If someone's interested, I can post some pics of my ravine-village, but I haven't posted images before, so if someone could pm me a link or something with a guide for that, it would be superb :wink.gif:
Don't want to mess up the topic, you know :tongue.gif:
I haven't built very much yet as I'm playing ssp without any mods, so it could take some time..
The main concept of the village is to build wooden houses into the sides of the ravine, but with only one or two wooden blocks sticking out of the stone wall, with wooden walkways on the sides of the ravine. The whole village is built halfway up from the bottom, so there's about 15 blocks both up to the top and down to the bottom. It has support beams "randomly" placed beneath the houses/walkway. As I don't like to mess up the purity of the terrain, I like to build structures around the environment instead of lining everything up. This is usually pretty hard, because I'm a perfectionist by nature and usually do things symetrical and "perfect".
I hope someone find this entertaining when I'm done, and I'd really like to see someone else do the same :smile.gif:
That actually sounds like a cool idea! Makes me want to find a ravine just to build a Mining Facility in it :tongue.gif: You can post images with sites like "Imageshack.us" When you upload a picture copy the direct link of the pic, then when posting use the "insert image" button and paste the url. Preview the post to make sure it worked. Also, is this something big you're working on or just a little thing to the side. I can add your progress to the Project list :smile.gif:
I love this thread:)
I'm glad to know that there are actually others out there that enjoy beutifil buildings, despite the normal response from building one.
Btw, I found a really nice pattern. Puttin wood slabs down instead of wood gives you the looks of wood, but gives you the strength of cobblestone!
Stacking two different types of slabs on top of each other make for a really exotic look. Windows with a fence post in front add a feel of being barred in, but not in an unpleasant way, like iron bars.
Inverted glass domes with lava underneath provide an excellent ambeint lighting source, and fit perfect in a large, underground house.
Maximise space as much as possible. If you want a library, make a hidden piston door into your huge stash o' diamonds.
A cellar or attic are often overlooked when building with an aesthetic mindset, but they don't have to be ugly. Make windows in your cellar, lit by miniature suns known as lava, that are helb back by signs. Make a pile of glowstone in one corner; this lights up the room and adds a homly cluttered look to the space.
Make as many cool redstone devices as possible. Things like a countertop opening up to reveal a chest, or small closets in bedrooms with 2 sets of each type of armour in them, along with a set of tools of your choice. Hiding cirvytry in rooms behind paintings allows you to forget about eyesores, while allowing easy access for maitnence or new additions.
Really, there are a ton of different ways to make a small house look really nice. It just depends on what you think looks good.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Oh minecraft. Why must I always return to your plentiful bosom?
Well I started working on my flying garden/castle thing. I'm building it for both defense and looks, Right now I just made the bottom and the entrances, but it's coming along. I'm building it with having it actually usable in PvP, cause all you need to defend from mobs is a 2x2 ditch. It's gonna have three entrances, one glass ladder that comes up from my mine, if needed the ladder can be flooded with lava by destroying a block, the second entrance includes and ladder that can be flooded with lava, and the ladder leads to a bridge, the bridge has dispensers at the end so if needed I can caver the bridge in arrows to kill attackers, the actual base will have walls 3 blocks thick and 6 blocks high, with a 20 block high tower on each corner. But the entire thing will also be something of a homage to the Babylonian gardens, with plants and moats and water flowing down the edges of the castle. Lastly the place will have a cone of dirt underneath is as if it looks like someone just ripped the castle out of the ground. I estimate it will take around 10'000 blocks and I think it's good enough to be my first project.
If you'd like to see some of the stuff on The Voxel Box. This video was made by one of my friends and fellow member[Builder/LiteSniper] from the server.
Wow, the amount of support and feedback this is getting, it makes me happy to know people want discuss architecture.
@Oblivion, I know what you mean, this isn't about building anything in particular, this is about building! :biggrin.gif: Good suggestions though, I'll try these out and work them into the list. Thanks for contributing :smile.gif:
@thatrandomguy Good luck! I can't wait to see how its coming along!
Some other tidbits, in my opinion things in legit survival are more impressive.
I started a project on a multiplayer survival server about a month ago and it's the biggest thing I've worked on so far. It's funny that I found this thread on architecture because it made me go back and take a look at my project. As a result, I've found some things that may help other people in their future constructions. Bear with me here because I don't usually make posts. I'm more of a forum lurker.
Exterior lighting is just as important as interior lighting. I have seen so many servers populated with huge buildings that look good during the day but are pitch black at night. Good exterior lighting can make an epic structure look that much more epic at night.
I find its nice to use nature in my projects. Properly placed trees can go a long way when trying to make a visually appealing scene. Leaf blocks made to look like bushes are also an excellent way of accentuating borders. Last but not least, flowers and tall grass can add those little details that help complete the scene.
Who says stairways can't be diagonal?!?! Think outside the box! Granted, straight stairways are easier to make but diagonal stairways can look good if done right. This doesn't just go for stairways. You can apply it to many different aspects of your construction.
Block patterns are your friend. Not only do they look cool but they can help break up a scene into visually appealing pieces of goodness. Experiment with different blocks and patterns to find what will work for you. Don't be afraid to use materials that you believe won't fit well together. You may be surprised at the results.
What's that? Gravel? Yes, it's gravel in that picture and I think it looks good. =P Oh yeah, this doesn't just apply to floors. You can use this practice with just about anything. That's about all the pictures I have at the moment. If you examine them carefully I'm sure other examples can be picked out and extracted.
I find this thread very interesting and I appreciate what I've read so far from the other contributors to the discussion. I like to see varied opinions on a subject such as this because there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
Wow, very nice foshizzle! You contributed a lot of tips too!!! Thanks! You and Razor both have very nice builds :smile.gif: Razor, mind if I link your project on the main post? Oh, and thanks to everyone who actively looks at the thread and/or posts :smile.gif: The list is coming along well isn't it?
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, DO NOT turn on anything besides peaceful until 1.9! I went on normal yesterday and got Enderman-Griefed considering my base is huge, yeah. I am trying to clean it up right now. Arggg, I shall declare war on Enderman for making me going around fixing a structure that's like 500x500 with multiple levels. DIE ENDERMAN!
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, DO NOT turn on anything besides peaceful until 1.9! I went on normal yesterday and got Enderman-Griefed considering my base is huge, yeah. I am trying to clean it up right now. Arggg, I shall declare war on Enderman for making me going around fixing a structure that's like 500x500 with multiple levels. DIE ENDERMAN!
Yeah. :ohmy.gif: Huge bases also have a problem with lighting cause it is really hard to light up every single inch. As well, I play on peaceful normally(<---redstone freak here) so my experiments don't get blown up by Creepers etc. Thus I was unprepared for the Enderman jerks. Arg, I am still trying to find out which wires got switched in my command center. A lot of displays are not working. :sad.gif:
Yeah. :ohmy.gif: Huge bases also have a problem with lighting cause it is really hard to light up every single inch. As well, I play on peaceful normally(<---redstone freak here) so my experiments don't get blown up by Creepers etc. Thus I was unprepared for the Enderman jerks. Arg, I am still trying to find out which wires got switched in my command center. A lot of displays are not working. :sad.gif:
This sounds awesome! I'm sorry its getting greifed :/ Once you repair everything you should back up the save
I build in a strategy game style.i start with HQ then i build warehouse then smith
then store then town hall basicly i develop a small town untill it becomes a city
That actually sounds like a cool idea! Makes me want to find a ravine just to build a Mining Facility in it :tongue.gif: You can post images with sites like "Imageshack.us" When you upload a picture copy the direct link of the pic, then when posting use the "insert image" button and paste the url. Preview the post to make sure it worked. Also, is this something big you're working on or just a little thing to the side. I can add your progress to the Project list :smile.gif:
I'm glad to know that there are actually others out there that enjoy beutifil buildings, despite the normal response from building one.
Btw, I found a really nice pattern. Puttin wood slabs down instead of wood gives you the looks of wood, but gives you the strength of cobblestone!
Stacking two different types of slabs on top of each other make for a really exotic look. Windows with a fence post in front add a feel of being barred in, but not in an unpleasant way, like iron bars.
Inverted glass domes with lava underneath provide an excellent ambeint lighting source, and fit perfect in a large, underground house.
Maximise space as much as possible. If you want a library, make a hidden piston door into your huge stash o' diamonds.
A cellar or attic are often overlooked when building with an aesthetic mindset, but they don't have to be ugly. Make windows in your cellar, lit by miniature suns known as lava, that are helb back by signs. Make a pile of glowstone in one corner; this lights up the room and adds a homly cluttered look to the space.
Make as many cool redstone devices as possible. Things like a countertop opening up to reveal a chest, or small closets in bedrooms with 2 sets of each type of armour in them, along with a set of tools of your choice. Hiding cirvytry in rooms behind paintings allows you to forget about eyesores, while allowing easy access for maitnence or new additions.
Really, there are a ton of different ways to make a small house look really nice. It just depends on what you think looks good.
Floating stuff always looks horrible to me (exept it resembles something that should float). Am I the only one?
A scary hospital?
If you'd like to see some of the stuff on The Voxel Box. This video was made by one of my friends and fellow member[Builder/LiteSniper] from the server.
Would love some feedback on the architecture, always trying to improve. All legit survival btw.
Twitter: @DrakeGaming Youtube: youtube.com/MaleDuckGaming
@Oblivion, I know what you mean, this isn't about building anything in particular, this is about building! :biggrin.gif: Good suggestions though, I'll try these out and work them into the list. Thanks for contributing :smile.gif:
@thatrandomguy Good luck! I can't wait to see how its coming along!
Some other tidbits, in my opinion things in legit survival are more impressive.
Exterior lighting is just as important as interior lighting. I have seen so many servers populated with huge buildings that look good during the day but are pitch black at night. Good exterior lighting can make an epic structure look that much more epic at night.
I find its nice to use nature in my projects. Properly placed trees can go a long way when trying to make a visually appealing scene. Leaf blocks made to look like bushes are also an excellent way of accentuating borders. Last but not least, flowers and tall grass can add those little details that help complete the scene.
Who says stairways can't be diagonal?!?! Think outside the box! Granted, straight stairways are easier to make but diagonal stairways can look good if done right. This doesn't just go for stairways. You can apply it to many different aspects of your construction.
Block patterns are your friend. Not only do they look cool but they can help break up a scene into visually appealing pieces of goodness. Experiment with different blocks and patterns to find what will work for you. Don't be afraid to use materials that you believe won't fit well together. You may be surprised at the results.
What's that? Gravel? Yes, it's gravel in that picture and I think it looks good. =P Oh yeah, this doesn't just apply to floors. You can use this practice with just about anything. That's about all the pictures I have at the moment. If you examine them carefully I'm sure other examples can be picked out and extracted.
I find this thread very interesting and I appreciate what I've read so far from the other contributors to the discussion. I like to see varied opinions on a subject such as this because there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
._.
Are they spawning in your base?
Yeah. :ohmy.gif: Huge bases also have a problem with lighting cause it is really hard to light up every single inch. As well, I play on peaceful normally(<---redstone freak here) so my experiments don't get blown up by Creepers etc. Thus I was unprepared for the Enderman jerks. Arg, I am still trying to find out which wires got switched in my command center. A lot of displays are not working. :sad.gif:
This sounds awesome! I'm sorry its getting greifed :/ Once you repair everything you should back up the save
More info here (this article's several months old, but it still is relevant)
then store then town hall basicly i develop a small town untill it becomes a city