Minecraft Forums

I'm just curious about something. Call it research if you will. I was browsing the Xbox 360 Creations section and noticed that a lot of builds in there, be they cities, ships, buildings, etc, are mostly just copies of other famous Minecraft works or real life things.

So, I have to ask. What do people prefer building? Do you prefer just copying something that has already been made in Minecraft by someone else and adding it to your world? Or do you prefer to build something from scratch using your imagination? Or, do you mix the two by building something from scratch and adding hints of already made things, or vice versa?

I'm in no way trying to say that things people build that are based on real life things or something someone else has built in Minecraft before makes it any less impressive. I just think it's interesting to see whether people try to recreate things or build from scratch.

Also, if you have a reason as to why you build one way or the other, feel free to share.

I'd have to say original. Pretty much the only thing I've down-right copied was the pirate ship I used for my Hunger Games map. But yeah, I prefer starting from scratch & using what's left of my dull imagination. I don't see how Minecraft could be any fun when one just copies other peoples builds.
Where's the fun in that?

Actually, the truthful answer for everybody would probably be to say mix. When making something new I always base it off of things that you have previously built/seen.

I create things from my mind, then I twist it around into block form and use what I have.
I like to use redstone.

Originals for sure. This is one the only games that brings out the artistic side of my usually very mechanical brain. Great idea for a poll btw.

I try to be creative and original... though sometimes it seems as if everything has been done before.....In a way.

I have to say I use a mix of things. Sometimes Im imspired by what other people build and use it. Other times I merge ideas. Like the duck/chicken water tower, I turn into a duck tower with wheat farm underneath, I have a side wall where the water flows outside the tower and delivers the eggs so I can use the inside for my farm and a piston to flow the water inside to collect the wheat. I use the same idea for mushroom/pumpkins/melon farms. I wouldnt say it was original because I based it on the original chicken farm.

when i play minecraft i feel like Einstein of art and its amazing what i built but some things i do build off of things i have already seen but most of its off of oblivion, skyrim, and etc.

I mostly make stuff that's my own, which is why my world sucks, lol. Anyway I'm not good at visualizing something and drawing it, much less making it in Minecraft, I use other people's Redstone creations and reverse engineer it to learn how it works.

A Mix . . . and for everyone it's a mix.

My 'buildings' are my own, as are many peoples. . .BUT . . How many people have a fence/pressure plate table in their house? Lots.

Things inside peoples buildings are pretty much, always copied. Mine are. I'd never have known how to build a toilet otherwise. The building itself is mine though.

Make sense?

Definitely a mix.

The blocks we have available to us are pretty limited, so I sincerely doubt that any designs by anyone in MCXBLA do not contain at least some copied elements from previous designs. Also, who hasn't referred to some sort of tutorial or friend in order to figure out how to build their first mob spawner trap and then not based their own future designs on what they learned from building the first one?

Mix, I get a lot of inspiration to build things by looking up pictures before i go to build something. Then i add my own twist to things. I don't always do it though, and there is occasions where I have exactly copied something.

Quote from Ragnarock1982

A Mix . . . and for everyone it's a mix.

My 'buildings' are my own, as are many peoples. . .BUT . . How many people have a fence/pressure plate table in their house? Lots.

Things inside peoples buildings are pretty much, always copied. Mine are. I'd never have known how to build a toilet otherwise. The building itself is mine though.

Make sense?

I don't put that stuff in my builds. I only build things that serve a purpose.

I also wouldn't consider everyone using a fence and pressure plate or a piston as a table, copying. If it's the only way you can do it, then everyone has to do it.

Quote from Mustache_Guy

If it's the only way you can do it, then everyone has to do it.

Very true. BUT, someone had to come up with the idea first, right?

I think the main 'building' design is original to everyone. 'Useful things', are almost always a copy.

i like to say i borrow ideas and implement them into a structure im building i.e. stairs as roofs (i know i can't be the first), mob grinder, or even leaves as hedges(bushes).

It's a mix for me. I usually will copy somebody on Youtube, but I'll also feed off of that idea and build a structure to my liking.

Mix, one of the things I copied was the Cornucopia for my Hunger Games map

i doubt that anything in minecraft is truely original. it's all a variation of something. i put mixed because i sometimes build things with a variation i have not seen. like an 8000+ obsidian block pyramid.

When I see people's creations I tend to mentally copy certain little details from their creation. Over time I've learned multiple small building tips and tricks that help me to create my own impressive builds.