Minecraft: Day 8-The Nether

The world of Minecraft has been completely brutal so far, and while I have only died twice, each death has set me further back than I could really afford. Building up my resources was fun, to be sure, but it was starting to feel a little repetitive and a little boring. But I wouldn't be deterred; I had determined to at least visit the Nether, and see for myself what it is truly like.

I'd lost all my wood and torches when I died, so first I had to turn to tending my tree farm. I only had to cut down half of the trees to have a full stack of wood, and it took the rest of the day to try and replant the saplings I collected. I spent the night in my house rebuilding all of my tools and equipment; the only threat was a creeper that continued to circle the house trying to find a way in.

I'd had the presence of mind to build my house with an escape tunnel that lead to my original base, so I was able to avoid the creeper entirely. I had to focus on my task at hand; my plans for the diamond originally were to save them until I had enough to make a complete set of armor, but that was an unrealistic goal for now. Instead, I made a diamond pickax and set to work mining the small lava lake I had turned to obsidian in my earlier expeditions. I only needed 14 blocks, but I decided to mine as much as I could. It was a long tedious process as it takes a full 15 seconds to mine a single block of obsidian, but fortune smiled upon me as the pool of lava proved to be only one layer deep... for the most part.

I had to rush back to the pool of water nearby to put the fire out (they don't support stop, drop, and roll in this game), but other than that minor incident I managed to collect a lot of obsidian. And so I began building the portal. I didn't really have a plan for this expedition, but I figured if it proved survivable, I would just travel a good distance and then build a second portal back.

I was pleased with my finished work; the portal was built lower and against a wall so I wouldn't get too disoriented upon my return. With pride, I lit the center of the portal with my flint, and a woosh of purple washed over my vision.

I was as prepared as I could be for this; it was now or never. My proving ground lay beyond, and whether I lived or died there would be no regrets. With a feeling of trepidation I stepped into the purple glow.

I emerged into a dimly lit realm, surrounded by fire and the eerie cries of ghasts echoing from every direction. The occasional grunts I could hear could only belong to the zombie pigmen I'd heard so many rumors about.

What made it most terrifying was that the cries of the ghasts seemed to be coming from very close by, but for the life of me I couldn't actually see any of them. I began carefully trekking in my chosen direction, the noises driving away any curiosity for exploring this place.

Very interesting formation to be sure... I guess I'll head that direction.

Just a short hop found me on the other side, and my descent led to a large cavern filled with zombie pigmen.

This place would suit my needs; it was far enough away that I likely wouldn't recognize the world when I left. As I finished building the second portal, I felt a rush of panic as the cries of the unseen ghasts suddenly changed to what I can only describe as outrage.

With my heart in my throat, I dove into the portal; the world around me appeared to erupt as fireballs rained down on me. But the purple sheet enveloped me, protecting me; the Nether faded away and I stepped out into the bright sunlight to check my surroundings.

Jackpot!

More 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!

Minecraft: Day 5-Surprises

Giant creepy spiders... while they have a more intimidating presence than the rest of the monsters, they at least have the decency of being too wide to pass through small doorways. Other than being a little shaken, I was left no worse for wear as I eliminated it. I took a few precautions to prevent any more invasions by filling every corner with light from my stockpile of torches. This didn't stop other animals from entering of course, but they provided an opportunity to practice my archery on the new bow I was able to make.

After my ritualistic sacrifice, I crafted as many spare pickaxes as I could carry, and then I returned to my mining operation way down in the earth's core. I mined...

And I mined...

And I mined...

And I mi-LAVA!!!!

I had to act fast to close off the hole the lava was pouring out of. Even with every cheat and mod available, lava was always lethal; it was also in a way valuable. Lava could be turned into obsidian, a material used to create a portal into the nether. The nether was a place of pure terror, with very few objects of value and very full of everything that could ever want to kill you. Carefully, I mined my way upward until I broke through into the small cave with the lava lake. my bucket of water came in handy once again, and the dangerous substance was instantly transformed into the harmless obsidian I needed.

It would have to wait until I found the diamonds necessary to make a pickax strong enough to mine the obsidian, but it was the first lava I'd found so far. The cavern beyond proved to be rather expansive, so I chose to return to my base and empty my inventory of valuables once more. I had somehow collected enough sulfur to craft my first block of TNT, of which I was very proud. I left it in the chest with my other belongings and headed back down into the caverns. And sure enough, there was my first taste of diamonds!

Ah, sweet, sweet diamond! The most coveted material Minecraft had to offer, and I had found it in Hardmode. I hadn't even died once yet! I was a conquerer! I was a survivor! I was- CREEPER!

Argh! Danger seemed to be around every corner in this place. Fortunately for me, the creeper had a fear of heights; this was probably not the best flaw for someone in the business of suicide bombing. Well, enough with danger, I'm heading back up for some fresh air. The diamond, gold, and lap- lapis- la... blue stuff I had collected needed to be stored somewhere safe befo- ZOMBIES!

Stop doing this to me! Seriously, this is getting old. It seems around every corner there's something waiting to kill me. Zombies are the easiest enemies to deal with, so they proved to be of little consequence. Man, I was good! I figured it was time to work on the first of my goals: building a house. I returned to the mining operation and dug my way to the surface; where I broke through was admittedly a good distance away from my spawn location, but the tunnel I had dug would provide a safe passage between my two bases.

I returned to my main shelter and gathered all the cobblestone I could carry. Cobblestone is considered a rudimentary, ugly building material, but aesthetics are not my concern right now; wood may be more popular, but I didn't want to live in a giant fire hazard. By the time I returned to my selected building site it was beginning to grow dark. But I figured I would at least be able to get a basic wall built before anything came after me. I really, really regret this choice. I had just finished the first layer of my shelter when from the darkness came the sound of my nemesis.

*TWANG*

The arrow seemed to have lodged directly in my skull, as my health took an instant beating. I spun to face the skeleton, waving my sword courageously I called out my challenge. I had survived assault by zombies, creepers, spiders, skeletons, and even trees; one little skeleton was no real threat to me!

*TWANG*

Despite my attempt to dodge the assault, it was a direct hit, and I realized I would not survive the next hit. My options flashed before me: I could run, but with his accuracy, the skeleton was unlikely to miss me; I could try to recover my health, but I had forgotten which of my pockets the hams were stuffed in; or I could keep charging, and hope to finish the creature off first, but it would take me four hits to kill him with the basic sword I had. When it comes to any type of game, I'm usually pretty cautious when I'm haven't attracted attention; but whenever it came to a showdown, I always chose to charge headlong. That was my choice here; like a scene from 300, I charged forward, ducking and weaving to make myself a more difficult target. Sword drawn, I screamed my battle cry and struck the skeleton directly across the chest.

*TWANG*

My open mouth caught the speeding arrow, and I fell to the dead to the ground.

Taking a break tomorrow. Happy Valentines Day to all!

Minecraft: Day 4-Zombies!

Well, hello there little buddy! I'm not sure whether I'm lucky or unlucky, but I made my home right next to a rare dungeon. Dungeons, I had learned, housed chests with rare items, as well as the source of a potential zombie swarm. The ever-burning cage in the center continuously generated zombies until it was destroyed; this would be impossible with the zombies in the way. I could see a couple chests down in the corner, so remembering a trick a friend had taught me, I began to dig around to open the chests through the wall.

It was quite unnerving reaching through the hopping zombies to open the chest, but I succeeded without incident. The chests provided gunpowder, a pig-saddle, a loaf of bread, a bit of the electrical redstone, and most importantly a couple of buckets. Buckets were extremely handy, as nothing put out burning flesh faster than a bucket of water, and as this was Hardmode, it was one more precaution against failure. Now, to deal with the zombies: I could probably dig up underneath the zombie-cage to destroy it safely, but I chose rather to attempt to harvest the zombies. Creatures in Minecraft drop useful items when killed, and while zombies dropped the least useful resource of the monsters (feathers... zombies apparently are OCD about collecting feathers), if I could successfully build a trap to kill them, I would be better prepared if I came across a skeleton or spider dungeon. I dug my way under the dungeon, clearing the area out entirely, and digging a pit to trap the zombies. The buckets came in handy for completing my trap with a waterfall to drag the zombies into the pit and drown them. The last step was to knock out part of the dungeon floor, and run to safety.

Success! The trap wasn't exactly perfect, but it was still successful. This was a first for me, and I could now mine in peace without worrying about the zombie-hoard. One of the most important lessons I've learned playing Hardmode in video games was prioritizing defense. A complete set of armor (and sometimes a spare set) always comes before iron tools and sword. With that achieved, I headed back outside to hunt for more pork.

Of course pigs proved just as rare as that first day of hunting. In my search, I came across a pumpkin patch;

A flower patch;

And a creepy, creepy, creeper. The best I can tell from studying them is: they never sleep; they explode when you come near; they always seem to be in a perpetual state of panic. Putting all of this together and all of this together I've come to conclusion that sleep triggers their (and often my) demise, and that they suffer from narcolepsy.

There they are! Cursed pigs are so hard to find in this place.

I stocked up on as much ham as I could carry, then I rushed back to my home to take shelter for the night. I was beginning to wonder exactly what was so different about Minecraft's Hardmode; as of yet I was still alive, and I had a solid foothold on survival. I explored the rest of the small cave surrounding the zombie dungeon with no incident, and so I decided it was time to begin mining down into the earth. This proved to be perhaps the longest, most uneventful stretch of the game yet. After what felt like hours I finally found something worth mining.

Finally, some redstone! And how far down did I have to dig to find this?

I really wasn't sure if it was actually worth it. Sure, it was probably the safest way to find resources, but spelunking always seemed to go faster. Well, I turned back to mining, knowing it couldn't be too much longer before I broke through into-

Great... a small enclosed underwater lake at the earths core. Seriously, I could actually see bedrock under the water.

Frustrated, I turned and started mining through the right hand wall of the cave. Fortunately this proved to be far more fruitful than mining down.

Now that I actually had something to show for this, I headed back up to empty my inventory of valuables; nothing would be more frustrating than losing these diamonds in a creeper explosion. Strangely enough, there was a skeleton waiting for me in the main room of my base. It didn't prove too dangerous in the enclosed space, but it forced me to double-check for openings it might have come through. I couldn't find any weaknesses right off, so I turned my attention to another problem I had encountered on my first run of the game: wood shortage. Last time, I had tried growing a tree underground, and this had proved fatal. This time, I decided to plant trees on top of my shelter; I would have to leave safety to get more wood, but at least I could fix the problem with the tree shortage. When I first started up in this world, I had managed to collect two saplings when I cut down those trees; and now that I had a bit of bonemeal, it was only a few minutes of plant-grow-chop down to have a decent forest available.

I was starting to feel comfortable in this world. As bleak as it was, I had managed to beat the odds, surviving long past where I should have. I had little difficulty eliminating the threats that I encountered, I had resolved most of my resource shortage issues, and I had a friendly spider move into my house while I was out. Wait a minute...

Oh dear.

More tomorrow!