Let's say a player is stuck stranded in the exact middle of the ocean. He is quickly running put of breath, so fast that he wont have enough time to swim up to the surface and take a breath. He is at the bottom of the ocean floor, and the floor is completely made up of a flat, cobblestone surface. The player is running MC vanilla 1.8, and has no plans to exploit any glitches in the game to help him survive. Can you help this player escape the depths of this ocean?
The "Specifics"
Difficulty - normal
Cheats - off
Inventory: 1 wood, 1 cobblestone, 20 stacks of rotten flesh, 5 stacks of arrows
It will be dark as hell so you will probably be delayed just long enough to die, but your best bet is to just sink straight down and try to place a 2-block pillar with a torch on the front. If you have a door you could use that instead (which might be preferable as placing one block will be much faster than trying for 3).
After that, you could just walk out along the sea floor, erecting more torch pillars as you went to catch another breath. Or even just pillar up if you had enough blocks (just jump off the side to get a quick torch placed before continuing to climb).
What is under the cobblestone? And how thick is it?
Is the player freshly spawned on the bottom or are they already out of breath?
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have time to break 3 cobblestone by hand before drowning but I think you could place a block, dig down 2 blocks next to the placed block and place your second block against the first one giving yourself a safe cubbyhole. Then you could dig down one more block and a bit to the side and go back and reclaim the wood block (or planks if you had turned the wood to planks.)
After that I would keep digging until I had enough dirt, gravel and sand and try to build a tower to the surface with cubbyholes for breathing spots.
What is under the cobblestone? And how thick is it?
Is the player freshly spawned on the bottom or are they already out of breath?
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have time to break 3 cobblestone by hand before drowning but I think you could place a block, dig down 2 blocks next to the placed block and place your second block against the first one giving yourself a safe cubbyhole. Then you could dig down one more block and a bit to the side and go back and reclaim the wood block (or planks if you had turned the wood to planks.)
After that I would keep digging until I had enough dirt, gravel and sand and try to build a tower to the surface with cubbyholes for breathing spots.
mmm not quite... I've decided that there will be dirt and other blocks below the bottom, and the player has jut spawned and is at the bottom of the ocean. But remember, mining underwater takes MUCH longer than up on the surface, so there's no way you even have a chance to mine the cobblestone and get to the dirt.
The Wiki seemed to say that that penalty didn't apply when the block can't be harvested.
4 planks (from the wood) and one cobblestone would be enough to build an air pocket but that would require placing, breaking and replacing 2 of the planks which might take too long as well.
If breaking a block allows you to take a breath of air I think it could be done.
No, I guess that would require 6 blocks, 1 would be needed to place the others against.
The wood can be crafted into 4 planks, then two of the planks crafted into sticks and use one stick and the cobblestone to make a lever, then stack the other two planks on top of each other on the seafloor, then place the lever on one side of the top plank, which will create a temporary "air" bubble at head level, allowing you to reset your air supply.
Unless you can swim to the surface without drowning I don't see how you can escape (if you could mine the cobblestone you could mine the dirt underneath and pillar up). The rotten flesh and arrows also appear to be there for distraction because I don't see any way they can be useful.
Regarding underwater mining time, unless that was changed very recently it most definitely takes longer to mine cobblestone by hand underwater; I tested it in 1.6.4 and I started drowning long before it was close to breaking. Otherwise, it would be possible to mine it (it takes 10 seconds by hand in air) and mine the dirt underneath, using it to pillar up to the surface.
ETA - if the difficulty were Hard the rotten flesh could be useful since you could starve to death before reaching land depending on how big the ocean was (on Normal you'll stop at half a heart).
You can very nearly break a plank before you start to drown.
So it would seem possible, though very very tedious, to break the bottom plank, place the lever, place the plank along side the other one, break the other one, place the lever, and repeat getting one block closer to the shore at every step.
--
I guess one could go faster if one broke both planks (the bottom one first) and went 10 blocks or so to build a new tower for the lever.
The wood can be crafted into 4 planks, then two of the planks crafted into sticks and use one stick and the cobblestone to make a lever, then stack the other two planks on top of each other on the seafloor, then place the lever on one side of the top plank, which will create a temporary "air" bubble at head level, allowing you to reset your air supply.
Unless you can swim to the surface without drowning I don't see how you can escape (if you could mine the cobblestone you could mine the dirt underneath and pillar up). The rotten flesh and arrows also appear to be there for distraction because I don't see any way they can be useful.
Regarding underwater mining time, unless that was changed very recently it most definitely takes longer to mine cobblestone by hand underwater; I tested it in 1.6.4 and I started drowning long before it was close to breaking. Otherwise, it would be possible to mine it (it takes 10 seconds by hand in air) and mine the dirt underneath, using it to pillar up to the surface.
ETA - if the difficulty were Hard the rotten flesh could be useful since you could starve to death before reaching land depending on how big the ocean was (on Normal you'll stop at half a heart).
DING DING DING. Ya got it! mmm shouldve made it harder thought...
Game - SP
----Strong Words----
What the hell is he doing halfway between the ocean floor and the surface?
SP or MP?
Dig 3 blocks down and place a block above you. The water will drain out and you'll survive.
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But I thought he died as soon as he got to the bottom? Cause' that's what I was thinking otherwise.
Thats kinda the obvious and only solution. ;P
It says he runs out of oxygen when he hits the bottom, not that he dies. The player would have just enough time to save themselves.
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Hadn't thought of that. Yeah, that makes sense to me.
It will be dark as hell so you will probably be delayed just long enough to die, but your best bet is to just sink straight down and try to place a 2-block pillar with a torch on the front. If you have a door you could use that instead (which might be preferable as placing one block will be much faster than trying for 3).
After that, you could just walk out along the sea floor, erecting more torch pillars as you went to catch another breath. Or even just pillar up if you had enough blocks (just jump off the side to get a quick torch placed before continuing to climb).
UPDATE - From the looks of all you answers, I'll re-write the question and list some new info.
----Strong Words----
What is under the cobblestone? And how thick is it?
Is the player freshly spawned on the bottom or are they already out of breath?
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have time to break 3 cobblestone by hand before drowning but I think you could place a block, dig down 2 blocks next to the placed block and place your second block against the first one giving yourself a safe cubbyhole. Then you could dig down one more block and a bit to the side and go back and reclaim the wood block (or planks if you had turned the wood to planks.)
After that I would keep digging until I had enough dirt, gravel and sand and try to build a tower to the surface with cubbyholes for breathing spots.
Just testing.
mmm not quite... I've decided that there will be dirt and other blocks below the bottom, and the player has jut spawned and is at the bottom of the ocean. But remember, mining underwater takes MUCH longer than up on the surface, so there's no way you even have a chance to mine the cobblestone and get to the dirt.
----Strong Words----
I guess I should have tested that.
The Wiki seemed to say that that penalty didn't apply when the block can't be harvested.
4 planks (from the wood) and one cobblestone would be enough to build an air pocket but that would require placing, breaking and replacing 2 of the planks which might take too long as well.If breaking a block allows you to take a breath of air I think it could be done.No, I guess that would require 6 blocks, 1 would be needed to place the others against.
Just testing.
The wood can be crafted into 4 planks, then two of the planks crafted into sticks and use one stick and the cobblestone to make a lever, then stack the other two planks on top of each other on the seafloor, then place the lever on one side of the top plank, which will create a temporary "air" bubble at head level, allowing you to reset your air supply.
Unless you can swim to the surface without drowning I don't see how you can escape (if you could mine the cobblestone you could mine the dirt underneath and pillar up). The rotten flesh and arrows also appear to be there for distraction because I don't see any way they can be useful.
Regarding underwater mining time, unless that was changed very recently it most definitely takes longer to mine cobblestone by hand underwater; I tested it in 1.6.4 and I started drowning long before it was close to breaking. Otherwise, it would be possible to mine it (it takes 10 seconds by hand in air) and mine the dirt underneath, using it to pillar up to the surface.
ETA - if the difficulty were Hard the rotten flesh could be useful since you could starve to death before reaching land depending on how big the ocean was (on Normal you'll stop at half a heart).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
You can very nearly break a plank before you start to drown.
So it would seem possible, though very very tedious, to break the bottom plank, place the lever, place the plank along side the other one, break the other one, place the lever, and repeat getting one block closer to the shore at every step.
--
I guess one could go faster if one broke both planks (the bottom one first) and went 10 blocks or so to build a new tower for the lever.
Just testing.
DING DING DING. Ya got it! mmm shouldve made it harder thought...
----Strong Words----