[FireSpawn]

It's amazing the types of things you'll stumble across. Just today, I decided to leave my established base of safe operations, to travel down the river outside my fort. 10 minutes of almost nonstop sprinting later, and I came across the floating mountains from Avatar. I was so impressed that I didn't notice the creeper until it launched me into a pit leading straight down into a pit filled with spiders.
...
...
Did I mention I took all my Iron as I was planning on building a new, better fort? 

[TrashMan]

Just don't go exploring too far out - the last time it caused  server crash and massive lag spikes.

@FireSpawn - help yourself to a stack of iron ore from my storage

[FireSpawn]

Just don't go exploring too far out - the last time it caused  server crash and massive lag spikes.

@FireSpawn - help yourself to a stack of iron ore from my storage

It's a nice thought, but I forgot to mention that it was in sp

[Flipside]

The new Creeper explosion sounds are pretty terrifying on a system with good bass speakers Lots of sub-bass

[KyadCK]

Just don't go exploring too far out - the last time it caused  server crash and massive lag spikes.

@FireSpawn - help yourself to a stack of iron ore from my storage

The last time going so far out caused a crash was on the previous host, this one actually works better under heavy load (dyna render + 7 people) for reasons I have a pretty good idea about but can't prove.

[FlamingCobra]

Finally figured out how I wanted to do those windows. I am rather pleased with the results.

I also added "support columns" for aesthetic appeal.

[Mongoose]

Spiffy.

[FlamingCobra]

Thank you. I have been waiting for opinions of any kind. Now I'm starting to reconsider my decision to make a blue carpet. I don't know if I should go with blue or red. I also don't know if I really want to add a third floor or not. I feel like if I do, my new home will start to look like a cube rather than a castle.

Then again I don't think that's possible since it takes up a 32x32 space and each floor is only 4 blocks high (5 counting the ceiling). A third floor would make it only 15 blocks high, which is not a cube.

Hmmmmm............... choices.....

[Mongoose]

I'm kind of legitimately pissed at this game (and by extension myself) from something that just happened in SP.  I'm exploring the ridiculously-sprawling abandoned mine network that's attached to my ridiculously-sprawling cave network, and I just happened to barely graze the edge of some lava, catch on fire, and die just a few feet away from some water.  So I try to do a dead sprint back to where I died, but the labyrinth of mine tunnels is to the point where I kept getting turned around trying to find the spot again.  And of course, by the time I get there, all my stuff just magically disappears because of the bull**** five-minute despawn limit.  Like, that isn't nearly enough time to reclaim your stuff if you're any sort of distance away from your spawn when you happen to die.  And yes, I know, I should have had a bucket of water, and I shouldn't be dying in the first place, but **** happens sometimes, and you shouldn't have to lose a ****load of good stuff just because you were a minute too slow.  I had like twenty gold ore, a bunch of lapis, a ton of rails and fences I'd snagged from the mine...damn it to hell.

[Pred the Penguin]

Well, that's li- I mean Minecraft.
Seriously, the reason why some people still play survival is because of the inherent risks.
If you're getting tired of losing stuff I suggest making a creative map to blow off some steam and build crazy ****. I also play mods/maps when I get tire of vanilla. There's also the server to log on to whenever you want some company.

[Mongoose]

I do understand (and generally enjoy) the risks, and I understand that if I, say, die by falling into a pit of lava, my stuff's going to burn up and die.  But this particular risk, that you may not be able to get back to your stuff in time to prevent it from vanishing into the ether, is what gets me.  If I happen to die in a plain old tunnel, why should my stuff magically despawn after only a couple of minutes?  Minecraft has a number of elements that at least approximate "reality," so why is it that physical dropped objects are a huge exception?  I should be able to take my good ol' time, waltz back down to wherever it is I died, and find my stuff in a big messy pile waiting for me.  Getting booted all the way back to spawn seems like punishment enough...the game shouldn't also bend me over a table and delete everything I just spent the past half-hour digging up.

I guess what I'm using as a reference point is any old-school game like Descent, where you'd drop your stuff when you died, but would always be able to come back and get it afterwards.  Hell, if the stuff needs to disappear after a while, Notch could at least bump the time to something like 15 minutes, so it's feasible to actually get back to it.

[BlueFlames]

I do understand (and generally enjoy) the risks, and I understand that if I, say, die by falling into a pit of lava, my stuff's going to burn up and die.  But this particular risk, that you may not be able to get back to your stuff in time to prevent it from vanishing into the ether, is what gets me.  If I happen to die in a plain old tunnel, why should my stuff magically despawn after only a couple of minutes?  Minecraft has a number of elements that at least approximate "reality," so why is it that physical dropped objects are a huge exception?  I should be able to take my good ol' time, waltz back down to wherever it is I died, and find my stuff in a big messy pile waiting for me.  Getting booted all the way back to spawn seems like punishment enough...the game shouldn't also bend me over a table and delete everything I just spent the past half-hour digging up.

I guess what I'm using as a reference point is any old-school game like Descent, where you'd drop your stuff when you died, but would always be able to come back and get it afterwards.  Hell, if the stuff needs to disappear after a while, Notch could at least bump the time to something like 15 minutes, so it's feasible to actually get back to it.

There's a couple of good reasons for items despawning:

1)  As a death mechanic, it's a really strong incentive to avoid dying.  In Minecraft, you learn to play intelligently, as you stand to lose something by dying.

2)  It encourages intelligent inventory management.  If you don't want to lose all your crap, then don't carry all your crap with you.    Seriously, in singleplayer, there's no reason to not carry a few chests with you on your descent, so that you can slap them down when you've accumulated some valuables, thereby keeping your loot safe, until you begin your return.

[JCDNWarrior]

I do agree, chests are very important to have. I start to make a point of carrying one for myself too as I always run out of space and have to backtrack. Even worse is that you can get a big unbalance of items, like four stacks of one and nothing of the other, even basic materials. So storing things every time in chests, well-lit and preferrably on the main path back home is something to consider. If the mine is particularly helpful you can make your own treasure room as well.

On my own front, Trashman helped a great deal with the little bridge project, gotten much further as a result. I have to say the advantages of flying is huge, but I love the challenge even if it involves falling to my death..multiple times.

I'm also happy with the comments I've received on my own work thus far from others, glad to see I'm not all that bad at this It's great to see so many beautiful works of others too, instead of a static empty world of SP.

With plenty to do it'll be a while before I'll have to move or expand Will be a good weekend it seems. 

Hope to hear what others have been up to as well!

[Mongoose]

1)  As a death mechanic, it's a really strong incentive to avoid dying.  In Minecraft, you learn to play intelligently, as you stand to lose something by dying.

Hey, I'm a professional at pulling off stupid maneuvers.  Where's the fun if you can't derp yourself to death somewhere?

2)  It encourages intelligent inventory management.  If you don't want to lose all your crap, then don't carry all your crap with you.    Seriously, in singleplayer, there's no reason to not carry a few chests with you on your descent, so that you can slap them down when you've accumulated some valuables, thereby keeping your loot safe, until you begin your return.

On reading this, I felt like it'd wind up being a very tedious means of exploring, but it wound up being very useful in practice, so full credit while credit is due.  It did mitigate the loss from a death that was far more wtf- than rage-inducing.  I was skirting my way around a lava pool, and I happened across a dirt barrier to another side of the area.  I didn't think I was standing directly under the block I dug out, but I must have been close enough for Minecraft purposes, since I was instantly flooded by a shower of gravel.  It knocked me backwards, right into the lava pool.  I jumped out on fire, and finally learning my lesson, I dumped out my bucket of water, except I was a second too late.  Best of all, as I'm sitting there on the respawn screen, I hear about two dozen *HISS* sounds...the goddamn water poured the majority of my loot straight into the lava pool.  I'd have to physically try to pull that sequence off again.

[TrashMan]

HRk...despite my best efforts, It still looks to me like my project is progressing slowly.

I may have to re-double my efforts.....

[TrashMan]

Blast it...

I found an amazing mod for minecraft  - Tale of Kingdoms. I want ot paly it, but I dont' think i cna have it and regular minecraft up at the same time...

Graaaaaaah!

[deathfun]

It could be possible if one were to be able to have two .minecraft folders in the Appdata section which both allow a working minecraft to run

[FireSpawn]

Blast it...

I found an amazing mod for minecraft  - Tale of Kingdoms. I want ot paly it, but I dont' think i cna have it and regular minecraft up at the same time...

Graaaaaaah!

It could be possible if one were to be able to have two .minecraft folders in the Appdata section which both allow a working minecraft to run

Why bot just copy the folder you have to replace, and put it in a safe location. Swap out as needed.

[FlamingCobra]

Blast it...

I found an amazing mod for minecraft  - Tale of Kingdoms. I want ot paly it, but I dont' think i cna have it and regular minecraft up at the same time...

Graaaaaaah!

It could be possible if one were to be able to have two .minecraft folders in the Appdata section which both allow a working minecraft to run

Why not just copy the folder you have to replace, and put it in a safe location. Swap out as needed.

^^ That's what I would do.

[FlamingCobra]

I redid the entrance:

I guess it's a foyer now?