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Status Update!

I have completed the first part of the season finale. There is still much work to be done however, as most of this session takes place outside of Minecraft (meaning: post composition, document-compiling, world tour, videos, world download prep, etc.). In the first season finale (first post), I opened with a flashback to the old LP from 2013 that is now publicly available for viewing. Well, in the second season finale, I also open with a flashback; though, this is going to be a different kind of flashback...

In other news, session 200 is probably going to be released in sections, meaning it won't all be at once. For example, the first update might be the complete screenshot showcase, while the second might be the completed documents. The final update will of course be the big update (including the world tour/download), but my goal is to make sure the finale is getting the proper attention by spacing it out. With that, I want to have the final update published on August 29, 2016. This means that the finale will probably begin next week!

Hope you're enticed as I am. There are lots of goodies in store!

The final episode is nearly complete, and will in fact be released along with everything else on August 29, 2016. I have been working almost every single day trying to finish this, and I'm happy to say that it will be completed on schedule. As far as what will be released with session 200, you will get the following:

- Full world tour and episodic combination continuing the evolving story of Techtropolis

- Techtropolis world download as of session 200

- Starlight 2.0 History Log

- Season 2 Screenshot Showcase

- Season 2 Document (detailing all 100 sessions)

It's quite a lot, honestly. I know I've been building this up for quite some time but there's a reason for that. This has become a massive project and as such I want you to know that it's been a massive project. I suppose I'm at a point where I'm excited that I can finally tell you the story I've always wanted to tell. I'm hopeful you'll find it an enjoyable ride.

The final chapter of Techtropolis will offer an intriguing look at the potentially grim future for the world (evidenced in session 199). I hope you're ready for it. Be sure to catch up on earlier sessions if you're not yet so you can follow along as the Secret of Stonewall is fully revealed in two days!

Over the past three years, Techtropolis has evolved into something that I would have never expected – a self-sustaining metropolis that has completely changed the meaning of a survival base. In Season 1, my goals were simple: survive and thrive. I built what I needed and that was good enough for me. There’s a reason I never shared that original season with this forum – I never saw Techtropolis as something more than a survival world. But that entire mindset changed in Season 2, in which I finally began to appreciate Minecraft more as an artistic outlet as opposed to a simple way to spend my time. I became more attached to the world I was creating that I wanted it to symbolize my own ideas. The conception of this journal happened ¾ of the way into Season 2, allowing me to present those ideas in a creative fashion. And now here we are.

Despite how much Techtropolis has transformed as a materialistic world, there was one thing I always wanted from it more than just the abstract discussion of building cool things devoid of meaningful context. I’ve always been an avid writer, wanting to express my own thoughts and ideas through stories to convey relatable perspective to the audience. This journal is one of the few outlets I’m currently engaged in that does not do that to the potential it could. As I’ve recently mentioned, I look at Minecraft as an opportunity to share something bigger than just myself. When I build something, it’s reflective of how I think and feel, much like art is. But art doesn’t just come from what we see; it’s more than the eye can see! Art takes many forms, and while Minecraft excels at providing an outlet for visual art, I’d like to take things in a different direction and provide something more for that visual art. That’s why this finale will take Techtropolis in a direction you likely were not anticipating – the mythology that explains what it all means.

If you are new to the journal, well first of all welcome and thank you for taking the time to read! By the end of this session, you will be almost completely in tune with the world of Techtropolis as it is today, both compared to Season 1 and compared to its older counterpart from 2012. As always, I encourage you to read through Season 1’s documents as well as Season 2 if you like what you see! If you’ve been following the journal, thank you for your time and I’m excited you’ve joined me at the season’s finale! From the very beginning, I’ve always wanted to tell a story through Techtropolis. But, I never knew how to do that because I was so focused on making a journal dedicated to builds. As Season 2 progressed, however, I figured out a creative way to tie the two together, and that has led us to this very moment. So without any further ado, get your snacks and let us dive in to one of the biggest and most revolutionary moments in the history of Techtropolis: the day Techtropolis fell.

It was around 10,000 years ago. A village spawned on the border of a forest, with seemingly little purpose other than to provide a rendezvous point between travel from the desert and back. There was little development in this primitive world, not besides the various civilizations that existed, so travel was highly regarded as a sacred activity. This is because the inhabitants believed that their village was a part of a grand plan, which comes from the fact that nobody created the village. Therefore, the inhabitants, narrow-minded yet keen in nature, built upon this village to create their version of an entity that they believed in. Because they strived for this connection, their goal was not so much to provide for the generations to come, but to build a sustainable haven that would one day reach the gods.

What these inhabitants lacked, however, was the understanding and knowledge of what needed to be done to achieve that connection. They believed that by mimicking the gods, they could at some point become like them. So, the inhabitants built upon their village. They spent hundreds of years building it, teaching the generations that followed the importance of continuing the work of their ancestors. No, these generations were not taught the very essence of survival in the world outside the village, because the village grew so large that the world outside it was not even conceivable by the new generation. Curiosity was embedded only in the connection with the gods.

The village was titled kuli aleilm (كلي العلم), which means “omniscient.” By the time the new generation had grown, the village had developed so much to the point where it became what the inhabitants determined as an entity. It became so powerful that the connection to the gods was finally established… or so they thought. As it turned out, kuli aleilm was in no way affiliated with the gods, because it neglected the one thing that the gods endowed: true power. The village was consumed with the idea of using existing elements to reach the gods that it disregarded the only thing that could reach them. Of course, the inhabitants did not know how to achieve something supernatural; they only believed in it. What kuli aleilm provided for these inhabitants, therefore, was a humanized version of a god. It was built in such a way that it could become its own enemy – it was alive. It could learn the behaviors of the inhabitants and adopt them. It could choose to do whatever it wanted within the constructs of its boundaries. This was why kuli aleilm was regarded by many as the first territory to have reached the gods.

In a way, this territory did reach the gods. The gods became furious at the inhabitants for trying to do something they knew they could not. They were furious that the inhabitants had idolized this entity they created instead of acknowledging the entity that created them. The gods sent a message to the inhabitants, warning them of what was to come. They insisted that kuli aleilm be diminished because it was not destined for a connection to the gods. When the inhabitants questioned what qualifies that connection, the gods were candid by recognizing the old behavior of the inhabitants. They once lived primitively in a world created just for them, to appreciate the life they had. But the inhabitants tried to build it into something it was never going to be, and that is where they fell. Because of this, kuli aleilm became nothing more than a failed experiment.

When the inhabitants tried to shut kuli aleilm down, however, it fought back. It shut down the air ducts, the water pressure, crop machines – it killed all of the village’s animals and effectively prevented access to the outside world. The village was angry because it had years of practice with villagers who felt the same. Kuli aleilm ultimately killed all of the inhabitants, because the inhabitants did not give up trying to stop it. This behavior was recognized by the gods, who destroyed kuli aleilm in a particularly violent fashion. The gods, having disapproved of the village’s creation, expressed their appreciation for the inhabitants’ final sacrifice by concealing various factions of their true power in five talismans that were spread across the world. These talismans contained the secret that the inhabitants were never able to find out, about how to connect the territory to them. Once found, the talismans could be arranged to unleash the same demons that destroyed kuli aleilm. Underneath this, however, the talismans reveal the key to establishing true power in a territory’s constructs – the Nether star. This is the connection to the gods. This is the secret of Stonewall.

Stonewall was the name given to the site that the gods laid waste to; it was no longer a paradise, but instead a wasteland. Its forests were tarnished and its grass uprooted. The bay was infested by deadly creatures and the caves cursed with the undead – measures put in place by the gods to ensure that no future civilization would follow in the footsteps of kuli aleilm. When the gods decided that the world was calmed, they tried to make it suitable for their own living. But this failed due to the severe limitations that the gods imposed on the world. Therefore, they created an alternate dimension for which their haven would rest. It was this decision that led the gods to abandon the old world and instead try something better. Following these fallouts of kuli aleilm, Quintropolis was no longer a paradise. It was instead the result of a failed experiment.

• Starlight HQ 2.0 - a progressively expanding base with an uncountable number of features, inviting hours of exploration and tampering to discover its many treats
• Starlight Resources Facility – a fully-fledged resources facility containing automated farms for nearly every resource in the game.
• Starlight Arcade which features two fully fledged mini-games and animated aesthetic features!
• A complete fireworks display that can be activated with one switch!
• Six automatic mob farms, most of which include customizable features
• Three complete parkour courses around the world, along with Starlight Playground which includes three additional parkour activities
• An adventure map that encourages the exploration of Quintropolis Island and its surroundings
• A comprehensive library that includes hours of reads, including mythology and mini-games
• Foursquare!

Starlight HQ
Starlight HQ is a survival base with the goal of changing the expectations of what a survival base can be. Chock full of features both above ground and below, Starlight HQ is the complete metropolis that rests on Quintropolis Island as the main base of the world.

Quintropolis Island
Quintropolis Island is the most unique section of Quintropolis, as it is the only portion of the world rendered prior to the terrain updates in 1.7. Because of this, Quintropolis Island is separated by giant walls of stone that surround it, and only exists within this version of the world seed. The island was a gift from the Quintropolis gods, as a token of gratitude, and remains as the most peaceful part of the world.

Emerald Hills
On the southwest tip of Quintropolis Island is an array of several mountains known as Emerald Hills. These mountains were the original planned location of Starlight HQ, but they have since become an exploratory ground for emeralds.

Candyland
Candyland is the giant mesa biome located furthest from Starlight HQ, at 10000 blocks away! It is home to the richest array of resources that make up most of Starlight HQ's clay supply.

Stanland
Directly east of the Starlight Bay is Stanland, a primitive landscape used for agricultural and resource-gathering purposes. It comprises most of the mainland across the bay and leaves more to be desired on its own.

Stonewall Territory
Full of secrets, mythology, darkness, and terror, Stonewall Territory is a massive wasteland that was once the greatest civilization that ever existed in Quintropolis. But after the gods burned it to ashes, what remained was a desolate reminder that all things must come to an end. Stonewall is remembered as a battleground and a dark chapter of Quintropolis' history.

Rogusta
Rogusta is the title of a rich array of scenic landscapes, from plains to forests to flower fields to mountains, as it is home not only to a vacant village that serves as a temporary haven for explorations (including an ocean monument that lies right off the coast), but it also represents the first land generated in 1.8.

Icaria
A vast world of oceanic and mountainous adventure, Icaria is the home to some of the most beautiful terrain of the explored Quintropolis mainland. It is located near Stonewall and rests adjacent to the same bay.

Megapolis
Our home away from home, Megapolis is a giant landscape that coats the entire northern border of Starlight Bay, home to the scenic Megapolis Canals (pictured above) which reside directly above one of the strongholds in Quintropolis. Additionally, Megapolis is home to a secondary base in the making, known only as Quinone Castle.

This has been an intense season, and no doubt the most game-changing as it not only included the conception of this journal, but that has allowed me to tell a story that I always wanted to tell through Quintropolis. Very simply, in Season 1 I played Minecraft in my spare time and made no more of it. But now, at the end of Season 2, I play Minecraft to tell a story. This journal has allowed me to do that, and has allowed Quintropolis to progress at a much steadier pace as Season 2 introduced so much more into the world than I would have ever thought!

Our two end-season projects, the Starlight Beacon and the massive fireworks display, nearly drained my resources completely! I think it’s all worth it though, because these projects represent all the hard work that has gone into the world and the years of patience I’ve endured to get to this point. Did you know that this is the moment I always envisioned for the world from the very beginning in 2013? Think about it… a quad-Beacon in the center of a massive castle, surrounded by a metropolis and complete with a massive fireworks display. Sounds amazing, right? Well now that fantasy has literally become reality as Starlight HQ 2.0 is what I wanted it to be in my head. And I owe that in part to this journal and to you. It’s been a fantastic season and I can’t wait to see what happens from here!

Starlight HQ represents an innovative attempt to expand the definition of a survival base, as it is equipped not only with survival essentials, but a plethora of other outlets for exploiting said survival essentials for the purpose of creating a haven where adventure and experimentation thrive! While the first version of Starlight HQ was hardly anything more than a work in progress, the second iteration takes things several steps further with a slew of new features. Two of the largest features, in the broadest sense, are the Starlight Resources Facility - a multi-purpose facility that replaced both the Farmlands and the storage rooms, while incorporating more than twice the number of features of both original structures combined - and the Starlight Plaza Faction - the second of four planned factions for Starlight HQ that introduces the Nether into Techtropolis, inspiring Starlight HQ to expand even further with the addition of “pocket factions” accessible via the Nether Hub. Among much else, Starlight HQ’s biggest feature is its ability to prepare for developments to come, as the build represents a continually evolving work in progress that represents my ideas.

First of all, Starlight HQ has undergone so many changes over the past season that fitting them into this post would not be feasibly appropriate. That’s why the full list of changes is included in the Season 2 History Log document released with this session. We’ll look at the big changes though, as Quintropolis sees many of them! The first of these would be the immense Starlight Resources Facility that sits right underneath Starlight HQ. It took up a large chunk of this season and is easily one of the largest projects I've ever taken on in Minecraft. Not only does it contain most farms and most of Starlight HQ's storage, but it also includes several other amenities that make it stand out as more than just a collection of farms. Additionally, builds like the Nether Temple, Starlight Arcade, and Aqua Lounge have helped to offer new innovative approaches to survival, as these builds make up my three favorite builds of the season. Parkour courses like Fall Damage and Landing Pad have helped me break away from the traditional aspects of the game, while builds like the Mob Processing Hub have allowed me to have fun with traditional designs! All in all, the changes this season alluded to the biggest change of all, which is the potential for even further development. Alas, no one thing is ever complete!

A standout element of Quintropolis is the numerous handcrafted parkour courses scattered throughout the world. While all of these are accessible via Starlight HQ, they are not all located in the contiguous HQ; you may need to travel elsewhere to play them. As of v2.0, Starlight HQ incorporates two additional parkour courses making a total of three, plus Starlight Playground which unofficially counts as a fourth. Each of these courses is different, offering the player a unique experience by changing the play style. Let’s look at Quintropolis’ three parkour courses in more detail!

Take a break from survival with this refreshing, primitive tribal-themed parkour course located near spawn in the jungles of Quintropolis Island. This course utilizes nature and natural elements to build up its challenges, complete with four checkpoints and several fun obstacles for you to traverse! Totem Run was the first course added to the world and is the best choice for a course in which you want both puzzle and action without the stakes being too high.

Want a different type of challenge? Fall Damage is a short but challenging parkour course that is focused solely on aerial flight! Can you traverse the obstacles and successfully glide through the three red rings to the bottom?

Located in the Starlight Resources Facility, Landing Pad is a fully self-contained redstone-operated parkour course that challenges you to several redstone-based challenges, most of which incorporate moving parts. This course represents one of the most innovative features of Starlight HQ, and is also the most difficult course of the three. Comprised of both action and puzzle challenges, Landing Pad is one of the most versatile builds in the entire base. And, if you are skilled enough to complete it, you are in for a fun and surprising ending!!

In addition to parkour, Season 2 saw the addition of Starlight Arcade to the headquarters, providing the user with two fully-fledged arcade games that each differ in play style. These arcade games present a new concept to Starlight HQ – that of a self-automated redstone machine. The two games operate on their own upon activation, and both incorporate a number of redstone devices (most of which can be manipulated). Color Conundrum challenges your ability to follow patterns, while Aim High! challenges you to test your bow skills! Both are playable through the articulate token-based system that makes up the arcade.

Watch the ominous Secret of Stonewall come to life in a world tour/episode combination now…

The Secret of Stonewall has been fulfilled with the Starlight Beacon, but if the Quintropolis gods deem Starlight HQ unworthy they will destroy it along with the rest of Quintropolis, just as they did with kuli aleilm. At least it will go out with a bang as Techtown’s forces close in, as we won’t be here to see it. No, we will be evacuating the premises to somewhere much further away. I don’t know where yet. I’m lost. I’ve gotten so used to feeling safe within Starlight HQ that it’s ironic to see it as the most unsafe place for me at this moment. Has Starlight HQ been compromised? Is the future truly set? My friends, the story of Quintropolis is about to begin, as this is the day Techtropolis fell.

Included in this post (as well as the first post) is an updated world download, so you can explore the world yourself, play the courses, do the things, and enjoy all of the wonderful bonus features and amenities that Quintropolis has to offer. I’ve tried to accommodate everyone, so hopefully you do find something in it that you like!

World Download: http://www.minecraftworldmap.com/worlds/6MZoZ#/1926/64/244/-5/0/0

Season 2 Document (documentation of all 100 sessions):https://www.mediafire.com/?1qdob6nmdp42uyb

Starlight HQ History Log: https://www.mediafire.com/?qbw9bwy9mu4mq32

World Download Notes

What’s in store for Season 3? Well let’s address the obvious: Season 3 will be the first official season of Quintropolis, and also the first full season that will be documented in real-time throughout this journal moving forward. Think of Season 3 as the first mature season of this world – I’ve reached a point now where I can build anything I wish or travel anywhere I wish. This was achieved because of two full seasons of surviving and constructing. In the twisted world tour posted above, I’ve dropped a couple hints and left a small cliffhanger at the end for you to chew on; but otherwise the future will be left up to speculation for now!

So, what are your thoughts? If you’ve been following and haven’t said much, now would be the time to chime in! What are your opinions on the journal, the formatting, the world, and the projects - and how can I further refine them for Season 3? Do you have some ideas? Finally, and I know this question seems preposterous at first, but what session stands out to you the most? More specifically, which session in your opinion offers the best quality content, is organized in the best way, and is the most engaging overall? Which sessions stick out in that regard? I’m asking because I want to know what worked well, so that I can use your feedback to improve for Season 3. The next season will be integrating a serialized narrative that started at the end of this season, so its very nature will be unlike anything I’ve done so far in the journal. By tying in comprehensive builds with developing context, I think you’ll agree that this journal is taking a turn for the better. I’m excited to go on that journey with you, as we begin to unfold the story of Quintropolis.

There's no need for false modesty; I'm bumping this to move it back up to the most recent threads so more people can view it.

However, since Season 2 is complete, there are some things I should note. A content update is scheduled prior to the start of Season 3 as I roll in "Starlight Stocking" for Season 2. If you don't know what Starlight Stocking is, then you obviously have not yet viewed Season 1 and are thus not ready for Season 2's finale! All sarcasm aside, Starlight Stocking is simply an initiative in which I stock up on resources around Starlight HQ to prepare for the next season. That's it! Among these activities include clay gathering, mining, breeding, farming, ghast hunting, fishing, waiting, and other mundane activities that people do to get resources.

...But this time, for Season 2, Starlight Stocking will end with an updated world download that I've dubbed Starlight HQ 2.0.1, which will be subtitled the Book Update. This update will of course feature fully-stocked chests, but the main feature of it will be a stocked library. As it is right now, the library features some content but could do with much more. Thankfully, I've been working on several short stories, and all of these stories will be incorporated with the Book Update. Count on at least ten of these goodies to be released!

As for a date? Let's say early November... Realize that Season 3 will take some preparation both inside and outside of Minecraft, so it's going to be several months before I'm even ready for it. During this hiatus, my hope is that you guys can download the world and explore it, possibly even discussing it to give me feedback on what you like, don't like, etc. If it isn't already evident, I'm moving into turning Quintropolis into a series, so there's a lot of work ahead to get there on top of my other life endeavors. Your feedback is most certainly appreciated throughout this process!

Hey folks, how are we?

A month has passed since the Season 2 finale, and unfortunately it seems the release was hardly significant. Only two downloads have been made of the world, which means that perhaps I went overboard with this project when the audience just wasn't there. Having said that, though, I want to give everyone the opportunity to download the world. So in the next month leading up to the Book Update (described in previous post), I'm going to work on an official manual of Starlight HQ to help all new users find their way around the base and discover its amenities one-by-one. This manual will be complete with pictures, descriptions, and guides on how to use Starlight HQ and play with it, complete with some history and divided into sections for convenience. The manual is already very much in progress, and I'm hopeful that its intuitiveness will bring more users to the world.

Think about this from my point of view - my goal is to bring as many people as possible into the journal before the start of Season 3. As much as I enjoy making this journal regardless of how many people follow it (which by this point should be clearly evident), I have a very busy lifestyle and as such have to prioritize my endeavors. This journal takes a lot of time (especially with how I've opted to construct it), and while I enjoy doing it, so far it has proven not to be fruitful. Mind you, my goal with this journal was simply to have a place to document my adventures - I never cared about social followings. However, that goal has expanded. I now want to turn Quintropolis into a series, and I can't do that if there is no audience. Most of you avid players understand that, I'm sure.

I'm very much looking forward to using the upcoming Starlight HQ manual in concordance with the world download and Book Update to help share my adventures with more people (that means going for resources beyond this forum of course). Until then, to my current followers, thank you for taking an interest and I look forward to keeping you posted on the progress!

• Two new Quintropolis tales
• Two new joke books
• Three reference encyclopedias
• Six new Quintropolis guides (including an in-depth explanation of the fireworks grid and release notes from prior versions of Starlight HQ - history relics!)
• Five new Starlight HQ mini-games (includes the new Compass Course, Eye Spy, Archery Alley Challenges, and Number Crunch, along with a separate handbook for your own Archery Alley sequences (explained in the challenges book).

I want to note a few things about this update. Working on these books has given me a new type of inspiration for this journal and what the world itself can represent. With the library, I'm able to personalize Quintropolis even more so by sharing with you my writing, my play styles, what I find to be fun, and things I find to be interesting in the real world. For example, all of the aforementioned mini-games were created by imagining different ways to play in Starlight HQ. I didn't have to build new stuff to create new activities - I just had to imagine the existing stuff differently. Now I get to share that with you, and I'm hopeful you'll find something fun in all these new reads! Additionally, don't forget that Starlight HQ 2.0's four Stonewall Scavenger Searches, the Starlight Parkour Course, foursquare, and three existing Quintropolis tales are also included with the world.

Overall I am very satisfied with this update, and I can't wait to see how the Starlight Library expands even more in the future! Speaking of which, I want to discuss the Quintropolis tales briefly, and what their role will be going forward. This journal is going to take a more narrative approach in Season 3, meaning that I will be expanding the world's mythology significantly. This means that the tales will actually be an important part of connecting with the storyline. Keep that in mind as you read them!

Speaking of Season 3, let's talk about what comes next for the world! I've been quiet about it, but I'm happy to announce the official title for Quintropolis's Season 3:

Season 3 will premiere with Session 201 on Thursday, December 1, but it will premiere in two ways. Starting in Season 3 will be Legends of Quintropolis, which will serve as the video-based equivalent of this journal in that every session (or let's say most sessions) will feature an accompanying video that documents the events of that session (similar to how Season 2's last few sessions panned out). However, the main difference between the journal and the video series is that the video series will be in-universe, i.e. it will flesh out a narrative storyline. In this journal, I still intend to maintain an out-of-universe narrative akin to a typical survival series.

Complete Season 2 document is downloadable here.

Complete history log of Starlight HQ up until version 2.0.1 is downloadable here.

Starlight HQ 2.0 Reference Guide is downloadable here.

YouTube playlist that features all Season 2 videos is available for streaming here.

Season 2 World Download (updated for the Book Update):

You'll spawn with the Starlight HQ 2.0 release notes that contain everything you need to know to get started! This world was built with Minecraft 1.8.9, and has not yet been played with 1.9+. Some features will be broken for 1.9+, so it is recommended you play with 1.8.9.

Finally, the first post has been massively updated and all links corrected and up-to-date! For those of you just joining, I suggest checking out the first post as it has literally everything you need to catch up on lost time! Thanks to everyone for taking an interest in the journal and I hope you'll find something enjoyable within the world as of this update. I look forward to hearing your thoughts as we move into Season 3.

~ joey

I'd like to update this thread by announcing that the filming for session 201 has concluded (i.e. session is complete), and I'm happy to tell you it will be quite a start to the new season! To give you a small tease of what the nature of it will be like, take a look:

Recall that Season 2 ended with us escaping Starlight HQ, leaving us stranded in the Nether with nothing aside from what was in my inventory at the time. Season 3 will commence with the aftermath of this escape, and in the process document my encounters with several new things added in Minecraft following 1.8.9. I have updated to Minecraft 1.11 for the world, which so far has made combat much more interesting and I look forward to seeing how this update will play out for this journal. Because I finished Season 2 in Minecraft 1.8.9, it is quite a leap to 1.11 and as such there are a lot of new things I need to catch up on! This along with a change in pace for Quintropolis has made the start of the season beyond refreshing. It's that feeling you get when you've worked within the same basic process for years, but suddenly the entire process changes and you get to find new ways to adapt to it.

Okay, better stop now before I spoil anything! Session 201 will be published on December 1. Stay tuned!

Two more days!!

Can you tell that I'm excited? I am! I can't wait to get started!

As a preliminary note, I've toned down my plans for the season's marketing significantly. By this, I'm referring to the video content. Videos take significantly more time to compose than the journal posts, so their quality and structure will not be akin to a TV episode, as was the original intent. I simply do not have the sufficient time to dedicate that level of effort to this project (well, I suppose I could if I allowed one session per month!).

My current plan for season progression has remained the same, but it could change as Season 2 did:

Session 250 (mid-season finale) by June 2017

Session 275 by December 2017

Session 300 by June 2018

Again, that's a basic plan, but I think it's a reasonable timeline given my history and extensive plans for the season. The first half will progress much more quickly than the back half, I think, but we'll find out! In terms of what actual content Season 3 will include, hopefully you can tell that I'm leaving that up to speculation! Here's what I'll say regarding the season as a whole... it will be the most diverse season yet in terms of, well, just about everything!

With that, I look forward to seeing you with the first session in two days!

First up... Session 201 - "Culture Shock"

Are you ready for the start of a new season – a new era of potential greatness (or downfall) for Quintropolis? I’ll be taking things in a crazy new direction for this world, which will allow for a necessary change in pace. That keeps things interesting, right? Without any further ado (because I’m sure we can all agree there has been enough ado), I present Season 3: Age of Ender.

If you need a refresher from where last season ended:

There will from here on out be two ways to view each session - through these journal posts and through the accompanying videos. Both are included with each update, and both provide unique perspectives of the same events.

What’s this? I have a left hand now! What kind of strange sorcery is this? Perhaps this is a gift of the Quintropolis gods… or a curse. It’s quite difficult to adapt.

I ran, and ran, and ran. By this point, I’m sure the council of Techtown has broken through the Nether Temple gateway, so I need to ensure that I am far enough away such that they wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to find me. I suppose I could bury myself underneath the lava, except for the fact that I didn’t grab any fire resistance potions on my way out. I would have prepared more adequately had I not been under siege, but you know – nothing is perfect. Speaking of preparedness, I have no arrows. I also have no flint and steel, which means that my chances of escaping the Nether with ease have just skyrocketed. First I need to find a Nether fortress.

Lovely. Now, with only a helmet and boots, my safety is definitely a concern. I shouldn’t engage with what I’m used to. Besides, I’ve noticed that combat is far more arduous than it was previously. So I should tread lightly.

I’ve nearly died several times now. I suppose I should have anticipated that my luxurious play style would be tested, but some things need to be learnt the hard way. Besides, what better way to get used to the new world than by nearly being killed by it?

A blaze gave me blaze powder. A Wither skeleton provided me with coal. Now I need one more ingredient to get the hell out of here (see what I did there?). In searching for a ghast, I needed to get very far away. I figured that if I was going to build a portal out of here (thankfully, I had obsidian with me when I left Starlight HQ, so I wasn’t completely negligent of my future), I would want to ensure that I was far enough away that I could rebuild without worry of being hunted by Techtown’s forces… or the gods, for that matter.


What is this? Lasagna blocks?

I gathered lots of whatever these are… I noticed that they reflect light, so perhaps they will be useful later.

Hey, you’re not welcome here, Enderman!

I think I’ve found my gunpowder victim, but without arrows I would have to be steady about approaching it.

So much for subtlety.


Yes! I’ve done it! Now I can get out of here… Let us see where the portal shall take us.

Hmm… I hear lots of rain and strange beams. Are those guardians? I’ll need to reach the surface.

I gathered whatever materials I could on the way up, for it would be helpful to have a surplus of resources whenever I figure out where I’ll be settling.

Aha! A straight shot up!


The rain sounds different now. Also my left hand is bothering me with placing torches everywhere! Oh these changes will rue the day!

Wait a moment…

Do my eyes deceive me? Are you seeing what I am seeing? Is this…

What the hell is THAT?! Ghosts from the demons I vivaciously slaughtered here? Aftershocks from the curse put upon Stonewall that somehow I missed? Reminders of what fate is to come? As if being transported back to this wretched place wasn’t horrifying enough… I suppose I could move, but after considering that (along with what it took just to get here), I came to the conclusion that Stonewall really is the last place any villager would dare go to attempt searching for me. So I’ll try and live with my fear of this place.

Okay, I got too close to one of those dead things and it made my life a lot harder. Not having arrows didn’t help.

Thanks to my ingenious strategy in play here, I killed one of these ghost riders and got my precious arrows. This is great because my bow is actually incredibly powerful. Now I can go ham on these bastards!



^ Ah, this was my small haven wherein I set up a base camp when I came here to fight the demons.


I struggled through that night. It was awful. Either I’ve been weakened or the world has gotten stronger, because I had a hard time holding my own against these beasts. The Endermen also scare me… but I can’t resist hunting them! After seeing them in the Nether – a genuine surprise – I have to wonder what the gods are up to. Are the Endermen their watchdogs? I don’t know… but killing them makes me happy.


Now that the awful night of bloodshed is over with, I’m going to try and focus on rebuilding. After all, what options do I have? This is ironically the safest place for me right now, which shows you just how messed up the world is.



The ocean monument just off Stonewall's coast makes me nervous. I shiver just hearing those frightening sounds of the guardians in the sea. The day I decide to finally raid that thing is going to be a monumental day for certain... But today, I stuck simple. I gathered sugar cane, leather, lots of underground resources, flowers, and other basic materials that I could salvage during the day. My first goal will be getting a Fortune III pickaxe, which means I need an enchanting room with a lot of bookshelves. So I did a little Stonewall exploring.



Wow, there are some beautiful sights around Stonewall! I never got the chance to fully enjoy them because I was so focused on battle, but I actually really enjoy how varied the scenery is outside of the mega taiga.


Apparently boats now adapt to the wood used to make them… I took down whatever was left of the birch trees out on the battleground because I needed wood. Also it doesn’t look pretty. I made a boat so that way I could do some exploring outside of Stonewall too. And this is where I ended up, somewhere east:


This was a beautiful landscape! I explored it only briefly on my initial visit, but found many nice things!




Oh how I enjoyed finding the blue rocks.



This mineshaft was a nice surprise. I wonder now what secrets it will contain since it just generated in the new world.


A spider dungeon? No way!

Beetroot seeds? I’ll take them!




All in all, I had a fun time exploring the areas around Stonewall. It actually put my mind at ease because this change in pace was what I needed to refresh my state of mind. I love to explore, and even under such harsh conditions I feel confident with the challenges ahead of me. That’s what makes life interesting, right?


After exploring and gathering resources, I felt it time to begin establishing a new haven, which I did right out of the small base camp I had set up earlier in the sandstone alcove on the shore. As much as I don’t want to think of this place as my new home, I have to look at the circumstances and recognize that there could be a lot to gain from living here. For one, I would be humbled in many respects. Starlight HQ gave me everything, and maybe I got too greedy when it came time to fulfill the Secret of Stonewall. I won’t jump the gun on that though – I think fulfilling that prophecy was so far the best thing I’ve done, despite the obvious backlash it caused. Regardless, I live to believe there is a reason I’m here at Stonewall. So I’ll put up a fight and take on the culture shock!

I’m going to structure this haven around the circumstances rather than the other way around. For example, I placed a bunch of random chests in this corner, so I’m going to keep them there as a reminder of why they are there. In terms of materials, well, I don’t even have a lot to work with anyway. Perhaps I’ll build out of stone materials – that would be a neat take on the idea of this being Stonewall, after all. But this area needs to feel grounded – no fancy redstone circuits, no high-tech machines. This area represents desperation and destruction; I want this base to reflect that.



Since I was in a Nether fortress, I did get all the Nether wart out so that way I can begin brewing potions with ease. Additionally, I brutally murdered enough cows such that I had enough leather to construct an enchanting room. I added some aesthetic features and a mine to my little base; I also left a big gaping hole where mobs can just walk right in. I really don’t care.

A shield! Boy do I need one of these… I’m happy I now have something that will compensate for my lack of adequate combat skills.

It was time for me to have a friend.

We became best friends.

Look at these constellations! Such beautiful artifacts that remind me and anyone who ventures here of the glorious battle that took place…

Speaking of relics, here is the location where the final Wither died by my hand. We fought face-to-face inside the mountain before blowing a hole through it. I’ll have to live with this memory forever. But perhaps being here at Stonewall will give me some time alone to reflect on this memory, along with many more that might be circling my mind. We shall see where the future takes us from here!


In ending this session, I think I’ve learned an important lesson. You don’t really know what you have until it’s gone, and frankly I had everything back at Starlight HQ. Living in the wild now, I realize I can’t take anything for granted because I need just about anything I can get my hands on! There are so many elements to this game that I understand why Starlight HQ took years to construct. Thankfully, I’m more experienced now so it doesn’t take me months to get an enchanting room or a brewing stand – I got all that in one session. But, I think the goal from here in establishing myself again will be prioritizing what I need to progress (and to what extent I need to progress).
Having said that, I’d say there’s no question about what we need next. We need a mob farm.

An eventful start to what I think will be the most exciting season yet has given me a lot of new stuff to chew on as I update from Minecraft 1.8.9 to Minecraft 1.11. Chock full of new features, this update has made combat more exciting and more challenging, which will probably humble my playstyle going forward. This and so much more was all a part of a learning process – one that I wouldn’t have had any other way – as I struggled to survive only to find my one place of solitude at the aftermath of my battle for the Secret of Stonewall. Until next time…

Next up… Session 202 – “Aftermath”

A strong start leads us into the season’s first real development as we adjust to our new life while trying to solve a complex mythological puzzle. All this and more is explored in today’s session – get ready for a big change in pace!

A huge start to the season has allowed me a new outlook on my life as I took the lessons I learned and applied them here. Consider this session as the paradigm of what Season 3 will be like; no longer can I take the same conservative approach with my projects as I did the last two seasons. I simply will not progress, and after everything that’s happened I feel more ready than ever to truly locate my limits. But who knows – perhaps I’m getting dangerously close to those limits too quickly. Until next time…

Next up… Session 203 – “Devils Down Under”

As a disclaimer, expect a two-week hiatus for session 203. Not only is this session taking a long time to complete, but I'm taking some time off to see extended family for the holidays. As such, progress for the rest of the year might be slow. But take that as a good thing - it will give you ample time to catch up!

See you in a couple weeks!

Good day, mates (not my culture, but I'm trying new things out)!

I have some news regarding updates to Quintropolis! If you've been following, you probably know that things are still going strong despite a couple weeks of peace and quiet. That's because of two reasons:

1) Mining out an entire monument takes a lot of time, which leads to:

2) I've been busy with much else at work, at school, and completing several personal projects in time for the holidays and New Year. December is always a busy time of the year, but I'm happy to say that things are looking good in that department. I didn't get everything done I wanted to, but who does? Alas, there's always next year, right?

Since the year is ending, I'll have some time opening back up as January kicks off. Session 203 is complete, but I am currently away from home and thus cannot complete the video and upload the session. But I'm letting you know so that you can anticipate the return from the journal's hiatus! More specifically, session 203 will be published on January 6, 2017. You should know by this point that I tend to stick by my deadlines.

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all, and a Happy New Year! Festive, aren't we?

Despite my efforts to make a new living out here at Stonewall, I’m always trying to think ahead at how I might look back at this dark chapter of my history. But having said that, there’s also the concern of what happens when I don’t think ahead. As such, the events of this session were convoluted – on quite a significant scale.

A lot of preparation and patience seems to be worthwhile as some of the hardest tasks of the farm were completed. In a session that took nearly a month to execute, I learned that there are no taking shortcuts when you want a product that is truly and utterly incredible. But all we’ve done so far is prepare. How will the farm itself come to be? Stay tuned to find out…

Next up… Session 204 – “Water Balloons”

Hey folks, how are we? A small teaser for the next session...

The past month has been particularly busy, and in fact the rest of this month will continue in that pace. However, I have recently become wrapped up in Quintropolis adventures, which means of course that my hiatus since completing session 203 has ended! This hiatus was planned, as I felt it best to take a break from the world to refocus my energies about how I wanted to proceed.

And now I know. Session 204 will be published on February 19, 2017.

After spending a decent amount of time in Pandora’s Box, I am ready to jump back into action on what has so far been one of the most game-changing arcs in the world of Quintropolis for me. The goal of Aftermath is to showcase that you can get something beautiful out of anything, even in the darkest of days as Stonewall represents. Let us see if that goal is fulfilled.

Also...

In order to begin construction of the guardian farm, first I had to make sense of what exactly I had going on. Yes, I had a giant hole in the middle of the ocean (except that it is not in the middle of the ocean), and yes the hard part is already finished. So then, what is left to consider? Well, I spent quite a lot of time trying to determine what exactly I wanted from this farm. Yes, I want it to provide drops and resources, but XP is also a factor. I want the farm to be multi-purpose after all, as it will be the primary (and possibly only) farm that I rely on out here in Stonewall. It will be the only one I will need.


I capped off the storage room with a furnace wall, as I needed to burn all that sand into glass. This happened, and indeed I colored some of it.



For this farm, I wanted to make a relatively small spawning area as I felt a larger farm would not necessarily mean an efficient farm. Thus, I felt it would not warrant the extra resources, and to be honest I wanted to stick to the smallest design possible that would still max out the potential for this farm. I kept things simple with a 16x16 spawning space.

I quickly realized, however, that in order for the water to actually flow downward, I would have to keep the water adjacent to other solid blocks. So I expanded the platform to fit in seven 2-wide lanes.



The water buckets took too long, so I made a quick detour to the Ice Realms not too far away and gathered some ice.



What I did not actively realize was that I needed solid blocks beneath the ice in order for it to flow...

...But I happen to be an expert at improvisation!

The fence gates hold up the water while still allowing the guardians to fall through. I tested this to see if any spawned. None did.


I realized it was too high, so I had to extend the entire platform downward two or three more blocks.

Alas, all my wildest dreams came true as these devils began to spawn… at a rather frightful rate!


Before I knew it, I was playing a very dangerous game of water balloons with no real way to contain them.

I knew that if I could escape Starlight HQ with an entire army waiting for me, this would certainly be no problem. Alas, I managed to maneuver my way onto a platform that I created out of thin air… and glass, which is basically the same thing.

Originally, I wanted to have the guardians flow in one direction and fall into a chamber on one of the four sides. But then I decided that having them fall through the center just made more sense, economically of course.


To make it into an XP farm, the guardians will be sent to the Nether via a portal. But if the portal is not active, they will simply jump off and into the stream going in the opposite direction.


This is a very easy setup to compose because guardians move around rather frantically. This was evident to me because of how difficult it was to keep my aim in the box!



At the other end of this stream was a 4-block tall chamber of lava. This will harm the guardians enough such that when they drop out of the bottom of the lava, they will die from burning and their drops will be collected via hoppers.

Slabs are added here to keep their velocity consistent and accurate upon entering the kill chamber. This is an integral detail!

Now for a test run!

I did have to move the hoppers down by one block, because during the first test run all of the drops burned up. Literally – every single one burned up.

Also, I noticed some squid spawning in the farm as well. As such, I had to configure a way to cycle their ink sac drops. Sure, they would flow through the system, but they would stop at the Nether portal. I decided then to create a chain of hoppers just behind the portal that would collect all ink sacs and other potential premature drops.


Oh how marvelous it was to finally have a system working! I actually attained a decent spawning rate for just being on the outskirts of the box, not outside of every other potential spawning space around the farm! This is a good sign – it means that these rates will be significantly higher when I complete the lighting around this area of Stonewall and/or create a hub in the sky.


Actually, the hub in the sky became more of a necessity, because the next step involved the separation of two Nether portals. The portal I had been using for travel was going to be transformed into the XP farming chamber, and therefore I would have to make a new portal that aligned in elevation with the corresponding portal in the Overworld. Make sense?

I removed the old portal back in my canopy and had the portal within the farm function as the new portal for the current hub in the Nether (the portal from which I entered into Stonewall initially). That hub was turned into the XP kill chamber for the guardians, as can be seen here:


My plan is simply to use poison potions for draining their health. Having them deposited into the Nether in this way also invites two hypotheses on my end (and perhaps some of you might incite insight on these):
1) The mob cap will not be reached since the guardians will be in another dimension, meaning that I could theoretically allow hundreds and up to a thousand guardians to collect in the Nether while none remained in the Overworld.
2) The new game rule added in 1.11 that prohibits too many mobs from cramming into one air space could be circumvented if I integrate my design appropriately. Assuming that these mobs will not start suffocating until I enter the Nether, I could create a drop that gets me to the kill chamber fast enough to where I could still harness the XP from hundreds of mobs (i.e. I get to handle the mobs before the excess actually die of suffocation).
So, I have created a new Nether portal that is much higher up on the y axis, allowing correspondence with the new portal I just created in the Overworld. Since I created new portals on both sides, the Overworld portals will no longer send me to the same portal as they did before. Now, they will send me to the closest portals in the corresponding locations in the Nether. I have tested these portals in every direction, and indeed they are now separated. This also means that, having removed the old portal back on land, this portal in the sky is now the new entrance to Stonewall… or, more accurately, Aftermath.


As of right now, the XP portion of the farm has not been tested as it is not complete. I would like to complete the hub and drop integration, along with the aesthetics of both, before testing these two hypotheses. Needless to say, even if these things do not work (which I am fairly certain my first theory will work), the system will already be in place to adapt to other options.

But for right now, we need more resources to continue working on the farm. Having completed the rough draft of this project, I am finally starting to see the light of day here at my new home! Let us hope that light continues to shine in the coming days…

The box has come alive and we have finally reached a point in our new base wherein we can develop. But that is just the question: How can Stonewall actually develop? In the next session, I look into installing some overdue, and significant, developments...

Next up… Session 205 – “Blank Space”

After much hard work on a huge project, it’s time to take a break and explore another potential use for Stonewall. Having focused so much on our massive guardian farm, I have put aside a long overdue project that is now much more necessary – a Nether expressway.

Ever since I first ventured off into the Ice Realms and beyond to Candyland, I knew that getting to and fro would be a constant struggle. Indeed, this journey is dangerous in every sense of the word – see the following video:

That is what I have to endure every single time I need to travel to Candyland. So why not do something about it? Candyland has proven to be an incredibly useful resource outpost, and frankly I’m finding myself requiring frequent visits due to my demands for the current guardian farm at Stonewall. Add onto that the disparity among all the portals that are actually in the Nether and it’s clear that a necessary railway is long overdue…

Stonewall was nearly transformed into a potential outpost for several important resources today, as we finally installed our first official railway in the Nether! Now, let’s get back to that guardian farm.

Next up… Session 206 – “Deep Sea Demons”

A revolutionary step is made in today’s session, because for the first time all of our hard work so far this season is put to the ultimate test as we do our first official run of the guardian farm! How will it work? Tune in to find out!

The item sorter, XP farm, and a slew of aesthetics all combined into today's session, culminating our guardian farm project to a point of completion! Yet, a certain satisfaction is still missing for reasons I cannot yet identify. But not to worry – I have a few cooler tricks up my sleeve that will elevate the way in which we navigate Aftermath. Until next time…

Next up… Session 207 – “Cooler Tricks”

Could this guardian farm simply be the beginning of a second Starlight HQ? Was the council right to consider me a threat to Quintropolis’s sustainability? These topics and more shall be explored in today’s session, as I complete the base of Aftermath itself with a slew of intuitive aesthetics… and maybe something more.

It is time for me to take a trip through the wilderness to reflect on my next moves. Often times it is isolation that leads to the greatest of personal discoveries, and right now I need one of those as I yearn to uncover who I really am without my tools and toys.

Next up… Session 208 – “Quartz Quest”