I use TNT and the pickaxe. Flatten out an area with the pickaxe and then with a little planning layout your TNT. If you do it right you don't even need the redstone as you can get a chain reaction going from one to the next. After the TNT goes off I clean up what's left and create another flattened off area and then rinse and repeat.
It works really well but is still not a fast process and you'll need a Mob trap running to gather gun powder. This is one reason I'm really looking forward to creative. Instant block break!
I dismissed using TNT on stone because you can get rid of a 3x3x3 area faster and more efficiently by just using a pick axe.
lets see time taken to dig out 36 blocks as opposed to 3, plant and tnt and wait for it to explode... nah sorry thats definitly faster, only downside is less stone recovered but I dont usually have a problem with that.
Clearing land is always part of a build. You can't build something without making the lot the way you want it first. That's really not what my point was though.
I get your point, but it doesn't really pertain to land clearing. And the lawn is not part of the house.
Either way, I'm not going to make the lot if it's already been made by someone else. Not trying to offend anyone, but I take pride in building something unique, complex, and creative. Not in holding the right trigger for hours on end.
Never forget the torch trick for clearing sand and gravel if you run into large deposits. I'm currently turning a sand mountain into an extended beach and using the slag to fill up a section of my ocean. You can clear whole columns of sand or gravel at one go by digging out the bottom block with a torch and then quickly placing that torch on the space revealed before the sand or gravel starts to fall. When the material falls, it will harvest itself.
Why look forward to that when you can just use superflat?
Superflat is great for starting off a new world where I don't want any terrian in the first place but that isn't really what I'm after. I like the hills, valleys and lakes around what I'm building I just need to alter some of them suite my needs. I suspect that once superflat is available I'll use it more for testing redstone, trap design, etc more than building a world. Who knows though, the future has yet to be written.
Superflat is great for starting off a new world where I don't want any terrian in the first place but that isn't really what I'm after. I like the hills, valleys and lakes around what I'm building I just need to alter some of them suite my needs. I suspect that once superflat is available I'll use it more for testing redstone, trap design, etc more than building a world. Who knows though, the future has yet to be written.
Ahh, that makes sense. Sometimes my brain fails and I forget that some people may not build the same things I like to build.
I flattened many of mountains in my day
I use iron pick axes since you will be finding tons of iron in the mountains as you take them down. The thing I do is only take out a small chunck of the mountain at a time. That way I can see progress and it helps from the monotany of taking down 1 level at a time. I usually do a 10 deep by 10 wide then when I am done move on to the next 10x10 area. To me this made it seem that my progress was going much faster.
Thanks for the TNT tips everyone! I never knew exactly how many blocks TNT would destroy, so now I can comfortably use TNT and still get some precision.
Also, I will be saving my diamond tools from now on. I don't know why I never thought to save them. Stone tools are slower, but I'll never run out of them.
It seems I am quite crazy haha. I've duped a bit in other worlds, but I swore to myself that I wouldn't do it in this world. It really is more fun and rewarding. I have nothing against it, but I'm not doing it for personal reasons.
Thanks for all of your help everyone! I'm always open to more suggestions if anyone has some.
For things like stone/cobblestone, the difference in time it takes using a stone pickaxe vs. a diamond one is just 0.25 of a second. For an iron pickaxe vs. a diamond one, it is 0.1 of a second. Hardly worth the wear on a diamond pickaxe using it on lower grade materials; particularly if you're short on diamonds.
I flattened many of mountains in my day
I use iron pick axes since you will be finding tons of iron in the mountains as you take them down. The thing I do is only take out a small chunck of the mountain at a time. That way I can see progress and it helps from the monotany of taking down 1 level at a time. I usually do a 10 deep by 10 wide then when I am done move on to the next 10x10 area. To me this made it seem that my progress was going much faster.
It also tend to flatten land in small chunks, interspersing it with other activities in the game. Builds just happen more slowly. Also, I tend to create flat areas by building plateaus rather than leveling whole mountains (unless I'm working on my harbour which has to be a sea level). I just carry a few stacks of dirt or cobble whenever I'm out walking and use it to fill them to fill in the low spots as I'm walk over them. It doesn't matter about using the cobble since I just make sure that it's all dirt for the top layer. It also helps keep the amount of cobble in my chest down to a reasonable amount.
For things like stone/cobblestone, the difference in time it takes using a stone pickaxe vs. a diamond one is just 0.25 of a second. For an iron pickaxe vs. a diamond one, it is 0.1 of a second. Hardly worth the wear on a diamond pickaxe using it on lower grade materials; particularly if you're short on diamonds.
True, but let's say it takes an hour to mine 5000 blocks with a stone pick. If you were to use a diamond pick, it would've only took 40 minutes. That time difference adds up after awhile.
Besides, a stone pick only takes what, half a second to mine a stone block? That's a 100% increase in efficiency switching to diamond. And if that's the case, my guesstimation above is inaccurate, it would take even less time.
I think the best way would be placing TNT in a chain reaction on top of the mountain, so place one every 3 blocks away and it can take out a chunk of the mountain quickly
True, but let's say it takes an hour to mine 5000 blocks with a stone pick. If you were to use a diamond pick, it would've only took 40 minutes. That time difference adds up after awhile.
Besides, a stone pick only takes what, half a second to mine a stone block? That's a 100% increase in efficiency switching to diamond. And if that's the case, my guesstimation above is inaccurate, it would take even less time.
True... but other things slow me down more significantly than the difference in the pickaxes. Also, I tend to fall into lava when I get mining too fast, anyway. I'm think safer with that little additional fraction of a second on each block.
Dont *usually* have the issue with falling in to Lava, bar the one occasion i came across floating sand and was stood on a piece when I found out it was floating...
Dont *usually* have the issue with falling in to Lava, bar the one occasion i came across floating sand and was stood on a piece when I found out it was floating...
If I get lulled into just mining ahead, particularly with a fast pickaxe, I seem to fall into lava lots. I think it has to do with a slow reaction time - I don't jump back fast enough when the sssss happens.
It's not so bad when the floating sand is above water, but I too have fallen into lava on one of those. I've also found gravel floating in a similar fashion; but fortunately came across it where I could see the hazard before I tried mining any of the adjacent blocks. My friend's kid once mined some gravel and all of a sudden found herself about 5 levels down on the edge of a lava pool. Close call.
I also have a nasty habit of walking into surface lava while walking around just filling in a map. On Peaceful (which is how I usually fill in maps), if you get out of the lava quick enough, you don't die. The fire damage just keeps getting negated by the way the hearts regenerate in that mode. You can then walk around on fire for quite a time, grunting like a pig. It's actually pretty funny.
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Retired StaffIt works really well but is still not a fast process and you'll need a Mob trap running to gather gun powder. This is one reason I'm really looking forward to creative. Instant block break!
lets see time taken to dig out 36 blocks as opposed to 3, plant and tnt and wait for it to explode... nah sorry thats definitly faster, only downside is less stone recovered but I dont usually have a problem with that.
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Retired StaffI get your point, but it doesn't really pertain to land clearing. And the lawn is not part of the house.
Either way, I'm not going to make the lot if it's already been made by someone else. Not trying to offend anyone, but I take pride in building something unique, complex, and creative. Not in holding the right trigger for hours on end.
Why look forward to that when you can just use superflat?
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Retired StaffSuperflat is great for starting off a new world where I don't want any terrian in the first place but that isn't really what I'm after. I like the hills, valleys and lakes around what I'm building I just need to alter some of them suite my needs. I suspect that once superflat is available I'll use it more for testing redstone, trap design, etc more than building a world. Who knows though, the future has yet to be written.
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Retired StaffAhh, that makes sense. Sometimes my brain fails and I forget that some people may not build the same things I like to build.
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Retired Staffuseless comment achieved!
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Retired StaffThings that require a retarded amount of flatness.
http://mcxphotos.com/jaime.gray.98/redstonecpu
Here is the thread, with more information on the project:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1431927-first-redstone-computer-ever-built-on-360/#entry17402529
I use iron pick axes since you will be finding tons of iron in the mountains as you take them down. The thing I do is only take out a small chunck of the mountain at a time. That way I can see progress and it helps from the monotany of taking down 1 level at a time. I usually do a 10 deep by 10 wide then when I am done move on to the next 10x10 area. To me this made it seem that my progress was going much faster.
For things like stone/cobblestone, the difference in time it takes using a stone pickaxe vs. a diamond one is just 0.25 of a second. For an iron pickaxe vs. a diamond one, it is 0.1 of a second. Hardly worth the wear on a diamond pickaxe using it on lower grade materials; particularly if you're short on diamonds.
It also tend to flatten land in small chunks, interspersing it with other activities in the game. Builds just happen more slowly. Also, I tend to create flat areas by building plateaus rather than leveling whole mountains (unless I'm working on my harbour which has to be a sea level). I just carry a few stacks of dirt or cobble whenever I'm out walking and use it to fill them to fill in the low spots as I'm walk over them. It doesn't matter about using the cobble since I just make sure that it's all dirt for the top layer. It also helps keep the amount of cobble in my chest down to a reasonable amount.
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Retired StaffTrue, but let's say it takes an hour to mine 5000 blocks with a stone pick. If you were to use a diamond pick, it would've only took 40 minutes. That time difference adds up after awhile.
Besides, a stone pick only takes what, half a second to mine a stone block? That's a 100% increase in efficiency switching to diamond. And if that's the case, my guesstimation above is inaccurate, it would take even less time.
True... but other things slow me down more significantly than the difference in the pickaxes. Also, I tend to fall into lava when I get mining too fast, anyway. I'm think safer with that little additional fraction of a second on each block.
If I get lulled into just mining ahead, particularly with a fast pickaxe, I seem to fall into lava lots. I think it has to do with a slow reaction time - I don't jump back fast enough when the sssss happens.
It's not so bad when the floating sand is above water, but I too have fallen into lava on one of those. I've also found gravel floating in a similar fashion; but fortunately came across it where I could see the hazard before I tried mining any of the adjacent blocks. My friend's kid once mined some gravel and all of a sudden found herself about 5 levels down on the edge of a lava pool. Close call.
I also have a nasty habit of walking into surface lava while walking around just filling in a map. On Peaceful (which is how I usually fill in maps), if you get out of the lava quick enough, you don't die. The fire damage just keeps getting negated by the way the hearts regenerate in that mode. You can then walk around on fire for quite a time, grunting like a pig. It's actually pretty funny.