[Shade]

Ok, dynmap finally working. Here's my suggestion:



It is somewhat approximate since I can't remember the exact lay of the land in that area, but it's close enough that you get the idea There are already railway stations just north and just south of where that ship would be, and we could add a new one in the middle (around where that little water inlet crosses under the railroad) for easy access to the middle.  Could possibly move it a bit closer to the rails, but too close and I suspect it would be too big to appeciate from the tracks. Hell, it might even benefit from being further out west. Time will tell.

[Sandwich]

Looks good! I can't see any obvious underground facilities in the area. It looks like there's another parallel rail line under construction almost 400m to the west of that rail line; it'd be nice to position it to be viewable from either side (tho not necessarily smack-dab in the center).

I'm about to load up the level and scout that area... anyone wanna join me? I'll be there in 5 mins.

[Shade]

Sure. Be there in a bit.

Didn't actually know about the other railroad that's going up before I went to the dynmap for that image above. It's a nice extra bonus though to get a view of the ship from both sides

[Shade]

Checked the location out on foot just now. Pred has a mine on a hill nearby, which is the only construction of any sort nearby. I circumvented his elaborate security systems (which is to say, a locked door) as well as his deadly traps (a step was missing from the stairs) to go down and check whether it overlapped with the proposed location of the Fenris. And it does not - Looking at the railroad, the mine extends only on the eastern side, whereas the Fenris would be some distance west of it. So as far as I can tell, this location is all clear of any obstacles

[Edit] Here's an isometric map of the location. Red frame is the approximate place where the Fenris would be (dimensions not exact, no web developer plugin counting pixels for me here), and the yellow ring is where I propose to add a station - almost exactly amidships. We could probably build a small house below that with a bunch of chests for storing construction materials, too.

[Pred the Penguin]

My places always have the best view.

Whenever you guys wanna start working... call me up!

[Sandwich]

Ok, progress report and effort coordination:

Much of the work on the Fenris basecamp is done: tree farm, rail station, cobblestone generator, storage units, mini-farm, smelting stations, and of course the co-ed dorms are all up and running. Much thanks to Shade for the initial structure, storage, smeltery, and dorms, and to Pred for the railway station and other materials.

Some thoughts on the exact location and construction process:
- Normal render distance is around 100m, so the Fenris should begin no farther than 90m or so from the rail lines.
- Underwater excavation being the b*tch that it is, we'll probably opt for a WorldEdit-powered water removal from the scene of the crime.
- The rest of the area needing excavation down to bedrock should be done by hand/TNT, since we'll probably need all the stone we can get.
- To any op: can we get a warp point in the Fenris basecamp building?

I'm seriously contemplating building a high-efficiency mob trap to generate the sulphur we'll need for all that TNT. Having an initial stack of TNT for excavating the trap would certainly help get our up and running quickly... anyone got spare TNT to lend me? You'll more than make back your investment...

The only other thing to do right now is probably to mark off the 253x70 bounding box with blocks in the corners, and then to build the side view out before any of the actual levels.

[Pred the Penguin]

I have some tnt as I said before. Will 8 I have be enough?

[HoundofDarkness]

I've got 1-2 pieces I can chip in.

[achtung]

I've got about five pieces.

On another note, my railway to the frigid north is finished. If you're pining for resources near town, feel free to go to my (sandstone house west of town center) basement and take a ride. Plenty of pine and unexplored mines for exploiting. Just please replant any pine you cut down.

[Sandwich]

Thanks guys. Theoretically, since TNT encased in stone will destroy a 3x3x3 space around it, it would take 10 TNT to excavate one row of a 30x30x3 area, or 100 to excavate the entire thing. It might actually be faster to do it by hand if there's a few of us working on it simultaneously.

In case someone wants to get started on it before I can get to it, here's the deal:

- The floor of the 30x30x3 spawning area should be 24 blocks below the surface (mobs won't spawn within a 24m sphere around a player). Since basecamp is at sea level (y = 64), the spawning area should be at y = 40.
- The center of the spawning area should be fairly close to the basecamp building, perhaps 5 meters to the south-west or so.
- The center will be a 2x2 shaft running straight down. Probably best to run a ladder down it for now - eventually the shaft will have to be filled with water source blocks.
- The 30x30x3 area will have additional 2x2 channels dug across it in a crosshatch pattern, with 6m between each channel. This should result in 6x6 spawning "pads".

If you want more info, details, a guided tutorial, etc, this is fully based of Ethos's mob trap, as seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8YJfAwYOz0

[Shade]

I honestly doubt TNT is the easiest or fastest way to do the excavation (although definitely the most fun ). It simply takes too long to acquire in any useful quantity. However, if it comes to it, ops can assist us with big explosions just as they can with water removal.

[Sandwich]

In that case, no need... until we get an unlimited supply of gunpowder, we can just do things the old fashioned way. 30x30x3 isn't that big a deal.

...the Fenris hole will probably require lots of TNT, though.

[Marcov]

How about building the 3.6.12 Hatshepsut?

[headdie]

* headdie applies boot to Marcov's arse

[Pred the Penguin]

In that case, no need... until we get an unlimited supply of gunpowder, we can just do things the old fashioned way. 30x30x3 isn't that big a deal.

...the Fenris hole will probably require lots of TNT, though.

I've got a stack of sponges for removing the water... we may actually end up doing this whole thing by hand. o_o

Hopefully more people will join up.

[Sandwich]

IT WORKS!  [insert mad cackling here]

Also, if anybody was planning to ask me to borrow some steel, you've missed your opportunity, as I seem to have mysteriously run out.

It's a WAAAAASTE!

In that case, no need... until we get an unlimited supply of gunpowder, we can just do things the old fashioned way. 30x30x3 isn't that big a deal.

...the Fenris hole will probably require lots of TNT, though.

I've got a stack of sponges for removing the water... we may actually end up doing this whole thing by hand. o_o

Hopefully more people will join up.

Sponges? According to the Wiki, "In Beta it is possible to be obtained via inventory editing, but its only use is decorative". Do they still remove water in SMP?

[headdie]

time to start a bucket line

[BlueFlames]

time to start a bucket line

Fill the target area with dirt/gravel.  When you dig it away, the water will be gone.  That's how I cleared the water from my dome network.

IT WORKS!  [insert mad cackling here]

Also, if anybody was planning to ask me to borrow some steel, you've missed your opportunity, as I seem to have mysteriously run out.

It's a WAAAAASTE! 

But....but.....  It's a shiny waste.

Actually, I might have enough Lapis Lazuli that I could reconsider the use of steel....

[Sandwich]

Fill the target area with dirt/gravel.  When you dig it away, the water will be gone.  That's how I cleared the water from my dome network.

You really want to do that for a ~300 x ~100 area?? :-/

Actually, I might have enough Lapis Lazuli that I could reconsider the use of steel....

What does Lapis Lazuli have to do with steel?

Anyone have a Mumble or TeamSpeak server we could have a channel for the Fenris project on?

[Pred the Penguin]

Blue wool I think he means.

And sponges do work. BTW, the construction site now has a warp point called fenris.