**Because I've been asked more than once, I'll be releasing the save once the build is complete, so once the [WIP] is gone, you'll know!**
A few months back I began planning this project. At first this consisted of looking up photos of the existing ruins, because I had no knowledge of any reconstructions whatsoever. Once I found artist renderings, however, I instantly became interested in putting it into Minecraft.
Using a diagram of the ruins and Paint.net, I organized the layout of the ruins to correspond to blocks (thank you, pixel grid <3) by alternating between two different colors. I divided this work into two parts: the perimeter walls (in purple and teal), and everything else (in blue and green).
Of course, as I built more and more of the ruins, I changed little things here and there to better reflect the artistic rendition and to smooth out portions that were difficult to transfer from the diagram into block form (I was basically winging it to begin with, after all).
UPDATE 1
In doing some skimming through my research books (of which I need to get more, which shouldn't be a problem), I've come to realize I may have been a bit hasty with construction. It seems somewhat of an overhaul may be in order, to an extent.
For one, I'm going to need to re-design the kivas (pictures below of my first attempt) with the new information I've gotten, and will continue to refine things as my research progresses. The test I did used the layout of the largest Great Kiva in the site, and it turned out quite nicely, considering the fact that I made it an 18x18 circle rather than a 21x21 circle as it is in my build. I think the actual size will be able to accommodate the new design quite well!
Another possible re-design will be the orientation of the buildings. I'll need to check it again before doing so, of course (don't want to tear things down without reason), but it's a possibility at this point.
Looks like I got it right already! *PHEW*
Other than that, further research will clue me in to how the rooms and buildings are constructed, used, etc. as well as their contents. If need be, I may have to increase the size of the building by a small percentage to accommodate various issues that may arise in my research.
UPDATE 2
I used a layout chart to make a few terraced rooms to see how everything fit together. The chart I used was for Hopi pueblos, and I'll be comparing it to the Anasazi style to make the necessary changes, but I wanted a place to start from. As you'll see in the pictures below, I didn't add much to the rooms - just ladders between floors and a couple furnaces with chimneys. I would have put in the sleeping mats and storage chests, but this is just a preliminary version.
The more I work on this, the more I want to be able to stack different kinds of slabs :tongue.gif: Not to mention having more types of slabs and stairs!
SEMI-UPDATE
The work I've done in the previous update has forced me to revise the flooring throughout the complex. Namely, every part of the floor that is not in a doorway will be replaced with sandstone slabs in order to both create the effect of stepping through the doorways (as they seem to be in the ruins) and to make the rooms have less of a cramped feeling to them (that half of a block can have a very strong effect). Also, provided I'll be able to use them in the future, sandstone stairs will be used in doorways that are offset in order to retain the stepping effect. If so, all the sand blocks on the bottom floor may have to be replaced with sandstone. Maybe it'll look good normally, but I don't know yet xD
Here's the progress so far:
_________
Initial stage (2/1/11-2/14/11):
_________
Kiva stage (2/15/11-2/19/11):
_________
Right after sandstone half-blocks were added (I was so happy xD) (2/22/11):
_________
**exceedingly long break**
_________
Further construction (7/26/11-7/27/11):
_________
Structural lattices completed (7/27/11-7/28/11):
_________
Skeletal reconfiguration and roofing
East wing (7/28/11-8/3/11):
West wing (7/29/11-8/4/11):
South wing (7/29/11-8/3/11):
North wing (7/29/11-7/30/11):
__________
Farmland (8/1/11-9/15/11):
Refurbished farmland and added produce (9/15/11):
__________
Interior walling and flooring (8/2/11-):
__________
New Kiva design test (8/9/11)
Before sandstone casing (ignore the stair texture - it's a placeholder for the material that would have been used at the site):
After sandstone casing:
__________
Terraced pueblo test (8/10/11):
One room wide, three rooms deep:
Ground floor entrance:
Angled windows allowing light and cool air to flow in (built in the first room of each level):
wow, that amazing dude. do you use a programm that gives you a shematic or something or do you do it all by hand?
You can see in the first couple pictures how I got the layout figured out, but I had to adjust the vertical dimensions myself based on the artist rendering. I just assumed the lowest wall was 4 blocks high (~13 ft.), and each level above that was 4 blocks higher than the previous. Most of the kivas (the round structures) ended up being 4-5 blocks high with one or two exceptions (one of which will probably be changed).
it cool looking ill give you that but other than giving a awesome recreation to the public will it be able to do anything?
Why should it do something? xD If you look around, most of the stuff people post here has no real function beyond either looking cool or being used as a main base/house. This is pretty much the same, though it has the capacity to house at least 100 players.
Why should it do something? xD If you look around, most of the stuff people post here has no real function beyond either looking cool or being used as a main base/house. This is pretty much the same, though it has the capacity to house at least 100 players.
i didnt say it HAD too im just saying if it served a purpose then it would be 10x better like when some one makes hoover dam then its awesome now if it served as a real damn that would be freaking incredible!
i didnt say it HAD too im just saying if it served a purpose then it would be 10x better like when some one makes hoover dam then its awesome now if it served as a real damn that would be freaking incredible!
Well, since the water in Minecraft is not finite, a dam won't have much of a real use xD
Got some more work done today! Basically, I finished laying out the skeleton of the floor layers (so that I know where the walls are supposed to go), and it looks WAY more fleshed-out. Next I'll be working on fixing the layers by seeing what's necessary or out-of-place, then I'll be able to close up the roofs in the multi-floor sections (perhaps the single-floor as well, but that would require putting up walls, too, and I'm not sure I want to jump into that just yet).
This build is amazing! I can't wait to see how it looks when its finished!
How many hours daily do you work on this project? Have you done any others?
I can't say how much I worked on it earlier this year, but it was probably a lot more than I do lately simply for the fact that I had more to do planning-wise and laying out the foundations - especially since I didn't have any mods that helped the process (I just had InvEdit). Now, however, I have Single Player Commands so I can fly and find my bed quickly, and TooManyItems so that I don't need to leave the game to use InvEdit. It's made the process SO much easier and more fun for me. Lately, I'd say I spend from 3-5 hours on it on a given day, if I'm not particularly busy that day.
I haven't worked on any other reconstructions, no, but I might if I come across something that I'm interested in!
Finished the roofing on the remainder of the east wing today - I'll probably start working on the west wing next, because the central wing looks like it will be a complete pain to reconfigure xD There's a lot that needs adjusting in that one...
A few months back I began planning this project. At first this consisted of looking up photos of the existing ruins, because I had no knowledge of any reconstructions whatsoever. Once I found artist renderings, however, I instantly became interested in putting it into Minecraft.
Using a diagram of the ruins and Paint.net, I organized the layout of the ruins to correspond to blocks (thank you, pixel grid <3) by alternating between two different colors. I divided this work into two parts: the perimeter walls (in purple and teal), and everything else (in blue and green).
Of course, as I built more and more of the ruins, I changed little things here and there to better reflect the artistic rendition and to smooth out portions that were difficult to transfer from the diagram into block form (I was basically winging it to begin with, after all).
UPDATE 1
In doing some skimming through my research books (of which I need to get more, which shouldn't be a problem), I've come to realize I may have been a bit hasty with construction. It seems somewhat of an overhaul may be in order, to an extent.
For one, I'm going to need to re-design the kivas (pictures below of my first attempt) with the new information I've gotten, and will continue to refine things as my research progresses. The test I did used the layout of the largest Great Kiva in the site, and it turned out quite nicely, considering the fact that I made it an 18x18 circle rather than a 21x21 circle as it is in my build. I think the actual size will be able to accommodate the new design quite well!
Another possible re-design will be the orientation of the buildings. I'll need to check it again before doing so, of course (don't want to tear things down without reason), but it's a possibility at this point.Looks like I got it right already! *PHEW*
Other than that, further research will clue me in to how the rooms and buildings are constructed, used, etc. as well as their contents. If need be, I may have to increase the size of the building by a small percentage to accommodate various issues that may arise in my research.
UPDATE 2
I used a layout chart to make a few terraced rooms to see how everything fit together. The chart I used was for Hopi pueblos, and I'll be comparing it to the Anasazi style to make the necessary changes, but I wanted a place to start from. As you'll see in the pictures below, I didn't add much to the rooms - just ladders between floors and a couple furnaces with chimneys. I would have put in the sleeping mats and storage chests, but this is just a preliminary version.
The more I work on this, the more I want to be able to stack different kinds of slabs :tongue.gif: Not to mention having more types of slabs and stairs!
SEMI-UPDATE
The work I've done in the previous update has forced me to revise the flooring throughout the complex. Namely, every part of the floor that is not in a doorway will be replaced with sandstone slabs in order to both create the effect of stepping through the doorways (as they seem to be in the ruins) and to make the rooms have less of a cramped feeling to them (that half of a block can have a very strong effect). Also, provided I'll be able to use them in the future, sandstone stairs will be used in doorways that are offset in order to retain the stepping effect. If so, all the sand blocks on the bottom floor may have to be replaced with sandstone. Maybe it'll look good normally, but I don't know yet xD
Here's the progress so far:
_________
Initial stage (2/1/11-2/14/11):
Kiva stage (2/15/11-2/19/11):
Right after sandstone half-blocks were added (I was so happy xD) (2/22/11):
_________
**exceedingly long break**
_________
Further construction (7/26/11-7/27/11):
Structural lattices completed (7/27/11-7/28/11):
Skeletal reconfiguration and roofing
East wing (7/28/11-8/3/11):
West wing (7/29/11-8/4/11):
South wing (7/29/11-8/3/11):
North wing (7/29/11-7/30/11):
Farmland (8/1/11-9/15/11):
Refurbished farmland and added produce (9/15/11):
Interior walling and flooring (8/2/11-):
__________
New Kiva design test (8/9/11)
Before sandstone casing (ignore the stair texture - it's a placeholder for the material that would have been used at the site):
__________
Terraced pueblo test (8/10/11):
Ground floor entrance:
Angled windows allowing light and cool air to flow in (built in the first room of each level):
Cooking furnace on second floor (front room):
Chimney and third floor entrance:
Cooking furnace on third floor:
Current state (as of 9/15/11)
You can see in the first couple pictures how I got the layout figured out, but I had to adjust the vertical dimensions myself based on the artist rendering. I just assumed the lowest wall was 4 blocks high (~13 ft.), and each level above that was 4 blocks higher than the previous. Most of the kivas (the round structures) ended up being 4-5 blocks high with one or two exceptions (one of which will probably be changed).
Why should it do something? xD If you look around, most of the stuff people post here has no real function beyond either looking cool or being used as a main base/house. This is pretty much the same, though it has the capacity to house at least 100 players.
i didnt say it HAD too im just saying if it served a purpose then it would be 10x better like when some one makes hoover dam then its awesome now if it served as a real damn that would be freaking incredible!
Well, since the water in Minecraft is not finite, a dam won't have much of a real use xD
XD yes true but you got the point i was making.
I added the final kiva and a wall along with continuing to build the flooring framework:
Got some more work done today! Basically, I finished laying out the skeleton of the floor layers (so that I know where the walls are supposed to go), and it looks WAY more fleshed-out. Next I'll be working on fixing the layers by seeing what's necessary or out-of-place, then I'll be able to close up the roofs in the multi-floor sections (perhaps the single-floor as well, but that would require putting up walls, too, and I'm not sure I want to jump into that just yet).
Today I reconfigured the skeleton of the lower east wing, and then put the roof on top. I think it looks good!
I've been wanting to do decoration since the beginning, haha! I just need to do all the hard work first xD
I have some reference info on the style of building and such, so I should be able to make it as much like the real thing as I can.
How many hours daily do you work on this project? Have you done any others?
I can't say how much I worked on it earlier this year, but it was probably a lot more than I do lately simply for the fact that I had more to do planning-wise and laying out the foundations - especially since I didn't have any mods that helped the process (I just had InvEdit). Now, however, I have Single Player Commands so I can fly and find my bed quickly, and TooManyItems so that I don't need to leave the game to use InvEdit. It's made the process SO much easier and more fun for me. Lately, I'd say I spend from 3-5 hours on it on a given day, if I'm not particularly busy that day.
I haven't worked on any other reconstructions, no, but I might if I come across something that I'm interested in!
Finished the roofing on the remainder of the east wing today - I'll probably start working on the west wing next, because the central wing looks like it will be a complete pain to reconfigure xD There's a lot that needs adjusting in that one...