The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
8/31/2015
Posts:
59
Member Details
Preamble:
I've made suggestion posts in the past, but each attempt seems to bring something a bit newer, after putting it down for long enough and looking at it again with refreshed eyes. A few things I feel like I over-focused or overvalued would be the portal room being this big, central room, when it really just needed to be central, and big enough to act like a hub to the rest of the stronghold, but it didn't need to be huge in any particular fashion beyond that which it needed to function. Another is all other rooms being the same size and shape, being merely a quarter-chunk room with alcoves attached, such that the entirety of each room was a chunk (15x15 plus walls). This also led to an overly rigid layout of the rooms that limited what I desired with a winding maze of staircases and doorways throughout that felt consistent with each other and the rooms.
Inspiration:
The original idea of the project was imbued with possibilities based on improved procedural generation exhibited by woodland mansions (and later bastions). With the original, steps over time ultimately led away from that. This one comes with new material (deepslate bricks, with more variants than cracked potentially added in the future), in part due to the increased world height snapshots placing strongholds within the deepslate layer, near the the top where regular stone starts upward; as well as various ideas that I experimented with using 1.16 additions like chains and crying obsidian.The challenge was finding a system that wasn't too rigid and limited, but not too random such that parts needed to be too specific to accommodate, while having a strong amount of procedural generation and manipulation.
I'm not aware of the limitations of the procedural generation of Minecraft, but I always like to push the envelope with many of ideas in any environment, see where it breaks, and dial back until it fits within those limitations. Seeing as the stronghold is by far the most dated structure (save maybe the simplicity of the temples), this project is an attempt to see how the stronghold may be modernized within the game thus far. As with most structures, minimal destruction of blocks is essential to the structure for the sake of exploration and loot gathering. Again, I'm not exactly sure what the procedural limitations of Minecraft are, but I thought it was fun revisiting this project; particularly given the implication that we may see a stronghold rework within the second half of the Caves and Cliffs Update, that includes deepslate layers, the Deep Dark, etc.
Suggestion:
A few particular ideas come in the form that each room will be a shape that is at most 31x31, plus walls, having all alcoves (3-block-high space) along the walls, and the area(s) between them a bit roomier with fire pits hanging from the ceiling. As such, rooms contain up to 9 main sections, plus the alcoves extending from each main section. Most (if not all) rooms may vary in shape beyond being some size of a square, such as a ring, a +, or a 7-section room that is a 2x3 section plus a "nub" section.
Reason for the alcoves is that it gives rooms detail and depth, while offering a multitude of options for staircases and doorways to lead to and from rooms, using the otherwise empty corners of the rooms and the spaces above the alcoves.
When I was considering lighting, I was considering that the rooms best be dimly lit, causing mob spawns to be uninhibited, except for a few specific exceptions as explained below. The light from the ceiling fire pits does not inhibit any mob spawns, but any ground or wall fire pits close to the ground will.
Lastly before the room suggestion themselves, I went a bit wild with decorating the rooms to make them minimizing looking square as much as possible; chains, iron bars, wall blocks, stair blocks, and slabs give plenty of detail to the pillars and the ceiling.
Rooms:
Portal Room: The main feature, of course; a square room (31x31) with the portal in the center, surrounded by 4 staircases with silver spawners, 1 for each side. At the corners of the portal are fire pits, and around the arrangement is a walkway, bridged to the alcoves on each wall. The portal is supported by chains connected between the fire pits and the ornate ceiling. Below is a pit of lava, making silverfish a deadly enemy not just for themselves, but their potential to crumble the blocks of the walkway and bridges. The corners of the room have a fire pit set in above the lava. A second floor above the portal room (23x23, should the stronghold have multiple stories), is a simple room with an intricate central section and a hole in the floor from which you can peer down at (or jump to!) the portal. The room is otherwise identical to a blank 4-section square room.
Torch Pillar: While the torch pillar is simply variation of the large square room, it makes a return in this new idea, both offhand and as an actual room type. When a room is not a perfect square, alcoves will overlap, and a fire pit will spawn in the corner. A more honorable implementation of the room would be when a full-size (31x31) room lacks a center, the 4-way overlap of the alcoves from the ring or X (or something in between) will place a fire pit in the center of the room, lighting the ground nearby. However, a 23x23 room specifically designed around a fire pit in the center is also considered, likely similar to the second floor of the portal room, but a fire pit instead of the hole.
Library: Pretty self explanatory, bookshelves, a chest or two with enchanted books. However, I'd like to see about fitting a full-enchantment arrangement of bookshelves around a lectern. With the current room theme, multi-floor rooms are tricky, but probably still possible, so the library may have a multi-floor variant, like the classic.
Storage: I feel like this one would be more like the mansion, where it's a bunch of chests that are either empty or filled with junk or otherwise trivial contents. As with the library, may have a multi-floor variant.
Treasure Room: To replace the treasure altars found in the hallways of the classic stronghold, this room has one to some chests (based on room size) filled with valuable loot. May lack armor and weapon loot (see below).
Prison: Using the alcoves, they make great areas for prison cells. Like the classic, however, these rooms serve no effective purpose beyond being decorative.
Fountain: Plain and simple. Contains one more more decorative fountains (base on room size and shape). Like the prison, this room has no effective purpose beyond being decorative.
Blacksmith: Similar to a blacksmith villager's house; contains furnaces, at least one anvil, lava, and probably a chest containing raw materials, processed materials, tools/weapons and armor, and perhaps an armor stand that may have armor pieces for the taking.
Bridge Room: My favorite of the classic rooms, I liked the aesthetic of the stronghold splitting up between so many different paths from one room. A multi-story room with at least one staircase and bridge. WIP.
There may be a few inconsistencies with the images. Refer to the room above the portal room proper as the most up-to-date.
This looks like a really interesting and well thought out idea- I've always thought that there's a lot of structures that could use a bit of an overhaul following the Village & Pillage update, with Strongholds being up there at the top of the list. I also think that it's highly likely they're going to be updated in some way with the addition of the deepslate layer- and it would be the perfect opportunity to also implement better generation and new rooms/modules.
Personally, the Library is my favorite room- I like the existing Library, but it could be cool if there was also a larger variant. Considering the challenge of finding a stronghold, they definitely ought to be one of the game's more impressive structures.
In the meantime, if you're interested in better stronghold generation, I would highly recommend the Yung's Better Strongholds mod on curseforge.
Preamble:
I've made suggestion posts in the past, but each attempt seems to bring something a bit newer, after putting it down for long enough and looking at it again with refreshed eyes. A few things I feel like I over-focused or overvalued would be the portal room being this big, central room, when it really just needed to be central, and big enough to act like a hub to the rest of the stronghold, but it didn't need to be huge in any particular fashion beyond that which it needed to function. Another is all other rooms being the same size and shape, being merely a quarter-chunk room with alcoves attached, such that the entirety of each room was a chunk (15x15 plus walls). This also led to an overly rigid layout of the rooms that limited what I desired with a winding maze of staircases and doorways throughout that felt consistent with each other and the rooms.
Inspiration:
The original idea of the project was imbued with possibilities based on improved procedural generation exhibited by woodland mansions (and later bastions). With the original, steps over time ultimately led away from that. This one comes with new material (deepslate bricks, with more variants than cracked potentially added in the future), in part due to the increased world height snapshots placing strongholds within the deepslate layer, near the the top where regular stone starts upward; as well as various ideas that I experimented with using 1.16 additions like chains and crying obsidian.The challenge was finding a system that wasn't too rigid and limited, but not too random such that parts needed to be too specific to accommodate, while having a strong amount of procedural generation and manipulation.
I'm not aware of the limitations of the procedural generation of Minecraft, but I always like to push the envelope with many of ideas in any environment, see where it breaks, and dial back until it fits within those limitations. Seeing as the stronghold is by far the most dated structure (save maybe the simplicity of the temples), this project is an attempt to see how the stronghold may be modernized within the game thus far. As with most structures, minimal destruction of blocks is essential to the structure for the sake of exploration and loot gathering. Again, I'm not exactly sure what the procedural limitations of Minecraft are, but I thought it was fun revisiting this project; particularly given the implication that we may see a stronghold rework within the second half of the Caves and Cliffs Update, that includes deepslate layers, the Deep Dark, etc.
Suggestion:
A few particular ideas come in the form that each room will be a shape that is at most 31x31, plus walls, having all alcoves (3-block-high space) along the walls, and the area(s) between them a bit roomier with fire pits hanging from the ceiling. As such, rooms contain up to 9 main sections, plus the alcoves extending from each main section. Most (if not all) rooms may vary in shape beyond being some size of a square, such as a ring, a +, or a 7-section room that is a 2x3 section plus a "nub" section.
Reason for the alcoves is that it gives rooms detail and depth, while offering a multitude of options for staircases and doorways to lead to and from rooms, using the otherwise empty corners of the rooms and the spaces above the alcoves.
When I was considering lighting, I was considering that the rooms best be dimly lit, causing mob spawns to be uninhibited, except for a few specific exceptions as explained below. The light from the ceiling fire pits does not inhibit any mob spawns, but any ground or wall fire pits close to the ground will.
Lastly before the room suggestion themselves, I went a bit wild with decorating the rooms to make them minimizing looking square as much as possible; chains, iron bars, wall blocks, stair blocks, and slabs give plenty of detail to the pillars and the ceiling.
Rooms:
Portal Room: The main feature, of course; a square room (31x31) with the portal in the center, surrounded by 4 staircases with silver spawners, 1 for each side. At the corners of the portal are fire pits, and around the arrangement is a walkway, bridged to the alcoves on each wall. The portal is supported by chains connected between the fire pits and the ornate ceiling. Below is a pit of lava, making silverfish a deadly enemy not just for themselves, but their potential to crumble the blocks of the walkway and bridges. The corners of the room have a fire pit set in above the lava. A second floor above the portal room (23x23, should the stronghold have multiple stories), is a simple room with an intricate central section and a hole in the floor from which you can peer down at (or jump to!) the portal. The room is otherwise identical to a blank 4-section square room.
Torch Pillar: While the torch pillar is simply variation of the large square room, it makes a return in this new idea, both offhand and as an actual room type. When a room is not a perfect square, alcoves will overlap, and a fire pit will spawn in the corner. A more honorable implementation of the room would be when a full-size (31x31) room lacks a center, the 4-way overlap of the alcoves from the ring or X (or something in between) will place a fire pit in the center of the room, lighting the ground nearby. However, a 23x23 room specifically designed around a fire pit in the center is also considered, likely similar to the second floor of the portal room, but a fire pit instead of the hole.
Library: Pretty self explanatory, bookshelves, a chest or two with enchanted books. However, I'd like to see about fitting a full-enchantment arrangement of bookshelves around a lectern. With the current room theme, multi-floor rooms are tricky, but probably still possible, so the library may have a multi-floor variant, like the classic.
Storage: I feel like this one would be more like the mansion, where it's a bunch of chests that are either empty or filled with junk or otherwise trivial contents. As with the library, may have a multi-floor variant.
Treasure Room: To replace the treasure altars found in the hallways of the classic stronghold, this room has one to some chests (based on room size) filled with valuable loot. May lack armor and weapon loot (see below).
Prison: Using the alcoves, they make great areas for prison cells. Like the classic, however, these rooms serve no effective purpose beyond being decorative.
Fountain: Plain and simple. Contains one more more decorative fountains (base on room size and shape). Like the prison, this room has no effective purpose beyond being decorative.
Blacksmith: Similar to a blacksmith villager's house; contains furnaces, at least one anvil, lava, and probably a chest containing raw materials, processed materials, tools/weapons and armor, and perhaps an armor stand that may have armor pieces for the taking.
Bridge Room: My favorite of the classic rooms, I liked the aesthetic of the stronghold splitting up between so many different paths from one room. A multi-story room with at least one staircase and bridge. WIP.
There may be a few inconsistencies with the images. Refer to the room above the portal room proper as the most up-to-date.
This looks like a really interesting and well thought out idea- I've always thought that there's a lot of structures that could use a bit of an overhaul following the Village & Pillage update, with Strongholds being up there at the top of the list. I also think that it's highly likely they're going to be updated in some way with the addition of the deepslate layer- and it would be the perfect opportunity to also implement better generation and new rooms/modules.
Personally, the Library is my favorite room- I like the existing Library, but it could be cool if there was also a larger variant. Considering the challenge of finding a stronghold, they definitely ought to be one of the game's more impressive structures.
In the meantime, if you're interested in better stronghold generation, I would highly recommend the Yung's Better Strongholds mod on curseforge.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
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