Images and text relating to my Jul 2012 Nether Portal project have been deleted from their original separate post and incorporated into my initial post. Likewise with images and text detailing the history of my fortress 'keep'.
Otherwise there is little to say. I am not playing much Minecraft these days, devoting most of my gaming time to three Elder Scrolls titles: Daggerfall, Oblivion, and Skyrim. What little Minecraft I do play is devoted to exploration and resource gathering rather than construction. About the only recent improvement my Hill Fort has seen is to further identify and remove, via torch, those few surface areas still dark enough to allow mob spawn.
I do have the seed of a plan to add a cattle ranch of sorts at the current terminus of the South Road. I have more than enough resources stowed away to complete such a project, even should I decide to go elaborate rather than simple.
Awesome sauce, I love how you've got roads in nearly every direction
And that bridge at the double-drop place looks great. Nice to know your computer can handle those kinds of textures btw haha Mine would grow a fist and punch me in the face if I tried installing it...
Having ignored MCv132 altogether, I took the plunge and updated to v142. This allows me to begin construction of a wood bridge that will eventually span the area from the current terminus of my South Road to the beginnings of a forest biome just across a small river a bit further south.
This is more an experiment than anything else. I might tear the whole thing down and go with something far more simple (no bridge until the river).
At the moment I am thinking to create a fortified cattle ranch in this area, now that leather is more important. (I'll keep the small cattle pen at the fortress for food.)
Sadly, FancyCraft Reborn has not yet been updated for compatibility with MCv142. I've not found a suitable temporary alternative. At the moment I use one of the KoP variants. It's nice, but no FancyCraft. Doesn't help that the grass is very dark, something I'm no fan of. (I lighten it for presentation here. In-game it's much darker.)
ADDENDUM Two images, originally housed above, representing an aborted build project, were removed to reduce Photobucket bandwidth consumption. Visit my initial post (#1) to see what was ultimately erected at the site.
Awesome sauce, I love how you've got roads in nearly every direction
And that bridge at the double-drop place looks great. Nice to know your computer can handle those kinds of textures btw haha Mine would grow a fist and punch me in the face if I tried installing it...
Yeah, my rig is fairly powerful, especially after upgrading my graphics card to a factory overclocked nVidia GTX670 with 4gb Vram. Minecraft doesn't really need that much GPU power (though it does run smoother now, with more fancy options available via Optifine) but I also play TES4: Oblivion with lots of hi-res textures and distant objects enabled. As to MC, I now find it hard to play with anything less than x128 textures. x256 is nicer yet, but I start noticing slowdowns with those. Leastwise I did with my old graphics card.
I really like the entrance with the shield and swords, very effective.
Thanks. As stated elsewhere, FancyCraft's use of 'paintings' as emblems and useful signs is one of many things that draw me to the pack. I wish more texture packs followed its lead in this regard.
I really like the architecture and the utilitarian character of the buildings, confused by the texture pack though - reminds me of some (not so good) PC games from that time when they've started switching to SVGA resolution, but the number of polygons and detailing was still very limited.
UPDATE: 2012-10-29
Images of the Keep basement and second floor added to my initial post.
On this date, as well as several days ago, I added images to my initial post. One shows the Keep basement, the other its second floor storage / crafting area. Note that FancyCraft has not yet been updated to MCv142. Thus these two images display an alternative texture pack, KoP x128 realism. Though I prefer FancyCraft overall, KoP has much to offer, including several textures I prefer over those in FancyCraft. By sheer luck, the Keep basement and second floor utilize what I feel are some of KoP's strong-points... chests, ovens, doors, signs. I also like KoP cobblestone very much, though not better than FancyCraft's cobble. Depending on use, I prefer one cobble over the other on a case by case basis.
OooOOh, you're continuing/ Nice, I'd like to see how this bridge turns out...
Yeah, I'm still slugging away at it. It's hard going. I'm not a natural builder. At best, I come up with a general idea of what I want to accomplish, but have not concrete idea of how to get there. My general practice is to just start laying blocks and hope for the best. Lots of false starts, followed by partial to total tear downs and fresh beginnings. I eventually either luck out and come up with something that pleases me, or abandon the project all together (as I did with my embarrassing naval port...what an eyesore!).
I really like the architecture and the utilitarian character of the buildings, confused by the texture pack though - reminds me of some (not so good) PC games from that time when they've started switching to SVGA resolution, but the number of polygons and detailing was still very limited.
Thanks. As to textures, to each his or her own I reckon. I've tried a good number of packs, including the acknowledged biggies, but always return to FancyCraft. Now a good many packs have isolated individual textures I prefer over those in FancyCraft. But for overall feel while actually playing the game, FancyCraft just seems "right". And some of its textures in my opinion can't be beat...wool comes readily to mind, as does obsidian. Others too, but again to each their own.
Images and text housed here were either obsolete or had been incorporated into my initial post (#1). They no long appear here due to a need to reduce PhotoBucket bandwidth.
ROAD SOUTH update: Bridge at Cattleman's Folly modified
On 15 Nov 2012 I modified the bridge first seen in my 12 Nov update, removing its center canopy superstructure, added glowstone lighting, and slightly lengthened the outer junglewood support logs. I am happier with the bridge now, having decided that the central, third, canopy made the structure too "busy".
A bridge image originally housed here was made obsolete by a more up-to-date image in my initial post (#1).
I'm still not totally pleased with my work. At the moment what bothers me most is that there is no visible evidence that those four oak crossbeams are attached to the oak support pillars, as they must be to hold up the bridge. I could quickly and easily remedy that by converting to single crossbeams, resting atop the oak pillars. But that looks bland compared to my current double crossbeam arrangement.
What I might do is attach stone buttons to the crossbeams, representing the heads of iron spikes or rods anchoring crossbeams to pillars. But will it convince? We shall see.
I remain somewhat tempted to tear the whole bloody thing down, bridge, ranch and all, and start afresh.
ROAD SOUTH update: Bridge at Cattleman's Folly modified
On 15 Nov 2012 I modified the bridge first seen in my 12 Nov update, removing its center canopy superstructure, added glowstone lighting, and slightly lengthened the outer junglewood support logs. I am happier with the bridge now, having decided that the central, third, canopy made the structure too "busy".
I'm still not totally pleased with my work. At the moment what bothers me most is that there is no visible evidence that those four junglewood crossbeams are attached to the oak support pillars, as they must be to hold up the bridge. I could quickly and easily remedy that by converting to single crossbeams, resting atop the oak pillars. But that looks bland compared to my current double crossbeam arrangement.
What I might do is attach stone buttons to the crossbeams, representing the heads of iron spikes or rods anchoring crossbeams to pillars. But will it convince? We shall see.
I remain somewhat tempted to tear the whole bloody thing down, bridge, ranch and all, and start afresh.
My initial post has been updated with two images; one a slightly updated view of the Bridge at Cattleman's Folly (I added iron buttons representing the heads of bars or spikes attaching crossbeams to pillars), the other a view of Cattleman's Folly itself. They appear near the bottom of that post. Additionally, I made insignificant text modifications throughout the post to correct out-of-date info.
Thanks. As mentioned before, I'm surprised Fancy Craft isn't more popular than it apparently is. It is, imo, an almost ideal survival texture pack, and not bad for dedicated builders either. Then again the author, JJJason, was out of the loop for some good while and has only recently began updating to pack again. (The 128x128 version I use is not yet updated for 1.4x, but the 32x32 version has been.)
UPDATE: Keep Tower fifth floor brewing station, a work in progress.
An image of my Keep fifth floor alchemy lab, original seen here, has been incorporated into my initial post (post #1). Additionally, an image of my Keep exterior showing its fifth floor extension was removed, having been superseded by more up-to-date images seen elsewhere.
UPDATE: Road to the West, Remnants of a Lost Past - Ruined Bridge near Desert Temple
ADDENDUM: 2013-01-02
Image and text originally seen above have been incorporated into post #1, as were an image with text highlighting then-new potato and carrot patches on the Hill Fort upper plateau.
On a more mundane note, back at Cattleman's Folly I erected stone fencing protecting the exposed passageway from ranch to bridge. It marks my first usage of the new fencing resource. This was also my first use of decorative shrubbery, though I had experimented with it quite early on.
The ranch has undergone other changes, none dramatic enough to document.
I love this! I actually really like the utilitarian feel to it - that is what I shoot for in my maps, although I'm admittedly not as environmentally-friendly as you are.
The texture pack certainly looks very nice, although it's probably too high-res for my personal playing tastes.
UPDATE to my initial post
On this date I updated my initial post (post #1) with two images of my newly established cocoa farm They can be found amongst the clutter. Additionally, over the past several days I replaced seven post #1 images with more up-to-date equivalents, showing the Keep with its fifth floor in place and removing unsightly HUD elements. The image of my Alchemy Lab original seen in post #88 was moved to post #1.
ADDENDUM: auxiliary potato / carrot field:
On 10 Dec I established small potato and carrot patches near the cocoa farm. These patches supplement rather than replace existent potato and carrot patches located on the upper plateau northeast quadrant. I'm not yet totally sold on either field or farm. Either or both is apt to see renovation, removal or relocation before all is said and done.
One of my two post #1 images of the cocoa farm was updated to include a glimpse of the new field.
www.youtube.com/machineinput
www.youtube.com/machineinput
Images and text relating to my Jul 2012 Nether Portal project have been deleted from their original separate post and incorporated into my initial post. Likewise with images and text detailing the history of my fortress 'keep'.
Otherwise there is little to say. I am not playing much Minecraft these days, devoting most of my gaming time to three Elder Scrolls titles: Daggerfall, Oblivion, and Skyrim. What little Minecraft I do play is devoted to exploration and resource gathering rather than construction. About the only recent improvement my Hill Fort has seen is to further identify and remove, via torch, those few surface areas still dark enough to allow mob spawn.
I do have the seed of a plan to add a cattle ranch of sorts at the current terminus of the South Road. I have more than enough resources stowed away to complete such a project, even should I decide to go elaborate rather than simple.
Also, by the way, I downloaded 2 copies just so I can nuke one of them to pieces. Mr. is the one who wants to, not me!
And that bridge at the double-drop place looks great. Nice to know your computer can handle those kinds of textures btw haha Mine would grow a fist and punch me in the face if I tried installing it...
Having ignored MCv132 altogether, I took the plunge and updated to v142. This allows me to begin construction of a wood bridge that will eventually span the area from the current terminus of my South Road to the beginnings of a forest biome just across a small river a bit further south.
This is more an experiment than anything else. I might tear the whole thing down and go with something far more simple (no bridge until the river).
At the moment I am thinking to create a fortified cattle ranch in this area, now that leather is more important. (I'll keep the small cattle pen at the fortress for food.)
Sadly, FancyCraft Reborn has not yet been updated for compatibility with MCv142. I've not found a suitable temporary alternative. At the moment I use one of the KoP variants. It's nice, but no FancyCraft. Doesn't help that the grass is very dark, something I'm no fan of. (I lighten it for presentation here. In-game it's much darker.)
ADDENDUM
Two images, originally housed above, representing an aborted build project, were removed to reduce Photobucket bandwidth consumption. Visit my initial post (#1) to see what was ultimately erected at the site.
Yeah, my rig is fairly powerful, especially after upgrading my graphics card to a factory overclocked nVidia GTX670 with 4gb Vram. Minecraft doesn't really need that much GPU power (though it does run smoother now, with more fancy options available via Optifine) but I also play TES4: Oblivion with lots of hi-res textures and distant objects enabled. As to MC, I now find it hard to play with anything less than x128 textures. x256 is nicer yet, but I start noticing slowdowns with those. Leastwise I did with my old graphics card.
Thanks. As stated elsewhere, FancyCraft's use of 'paintings' as emblems and useful signs is one of many things that draw me to the pack. I wish more texture packs followed its lead in this regard.
Sorry about that. I corrected several obvious misnamings in my initial post. If you spot more let me know! BTW, any word on a v142+ update?
Images of the Keep basement and second floor added to my initial post.
On this date, as well as several days ago, I added images to my initial post. One shows the Keep basement, the other its second floor storage / crafting area. Note that FancyCraft has not yet been updated to MCv142. Thus these two images display an alternative texture pack, KoP x128 realism. Though I prefer FancyCraft overall, KoP has much to offer, including several textures I prefer over those in FancyCraft. By sheer luck, the Keep basement and second floor utilize what I feel are some of KoP's strong-points... chests, ovens, doors, signs. I also like KoP cobblestone very much, though not better than FancyCraft's cobble. Depending on use, I prefer one cobble over the other on a case by case basis.
Yeah, I'm still slugging away at it. It's hard going. I'm not a natural builder. At best, I come up with a general idea of what I want to accomplish, but have not concrete idea of how to get there. My general practice is to just start laying blocks and hope for the best. Lots of false starts, followed by partial to total tear downs and fresh beginnings. I eventually either luck out and come up with something that pleases me, or abandon the project all together (as I did with my embarrassing naval port...what an eyesore!).
Thanks. As to textures, to each his or her own I reckon. I've tried a good number of packs, including the acknowledged biggies, but always return to FancyCraft. Now a good many packs have isolated individual textures I prefer over those in FancyCraft. But for overall feel while actually playing the game, FancyCraft just seems "right". And some of its textures in my opinion can't be beat...wool comes readily to mind, as does obsidian. Others too, but again to each their own.
On 15 Nov 2012 I modified the bridge first seen in my 12 Nov update, removing its center canopy superstructure, added glowstone lighting, and slightly lengthened the outer junglewood support logs. I am happier with the bridge now, having decided that the central, third, canopy made the structure too "busy".
I'm still not totally pleased with my work. At the moment what bothers me most is that there is no visible evidence that those four oak crossbeams are attached to the oak support pillars, as they must be to hold up the bridge. I could quickly and easily remedy that by converting to single crossbeams, resting atop the oak pillars. But that looks bland compared to my current double crossbeam arrangement.
What I might do is attach stone buttons to the crossbeams, representing the heads of iron spikes or rods anchoring crossbeams to pillars. But will it convince? We shall see.
I remain somewhat tempted to tear the whole bloody thing down, bridge, ranch and all, and start afresh.
Nice
www.youtube.com/machineinput
Thanks. As mentioned before, I'm surprised Fancy Craft isn't more popular than it apparently is. It is, imo, an almost ideal survival texture pack, and not bad for dedicated builders either. Then again the author, JJJason, was out of the loop for some good while and has only recently began updating to pack again. (The 128x128 version I use is not yet updated for 1.4x, but the 32x32 version has been.)
UPDATE: Keep Tower fifth floor brewing station, a work in progress.An image of my Keep fifth floor alchemy lab, original seen here, has been incorporated into my initial post (post #1). Additionally, an image of my Keep exterior showing its fifth floor extension was removed, having been superseded by more up-to-date images seen elsewhere.
ADDENDUM: 2013-01-02
Image and text originally seen above have been incorporated into post #1, as were an image with text highlighting then-new potato and carrot patches on the Hill Fort upper plateau.
On a more mundane note, back at Cattleman's Folly I erected stone fencing protecting the exposed passageway from ranch to bridge. It marks my first usage of the new fencing resource. This was also my first use of decorative shrubbery, though I had experimented with it quite early on.
The ranch has undergone other changes, none dramatic enough to document.
The texture pack certainly looks very nice, although it's probably too high-res for my personal playing tastes.
On this date I updated my initial post (post #1) with two images of my newly established cocoa farm They can be found amongst the clutter. Additionally, over the past several days I replaced seven post #1 images with more up-to-date equivalents, showing the Keep with its fifth floor in place and removing unsightly HUD elements. The image of my Alchemy Lab original seen in post #88 was moved to post #1.
ADDENDUM: auxiliary potato / carrot field:
On 10 Dec I established small potato and carrot patches near the cocoa farm. These patches supplement rather than replace existent potato and carrot patches located on the upper plateau northeast quadrant. I'm not yet totally sold on either field or farm. Either or both is apt to see renovation, removal or relocation before all is said and done.
One of my two post #1 images of the cocoa farm was updated to include a glimpse of the new field.
The image and text related to my Wilderness Highway, originally seen here, have been incorporated into post #1.
Images and text related to my Wilderness Road, originally seen here, were either obsolete or have been incorporated into post #1.
And now for something completely different, a zombie who wouldn't share its lollipop:
Yes, I mined the iron afterward.