zombie waiting waiting for me at the bottom. I was trying to figure out the best way to eliminate him safely, and short of a bow I had to resort to probably the best method for eliminating the undead: burial. Sand is one of the few substances that actually gives in to gravity, a lesson learned usually by burying oneself. I had eight beautiful blocks of sand I unceremoniously dumped onto the zombie's head.

Sure enough, the groans were replaced by repeated grunts of pain as the zombie suffocated under the weight of the sand. I was once again free to proceed with my exploration. This cave proved to be even more expansive than the first, and had all kinds of amazing phenomena like unnatural lighting;

Floating rocks;

And golden pillars;

I found more amazing underground rivers and rare minerals, and before long I found a section of the cave that went straight up to what appeared to be a ceiling of sand.

It required a little effort to climb up to it, but once there it took only a second to cause the whole ceiling to collapse and reveal sunlight... and water.

Thanks to Mincraft physics, the water poured endlessly into my cavern without actually filling it or lowering the ocean level in any way. Also, it's apparent my Minecraft character is incredibly athletic, and I was able to swim up the waterfall and all the way to the surface. The surface proved to be pretty close to my shelter, and I was able to safely deposit my valuables and restock my supplies a bit.

Okay, spelunking was fun and all, but it was time to make a second attempt at an above-ground shelter. This time I would build in the center of the small forest I was growing, which would be close enough that if I was killed in the process of building, I would be able to recover my gear before it vanished. It took a couple cycles of day and night, but I successfully completed my home without incident, and I stepped back to view my handiwork.

Ugly, yet efficient. I was proud of my success. I created a second workbench and large chest as furniture, and even made a defensible rooftop. A little more work to spread the forest, and I was able to call it a day. My death hadn't set me too far back, and now that I had replaced most of what was lost, I was beginning to feel comfortable in my ability to survive once again.

Look for more tomorrow!