A two story square house - start to finish in Minecraft

 I started this with a face 9 squares wide, and then went back for a total of 9 x 11.  So, no, it's not entirely square.  But, it has a very cool roof style that I didn't find easy, but might definitely try again.  I also really like the way the interior turned out.

I started out with a standard stairstep face, and repeated it on the opposite side.  Then in each corner I added an upper facing that began at three blocks high on top of the 'normal'; wall height of the bottom story.

I filled in windows in both upper facings and then began to resolve the roof, which is always the hardest part, to make it look 'natural' and not have holes in corners etc.

It took a couple of tries to get the bottom corners working properly, and a structure inside as well (shown below) to fill in the gaps properly

And then I could make the glass and door and torches and begin to work on the interior rooms.

now it is ready for beds, rugs, banners and tables and chairs.  And this is what it looks like from the outside, with what is built nearby so far.  This is my "Zayama Railway world" in 1.16.5, vanilla, survival mode (currently on peaceful).  I've still got a lot more iron to find to connect all of the stations that have been made, including a big seaside one to the North (you'll see that listed as Windgrass in an upcoming post).  But I thought I'd play with some interesting houses while waiting for other things the past few days.

Resolving a Four-Way roof on a Minecraft House

 

 Often I just make the bottom half of a building and then 'run with it' and try to resolve the roof.  Since I made the side wall areas of this building on the second story seven wide instead of five, there was a height difference to make up for if the stairsteps were going to meet up evenly and not have gaps.

My husband came and looked at the screen halfway through (I was complaining it was being a pain, and I should have screnshot it then) and said something like h*** No and went back to his own project.  

 

 

I ended up using cobblestone walls to make the edge points match up to the ground and give some stability to the side roofs (if they were real)   I really like the way it turned out, and will make a few more buildings in this area to connect up to the local bridges and road crossroad here.

and for a kicker - here is the interior (undecorated) version of the house, as well.  It has two rooms on the main floor and one upstairs room.

The back room is perfect for a kitchen area, and has another door out, as well.  Upstairs there are room for a double bed or two or three singles, and chests.  This room also leads down into the mineshaft below the town.

Location : near Milliken in the Zayama Railway World, which doesn't have a story, I'm just sort of doing it for the joy of mapping and building.

What I liked about Empire mode Minecraft (my own creation way to play)

  the Great Map at Cod Bay in the McElvaney Enterprises world, circa year 69

 What I liked about 'Empire Mode' Minecraft, the way I described earlier in this blog about how to play Minecraft in a story mode, world expanding way with imaginary characters and nations, etc...

1.)  When I found a resource it wasn't 'just done'... it was new for that area and expanded with neighbors and used at that place.  I wasn't shuffling it aimlessly along where I needed - I was _trading_ it, and making that area self-sufficient later in it, if possible.

2.) By making the families and housing matter, I paid more attention to the interior rooms and possessions of each person,  putting up signs, giving each family their own inventory and their own farms etc... some of the communities pooled some things, and some of the families helped one another in alliances and marriages and so forth.  I made 'imaginary expeditions' for different groups of friends or relatives  it felt like a much more natural expansion of the world, and it felt more like a 'real world' to walk around in.  Things had names, people had been places, history had been made etc.. and each town developed it's own 'unique' look based on what materials were available, although it was never cookie-cutter - there was always differences, too - because bigger families needed bigger houses etc etc.. it kept it very interesting.

 3.)  The mapping.  I love the mapping with a passion.  And the world as it developed made the map have meaning.. and the changes over time as the world became more and more full, and yet expanding at the edges... 

What I didn't like...

Well, it is a little silly like playing dolls, in a way, imaginary dolls that you don't even really see - but hey, writing any story is sort of the same thing with characters?  

The need to make 'conflicts' to move the story along, to give people reasons to do things that weren't all sunshine and roses.  The sickness at Rosered, for example - although that evolved so naturally it felt right.  The war with Kriganzy, though, that was getting to be 'any minute now' and I was trying to focus on the rediscovery of the reason behind the Great Earthquake and North City... and I felt the two were conflicting..

A friend offered to help, but didn't follow through.  But - now some of the 'promised story elements' were entirely hers, and I didn't feel I owned them well enough to do them justice in finishing the story.  I might have to just go back and cut those out now, because Tanji Vandreas really deserves his moment to shine in the next part of the story - and 've been mulling it over for a while now about the 'Great Saga unfinished'...

toy knitting update

 

 

 eat something, mom... face

When I a not playing games or running deliveries around at my various jobs, I am knitting on toys.  I took a good long time getting this one this far - because my hand sere hurting.  But, got over the big part yesterday and am on to making the legs.  I still need to finish the one on the left, too.

 

 

Minecraft : Zayama Railway station world - Mercator bridge

 Apparently this is the pefect place to stop and soak your llamas while you talk to the fish.  I need to fold and finish laundry.. but I sat down for a bit and started building another house, and a mine, and flattening out more space for fields... 

I was working on the Copper Valley world in the snapshot 2wk18 but it crashed and will not load again.  I'm hoping they fix it with an update and that the whole world isn't just lost.  I finished ny delivery work in real life today and then have postal route tomorrow.

The roof I was trying to reconcile.. I had it almost done and ready for a picture of the finished building, and then.. crash... this is the Glenardd mansion in the Copper Valley world.  I was really looking forward to playing with more copper items, as well - waxed cut stairs?  I need to go look things up now, and hope the snapshot comes back for me sometime soon.  I love new materials and making them in survival.

Minecraft Snapshot world - Glenardd castle base

 I set up two new points on the map today in the search for a geode.  The first is a simple ferry point and small tree farm, and the second is the base for a castle.

First, the map as it stands so far.  I've dug extensive tunnels through CrissCross and at three different points in the mountains at Three Torch.  I've found gold, diamonds, emeralds, redstone galore (finally) and lots and lots of Deepslate.  I've found some Tuff, as well, and  a few dripstone caves.  I was reading on a wiki that the geodes like to spawn somewhere around water flows, and in either Tuff or Deepslate, and below level 70.  They will have blocks of Calcite and Smooth Basalt around them, which are not found in any other formation.  The Dripstone forms around water flows, as well - but is not directly related to where a Geode might be.  And just because you find a big area of Deepslate or Tuff, it does not mean there 'has' to be a geode in there.. although it does not exclude it, either.

These look like teeth!  My daughter says they really hurt and can kill you if you fall on them.  I haven't had the misfortune to find that out, yet.  I've been reading some interesting things about making everlasting lava drips and water cauldrons that always stay full with them... and the block is an interesting texture, too.

Merryman ferry and tree farm.  I like to use the diorite in a square formation like this so that it shows up nicely on the map.  This is more of a map-point along the path than a working place at the moment.  However, I did build a house there and spent some time planting and replanting trees.  Being on the edge of this big lake and a large stone hill it has potential for getting materials for the surrounding sites when needed.

Gwynardd means 'white garden' in Welsh, which I thought of when I mined all the diorite out of that hill for the dock station to show up on the map wall well.  I'm not sure where it got switched to Glenardd but I see I wrote it that way on the map already.. well, lots of places in ral life have that prblem, too.  HA. 

This dock station was supposed to be a point to stop on the way over to that interesting set of gorges I had mentioned.  But after a minute it reminded me a lot of the Cliffden castle shore I worked on last year - and I decided that I could put a base here with a small 'castle' structure and maybe a few houses.  I haven't even been further North past these glaciers - wonder what's out there?  The gorges are to the North East of here, in an isthmus between two islands, and I can see some lights down at the bottom of either mineshafts or lava... will go explore there next maybe after establishing some more at this site.

Minecraft Snapshot world 1.17 : The Hunt for the Geodes

Had a day off, and got this world to load in the Snapshot mode (with all the new materials) and worked a bit more on two of the three stations here.. this one is Three Torches Mine (and farm). I was spelunking a lot and looking for a geode cave (not found yet) but did see this axolotl wandering around in a mineshaft.

 

'Three Torches' Mine and Farm

 

There is a pen of pigs behind my spire here, as well.  And, this is where I found the goat and built a pen for him that he couldn't jump out of.  I just kept adding a few more structures to accommodate more chests and furnaces so I could go about processing ores, making glass and burning terracotta.  

 

 

 

I seem to go in cycles between doing all the farmwork with the fields and animals, cutting trees down and replanting, and going on deep mining expeditions and coming back to process stuff.  There are three deep mines here, with two separate mineshafts, one little and one long.  There were several areas of 'tuff', but I didn't find any amethyst geodes.  Some of the things I am reading now say that it is not in the tuff anymore, but in the deepslate.  

 

I guess I keep poking around and looking.  My daughter says she just finds them by flying around the world and looking down in ravines!  I'm doing a more survival approach here.. and this is my third station.  I worked a little on the second station today, as well - adding more sheep, some cows, and preparing to make a second map wall there.

There was only one really, but I superimposed the screenshots to show all of him.

In real life today I didn't have to travel anywhere, which is good because of the fuel panic everyone is crazed on right now.  I did fill up after my trip the other day, so my trip Friday is covered - but wth people, stop it - some of us deliver medical equipment and need to work!

I made some nice rice with carrots and parsley, and baked an acorn squash.  When I brought the squash up to the checkout the other day the young man looked at it and said 'what is it', to which his trainer turned it over and pointed out the label and said 'it says it right here - it's an acorn squash'.  I might be one of the very few that ever buys them there - but I do try to buy them every once in a while to make sure they keep them!  The chickens love the seeds, too.

 'CrissCross' Farm, the second stop in the Snapshot world along the roadway, and it has a much more complete map wall, since I found more materials here and started working on making the road complete.  I'm expanding up to the North from here where there are some interesting-looking deep gorges to explore.  So, as I do that this place CrissCross  will actually end up being aptly named as the 'crossroads' of the world.

Rainy Mother's Day afternoon

 

A little railway and dock station I have been working on this morning, since my new Screenshot won't load, this is in vanilla 16.5 and mostly survival (I admit I popped into creative because I was sick of running out of fence).

It's Mother['s Day, and I am off of both jobs, which is good.  I bought us a cheesecake last week and it has lasted through today.  I bought Mark's mom a plant and brought it to her yesterday.  It has been rainy and stormy all week - including this morning, with a huge wind coming up at seven am.. it is as dim as twilight out there still and it is 1 pm.

Might move down the shoreline a little on this one, already took a trip across the ocean and it was more of the same landscape.. and the birch and oak trees seem to travel on forever... except, there is a mushroom Island.  That's interesting, but not material wise, for me.  I'd like to find a village or a mineshaft to get more crop varieties and make bigger gardens and stops along the railway for agriculture.