Minecraft Monday - The House of Doors

Minecraft Monday is Today!

 

Hello everyone,

 

Today I bring you a new Minecraft Monday. It is one of my newest builds done on a server through which I am taking a science/history class related to 5 scientists and their inventions. Every day they set a new Daily Challenge that is optional to complete. Then they randomly draw names to see who (typically 2-4 people) win. Those people get a free pass to their Science camp during the summer done through the server. So, once I figured out about the Daily Challenges, I started doing them. The newest one has been to add on to a giant maze. Giant is not even good enough... it is bigger than giant. So for this Minecraft Monday I am here to show you my part of the maze and some cool things about it.

 

 My maze starts off by breaking away from the main maze. The signs basically say you are entering my part of the maze and to not have /fly activated. I am going to explain the layout and outcomes of my maze in a story-view. The Narrator will be telling your adventure. Enjoy!

 

To start off, you walk (or run) through the water portal. In your mind, you are jumping around, screaming to the world how fun this will be. You are given three different paths to chose from.

 

One path is like the Nether with Glowstone walls and ceiling and Nethrack floor. You eye it carefully, and then move on to inspect the next tunnel.

 

The second path is like a Nether Fortress for it has Nether Brick for the walls and ceiling and Soul Sand for the floor. You instantly remember something a friend told you about this maze. Almost the whole tunnel has Packed Ice below the Soul Sand which makes you go super, super slow. You move on to the third tunnel, not wanting to walk through the stuff.

 

 The third tunnel is pitch black and is made up of Obsidian for the ceiling and walls and Mossy Cobblestone for the floor. The path smells of mildew and the air is bitterly cold.

 

You decide to take the Nether Path, just to find there is a pressure plate. When you step on it, even if sprinting, a wall appears in front of you not allowing access through the path. Yet, you can still see a tunnel beyond the wall that seems to go in multiple directions.

 

Taking the Obsidian Cave path, you find a parkour map and torch light. Right away, you slip and fall to the cold ground. But, after getting up again, you find there is a door that lets you restart. After multiple attempts, you finally finish the parkour map just to find... a dead end. You kick the wall - which hurts being that it is made of Obsidian - and exit through the door, backtracking.

 

You then decide to take the Nether Fortress path and instantly regret it - at first. You drag your feet along as you walk on the Soul Sand/Packed Ice

mix for flooring, having only a few Redstone Torches lighting the way. Then you come to three paths within the Nether Fortress. The one straight ahead is clearly a dead end with a black, closed window. The path to the left seems to be a staircase with a soul sand/packed ice floor again. And to the right, there is sunlight... Sunlight! 

 

You take the right path with the sunlight just to find that at the end, there are metal bars for a roof which lets in the natural light. And of course, it is just a dead end. So you backtrack then take the left path, going extremely slowly up the stairs. That is when you find that jumping and sprinting helps you up quicker. Once you get to the top, you discover a 2x1 hole. You go on your knees and try to look down just to be blinded by Glowstone walls which makes you lose your balance. You tumble into a new tunnel, landing in a small water pit. Looking around, you find that you are now on the other side of the Nether Tunnel - the one with the magically appearing wall! 

 

You run down the tunnel to find a path that splits in two directions and a sign. The sign says that you are now entering the House of Doors part of the maze. The House of Doors starts off with two wooden spruce doors - the kind you cannot see through. One on the right, one on the left. You decide to take the right one but only find a classic dead end. Turning around, you take the left door. To your surprise, you find two sets of double doors. After going through one, you find more and more doors until you finally hit a dead end. Carefully backtracking, you take the other double door set and go through an endless amount of doors. It appears that each door either leads to a dead end or even more doors. 

Then you arrive in a somewhat large room with more Spruce Doors and a set of Double Iron Doors with signs that say they are locked. You head through more wooden doors, knowing you must be lost. The shiny gold walls, grass floor, and stone-wall roof is messing with your head now. 

 

Finally, after nearly 5 minutes of struggling, you find the floor changes to Polished Andesite as you head uphill then downhill. Finally, you are in a room with fewer doors and a sign that basically says you have completed the maze. You exit through a set of doors and instantly fall into a giant hole with water at the bottom. Looking around, you spot the random ladders and know you must complete a somewhat-basic parkour to get out to the new door you can see. 

 

You parkour out and open the door. Now you are in a new room with a sign that apologizes for the quick parkour challenge and asks if you really want to leave. If you leave, you can't enter again. Not wanting to do anything with the annoying maze again, you walk through the Iron Door and watch it close behind you. Free. Finally... Finally free. 

 

I hope you enjoyed this story-based Minecraft Monday that goes over the layout of my section of the giant maze. I made all that was explained (and shown) by myself and multiple people have tested it and loved it, but found the House of Doors very difficult. I tried out the whole thing myself, and even got lost in the House of Doors. Below I show a picture of the entire giant maze made by many people on the server (above, left) and a picture of my entire maze (below, right). It is all the colored spots such as the gold, stone, Nether Brick, Stained Glass, and everything besides the Quartz (the white blocks).  Also, the Obsidian Cave is there, but it is hard to see because the floor outside the maze is of Obsidian as well.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this week's Minecraft Monday - The House of Doors. Next week, I should have a new Minecraft Monday, but I am unsure what it will be about. Until then, keep an eye out for any new posts such as the upcoming Portal Into the Past. Thanks for reading this! 

Minecraft Monday - Harder than Hard

Minecraft Monday is Today!

Hello everyone,

I am sorry this is Minecraft Monday was later in the day, but I had forgotten to get screenshots for what I was doing until later. Well, do you want to know what this Minecraft Monday is all about? Harder than Hard, that is for sure. What I mean is, I am going to show you the coolest mod pack for Minecraft - in my opinion, anyways. I bring you Mad Pack 2.0, a mod pack of survival and tech. If you read on, I will show you screenshots of my base, some cool monsters, and some of the items I have gathered since about a week of playing. I hope you all enjoy today's Minecraft Monday - Harder than Hard:

As I already said, Mad Pack is a mod pack of survival and tech. There are a crazy amount of mods, and everything wants to kill you. When I say everything, I really mean it. I went to go kill a sheep to get wool and the whole herd comes after me. "QueenAshlee was slain by Sheep". Not what I was expecting. And when I first started out, the controls were messed up and I had no idea how to do anything. I still don't know what half the things are for, actually. But luckily I had been watching Lachlan and Preston do their mad pack series (which is what got me interested in the mod pack in the first place) so I already knew the basics to survival. I started off finding a good location and I built a house in a hillside which I often call the Hobbit Hole. The picture on the right shows what part of my home looks like now, where I store all my items. Just so you know, each and every one of those boxes are full or nearly full.

Along with a room full of a lot of chests as you already saw, I now have a pretty big farm, crafting area, and mine. The farm includes berries, vegetables, fruits, wheat, and "magic plants". For the magic plants, I have a coal plant that grows coal, and three that produces minicio essence which is used in creating other magic plants. Eventually, I want to have diamond plants, ender pearl plants, stuff like that, but it takes time. Yet, I think I can get iron or maybe osmium. Either way, I have a crazy amount of ores and plants. My farm is shown on the left. The magic plants are the ones that are just dark green leaves.

One thing I refuse to change right now is the "/gamerule keepInventory true" because if that was set to false... well, let's just say I die a lot. In fact, I currently have giant bee things outside of my Hobbit Hole house making hives. And so whenever I go outside, I get poisoned and end back up at my house. Even if I use The Ender sword. Not to mention every night I hear something blow up just
outside my house and when I look out there, all my trees are gone. And trust me, it is not a creeper doing it. The picture to the right shows some of the more common mobs in Mad Pack from the Lycanite's Mobs mod.I have encountered a lot of those. Also, that reindeer head? It is not a reindeer at all.

Along with my farm, I have a pretty cool mine, but I have a habit of vein mining so I get a lot of monsters because of it. Plus, down towards the bottom of my mine, I hear these ghost-pig sounding things but I can't find them anywhere. Along with my mine, I have really cool items and armor. Okay, nothing extreme yet, I suppose, but still really cool. In fact, I have a chest plate made of Dark Steel that supposedly has "Glider" on it. But, considering I am inside most of the time, I never really tried it out. And, as I already mentioned, I have The Ender sword which is also made of Dark Steel. Along with having great durability, I managed to enchant it with level 8 which gave me "Unbreaking I" which is pretty good. Also, I forgot to mention, my Dark Steel Chestplate got an enchantment of Absorption II which gives me three extra hearts. The ores I own are showed above, left. I am still trying to decide what to do with it all. To make a sword, armor, or more of the "technology" items available in the game...

I have had some really cool finds, like Pandora's Box. The first box I opened I did in my house. I was thinking it might play music or something, so I opened it in my home. Well... let's just say it turned everything into Mooshroom Land around and inside my home. That is why, in the picture to the right,
all the land near my statue-people (from mobs I found/killed) is all made of Mycelium instead of grass. When I opened the box, I panicked and instantly thought (just for a moment) Corrupt from Terraria was spreading. Just for a moment, of course. Also, I actually found a Mooshroom cow that spawned off a little from my house. I wonder how many more I will get?

While raiding a medium-sized Wizard Castle - after dying multiple times to a phantom and about six ghosts - I found a really cool artifact that, when held, let's me breath underwater. Along with that, when used, it shoots explosive fire arrows. And the best part is? After using the arrows, the artifact fixes itself overtime. So that was a really cool find of mine. The picture shows the artifact in it's case. The statue person on the left is my Minecraft Skin and the one on the right is one I found.

I also created Luggage - (nickname being Luggy). It is basically this chest that, when places, follows you around, picking up any dropped items. You can easily open Luggage like any normal chest, and it cannot be killed by anything. You can also pick up Luggage and it will go into your inventory. I just thought that would be a pretty cool thing to make. Yet, I had no idea it was a pet at first. I had originally made it with plans to use it as a backpack since I did not have enough stuff to make one yet.

I hope you enjoyed this Minecraft Monday - Harder than Hard. Sorry for the lack of good screenshots, I had forgot to get ones of the mobs. But next week I hopefully will have something from the Hunger Games on the NexusMC server, maybe? Either way, I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit on how I set up my Madpack beginning adventure. Also, let me quickly add, my difficulty level is very high. That is why I still keep "/gamerule keepInventory true" on. Keep an eye out for future posts!

Announcement - At last I have...

Announcement:

Hello everyone,

Today I bring you a sort of quick but very important announcement. Not just any announcement but one that I treat as a surprise for anyone reading this and an accomplishment on my end. As you might have noticed by the title, "At last I have..." done something. Here is what the "something" is:

So, you all know about The Hero's Prophecy Series I am writing, right? Well, as you might also know, I have been working on a website for the series. Well... let's just say I am done. Finally. Done. Okay, take that back, I am not 100% done, yet. I still have to finish a minor quiz, and draw a picture for the ten year old THP hero, Justin. After that, I will have to add that picture then my website will be done. But hey, let's say it is 98% done. Here is the link to the The Hero's Prophecy Series Website which I strongly recommend checking out: http://ashleeg01.wix.com/thpworld

The THP (The Hero's Prophecy) website has quizzes on what character you are, what role in the Prophecy you would have, and other fun quizzes plus information and background stories on each Hero and Creature of Darkness. I also have on there a smaller blog separate to this one where I post things related only to the THP series. On the website, there is a Hero Interview like what I have done here on the blog, FAQ about the website, and I also plan to open up a shop through the website once the series is fully published.

Again, I think you should check out the website and maybe share it with some other people. I put a lot of work into writing everything. I am working on converting all the pictures to ones I draw, but until then, not all of the pictures I made. It would be nice if you left a comment either on this post or on the website (by using "Contact me") to let me know what you think of the website and what I could improve. Thanks for reading this, and keep an eye out for any new posts coming up!

Note: This was, what I would consider the "Surprise Post" for now, but I might come up with something even cooler within the next few days. Well, probably not Saturday-Sunday because I am pretty busy then with Geocaching and we often go to Spokane to shop then which is about 1 and a half hours away. But still keep an eye out for posts those days, just in case.

My First Gaming PC - Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1

Hello everyone,

About yesterday: I am sorry for not posting yesterday. But I had just got a new PC and it took a long time to set up and I had some internet issues. By the time it was ready to use, and I got Minecraft downloaded, I was trying to decide what to do Minecraft Monday about. It turns out I don't have a webcam like I first thought because we got rid of it. Because of that, I could not do a video like planned. So I then was going to take screenshots of the mod Madpack 2 which I just got for the first time. But it turns out advancing in that mod takes forever so I did not have much to get screenshots of. And long story short, I  ended up with nothing for Minecraft Monday and I had to go to bed. But I will get something up here soon for Minecraft. Also, I have a slight change of plans. I don't think I will always do Minecraft Monday. Things have happened where I just don't have any topics or the time and then you all get disappointed. So now you know that there might not always be a Minecraft Monday. But I will still try to get them every Monday.

And the news? Okay, I am sorry for that slight rant. Like I basically said, I was pretty busy yesterday. But what is this post about? Well, I got my first ever gaming PC yesterday. It is a Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1. So today I decided to do some sort of review of it. Here is the review:

I enjoy the Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1 very much. Compared to my old PC, which was just a basic computer, this one is way faster. I mean it is lightning fast. Even with my poor internet speed out where I live (in a small farm town in Washington with a population of about 400 people) I can still do everything without lag.

I mainly play Minecraft, but I use a lot of mods and I play all the mega-servers. Before, whenever doing a game like Hunger Games through Minecraft servers, I would freeze, skip frames, or Minecraft would just completely shut down. Plus, I could only run smaller mods and nothing super good. But yesterday when I was trying out my new PC, I can play anything without lag. The only lag I did have was a little bit of server lag, but it was only when loading the mini-game for Skywars.

Along with servers, I downloaded a very large mod I have wanted for a long time called Madpack 2. Madpack 2 has about 137 mods all put together. When I had my old PC, there would be no way I could get Madpack 2 to work without wrecking my computer and Minecraft. But once again, the Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1 lets me play Madpack 2 just like playing normal Single player Minecraft, meaning no lag.

Along with Minecraft, I play Terraria, but I have yet to try that out on my new PC. But an old issue was Youtube. I watch a lot of Youtube videos from Minecraft Youtubers like BajanCanadian and the "Pack" and people like Orepros and SethBling. But in the past, Youtube would run so bad that there was really no point in watching it. Yet, since getting the Borg-Q FX, I can watch my typical Youtube videos with no issues.

Now yes, I know a problem with my old PC was probably the graphics and video cards. I even looked, and both my graphic and video cards are way below average which explains my PC problems. But I got this new PC so I could have top performance instead of just replacing the cards.

The pros about the Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1 that I have noticed are:

• No lag in gaming or when using mods/playing large, usually laggy servers
•  Quick on uploading and downloading things
• Quick on loading pages
• High quality PC
• Great price
• Quick on starting up the computer after being on Sleep or being shut down for the night
• There are a lot of fans so it will not overheat unlike most PC's
• Plenty of room inside to upgrade/add more parts
• And, of course, the PC looks super cool with the lights and design

Cons:
None that I have seen yet.

Notes:
The Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1 runs on Windows 8.1 which I have only used on my grandma's computer during the summer. But so far, even though I know most people don't like it, Windows 8.1 is a new, interesting thing to use. I am still not 100% sure on my opinion on the new Windows, but my only "complaint" is it is sort of hard to switch from internet to start menu to desktop. But I bet there is an easier way to navigate through those pages. Overall, Windows 8.1 is pretty good. And the Borg-Q FX Quad-Core Win 8.1 is just one 7-letter word - amazing.

Minecraft Monday - A World in the Sky (Singleplayer)

Minecraft Monday is Today!

  Hello everyone, 

    Today I bring you Skyblock. Yes, the wonderful world of Skyblock. So what is it, anyways? Well, imagine this: You spawn alone in a tiny, L-shaped island up in the sky with only one tree and a chest. You open the chest to find a single bucket of lava and a block of ice. And in the distance there is a small sand island with one chest and a single cactus. Where are you? Where are your friends, and what about things like stone, food, and animals? With no way out of this cruel set-up, you must survive with the given resources.

    That is the basics to Skyblock, really simple. At least, it seems like that. But in reality, the world of Skyblock is extremely complicated and hard to survive. 

    I have a pretty interesting story on how I got Skyblock in the first place. I had been watching the Skyblock series on YouTube from Lachlan, BajanCanadian, and JeromeASF. I had decided to try my own Skyblock so I went to download the map for Singleplayer. I got the map to work (after some issues, being that it was my first map downloaded) and then logged into it. Well... I sort of had a little issue. I was suffocating in a block. No matter what I did, I could not move. And then when I died, I spawned in the normal world with no idea where the Skyblock island was.  

    So with this issue, I went into Creative mode on my own world. After changing the settings, the whole world was made of one block layer of sand. The whole world. So... I followed some instructions I found and placed a dirt block on one of the sand blocks. Bad idea. While the sand all fell like it was supposed to, creating a void, it created extreme lag. So bad I could not move, and Minecraft basically shut down. Yet I did try it a few times again - with the same result of course.

    After this, I created a new world in creative, and built up into the sky until I could not see the land anymore. Then I created the Skyblock island, went into survival mode, and started my world. Yes, I did have to cheat and go into creative to retrieve another lava bucket because it was my first time making a cobblestone generator. And maybe when I was pushed off the island by some monsters and flew back up? Well... I don't do that anymore though. Anyways, below I have some screenshots that I describe. I hope you all enjoy this! Also, the video (above, right) is from my favorite animator, Slamacow. He made a video that basically shows what Skyblock is. 

    Here (the left picture) is the small pond I made for fishing. I had received some crazy items from there like enchanted fishing poles, lily pads, salmon, and other things I can't remember. Plus fish, of course. What I tend to do while fishing is balance on the ledge, holding shift, and slowly moving around the edge of the biggest square while fishing. Then when I get to the waterfall part, I jump over that and go around again while shifting. If I don't shift... well, let's just say it does not end well. Anyways, I do that because just standing there gets boring.

    This (the right picture) is my house. I know, I should make it nicer. I am thinking of rebuilding it into wood with windows because I have piles of wood but very little stone. Actually, no stone. I have a generator, but it takes super long to get cobblestone from it. And since I am in Singleplayer, I have no one to help me. Anyways, inside the house there are torches, a supplies chest, and an "achievements chest" which is where I store ongoing achievement items.

    This picture (the left one) shows my infinite water source and the beginnings of my farm. I have some wheat and potatoes right now. I actually made two infinite water sources by mistake. Well, three if you count the pond. The second one is the water strip behind the wheat. I added that thinking it helps the plants, but I forgot the square infinite water source gives all the plants water. Anyways, long story shot, I own a lot of water supplies.

    Here (the right picture) is my cobblestone generator, sugar cane farm (which I already extended since I took this picture), my cactus plant, and part of my tree farm in the upper-right corner. The generator works, but it takes forever to get even a little bit of stone. Especially since it often falls into the lava... But either way, here it all is. I do have plans to extend the cactus farm.

    This picture (the left one) shows my portal to the Nether (made using a lot of wood and my lava bucket to light it) and the "mob grinder". The Nether, as shown in the next picture is only a small room. I had it is a little island, but expanded it trying to make a Pigman farm. The Mob Grinder really does not grind yet, but it will. I have no door because it was letting in too much light from the daytime and nearby portal. But I do get lots of mobs in there, including too many creepers.

    This is the last picture (the one on the right) and it shows my Nether Farm. See, I went into the nether and forgot there would not be an island like the downloaded map. So I made the island just the right size out of glowstone like the map. I added the chest with the birch sapling, the other piece of ice, and each of the mushrooms, if I remember correctly. Then I went on to expanding to make a pigman farm. But I sort of need help. For one, I can't get any pigman. 

    This leaves me with a question: Is the Nether Farm too small? Can the pigman not spawn on wood? What am I doing wrong here? I would like to know, so please leave any suggestions you have in the comments, thanks.

    Sorry for so many pictures and slightly confusing paragraphs. I had a lot to show, and I know the island does not look nice, but I am still working on it. I mean, when you start with few things, staying simple is the key - for now. Anyways, I would like it if you left any suggestions in the comments. I would have made a video, but I still have to set up the webcam and get some things ready. So for now, all I have is screenshots. Also, I apologize for making this post so long. Again, Skyblock takes a while to show. And yet, this is not even all of it.

    Keep an eye out for the next posts coming up! I should have one tomorrow, and my Portal into the Past one on Wednesday. The next Minecraft Monday will be on the 4th, so be ready! I hope the webcam will be ready by then so I can do a video. If it is, I am thinking of doing either a Hunger Games, or showing a mod such as Orespawn or Lucky Block. Either way, next week's Minecraft Monday should be better organized than today's. Thanks for reading this!