So, Minecraft.

[DeeBye]

I've been messing around with Minecraft. I followed this advice. With the pirated version I was able to set up a server for my son and I to play on together and we had LOADS of fun in Peaceful mode. We spent enough time playing together that I went ahead and decided to buy us each a copy.

I got my account purchased with no issue using my credit card, but when I tried buying one for my son it gave me an error saying that it couldn't process another transaction for 48 hours using the same payment method. Is that normal? I can't seem to find a real email address to ask the Minecraft people about this, and I don't want to go the Twitter/Facebook contact route.

Also, food. I've turned off Peaceful mode because fighting for things looks like a lot of fun. But now I need a good source of food. What is the easiest way to create a food farm? I know I can go out and slaughter animals and cook the meat, but I'd much rather create a real farm where I have a reliable and unending source of food. I've started a Wheat farm inside my little dirt starter house, but I'm not sure if that's the most efficient way to start a real food farm.

http://imgur.com/a/NQbdX

[Chesspiece_face]

If you have a steady source of wheat you have a good start for food.

You can mill up the wheat in a pinch and make bread out of it, but generally that is an inefficient use for it. Go out and make a fenced in pen and if you are holding wheat you can lure a bunch of animals into the pen. After they are in there you can use the wheat on two of the same type of animals to instigate reproduction between them. Once you've got this set up you should be able to have a consistent source of meat.

[DeeBye]

If you have a steady source of wheat you have a good start for food.

You can mill up the wheat in a pinch and make bread out of it, but generally that is an inefficient use for it. Go out and make a fenced in pen and if you are holding wheat you can lure a bunch of animals into the pen. After they are in there you can use the wheat on two of the same type of animals to instigate reproduction between them. Once you've got this set up you should be able to have a consistent source of meat.

Is it advisable to do all this wheat/animal farming inside my little safe dirthouse, or can I do some of it outdoors?

There's creepers out there and they go boom.

[kandrathe]

There's creepers out there and they go boom.

I've set up a whitelist server(using Bukkit) for my son's and their school friends. We're still on version 1.0.1 -- waiting for the Bukkit crew to get to 1.1.

I'm not sure on the account thing. I heard there was a bit of a snafu with the blackout on the 18th affecting their transactions as well. I bought our accounts at least a month apart.

As for food... Hunting is best at first. For farming, you should remember to fence it to prevent trampling. It grows best outdoors with a water source within 4 blocks. I get fancy now, and set up automated farms, or green houses.

But... Once you have a steady source of wheat, you can begin your foray's into animal husbandry.

[Taem]

Ahh, mindcrack. I read about this game somewhere online, a mere blip on the radar when only a few thousand people had started playing and purchasing it. I told my sons about it and they tried it out for grins... They liked... no LOVED it, so I bought my other son a copy. Then its in Game Informer as an Indy game special (before the one a few months back when it went out of Beta) and is now this huge unstoppable thing. I never got into it myself. The game bores me to tears for some reason I can't figure.

My only real gripe with the game is, with all the time the creators spent working on the game, and with countless thousands of players finding all the kinks in the beta, you'd think a proper 1.0 release would of had high-def graphics and better sound at the very, very least. The producers of Minecraft made an Xbox 360 Arcade version with high-def graphics, and I thought that was just a test to see if they could port it first of all, and second to test upcoming graphics. So suddenly the game reaches 1.0 and virtually zero to write home about. Such a lackluster update. I think the developer just took the money he got and is getting fat on a island surrounded by beautiful women somewhere. That game could be so much more. My sons are playing Adventurecraft, and what that mod/game can do is amazing with scripting. Additionally, why hasn't Notch sued the creators of Adventurecraft anyhow? They essentially stole his platform and made their own game and distribute it freely. The most clear cut form of blatant piracy I've ever seen.

Anyways, hope you have fun with your game. I'm done ranting now. If I could only get my kids into D2 or Path of Exile... no, all they want to do is play Mindcraft! I even bought some games they had been asking for for Xmas (Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls) on the PS3 and 360, but they still would rather play Mindcraft. Sigh.

[kandrathe]

My only real gripe with the game is, with all the time the creators spent working on the game, and with countless thousands of players finding all the kinks in the beta, you'd think a proper 1.0 release would of had high-def graphics and better sound at the very, very least. The producers of Minecraft made an Xbox 360 Arcade version with high-def graphics, and I thought that was just a test to see if they could port it first of all, and second to test upcoming graphics. So suddenly the game reaches 1.0 and virtually zero to write home about. Such a lackluster update.

I think Mojang (and Notch) are very into indy development, and focus on being pretty responsive to their customers whims. I was wondering if it would ever become more than just a sandbox, but in the final few weeks they actually added an objective and an ending (along with enchantments and potions).

I think my sons are into it because it's a very fun, interactive lego set. I've attached some photos of things they've done and the multiverse I've set up for them. And, this is just scratching the surface. Mind you, much of this was built by 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. The first one is an amusement park set up by one of my sons friends, with water slides and other games. The next one is their PVE arena, where they can battle waves of various mobs for a price (I've installed an economy mod on the server). The next one is Santa's workshop (note the presents outside). Next is a view of the spawn area in their city, where everyone gets a house in the sky, a job, and a store to peddle their skills/wares. The last one is a biosphere generated world they can get to via a multiverse portal (it's the only world that is peaceful). I've built and downloaded about 10 different interconnected full worlds they can get to via portals. They have alot of fun with Pvp as well, with normal PVP and their own snowball fighting PVP arena, where they can get unlimited free snowballs.

[attachment=105] [attachment=104] [attachment=106] [attachment=107] [attachment=108]

[Chesspiece_face]

Is it advisable to do all this wheat/animal farming inside my little safe dirthouse, or can I do some of it outdoors?

There's creepers out there and they go boom.

I generally set up an indoor greenhouse for my Wheat/Sugarcane so that there aren't any issues with animals walking all over the crops. As for animals, as long as they are fenced in and lit up you shouldn't have much issues with creepers.

[DeeBye]

I upgraded my little dirtshack to a much larger A-Frame thing, but I was stupid and didn't realise that it needed more light. Offending monsters spawned within. http://imgur.com/VuUwB

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I think my sons are into it because it's a very fun, interactive lego set.

That's exactly why my son and I love it.

[kandrathe]

I upgraded my little dirtshack to a much larger A-Frame thing, but I was stupid and didn't realise that it needed more light. Offending monsters spawned within. http://imgur.com/VuUwB

Odd thing about monsters spawning in houses... There is a mythology about it. If you build a 3x3 1 story house and place a bed in it, invariably you will awaken to a mob in your house - regardless of light levels. Some people blame dirt floors, or blocks not meeting squarely, but that doesn't seem to be it. I've had large houses with the same issue though. I tend to always sleep in an upper story room now. The first floor is too spooky.

A trick... They can't spawn on top of glass blocks. So, any dark horizontal surface bigger than 2x2 will allow them to spawn.

[DeeBye]

Odd thing about monsters spawning in houses... There is a mythology about it. If you build a 3x3 1 story house and place a bed in it, invariably you will awaken to a mob in your house - regardless of light levels. Some people blame dirt floors, or blocks not meeting squarely, but that doesn't seem to be it. I've had large houses with the same issue though. I tend to always sleep in an upper story room now. The first floor is too spooky.

A trick... They can't spawn on top of glass blocks. So, any dark horizontal surface bigger than 2x2 will allow them to spawn.

Interesting. I was actually going to light up my house with little lava blocks covered by glass blocks in the floor because I don't like the looks of torches everywhere.

I also found this neat looking greenhouse idea I plan on trying. It looks good and should be very functional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfsMBfuIXNM

[Chesspiece_face]

Interesting. I was actually going to light up my house with little lava blocks covered by glass blocks in the floor because I don't like the looks of torches everywhere.

I also found this neat looking greenhouse idea I plan on trying. It looks good and should be very functional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfsMBfuIXNM

Another thing of note: Minecraft doesn't do well with very large buildings. If you have a very large building with open halls etc. and no doors closing off the rooms, the game doesn't classify it as a "Safe Zone". Thus it is still possible for monsters to spawn in there. It's possible to negate the monster spawns in large rooms, but it requires massive torch spam to do so.

Essentially any area that is over a certain size without being completely enclosed is no longer considered "Safe". In an unsafe zone the chance for monsters to spawn is effected by how well lit the area is. So if you have a large area within your house, even if it is reasonably lit there is still a small % chance that a monster could spawn there. In Volume 1 of my Minecraft LP I had a very large inner chamber which would occassionally get monster spawns. My solution has always been to create a small room somewhere to stash a usable bed which didn't get in the way of the larger aesthetic of the building.

I've also noticed some funny business with beds and monsters when there are open and dark areas on the opposite side of the wall from a bed. Thus if you have a house or even a bed in a cave somewhere, if there is a section one block on the other side of the wall from the bed that is spawnable and unlit you will occassionally get attacked after sleeping.

[Shamago]

Also, food. I've turned off Peaceful mode because fighting for things looks like a lot of fun. But now I need a good source of food. What is the easiest way to create a food farm? I know I can go out and slaughter animals and cook the meat, but I'd much rather create a real farm where I have a reliable and unending source of food. I've started a Wheat farm inside my little dirt starter house, but I'm not sure if that's the most efficient way to start a real food farm.

I like wheat/bread because it doesn't take much effort to accumulate a lot, only time. It's not the most efficient food in terms of keeping your hunger bar full (cooked beef/pork is, or golden apples), but it's close. Also in 1.1 you can only trample crops by jumping on them, normal walking doesn't affect them. A 9x9 square of farmland with a water source in the center and torches around the edges is ideal. I've even taken to building these underground in case of snow, though a greenhouse should work just as well.

I haven't gotten into animal breeding and the like since there are problems with stuff clipping into/over fences/walls and escaping/suffocating when penned in (at least in multiplayer mode.) And generally I avoid killing wild animals since they no longer respawn.

When first starting a world if you're like me and you don't like to kill wild animals, mushroom soup is probably the least resource-intensive food, and it's similar efficiency to bread. One mushroom of each kind is not at all hard to find usually. Use bonemeal on the mushrooms and harvest the resulting giant shrooms to replenish your stock. And if you're near a mushroom biome, just milk a mooshroom with bowls.

[DeeBye]

Another thing of note: Minecraft doesn't do well with very large buildings. If you have a very large building with open halls etc. and no doors closing off the rooms, the game doesn't classify it as a "Safe Zone". Thus it is still possible for monsters to spawn in there. It's possible to negate the monster spawns in large rooms, but it requires massive torch spam to do so.

Essentially any area that is over a certain size without being completely enclosed is no longer considered "Safe". In an unsafe zone the chance for monsters to spawn is effected by how well lit the area is. So if you have a large area within your house, even if it is reasonably lit there is still a small % chance that a monster could spawn there. In Volume 1 of my Minecraft LP I had a very large inner chamber which would occassionally get monster spawns. My solution has always been to create a small room somewhere to stash a usable bed which didn't get in the way of the larger aesthetic of the building.

I've also noticed some funny business with beds and monsters when there are open and dark areas on the opposite side of the wall from a bed. Thus if you have a house or even a bed in a cave somewhere, if there is a section one block on the other side of the wall from the bed that is spawnable and unlit you will occassionally get attacked after sleeping.

My home is pretty large. After throwing around more torches inside I haven't had any more creatures spawn.

http://imgur.com/ngI3Q

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I like wheat/bread because it doesn't take much effort to accumulate a lot, only time. It's not the most efficient food in terms of keeping your hunger bar full (cooked beef/pork is, or golden apples), but it's close.

Yeah, once a wheat farm is going it's easy food. Here's my new greenhouse wheatfarm.

http://imgur.com/EkvPg

It's doing just fine, and I plan on expanding it. I know that trampling can only happen by jumping, but my son jumps constantly jumps and was always accidentally trampling the wheat. This new farm seems idiot-proof.

I also made a pigfarm underground.

http://imgur.com/cXXy0

I prettied it up by getting grass to grow underground and using stone bricks for the walls and ceiling. Look at all those happy pigs!

[Chesspiece_face]

A 9x9 square of farmland with a water source in the center and torches around the edges is ideal. I've even taken to building these underground in case of snow, though a greenhouse should work just as well.

Another option if you're looking for efficient use of space is to put the water under the soil. The soil you are trying to till for farming just needs to be touching (or very close) to a water source so if you drop down a layer of water then put the farm on top of that you can do some interesting design things by hiding the water.

[kandrathe]

Another option if you're looking for efficient use of space is to put the water under the soil. The soil you are trying to till for farming just needs to be touching (or very close) to a water source so if you drop down a layer of water then put the farm on top of that you can do some interesting design things by hiding the water.

I tend to put the water under the fence corners and hide one water under the soil in the center of a 9x9 plot. Then, use a sticky piston to release some water for the harvest bringing all the wheat and seeds to the fence gate.

[DeeBye]

I tend to put the water under the fence corners and hide one water under the soil in the center of a 9x9 plot. Then, use a sticky piston to release some water for the harvest bringing all the wheat and seeds to the fence gate.

Can you post a screenshot or three of this? I can't quite visualize it.

[DeeBye]

Another option if you're looking for efficient use of space is to put the water under the soil. The soil you are trying to till for farming just needs to be touching (or very close) to a water source so if you drop down a layer of water then put the farm on top of that you can do some interesting design things by hiding the water.

I tried this, and it did not work. The soil would not stay tilled.

[kandrathe]

Another option if you're looking for efficient use of space is to put the water under the soil. The soil you are trying to till for farming just needs to be touching (or very close) to a water source so if you drop down a layer of water then put the farm on top of that you can do some interesting design things by hiding the water.

I tried this, and it did not work. The soil would not stay tilled.

In Single Player, I used a cool mod called Toggle Block. It allows you to better create automated farms. With the flip of a switch water would flow onto my farm washing the wheat and seeds to the collection point. With the press of a button, the Toggle Blocks would till and replant the ground.

[DeeBye]

In Single Player, I used a cool mod called Toggle Block. It allows you to better create automated farms. With the flip of a switch water would flow onto my farm washing the wheat and seeds to the collection point. With the press of a button, the Toggle Blocks would till and replant the ground.

My son and I are playing together on a server I created on my PC. One of my first rules is that we play with no mods. There is no way that I can use that Toggle Blocks mod. Thanks anyways.

[Taem]

In Single Player, I used a cool mod called Toggle Block. It allows you to better create automated farms. With the flip of a switch water would flow onto my farm washing the wheat and seeds to the collection point. With the press of a button, the Toggle Blocks would till and replant the ground.

My son and I are playing together on a server I created on my PC. One of my first rules is that we play with no mods. There is no way that I can use that Toggle Blocks mod. Thanks anyways.

That's one of the reasons I never got into Minecraft; my sons love to download Mods and experiment with the game, but I feel that diminishes the actual play experience; this from my own experience with Diablo 1. Having said that, there are also quite a few good total conversion Mods (i.e. The Dark is to D1, Median XL is to D2) I've seen my sons play such as Adventure craft. I also wanted to comment that some small Mods can really enhance the flavor of the game, like texture pack Mods (the flashlight Mod for Doom 3, Trent Reznor gun sound for Doom 3, etc.). Anyways, all in all, I'm in agreement with you that Mods can diminish the fun, but they can also add to it if used properly, all of which I suppose is irrelevant because I don't play Minecraft .