As the title indicates, this is the first (non-demo) world I created when I got the game, appropriately named "World1", based on the seed -123775873255737467 in 1.5.1-1.6.4 (created in 1.5.1, 1.6.4 is almost the same except for no water lakes in deserts and different chest loot); the seed was randomly generated by the game (I don't think I even knew about seeds back then) and as it turned out it has been a very good seed, starting right from spawning, which places you near a village, no blacksmith but that doesn't really make a difference, near the intersection of a plains, desert, and jungle (open space for building, sand for glass, and wood). Of course, there are also plenty of caves underground, including several mineshafts within a couple hundred blocks of spawn (two overlapping at different levels to the southwest, where a large surface cave opening leads down to them, a third under the desert to the east), and an exposed ravine to the west, although that part came much later; I initially made a network of tunnels under my base and didn't really start caving until around two months had passed, based on an old copy of the world (caves that I intersected were walled off, much of this has since been "cleaned up").
Here are surface and underground maps of the area around spawn, as seen in the actual world and a recreated world in 1.6.4:
(I did not post an AMIDST map because I don't want to see what I haven't explored yet)
I had initially played on this world for around 6 months before I went off of it for about a year while playing around with modding the game, before returning back to it, first by modding a copy with a version of my mod "TheMasterCaver's World" (biome generation modified to have similar parameters to vanilla biomes they replaced so as to minimize chunk borders; here is a rendering of the modded world), then a second time after I'd played more modded worlds (for example); currently this is the only world I am playing on, with a total of around 1 1/2 years of daily gameplay, far longer than any other world I've had and representing about half the total time I've had or played Minecraft.
The world isn't entirely vanilla (beyond an area about X= +/-800 and Z= +1600); I modified the way mineshafts generate by removing their torches so unexplored mineshafts do not show up when I render the underground with MCMap (the mapping utility I used to make the 3D renderings you see in this thread), as well as preventing them from generating in areas with a lot of caves (they are still much more common than they are in 1.7 and later). This includes removing naturally generated torches from existing chunks (before I'd removed them from new mineshafts) by scanning them with code that removed torches attached to wooden planks in a particular manner underground (most of the torches I placed were left alone). I also made a few other modifications to my game, such as changing the way maps render and center themselves (similar to 1.7/1.8) and adding "rail blocks" and "cobweb blocks" which allow me to compactly carry and store rails and cobwebs, much like resources or wool (prior to this I crafted string from cave spider spawners into wool); note that I do not use them for long-term storage and there should be none in the world download (versions before 1.7 are particularly finicky about invalid items, regenerating chunks that contain any). In addition, this world has gone through a name change, by which I mean I had to manually edit the save so tamed animals would recognize my new name after I changed it when name changes came out, as 1.6.4 uses player names instead of UUIDs to keep track of data.
That being said, here are some renderings of the whole world (this and some of the following information may not be current; for example, I've since explored a large area to the east of what is shown below):
Minutor (day):
Minutor (night); yes, most of the light you see comes from cave openings, you can also see my main base in the center and villages (18 bases and 12 villages, including one in my main base):
Minutor (night at layer 22, near the layer of peak cave and mineshaft density):
Unmined, showing all explored caves underground after trimming away chunks without torches within a 1 chunk radius:
One thing that stands out is the lack of mineshafts closer to the origin (center), since they are less common within that area (linearly decreasing in frequency down to 0 at the origin from 80 chunks away along either axis)
Here is a close-up of my main base, along with some screenshots (a bit old but nothing major was changed):
This is the first part of my main base that I built, which has had changes to its layout since but has not been changed otherwise (enlarged, etc); I added the area shown above to expand it:
This is a more up-to-date look at the maps seen above (I modified item frames to render maps like 1.7+, in vanilla 1.6.4 they render like other items):
Part of my underground storage room, where I store all the resources I find while caving (the staircase in the screenshot above leads down to it); there are over two million resources stored here, and would be even if I did not use Fortune for a while after 1.6 came out, prior to which I also only mined what coal I needed, you can still find some caves with the coal left behind (I later re-explored most of these caves to remove the coal). I've mined more than a million coal ore alone, 400,000 iron ore, and some 100,000 other ores. Other resources include moss stone taken from dungeons, rails from mineshafts (also used in my railways), wool crafted from string mined from cave spider spawners (plus some cobwebs, which I only started collecting very late into the world after I added a mod block that let me craft them into blocks as you can with string and wool; these blocks are broken down for storage so there are no permanent modded blocks or items in the world), and loot taken from chests, plus some miscellaneous items such as a chest of mob drops):
A top-down view of the storage room made by deleting everything above it (made at a later date than the images above):
There is a large enclosed area with a glass roof, containing animals and oak trees; I originally made this area as an oak tree farm:
Besides my main base I have numerous secondary bases, of which a more recent one is shown below; most of these bases are relatively simple as they are mainly used as temporary storage areas (filling up a double chest, then I make a trip back to my main base) and to restock on food and wood; at least one older one has more things including enchanting setups and more farms, the latter of which are also seen in my newer bases since I've been trading to get emeralds so I can trade for diamond gear, which I started trading for after I found a villager selling diamond pickaxes, later on buying all gear:
Here is a full-size rendering (4256x3106 pixels, click to see a larger version) of an +/-8 chunk wide swath centered around the railway I made to this base, prior to exploring further; note the absence of caves around the base (which partly shows up on the cave map as parts of it are underground; my main base does not since I use glowstone), which is why I use MCMap to show my progress and removed torches from unexplored mineshafts (I even modified MCMap itself to use a small and more realistic range around torches, which also reduces near surface clutter in forests (MCMap counts any air space that has a 2+ block roof overhead as a cave):
Here is a list of the locations of the 27 bases that I've built, grouped according to the rail line they are on and numbered in the order I built them:
By Overworld rail system:
1. (-140, 290) - Main base
Along railway to east:
2. (150, 315) - first secondary base
3. (450, -500) - this one has a cactus wall around it
13. (1560, 280) - base shown above
14. (2315, 705) - built inside a village
15. (2560, -250)
21. (1560, 1620) - along branch to south at x=1560
22. (2560, 2560) - most distant base by rail in the Overworld
Along railway to north (from northwest corner of main base):
4. (-285, -375) - first base using jungle trees instead of oak trees for wood
5. (-590, -840)
6. (-595, -1315) - just behind this base is an impressively deep vertical cave
7. (-310, -2140) - northernmost base
19. (-1536, -1536)
20. (-2560, -1536) - westernmost base
Along railway to west (from southwest corner of main base):
9. (-875, 330)
16: (-1710, -320) - the most complex secondary base by far; unlike the others it is built of quartz, and has 4 zombies and skeletons wearing pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns that I caught on Halloween 2016
17: (-2315, 325)
Along railway to south (split off from western railway):
8. (-85, 880)
10. (720, 1560) - built inside a village; there are pink sheep in the forest to the west
11. (-500, 2040)
12. (515, 2550) - only base built on water
18: (-1530, 2580) - southernmost base, inside a village
By Nether rail system:
23. (3520, 0) - first base built past +/- 3072 and first using Nether for railway
24. (3250 -1280)
25. (3600, 1600)
26. (4560, 1105)
27. (3960, 2432)
There are also a few structures not considered to be bases and which are not linked by railways scattered around, mainly in the area around base #3. Most of the railways are at y=58, though a short segment to the east of my main base is at y=63 (originally, most were but I moved them down; the railway to the east also went as deep as y=31 along the segment to the north, which I changed before the newest addition to the easternmost base).
Here is a list of the 18 villages I've found in the order I found them in (I did not actually record the earlier ones but the way I explore makes it easy to figure out the order; #3 might have been found before #2).
Of course, as you can guess, the most notable thing about this world is the sheer amount of caves I've explored - nearly every cave, mineshaft, and ravine within generated chunks, save for a strip around the edges, has been explored with more than 3 million ore and nearly 4 million resources mined from them, and nearly a million torches placed; the exceptions are mainly caves that do not connect to anything else or the surface since the main way I find new caves is through interconnections underground, I'll also check out any surface openings I come across after I've explored an area but do not actively seek them out (most such openings are short dead ends).
Here are some statistics that give you some idea of just how much caving I've done in this one world, which has seen nearly half a year of continuous gameplay:
This is 4335 hours at an average of 3.53 hours per session, which is close to the average across all of my worlds; as an estimate about 90% of this time has been spent caving:
I've mined a total of about 3.11 million ore and 3.54 million blocks including moss stone, cobwebs, and rails, out of a total of 4.54 million blocks mined with a diamond pickaxe and shears (I used iron for a short time early on, now only used to dig out rail tunnels and build new bases using pickaxes taken from minecarts, keeping what I mine outside of caving separate):
I've also crafted 395,564 blocks of mineral resources (including 120 emerald blocks before I started mining it with Silk Touch), equivalent to 3.56 million resources, which when combined with moss stone, cobwebs (albeit most crafted into wool prior to using Silk Touch and cobweb blocks), and rails represents nearly 4 million resources collected over 1,228 play sessions, an average of 3,247 resources per session, even higher when only counting days spent caving:
Here are charts of what I mined over a 4 month period in 2021, during which I spent nearly every day caving with the exception of 2 days in October when I built a new secondary base and railway, otherwise my playstyle is remarkably consistent, with an average of about 3,100 ores and 3,600 resource blocks mined, 337 mobs killed, and 5400 XP collected every day (these figures more accurately reflect my caving than the general statistics shown above):
As for why I mine that many resources even though I do not use many of them, they are a byproduct of caving, which I do for fun, not to get resources; when I start a new world I branch-mine for resources and save caving until after I defeat the Ender Dragon, which to me is the "end" game; some of my worlds have even been "caving only" worlds, where I either used MCEdit to copy a base and gear over from another world or used Creative to build a base and give myself the items I use (either way, I only play in Survival while caving).
This is a series of surface and underground renderings over the six main periods I've played on this world (early-late 2013, mid-late 2015, most of 2016, mid 2017 to early 2018, two separate periods in 2020, mid-late 2021, and mid-2023 to early 2024; the time between these was spent on other worlds) and a full-size animation of an area I explored over several sessions:
This is full-size animation of an area I explored over 10 play sessions, each one lasting for 3-4 hours and covering an area of about 700x700 blocks overall, giving you an idea of how quickly I explore underground, which has included entire large (by 1.6.4 standards) cave systems, up to three separate mineshafts, and half a dozen ravines (not all at once):
A few underground screenshots taken with MCEdit (similar to Spectator mode):
Under my main base at spawn; compared to other areas this area includes a lot more tunnels between caves, as well as branch-mining at diamond level, which I no longer do in this world or in newer worlds except to get resources when I start out. There is still a staircase down from my storage area:
At -800, -1050 is the largest and densest single cave system in the world, and one of the largest and densest I've seen in any world:
Here is an Unmined rendering of the cave above (in a recreated world) showing just how dense that cave system is (from sea level and y=20, the latter of which shows denser caves better); it is unlikely I'll ever find another cave as large and dense as this one (I've found much bigger ones by scanning seeds for dense caves, I estimate that around a million chunks, 18-19 times the size of this world, need to be explored to find a cave like this):
That is not the largest cave system overall though; around -50, -1700 is a huge cave system/complex with more than a dozen separate mineshafts intersecting it:
Another big cave system is around 900, -70:
Not the entire underground is Swiss cheese though, as seen in this sparse area, including unexplored caves (in the upper-left is a desert temple):
It is also interesting just how close caves can get without interconnecting; here is an unexplored mineshaft that is just one block away from another one that I explored. If there had been ore or gravel here I'd have broken through (there are also often breaks in narrower caves and ravines, and larger breaks in ravines under the ocean, which I'll usually mine through):
You can download the world here to see it for yourself (dated 3/30/2024):
Note that while it can be opened in vanilla I recommend using my "World1 custom client", the mod I use to play on this world which includes many bugfixes and optimizations (this includes many fixes for bugs still present in the latest versions). It also includes many minor modifications and tweaks to gameplay, such as "rail" and "cobweb" blocks and double-sized ender chests (these shouldn't be present in the download as I only use them for temporary storage while caving and at secondary bases; double-sized ender chests simply lose the extra 27 slots in vanilla), and some changes to world generation, most notably mineshafts, which are equally as common near 0,0 as elsewhere and don't generate in areas of high cave density. However, 1.8's Spectator mode makes it possible to fly around underground to get a good look at what I've explored (I did make it so the suffocation overlay isn't shown in Creative but currently you can't freely move around):
(the first few pages of comments were made back when I had posted this thread for the TMCW-modded version of this world; I decided to reuse this thread instead of making a new one with the same name)
The cave system in pre 1.7 was the worst thing I could remember. Almost every surface looked like they were torn apart (something like ripped surface openings that you see in apocalypse movies). Apart from that, there were so many intersecting caves, it almost seem like the underground is very hollow and unstable (not that minecraft does realistically applies physics). Exploring caves back then was like doing a chore (unless that player is fond of mining, just like you).
I have to agree with you, it is the most caved world that everyone probably can see. Is this the world where you actually mined 1 million cobblestones? Somehow, I also thought that the world was way bigger than this (unless that was your other modded world, sorry I got confused).
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!Special thanks for TNT123BOOM for an awesome siggy! Want to read some awesome journals? Try this: Survival Journals/Worlds list
I'm gonna say that you are probably one of the most successful players I've ever seen when it comes to in-game things. Truly amazing. Would you mind me asking how many mobs you've killed in total, as in, across everything you've ever done? It says 75,000 but it must be higher than that.
The cave system in pre 1.7 was the worst thing I could remember. Almost every surface looked like they were torn apart (something like ripped surface openings that you see in apocalypse movies). Apart from that, there were so many intersecting caves, it almost seem like the underground is very hollow and unstable (not that minecraft does realistically applies physics). Exploring caves back then was like doing a chore (unless that player is fond of mining, just like you).
I have to agree with you, it is the most caved world that everyone probably can see. Is this the world where you actually mined 1 million cobblestones? Somehow, I also thought that the world was way bigger than this (unless that was your other modded world, sorry I got confused).
This actually is the same world; I decided to make an actual thread for it, instead of posting in the "what have you done recently thread" (as I'd mentioned in your thread for survival worlds), and that 1 million cobblestone has actually been mostly ores, with less stone mined than either coal or iron ore; most of what I do mine has been placed again as cobblestone to make bridges, ramps and all that (I do use ladders but mainly for temporary use, such as scaling a ravine wall to reach some ore).
And yeah, I can see why many people didn't like the caves before 1.7, but that makes them feel more like actual caves and not just some tunnels.
And yes, they can get so dense as to seem like there is more air than solid ground; on average around 10 percent of all blocks between y=11 and 32 are air (this is valid up through 1.6.4) and in some cave systems I've seen chunks with as much as 50% air (excluding ravines) between y=11 and 62. Here is what MCEdit finds for a 100 chunk area centered on the very large cave system I mentioned:
Layer 12 = 6435 (25.14% of 25600) (highest number of air blocks on one layer)
Layers 11-15 = 30600 (23.91% of 128000)
Layers 16-20 = 27593 (21.56%)
Layers 21-25 = 23291 (18.19%)
Layers 26-30 = 22218 (17.36%)
Layers 31-35 = 22224 (17.36%)
Layers 36-40 = 18509 (14.46%)
Layers 41-45 = 15561 (12.16%)
Layers 46-50 = 13550 (10.59%)
Layers 51-55 = 10771 (8.41%)
Layers 56-60 = 7343 (5.74%)
Here's a particularly extreme example found with a mod I made that searches for cave systems like this (seed -7978171164721551672 at 1586, 1918); that big open chamber isn't a single giant cave (they never get that large in vanilla) but so many caves all blocks have been obliterated:
Also, this is what my world looks like around spawn (on a recreated copy), you can see the caves and mineshafts I mentioned (the ones to the south mostly buried in a cave system, the large cave opening can be seen to the south of the lake, and the ravine to the west; I covered both of these up in my world):
I've often mentioned how cave systems in 1.7 and later are much smaller than in 1.6.4 and older versions; for the first time I made a large-scale comparison, using 4000x4000 worlds (pre-1.7 on the left, 1.7+ on the right), so you can see just how much smaller they are - the largest cave systems in the world were more or less average size cave systems in the same seed used in 1.6.4 (I actually used 1.6.4 to make both of these, setting the cave size/frequency parameters to the appropriate values, using a mod that generates a Superflat world with only caves and ravine, to make comparisons easy, plus it tremendously speeds up terrain generation, taking about 1.5 seconds to generate each 400x400 block area, starting/stopping the server is the main speed limit to Minecraft Land Generator):
It is interesting to note that the 1.6.4 world actually only has 30% more caves, and cave systems are only 47% as common; the difference being made up by a much larger average and maximum size, which I've found has a much larger effect on the size/density of cave systems than the frequency (i.e. the 1.6.4 size/frequency values are 40 and 15; if you double the size to 80 and frequency to 30 (which is half as common, a 1/30 chance per chunk) cave systems become much larger and denser).
Also, this gives you an idea of how absurdly huge cave systems can get in 1.6.4 (I found these using a mod that searches for them); all of these are vastly larger than the one in my world; you'll also note how far away from spawn they are as I searched a range of +/- 64,000 blocks (64 million chunks) to find the largest cave systems possible (this was started by somebody who PM'ed me about big caves, they mentioned some that they had found, using my "old caves" mod to get the 1.6.4 cave generation back in 1.8 (as they said "Without your old cave gen mod I would find it very difficult to get enjoyment out of this game in 1.8." so I'm not the only one; I then mentioned the huge cave system I'd found, then they started searching their old worlds and even using Minecraft Land Generator to generate 12,000x12,000 worlds to find the biggest caves; even in that area they only found a few that were comparable; I made a mod that mostly automates this process; create a new world and it will automatically scan for areas with a high density of caves):
These are from the seed 1027830769114355717 at (13904, 29584); (49232, -37392); (56688, -7072; two extremely large cave systems close together); (17248, 61088); (-18944, 60304):
Imagine trying to build here! (seed 2771143777217714573 at 55424, -50016):
An extremely large cave complex (seed -5408958179016975793 at 17344, 19968):
I also made a thread about a huge cave system I found in my world with this method, and actually explored in a world created just for that purpose (not a regular Survival world, I use Creative to give myself basic items but otherwise explored it in Survival; I'll never actually reach it otherwise, being 10,000 blocks away), although that one doesn't have the overall density the ones shown above have.
Very interesting, i will be following this post. I remember the first world i made (survival 2.0.. dont ask about the 2.0) that i had spent forever on. Just remember to take plenty of screenshots. I enjoy looking at that world with all my screenshots.... too bad it got corrupted :/ damn windows
Note that there are two versions (in their own folders, only add the files inside of either one, not the folders), one that scans an area of +/- 32000 (4000x4000 chunks) and the other +/- 64000 (8000x8000 chunks), as the latter takes quite a while to run (but returns more results). This is also run using a specially modified Superflat-type world that only has caves and ravines and is otherwise like the Overworld preset (64 layers deep). There is also a "MLG" folder that contains the classes that only modifies terrain generation so you can use it in the server jar (don't delete META-INF in this case) with Minecraft Land Generator; since caves are the only thing generated, terrain generation is extremely fast (if MLG didn't have to start and stop the server it would be truly fast, about 3 minutes to generate a 4000x4000 world on my computer), this also make teleporting to areas it found very fast.
Here is an example run (the game will be on the "converting world" screen until it finishes), which happens to be the run I found the first five huge cave systems shown previously (coordinates are given so that you can directly copy+paste from the game output):
Starting search routine for chunks with a (cave density * chunks)
score of at least 500000 within a radius of 16 chunks.
Area being searched (x/z): -64000 to 64000.
World seed: 1027830769114355717
Populating chunk array with data...
5% complete
10% complete
15% complete
20% complete
25% complete
30% complete
35% complete
40% complete
45% complete
50% complete
55% complete
60% complete
65% complete
70% complete
75% complete
80% complete
85% complete
90% complete
95% complete
100% complete
Calculating cave density in a radius of 4 chunks...
Counting valid chunks in a radius of 16 chunks...
Culling redundant chunks and sorting by (density * chunks)...
Score of 1623474 (peak density 42723, 38 chunks) at 13904 100 29584
Score of 1496480 (peak density 37412, 40 chunks) at 49232 100 -37392
Score of 1441965 (peak density 41199, 35 chunks) at 56688 100 -7072
Score of 1380275 (peak density 44525, 31 chunks) at 17248 100 61088
Score of 1193184 (peak density 44192, 27 chunks) at -18944 100 60304
Score of 1038968 (peak density 37106, 28 chunks) at -9984 100 -56336
Score of 931725 (peak density 37269, 25 chunks) at -1920 100 32704
Score of 920172 (peak density 41826, 22 chunks) at 15616 100 -37008
Score of 898817 (peak density 39079, 23 chunks) at 61136 100 -46432
Score of 804425 (peak density 34975, 23 chunks) at 8752 100 17920
Score of 797200 (peak density 39860, 20 chunks) at 48112 100 19488
Score of 774421 (peak density 40759, 19 chunks) at -4576 100 49088
Score of 770562 (peak density 42809, 18 chunks) at -61760 100 28480
Score of 763854 (peak density 36374, 21 chunks) at -35536 100 12384
Score of 746415 (peak density 39285, 19 chunks) at -27968 100 13664
Score of 733068 (peak density 34908, 21 chunks) at 59968 100 -51920
Score of 726465 (peak density 38235, 19 chunks) at -35184 100 14560
Score of 669655 (peak density 35245, 19 chunks) at -23920 100 43584
Score of 656860 (peak density 32843, 20 chunks) at 33344 100 -640
Score of 622560 (peak density 38910, 16 chunks) at 10608 100 15872
Score of 619412 (peak density 36436, 17 chunks) at -46864 100 -19056
Score of 615584 (peak density 38474, 16 chunks) at -22064 100 -42640
Score of 605489 (peak density 35617, 17 chunks) at -39664 100 -9360
Score of 590393 (peak density 34729, 17 chunks) at 52512 100 -37664
Score of 582131 (peak density 34243, 17 chunks) at -5072 100 4592
Score of 579840 (peak density 36240, 16 chunks) at 6848 100 46864
Score of 558510 (peak density 37234, 15 chunks) at 26816 100 -39408
Score of 555300 (peak density 30850, 18 chunks) at -27920 100 1104
Score of 538785 (peak density 35919, 15 chunks) at -34528 100 -18864
Score of 534144 (peak density 33384, 16 chunks) at -11360 100 -2448
Score of 532798 (peak density 38057, 14 chunks) at 11744 100 60576
Score of 532420 (peak density 38030, 14 chunks) at 49984 100 -20544
Score of 530720 (peak density 33170, 16 chunks) at 10576 100 28528
Score of 521528 (peak density 37252, 14 chunks) at 26704 100 -52304
Score of 509340 (peak density 33956, 15 chunks) at -9392 100 -56432
Finished searching.
Note that due to overlapping caves the largest cave systems in overall extent aren't necessarily the ones with the highest score or peak density (density is the actual volume of all the caves found in a certain area; if a chunk has a high enough density of caves around it it is added to a list, then I sort and remove duplicates (chunks within a certain distance), leaving the one with the highest score, which is peak density times number of chunks in a 16 chunk radius).
For comparison, this is what it shows for my world, using a range of 100 chunks, to give you an idea of how large the cave systems listed above are; this is also still the closest such cave system that I've found to the origin - imagine the chances of just creating a new world one day with a random seed and then a few months later stumbling across this huge cave system unlike anything I've ever seen (and probably never will again, except I modded in cave systems similar to it at random points, averaging one every 7,500 chunks, which is still rather uncommon, most people will never explore even a fraction of that area underground):
Starting search routine for chunks with a (cave density * chunks)
score of at least 500000 within a radius of 16 chunks.
Area being searched (x/z): -1600 to 1600.
World seed: -123775873255737467
...
Score of 628007 (peak density 33053, 19 chunks) at -816 100 -1056
I thought to note that this is also a good example of a memory vs speed tradeoff - I allocate a huge amount of memory (don't allocate less than 1 GB) to store the data for every one of the 64 million chunks scanned in the first stage, which otherwise means executing the cave generation algorithm over 3 billion times (49 times more to be exact), and running far slower as a result.
Also, this shows the difference between vanilla cave generation and my mod, in terms of the maximum width of individual caves (you can see that there are two distributions; one in ten caves have a multiplier applied, while in my mod the distribution is altered) and size of cave systems (the latter are a bit misleading since large cave systems are normally multiple smaller ones overlapping; the sizes around 200 are due to "colossal" cave systems which are similar to the large cave system at -800, -1050, and a lot smaller than some of the stuff I've been finding, but realistically findable through normal gameplay):
(there's also a slight shift in the size range of 5-25 due to the extra wide caves in that range; also, the maximum cave system size of 59 in vanilla is higher than the 39 (from random.nextInt(40) = 0-39) expected because when circular rooms are generated more than one additional cave may be generated)
Also, here's a table of caves by width, up to the maximum vanilla width of 26; there are about 2% more caves overall due to the extra large caves added, which are in addition to existing caves; these caves are added in smaller cave systems and are offset (if not more) by less abandoned mineshafts, which are approximately halved in frequency due to being excluded from dense cave systems (they still intersect the edges):
Note that the number of caves shown here means that there is an average of about 0.45 caves per chunk or 2.2 chunks per cave - which is a lot when you consider that a cave is an average of 9 chunks long (the "length" averages about 6 chunks, but most caves branch into two additional caves on average halfway down their length, with the length of each segment (3) being 3 chunks). Also, you can see just how rare caves with near the maximum width are in vanilla, with only 8 found in 100 million chunks - I made them over a thousand times more common (9,846 found) yet there is still only one every 1,766 chunks, including all larger sizes; the largest possible width of 84 isn't even shown (and would be a truly colossal open cavern! These caves can even break the surface, leaving a crater up to that wide, though their starting point is restricted to y=20-30 and their vertical curvature is reduced, as is their width-height ratio according to their width, similar to circular rooms, which are flattened).
You´re a true minecraft scientist. This is all very interesting to read, and there´s a lot to learn. I find it amazing how people figure all this out when creating a game, and amazing that people like you have so much understanding of it. You make minecraft a science. Very interesting and entertaining. I´m just sitting here in awe, reading all this. All i do is mine and build...
Apparently, there have been rumors that I have gotten "bored" of caving; this should dispel any such rumors:
This is what I mined from the same general area over several days:
That represents a total of 11,937 ore - 7,668 coal, 3,024 iron, 582 redstone, 459 gold, 150 lapis, and 54 diamond (not counting coal and diamonds I used for torches, smelting, and repairing, minus some resources found in minecarts).
That was the result of exploring a large cave system, mineshaft, and triple ravine (plus a few others) the last time I played; here are some screenshots I took of them:
This is a perfect example of what I mean by "Swiss cheese" when referring to large, dense cave systems:
The cave also contained this large open chamber:
Ravines filled with mineshafts (three ravines intersecting in a "H" pattern):
MCMap rendering of the area; there's actually two large cave systems near each other with the ravines between them:
Also, here are slices of the area at layers 35 and 11 in Minutor:
Also of note, I found this when I looked at the cave in a world recreated in vanilla 1.6.4 (ores are placed differently from what I found since I added the 1.8 stones before ores, like 1.8 did, so this changes the random numbers used to place veins):
In addition, the triple ravine (and a couple others) don't exist in vanilla, not because I added more ravines but because they intersect the ocean above and in vanilla this causes entire vertical segments to not generate (most easily seen by finding a ravine that intersects a river); I had replaced this code with code that checks for water on a per-block basis, contouring around water within a couple blocks; this results in dirt and sandstone ceilings under water, as seen in the first ravine screenshot above (the sandstone is because the code that generates patches of sand places sandstone instead of sand if there is air underneath, thus it doesn't cave in unless there happens to be gravel right underneath).
Hey would you be interested in possibly posting a video of you caving? Id honestly be interested in watching how you go about covering an entire cave system etc.
Hey would you be interested in possibly posting a video of you caving? Id honestly be interested in watching how you go about covering an entire cave system etc.
I second this.
We don't need proof in any way, I just think it would be fun to watch. Or, if your internet can handle it, livestreaming.
If you really want to go for it, you could do mining timelapses or "highlight reels"
How resource intensive is recording software? Considering that 1.8 and even 1.7 lag (the issue with 1.7 is more of some weird issue which I've mentioned before and isn't really "lag"; this also occurs in 1.8) that rules out using the Twitch feature in those versions (or at the least you won't see me killing any mobs; in fact, you can read about my experience with that issue here) I don't think I'd be able to record without issues, plus I've never recorded or done any video editing of any sort.
I suppose there is also multiplayer but I wouldn't even know where to begin there.
That said, you can get an idea of how quickly I make progress; the top half shows one of the cave systems from last time while below you can see a new cave system, plus another mineshaft, I explored since then::
Of note, I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet, I found it using a map, and caves leading into the clay layers:
Here is a fully zoomed-out map which I've nearly completely filled - yes, while caving underground; I have two other maps, one also mostly filled out as well as part of the other:
Here you can also see how my mod's mesa biomes are different from vanilla - you can find ores embedded in the hardened clay, and pockets of regular clay generate instead of dirt and gravel in the hardened clay layers (normal dirt/gravel generation below); I do this by generating ores first, then replacing stone with hardened clay, while 1.7 generates the hardened clay during initial chunk generation. Also, iron ore can be found up to y=127 in mesas, double the normal range of 0-63. These also generate so that they are only exposed in caves, or below sea level (there are huge amounts of regular clay in my mesas as it is as common as dirt and gravel combined, making it extremely easy to obtain for bricks or the like; extra caves also generate near and above sea level which makes it easy to mine it):
Also, another large cave that I found; the screenshot was taken at 210, 11, -2393; like the one mentioned before this is the result of caves that are so dense they merge together into a large chamber (I haven't actually finished exploring it, I left off where I was here; I explored the upper layers and mineshaft first so in this case I mined mostly iron and coal):
I haven't found recording software to be that bad, even in a world as huge as yours, it's singleplayer with no plugins and no intense redstone machines, so I can almost guarantee you'll be fine.
If you would rate your computer at a 2 or more on the "toaster to 10" scale, then you'll probably just drop 5 frames while recording. The game is easily playable at anything above 20.
As to software recommendations, I'll show what I use, it's free, and probably the best free recording software out there (with the maybe exception of shadowplay if you have nvidia GeForce gear). It's Riva Aftertuner, which comes attached to MSI afterburner, which is essentially a overclocking device, but it allows for some fun performance tweaks as well. Here's a vid on install/tutorial:
Common problems when downloading and how to fix: Check the box when it asks if you also want to download RivaAftertuner (that's what actually contains the recording software, and you can't get it separately). Also, for some reason, it makes you download two things. So your "installer" app or whatever should run twice. The first time it installs MSI, the second time it adds all the Rivatuner stuff, so don't close the second install window.
Also, only you would find a mesa biome, post screenshots, and say "I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet" I can't think of many other people who would just stay and keep mining, rather than immediately digging to the surface :P.
Always fun to check out this stuff, you have a lot of interesting things to show and say.
how good is your computer master caver? straight out recording and not live streaming is very low intensity for me atleast however that could vary from person to person. Minecraft just doesnt take up alot of memory or graphics power such as games like battlefield 4, and even then i will only get 10-15 fps drop.
I'm not sure why I need to make a video; I can try to take more screenshots as I play; I know, not the same thing, but that is how most people show what they've done.
That said, here are screenshots and other images of the mesa biome I mentioned:
These show some typical terrain; the dead trees are big oak trees without leaves and dead bushes and cacti can generate on (stained) hardened clay; trees and cacti are relatively uncommon with only a few per biome; as mentioned before, they also feature clay deposits in place of dirt and gravel and iron ore generating to y=127 inside the hardened clay, as well as extra caves around and above sea level (relatively scattered, not actual cave systems) as well as deeper ravines which can cut through the clay, unlike 1.8 (only caves can do so, same for deserts):
Here is the highest point:
Also, you might have noticed the "desert" around the edges; that isn't actually desert but "Mesa Edge", which is half-desert and half-mesa, with hardened clay above a certain point and sand/sandstone below. You can also see one of the pillars I use to mark where I left off; 21 cobblestone with torches placed every 7th block:
Here is a rendering made with MCMap, from two different angles (MCMap doesn't render the tree branches for some reason); you can also see a cutaway of the large cave system I'd previously explored on the lower right side of the top half:
Also, regarding "Also, only you would find a mesa biome, post screenshots, and say "I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet"; well, I already found one as mentioned before and they actually aren't that rare as you can see in this 3000x3000 map of a test world; unlike 1.7, they generate like regular biomes and with the same frequency as most "common" biomes (21 overall):
Interestingly, this world appears to be centered around what was a snowy zone, which I modified so that only a third of the zones are ice plains, with snowy taigas, snowy forests, and mega taigas taking another third and the rest being other biomes; this reduces the size of the snowy zones, especially the vast expanses of nothing but ice plains (which are near the center and towards the right edge), ice plains can also generate anywhere else as an uncommon biome (half as common).
Also, a truly rare biome (1/4 as common as "common" biomes) can be seen towards the upper-right, the gray area with a lot of lava, which is a volcanic wasteland biome, a mountainous biome with, in addition to a lot of lava (including underground, so many lava lakes!), no water at all aside from rivers that might cut through it, and the surface is covered with patches of gravel, obsidian, and cobblestone; magma cubes also spawn and there are 50% more of all ores, including rarer ores generating 50% higher than usual and veins of emerald ore (actual veins, not single blocks).
In addition, this shows how the stained clay colors are generated; each layer contains four different colors (randomly selected, so they may be the same), with each layer being offset:
Layer 56:
Layer 57:
Also, this is the same world seen in Unmined, with vegetation turned off, which shows variations in height well; you can see what I mean by "more height variation" - can you guess where the Extreme Hills are? (most of what you see isn't actual mountains, or not the stuff you can find in Extreme Hills):
As for my caving, this shows my progress since last time, compared to before and the time before that; I didn't play as much this time, stopping after I'd returned from emptying out my inventory/Ender chest, which had gotten full, and a lot of what I explored was the remainder of the large cave system from before, which is mostly hidden underneath previously explored caves:|
Also, this should put things into perspective, and this wider area is still only part of the whole world:
This is about 2,900 blocks north of my main base, nearly the furthest I've ever gone so far (I went 3,000 blocks a while back, which you can see to the west on the map, where I found a desert island); my current secondary base is located on an Extreme Hills peninsula neat the top center:
I've set a new milestone for the furthest I've ever gone from spawn (at -92, 236) - 3,266 blocks (3,259 along one axis), which may not be a lot compared to how far other people have gone but is pretty significant for me - especially given how I traveled that far:
A look back at the exit:
As I've shown before, here is a cumulative map of the areas I've explored over the last few sessions; I just kept pushing further and further north, well off the fully zoomed map I carry with me:
However, I've decided to stop going that way and fill in the rest of the map I'm currently using before I make a new one, writing down the coordinates of the exit for later reference (I have a total of 14 such points all around the edge of the explored world); I've returned to the exit I made near the cave system on the far right (at 447, -2261) to see if I can find anything in the empty area to the southwest; to the east at 755, -2232 is an exit I made leading to an abandoned mineshaft (unexplored).
Also, this is what I hauled back to my main base (plus nearly a double chest of mineshaft rails, mossy cobblestone and assorted loot); since the diamond Ender chest is separate from regular Ender chests I can carry back up to 54 (diamond Ender chest) + 27 (Ender chest) + 36 (inventory) = 117 stacks of items at once:
That's a total of 26,388 resources mined over about a week.
Also, on the cave map you might notice that ravines connect cave systems together in three places - without them I'd have never found the caves they connect to, most easily seen on the left side where a ravine intersects a cave system and a mineshaft; the addition of mineshafts and ravines is really the reason why people say that caves became much bigger and endless in Beta 1.8, not because caves became more common (I decompiled Beta 1.7.3 once and the cave generator had the same settings as up to 1.6.4, though there was a bug that caused caves to generate inconsistently across chunk borders (due to using a single global random number generator), but the fixing of that didn't do anything in itself to the overall amount of caves; of note, you can read about the bugs in this old thread).
Here's a map with all the cave systems (6, blue), mineshafts (2, red), and ravines (10, green lines) marked, plus my furthest exit point (red X):
As the title indicates, this is the first (non-demo) world I created when I got the game, appropriately named "World1", based on the seed -123775873255737467 in 1.5.1-1.6.4 (created in 1.5.1, 1.6.4 is almost the same except for no water lakes in deserts and different chest loot); the seed was randomly generated by the game (I don't think I even knew about seeds back then) and as it turned out it has been a very good seed, starting right from spawning, which places you near a village, no blacksmith but that doesn't really make a difference, near the intersection of a plains, desert, and jungle (open space for building, sand for glass, and wood). Of course, there are also plenty of caves underground, including several mineshafts within a couple hundred blocks of spawn (two overlapping at different levels to the southwest, where a large surface cave opening leads down to them, a third under the desert to the east), and an exposed ravine to the west, although that part came much later; I initially made a network of tunnels under my base and didn't really start caving until around two months had passed, based on an old copy of the world (caves that I intersected were walled off, much of this has since been "cleaned up").
Here are surface and underground maps of the area around spawn, as seen in the actual world and a recreated world in 1.6.4:
(I did not post an AMIDST map because I don't want to see what I haven't explored yet)
I had initially played on this world for around 6 months before I went off of it for about a year while playing around with modding the game, before returning back to it, first by modding a copy with a version of my mod "TheMasterCaver's World" (biome generation modified to have similar parameters to vanilla biomes they replaced so as to minimize chunk borders; here is a rendering of the modded world), then a second time after I'd played more modded worlds (for example); currently this is the only world I am playing on, with a total of around 1 1/2 years of daily gameplay, far longer than any other world I've had and representing about half the total time I've had or played Minecraft.
The world isn't entirely vanilla (beyond an area about X= +/-800 and Z= +1600); I modified the way mineshafts generate by removing their torches so unexplored mineshafts do not show up when I render the underground with MCMap (the mapping utility I used to make the 3D renderings you see in this thread), as well as preventing them from generating in areas with a lot of caves (they are still much more common than they are in 1.7 and later). This includes removing naturally generated torches from existing chunks (before I'd removed them from new mineshafts) by scanning them with code that removed torches attached to wooden planks in a particular manner underground (most of the torches I placed were left alone). I also made a few other modifications to my game, such as changing the way maps render and center themselves (similar to 1.7/1.8) and adding "rail blocks" and "cobweb blocks" which allow me to compactly carry and store rails and cobwebs, much like resources or wool (prior to this I crafted string from cave spider spawners into wool); note that I do not use them for long-term storage and there should be none in the world download (versions before 1.7 are particularly finicky about invalid items, regenerating chunks that contain any). In addition, this world has gone through a name change, by which I mean I had to manually edit the save so tamed animals would recognize my new name after I changed it when name changes came out, as 1.6.4 uses player names instead of UUIDs to keep track of data.
That being said, here are some renderings of the whole world (this and some of the following information may not be current; for example, I've since explored a large area to the east of what is shown below):
Minutor (day):
Minutor (night); yes, most of the light you see comes from cave openings, you can also see my main base in the center and villages (18 bases and 12 villages, including one in my main base):
Minutor (night at layer 22, near the layer of peak cave and mineshaft density):
Unmined, showing all explored caves underground after trimming away chunks without torches within a 1 chunk radius:
One thing that stands out is the lack of mineshafts closer to the origin (center), since they are less common within that area (linearly decreasing in frequency down to 0 at the origin from 80 chunks away along either axis)
Here is a close-up of my main base, along with some screenshots (a bit old but nothing major was changed):
This is the first part of my main base that I built, which has had changes to its layout since but has not been changed otherwise (enlarged, etc); I added the area shown above to expand it:
This is a more up-to-date look at the maps seen above (I modified item frames to render maps like 1.7+, in vanilla 1.6.4 they render like other items):
Part of my underground storage room, where I store all the resources I find while caving (the staircase in the screenshot above leads down to it); there are over two million resources stored here, and would be even if I did not use Fortune for a while after 1.6 came out, prior to which I also only mined what coal I needed, you can still find some caves with the coal left behind (I later re-explored most of these caves to remove the coal). I've mined more than a million coal ore alone, 400,000 iron ore, and some 100,000 other ores. Other resources include moss stone taken from dungeons, rails from mineshafts (also used in my railways), wool crafted from string mined from cave spider spawners (plus some cobwebs, which I only started collecting very late into the world after I added a mod block that let me craft them into blocks as you can with string and wool; these blocks are broken down for storage so there are no permanent modded blocks or items in the world), and loot taken from chests, plus some miscellaneous items such as a chest of mob drops):
A top-down view of the storage room made by deleting everything above it (made at a later date than the images above):
There is a large enclosed area with a glass roof, containing animals and oak trees; I originally made this area as an oak tree farm:
Besides my main base I have numerous secondary bases, of which a more recent one is shown below; most of these bases are relatively simple as they are mainly used as temporary storage areas (filling up a double chest, then I make a trip back to my main base) and to restock on food and wood; at least one older one has more things including enchanting setups and more farms, the latter of which are also seen in my newer bases since I've been trading to get emeralds so I can trade for diamond gear, which I started trading for after I found a villager selling diamond pickaxes, later on buying all gear:
Here is a full-size rendering (4256x3106 pixels, click to see a larger version) of an +/-8 chunk wide swath centered around the railway I made to this base, prior to exploring further; note the absence of caves around the base (which partly shows up on the cave map as parts of it are underground; my main base does not since I use glowstone), which is why I use MCMap to show my progress and removed torches from unexplored mineshafts (I even modified MCMap itself to use a small and more realistic range around torches, which also reduces near surface clutter in forests (MCMap counts any air space that has a 2+ block roof overhead as a cave):
Here is a list of the locations of the 27 bases that I've built, grouped according to the rail line they are on and numbered in the order I built them:
By Overworld rail system:
1. (-140, 290) - Main base
Along railway to east:
2. (150, 315) - first secondary base
3. (450, -500) - this one has a cactus wall around it
13. (1560, 280) - base shown above
14. (2315, 705) - built inside a village
15. (2560, -250)
21. (1560, 1620) - along branch to south at x=1560
22. (2560, 2560) - most distant base by rail in the Overworld
Along railway to north (from northwest corner of main base):
4. (-285, -375) - first base using jungle trees instead of oak trees for wood
5. (-590, -840)
6. (-595, -1315) - just behind this base is an impressively deep vertical cave
7. (-310, -2140) - northernmost base
19. (-1536, -1536)
20. (-2560, -1536) - westernmost base
Along railway to west (from southwest corner of main base):
9. (-875, 330)
16: (-1710, -320) - the most complex secondary base by far; unlike the others it is built of quartz, and has 4 zombies and skeletons wearing pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns that I caught on Halloween 2016
17: (-2315, 325)
Along railway to south (split off from western railway):
8. (-85, 880)
10. (720, 1560) - built inside a village; there are pink sheep in the forest to the west
11. (-500, 2040)
12. (515, 2550) - only base built on water
18: (-1530, 2580) - southernmost base, inside a village
By Nether rail system:
23. (3520, 0) - first base built past +/- 3072 and first using Nether for railway
24. (3250 -1280)
25. (3600, 1600)
26. (4560, 1105)
27. (3960, 2432)
There are also a few structures not considered to be bases and which are not linked by railways scattered around, mainly in the area around base #3. Most of the railways are at y=58, though a short segment to the east of my main base is at y=63 (originally, most were but I moved them down; the railway to the east also went as deep as y=31 along the segment to the north, which I changed before the newest addition to the easternmost base).
Here is a list of the 18 villages I've found in the order I found them in (I did not actually record the earlier ones but the way I explore makes it easy to figure out the order; #3 might have been found before #2).
2. (-200, 750), desert
3. (360, 120), plains
4. (220, -430), desert
5. (-700, -470), plains
6. (-330, 1100), plains
7. (720, 1560), desert - contains base #10
8. (-790, 1890), desert
9. (1250, 620), plains
10. (2340, 720), desert - contains base #14
11. (2900, 1010), desert
12. (-1530, 2580), desert
13. (1670, 1780), plains
14. (2600, 2635), plains
15. (2210, 2340), desert
16. (3880, 1200), desert
17. (4405, 1110), plains
18. (3150, 2180), plains
Of course, as you can guess, the most notable thing about this world is the sheer amount of caves I've explored - nearly every cave, mineshaft, and ravine within generated chunks, save for a strip around the edges, has been explored with more than 3 million ore and nearly 4 million resources mined from them, and nearly a million torches placed; the exceptions are mainly caves that do not connect to anything else or the surface since the main way I find new caves is through interconnections underground, I'll also check out any surface openings I come across after I've explored an area but do not actively seek them out (most such openings are short dead ends).
Here are some statistics that give you some idea of just how much caving I've done in this one world, which has seen nearly half a year of continuous gameplay:
I've mined a total of about 3.11 million ore and 3.54 million blocks including moss stone, cobwebs, and rails, out of a total of 4.54 million blocks mined with a diamond pickaxe and shears (I used iron for a short time early on, now only used to dig out rail tunnels and build new bases using pickaxes taken from minecarts, keeping what I mine outside of caving separate):
I've also crafted 395,564 blocks of mineral resources (including 120 emerald blocks before I started mining it with Silk Touch), equivalent to 3.56 million resources, which when combined with moss stone, cobwebs (albeit most crafted into wool prior to using Silk Touch and cobweb blocks), and rails represents nearly 4 million resources collected over 1,228 play sessions, an average of 3,247 resources per session, even higher when only counting days spent caving:
Here are charts of what I mined over a 4 month period in 2021, during which I spent nearly every day caving with the exception of 2 days in October when I built a new secondary base and railway, otherwise my playstyle is remarkably consistent, with an average of about 3,100 ores and 3,600 resource blocks mined, 337 mobs killed, and 5400 XP collected every day (these figures more accurately reflect my caving than the general statistics shown above):
As for why I mine that many resources even though I do not use many of them, they are a byproduct of caving, which I do for fun, not to get resources; when I start a new world I branch-mine for resources and save caving until after I defeat the Ender Dragon, which to me is the "end" game; some of my worlds have even been "caving only" worlds, where I either used MCEdit to copy a base and gear over from another world or used Creative to build a base and give myself the items I use (either way, I only play in Survival while caving).
This is a series of surface and underground renderings over the six main periods I've played on this world (early-late 2013, mid-late 2015, most of 2016, mid 2017 to early 2018, two separate periods in 2020, mid-late 2021, and mid-2023 to early 2024; the time between these was spent on other worlds) and a full-size animation of an area I explored over several sessions:
This is full-size animation of an area I explored over 10 play sessions, each one lasting for 3-4 hours and covering an area of about 700x700 blocks overall, giving you an idea of how quickly I explore underground, which has included entire large (by 1.6.4 standards) cave systems, up to three separate mineshafts, and half a dozen ravines (not all at once):
A few underground screenshots taken with MCEdit (similar to Spectator mode):
At -800, -1050 is the largest and densest single cave system in the world, and one of the largest and densest I've seen in any world:
Here is an Unmined rendering of the cave above (in a recreated world) showing just how dense that cave system is (from sea level and y=20, the latter of which shows denser caves better); it is unlikely I'll ever find another cave as large and dense as this one (I've found much bigger ones by scanning seeds for dense caves, I estimate that around a million chunks, 18-19 times the size of this world, need to be explored to find a cave like this):
That is not the largest cave system overall though; around -50, -1700 is a huge cave system/complex with more than a dozen separate mineshafts intersecting it:
Another big cave system is around 900, -70:
Not the entire underground is Swiss cheese though, as seen in this sparse area, including unexplored caves (in the upper-left is a desert temple):
It is also interesting just how close caves can get without interconnecting; here is an unexplored mineshaft that is just one block away from another one that I explored. If there had been ore or gravel here I'd have broken through (there are also often breaks in narrower caves and ravines, and larger breaks in ravines under the ocean, which I'll usually mine through):
You can download the world here to see it for yourself (dated 3/30/2024):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/b07osg04p3mdwliqefg3l/World1.zip?rlkey=jjl2ybt2nzce0c6dm7emxcku1&dl=0 (608MB)
Note that while it can be opened in vanilla I recommend using my "World1 custom client", the mod I use to play on this world which includes many bugfixes and optimizations (this includes many fixes for bugs still present in the latest versions). It also includes many minor modifications and tweaks to gameplay, such as "rail" and "cobweb" blocks and double-sized ender chests (these shouldn't be present in the download as I only use them for temporary storage while caving and at secondary bases; double-sized ender chests simply lose the extra 27 slots in vanilla), and some changes to world generation, most notably mineshafts, which are equally as common near 0,0 as elsewhere and don't generate in areas of high cave density. However, 1.8's Spectator mode makes it possible to fly around underground to get a good look at what I've explored (I did make it so the suffocation overlay isn't shown in Creative but currently you can't freely move around):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/80t5yugqqntkbajij36ph/World1_custom_client.zip?rlkey=9nh4dgcktgm1th6p9rcd5dmsq&dl=0
(the first few pages of comments were made back when I had posted this thread for the TMCW-modded version of this world; I decided to reuse this thread instead of making a new one with the same name)
Some relevant links:
Caving to the Far Lands - a detailed analysis of just how much caving I have done based on actual area explored and cave/structure frequencies.
I just mined one million coal ore
What's the longest you've played on one world? - includes some details on most of my other worlds
Does anybody else come close to this level of caving? - I've always been interested if anybody else plays like me (surely there are, some have even told me that 1.7+ is unplayable without mods to bring back 1.6.4-style caves, which is also how I feel)
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?
Anyway, super excited to see where this goes, I've always admired how knowledgeable and helpful you've been around these forums.
Will be following this rigidly.
Cheers, ~Fugu
I have to agree with you, it is the most caved world that everyone probably can see. Is this the world where you actually mined 1 million cobblestones? Somehow, I also thought that the world was way bigger than this (unless that was your other modded world, sorry I got confused).
Want to read some awesome journals? Try this: Survival Journals/Worlds list
*bows*
He scream
This actually is the same world; I decided to make an actual thread for it, instead of posting in the "what have you done recently thread" (as I'd mentioned in your thread for survival worlds), and that 1 million cobblestone has actually been mostly ores, with less stone mined than either coal or iron ore; most of what I do mine has been placed again as cobblestone to make bridges, ramps and all that (I do use ladders but mainly for temporary use, such as scaling a ravine wall to reach some ore).
And yeah, I can see why many people didn't like the caves before 1.7, but that makes them feel more like actual caves and not just some tunnels.
And yes, they can get so dense as to seem like there is more air than solid ground; on average around 10 percent of all blocks between y=11 and 32 are air (this is valid up through 1.6.4) and in some cave systems I've seen chunks with as much as 50% air (excluding ravines) between y=11 and 62. Here is what MCEdit finds for a 100 chunk area centered on the very large cave system I mentioned:
Layer 12 = 6435 (25.14% of 25600) (highest number of air blocks on one layer)
Layers 11-15 = 30600 (23.91% of 128000)
Layers 16-20 = 27593 (21.56%)
Layers 21-25 = 23291 (18.19%)
Layers 26-30 = 22218 (17.36%)
Layers 31-35 = 22224 (17.36%)
Layers 36-40 = 18509 (14.46%)
Layers 41-45 = 15561 (12.16%)
Layers 46-50 = 13550 (10.59%)
Layers 51-55 = 10771 (8.41%)
Layers 56-60 = 7343 (5.74%)
Here's a particularly extreme example found with a mod I made that searches for cave systems like this (seed -7978171164721551672 at 1586, 1918); that big open chamber isn't a single giant cave (they never get that large in vanilla) but so many caves all blocks have been obliterated:
Also, this is what my world looks like around spawn (on a recreated copy), you can see the caves and mineshafts I mentioned (the ones to the south mostly buried in a cave system, the large cave opening can be seen to the south of the lake, and the ravine to the west; I covered both of these up in my world):
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?
It is interesting to note that the 1.6.4 world actually only has 30% more caves, and cave systems are only 47% as common; the difference being made up by a much larger average and maximum size, which I've found has a much larger effect on the size/density of cave systems than the frequency (i.e. the 1.6.4 size/frequency values are 40 and 15; if you double the size to 80 and frequency to 30 (which is half as common, a 1/30 chance per chunk) cave systems become much larger and denser).
Also, this gives you an idea of how absurdly huge cave systems can get in 1.6.4 (I found these using a mod that searches for them); all of these are vastly larger than the one in my world; you'll also note how far away from spawn they are as I searched a range of +/- 64,000 blocks (64 million chunks) to find the largest cave systems possible (this was started by somebody who PM'ed me about big caves, they mentioned some that they had found, using my "old caves" mod to get the 1.6.4 cave generation back in 1.8 (as they said "Without your old cave gen mod I would find it very difficult to get enjoyment out of this game in 1.8." so I'm not the only one; I then mentioned the huge cave system I'd found, then they started searching their old worlds and even using Minecraft Land Generator to generate 12,000x12,000 worlds to find the biggest caves; even in that area they only found a few that were comparable; I made a mod that mostly automates this process; create a new world and it will automatically scan for areas with a high density of caves):
Imagine trying to build here! (seed 2771143777217714573 at 55424, -50016):
An extremely large cave complex (seed -5408958179016975793 at 17344, 19968):
I also made a thread about a huge cave system I found in my world with this method, and actually explored in a world created just for that purpose (not a regular Survival world, I use Creative to give myself basic items but otherwise explored it in Survival; I'll never actually reach it otherwise, being 10,000 blocks away), although that one doesn't have the overall density the ones shown above have.
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?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/obq40bqwbn0u6xp/CaveSearchMod.zip
Note that there are two versions (in their own folders, only add the files inside of either one, not the folders), one that scans an area of +/- 32000 (4000x4000 chunks) and the other +/- 64000 (8000x8000 chunks), as the latter takes quite a while to run (but returns more results). This is also run using a specially modified Superflat-type world that only has caves and ravines and is otherwise like the Overworld preset (64 layers deep). There is also a "MLG" folder that contains the classes that only modifies terrain generation so you can use it in the server jar (don't delete META-INF in this case) with Minecraft Land Generator; since caves are the only thing generated, terrain generation is extremely fast (if MLG didn't have to start and stop the server it would be truly fast, about 3 minutes to generate a 4000x4000 world on my computer), this also make teleporting to areas it found very fast.
Here is an example run (the game will be on the "converting world" screen until it finishes), which happens to be the run I found the first five huge cave systems shown previously (coordinates are given so that you can directly copy+paste from the game output):
score of at least 500000 within a radius of 16 chunks.
Area being searched (x/z): -64000 to 64000.
World seed: 1027830769114355717
Populating chunk array with data...
5% complete
10% complete
15% complete
20% complete
25% complete
30% complete
35% complete
40% complete
45% complete
50% complete
55% complete
60% complete
65% complete
70% complete
75% complete
80% complete
85% complete
90% complete
95% complete
100% complete
Calculating cave density in a radius of 4 chunks...
Counting valid chunks in a radius of 16 chunks...
Culling redundant chunks and sorting by (density * chunks)...
Score of 1623474 (peak density 42723, 38 chunks) at 13904 100 29584
Score of 1496480 (peak density 37412, 40 chunks) at 49232 100 -37392
Score of 1441965 (peak density 41199, 35 chunks) at 56688 100 -7072
Score of 1380275 (peak density 44525, 31 chunks) at 17248 100 61088
Score of 1193184 (peak density 44192, 27 chunks) at -18944 100 60304
Score of 1038968 (peak density 37106, 28 chunks) at -9984 100 -56336
Score of 931725 (peak density 37269, 25 chunks) at -1920 100 32704
Score of 920172 (peak density 41826, 22 chunks) at 15616 100 -37008
Score of 898817 (peak density 39079, 23 chunks) at 61136 100 -46432
Score of 804425 (peak density 34975, 23 chunks) at 8752 100 17920
Score of 797200 (peak density 39860, 20 chunks) at 48112 100 19488
Score of 774421 (peak density 40759, 19 chunks) at -4576 100 49088
Score of 770562 (peak density 42809, 18 chunks) at -61760 100 28480
Score of 763854 (peak density 36374, 21 chunks) at -35536 100 12384
Score of 746415 (peak density 39285, 19 chunks) at -27968 100 13664
Score of 733068 (peak density 34908, 21 chunks) at 59968 100 -51920
Score of 726465 (peak density 38235, 19 chunks) at -35184 100 14560
Score of 669655 (peak density 35245, 19 chunks) at -23920 100 43584
Score of 656860 (peak density 32843, 20 chunks) at 33344 100 -640
Score of 622560 (peak density 38910, 16 chunks) at 10608 100 15872
Score of 619412 (peak density 36436, 17 chunks) at -46864 100 -19056
Score of 615584 (peak density 38474, 16 chunks) at -22064 100 -42640
Score of 605489 (peak density 35617, 17 chunks) at -39664 100 -9360
Score of 590393 (peak density 34729, 17 chunks) at 52512 100 -37664
Score of 582131 (peak density 34243, 17 chunks) at -5072 100 4592
Score of 579840 (peak density 36240, 16 chunks) at 6848 100 46864
Score of 558510 (peak density 37234, 15 chunks) at 26816 100 -39408
Score of 555300 (peak density 30850, 18 chunks) at -27920 100 1104
Score of 538785 (peak density 35919, 15 chunks) at -34528 100 -18864
Score of 534144 (peak density 33384, 16 chunks) at -11360 100 -2448
Score of 532798 (peak density 38057, 14 chunks) at 11744 100 60576
Score of 532420 (peak density 38030, 14 chunks) at 49984 100 -20544
Score of 530720 (peak density 33170, 16 chunks) at 10576 100 28528
Score of 521528 (peak density 37252, 14 chunks) at 26704 100 -52304
Score of 509340 (peak density 33956, 15 chunks) at -9392 100 -56432
Finished searching.
Note that due to overlapping caves the largest cave systems in overall extent aren't necessarily the ones with the highest score or peak density (density is the actual volume of all the caves found in a certain area; if a chunk has a high enough density of caves around it it is added to a list, then I sort and remove duplicates (chunks within a certain distance), leaving the one with the highest score, which is peak density times number of chunks in a 16 chunk radius).
For comparison, this is what it shows for my world, using a range of 100 chunks, to give you an idea of how large the cave systems listed above are; this is also still the closest such cave system that I've found to the origin - imagine the chances of just creating a new world one day with a random seed and then a few months later stumbling across this huge cave system unlike anything I've ever seen (and probably never will again, except I modded in cave systems similar to it at random points, averaging one every 7,500 chunks, which is still rather uncommon, most people will never explore even a fraction of that area underground):
score of at least 500000 within a radius of 16 chunks.
Area being searched (x/z): -1600 to 1600.
World seed: -123775873255737467
...
Score of 628007 (peak density 33053, 19 chunks) at -816 100 -1056
I thought to note that this is also a good example of a memory vs speed tradeoff - I allocate a huge amount of memory (don't allocate less than 1 GB) to store the data for every one of the 64 million chunks scanned in the first stage, which otherwise means executing the cave generation algorithm over 3 billion times (49 times more to be exact), and running far slower as a result.
Also, this shows the difference between vanilla cave generation and my mod, in terms of the maximum width of individual caves (you can see that there are two distributions; one in ten caves have a multiplier applied, while in my mod the distribution is altered) and size of cave systems (the latter are a bit misleading since large cave systems are normally multiple smaller ones overlapping; the sizes around 200 are due to "colossal" cave systems which are similar to the large cave system at -800, -1050, and a lot smaller than some of the stuff I've been finding, but realistically findable through normal gameplay):
(there's also a slight shift in the size range of 5-25 due to the extra wide caves in that range; also, the maximum cave system size of 59 in vanilla is higher than the 39 (from random.nextInt(40) = 0-39) expected because when circular rooms are generated more than one additional cave may be generated)
Also, here's a table of caves by width, up to the maximum vanilla width of 26; there are about 2% more caves overall due to the extra large caves added, which are in addition to existing caves; these caves are added in smaller cave systems and are offset (if not more) by less abandoned mineshafts, which are approximately halved in frequency due to being excluded from dense cave systems (they still intersect the edges):
Note that the number of caves shown here means that there is an average of about 0.45 caves per chunk or 2.2 chunks per cave - which is a lot when you consider that a cave is an average of 9 chunks long (the "length" averages about 6 chunks, but most caves branch into two additional caves on average halfway down their length, with the length of each segment (3) being 3 chunks). Also, you can see just how rare caves with near the maximum width are in vanilla, with only 8 found in 100 million chunks - I made them over a thousand times more common (9,846 found) yet there is still only one every 1,766 chunks, including all larger sizes; the largest possible width of 84 isn't even shown (and would be a truly colossal open cavern! These caves can even break the surface, leaving a crater up to that wide, though their starting point is restricted to y=20-30 and their vertical curvature is reduced, as is their width-height ratio according to their width, similar to circular rooms, which are flattened).
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?
This is what I mined from the same general area over several days:
That represents a total of 11,937 ore - 7,668 coal, 3,024 iron, 582 redstone, 459 gold, 150 lapis, and 54 diamond (not counting coal and diamonds I used for torches, smelting, and repairing, minus some resources found in minecarts).
That was the result of exploring a large cave system, mineshaft, and triple ravine (plus a few others) the last time I played; here are some screenshots I took of them:
The cave also contained this large open chamber:
Ravines filled with mineshafts (three ravines intersecting in a "H" pattern):
MCMap rendering of the area; there's actually two large cave systems near each other with the ravines between them:
Also, here are slices of the area at layers 35 and 11 in Minutor:
Also of note, I found this when I looked at the cave in a world recreated in vanilla 1.6.4 (ores are placed differently from what I found since I added the 1.8 stones before ores, like 1.8 did, so this changes the random numbers used to place veins):
In addition, the triple ravine (and a couple others) don't exist in vanilla, not because I added more ravines but because they intersect the ocean above and in vanilla this causes entire vertical segments to not generate (most easily seen by finding a ravine that intersects a river); I had replaced this code with code that checks for water on a per-block basis, contouring around water within a couple blocks; this results in dirt and sandstone ceilings under water, as seen in the first ravine screenshot above (the sandstone is because the code that generates patches of sand places sandstone instead of sand if there is air underneath, thus it doesn't cave in unless there happens to be gravel right underneath).
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?
I second this.
We don't need proof in any way, I just think it would be fun to watch. Or, if your internet can handle it, livestreaming.
If you really want to go for it, you could do mining timelapses or "highlight reels"
Again, this is all up to you, but I'd enjoy it.
Cheers, ~Fugu
I suppose there is also multiplayer but I wouldn't even know where to begin there.
That said, you can get an idea of how quickly I make progress; the top half shows one of the cave systems from last time while below you can see a new cave system, plus another mineshaft, I explored since then::
Of note, I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet, I found it using a map, and caves leading into the clay layers:
Here you can also see how my mod's mesa biomes are different from vanilla - you can find ores embedded in the hardened clay, and pockets of regular clay generate instead of dirt and gravel in the hardened clay layers (normal dirt/gravel generation below); I do this by generating ores first, then replacing stone with hardened clay, while 1.7 generates the hardened clay during initial chunk generation. Also, iron ore can be found up to y=127 in mesas, double the normal range of 0-63. These also generate so that they are only exposed in caves, or below sea level (there are huge amounts of regular clay in my mesas as it is as common as dirt and gravel combined, making it extremely easy to obtain for bricks or the like; extra caves also generate near and above sea level which makes it easy to mine it):
Also, another large cave that I found; the screenshot was taken at 210, 11, -2393; like the one mentioned before this is the result of caves that are so dense they merge together into a large chamber (I haven't actually finished exploring it, I left off where I was here; I explored the upper layers and mineshaft first so in this case I mined mostly iron and coal):
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?
If you would rate your computer at a 2 or more on the "toaster to 10" scale, then you'll probably just drop 5 frames while recording. The game is easily playable at anything above 20.
As to software recommendations, I'll show what I use, it's free, and probably the best free recording software out there (with the maybe exception of shadowplay if you have nvidia GeForce gear). It's Riva Aftertuner, which comes attached to MSI afterburner, which is essentially a overclocking device, but it allows for some fun performance tweaks as well. Here's a vid on install/tutorial:
Common problems when downloading and how to fix: Check the box when it asks if you also want to download RivaAftertuner (that's what actually contains the recording software, and you can't get it separately). Also, for some reason, it makes you download two things. So your "installer" app or whatever should run twice. The first time it installs MSI, the second time it adds all the Rivatuner stuff, so don't close the second install window.
Also, only you would find a mesa biome, post screenshots, and say "I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet" I can't think of many other people who would just stay and keep mining, rather than immediately digging to the surface :P.
Always fun to check out this stuff, you have a lot of interesting things to show and say.
Cheers, ~Fugu
That said, here are screenshots and other images of the mesa biome I mentioned:
Here is the highest point:
Also, you might have noticed the "desert" around the edges; that isn't actually desert but "Mesa Edge", which is half-desert and half-mesa, with hardened clay above a certain point and sand/sandstone below. You can also see one of the pillars I use to mark where I left off; 21 cobblestone with torches placed every 7th block:
Here is a rendering made with MCMap, from two different angles (MCMap doesn't render the tree branches for some reason); you can also see a cutaway of the large cave system I'd previously explored on the lower right side of the top half:
Also, regarding "Also, only you would find a mesa biome, post screenshots, and say "I discovered another mesa biome; I haven't actually been to the surface yet"; well, I already found one as mentioned before and they actually aren't that rare as you can see in this 3000x3000 map of a test world; unlike 1.7, they generate like regular biomes and with the same frequency as most "common" biomes (21 overall):
Interestingly, this world appears to be centered around what was a snowy zone, which I modified so that only a third of the zones are ice plains, with snowy taigas, snowy forests, and mega taigas taking another third and the rest being other biomes; this reduces the size of the snowy zones, especially the vast expanses of nothing but ice plains (which are near the center and towards the right edge), ice plains can also generate anywhere else as an uncommon biome (half as common).
Also, a truly rare biome (1/4 as common as "common" biomes) can be seen towards the upper-right, the gray area with a lot of lava, which is a volcanic wasteland biome, a mountainous biome with, in addition to a lot of lava (including underground, so many lava lakes!), no water at all aside from rivers that might cut through it, and the surface is covered with patches of gravel, obsidian, and cobblestone; magma cubes also spawn and there are 50% more of all ores, including rarer ores generating 50% higher than usual and veins of emerald ore (actual veins, not single blocks).
In addition, this shows how the stained clay colors are generated; each layer contains four different colors (randomly selected, so they may be the same), with each layer being offset:
Layer 56:
Layer 57:
Also, this is the same world seen in Unmined, with vegetation turned off, which shows variations in height well; you can see what I mean by "more height variation" - can you guess where the Extreme Hills are? (most of what you see isn't actual mountains, or not the stuff you can find in Extreme Hills):
As for my caving, this shows my progress since last time, compared to before and the time before that; I didn't play as much this time, stopping after I'd returned from emptying out my inventory/Ender chest, which had gotten full, and a lot of what I explored was the remainder of the large cave system from before, which is mostly hidden underneath previously explored caves:|
Also, this should put things into perspective, and this wider area is still only part of the whole world:
This is about 2,900 blocks north of my main base, nearly the furthest I've ever gone so far (I went 3,000 blocks a while back, which you can see to the west on the map, where I found a desert island); my current secondary base is located on an Extreme Hills peninsula neat the top center:
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?
A look back at the exit:
As I've shown before, here is a cumulative map of the areas I've explored over the last few sessions; I just kept pushing further and further north, well off the fully zoomed map I carry with me:
However, I've decided to stop going that way and fill in the rest of the map I'm currently using before I make a new one, writing down the coordinates of the exit for later reference (I have a total of 14 such points all around the edge of the explored world); I've returned to the exit I made near the cave system on the far right (at 447, -2261) to see if I can find anything in the empty area to the southwest; to the east at 755, -2232 is an exit I made leading to an abandoned mineshaft (unexplored).
Also, this is what I hauled back to my main base (plus nearly a double chest of mineshaft rails, mossy cobblestone and assorted loot); since the diamond Ender chest is separate from regular Ender chests I can carry back up to 54 (diamond Ender chest) + 27 (Ender chest) + 36 (inventory) = 117 stacks of items at once:
That's a total of 26,388 resources mined over about a week.
Also, on the cave map you might notice that ravines connect cave systems together in three places - without them I'd have never found the caves they connect to, most easily seen on the left side where a ravine intersects a cave system and a mineshaft; the addition of mineshafts and ravines is really the reason why people say that caves became much bigger and endless in Beta 1.8, not because caves became more common (I decompiled Beta 1.7.3 once and the cave generator had the same settings as up to 1.6.4, though there was a bug that caused caves to generate inconsistently across chunk borders (due to using a single global random number generator), but the fixing of that didn't do anything in itself to the overall amount of caves; of note, you can read about the bugs in this old thread).
Here's a map with all the cave systems (6, blue), mineshafts (2, red), and ravines (10, green lines) marked, plus my furthest exit point (red X):
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?
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?