Path and Direction Pylons

I have added two tails of Pylons.
One is from the spawning point safe house.

The other is from the stronghold excavation.

The Pylons are a block of cobblestone with a burning block of netherack on top.
There is a single torch on a site and that point back to the Compound.

The Pylons are within sight of one an other and often form a lit trail.

Silverfish!

Well this weekend has been full of my battling Silverfish.

Silverfish 1.8

Unlike the real world pest... the Mincraft Silverfish are lithophilic spawners, they live INSIDE stone.  They are unpredictable and dynamic.  Unlike other mobs, that can spawn in full daylight.  Silverfish are able to spawn MORE Silverfish.  But on the good side, they can fade a way too. 
Minecraft Wiki - Silverfish
I have started dismantling a Stronghold for its resources of Doors, Iron bars, Buttons and three types of Stone (Regular, Mossy and Cracked).  It seems that 1 in 20 stone blocks have a Silverfish in them and they spawn when the block is broken.  Once spawned others will spawn in the vicinity, breaking (without drop) the block they were IN.  I have tried covering all stone in the area with dirt, this was only marginally effective as the spontaneous spawning can be quite far.  Also the cover and uncover with dirt while mining is very time consuming.  I next tried to mine stone with sand or gravel on top, in the hopes of crushing the mobs... I worked one time.  Again, it was a lot of work to keep moving sand around.  I then tried to cover the stone with running water in the hopes of pinning and drowning the beasts.  This was also only marginally effective, difficult to see and mine through water and did nothing to keep other silverfish from spawning outside the water filled areas.
I have finally just given up and accepted that Silverfish happen.  When they do, I try to kill them as fast as i can... if too many spawn... I run and they disapper back in to the stone.

New Union Member!

Please Welcome Markilos (Mark) to the server!
Markilos is an Electrician, the best I know!
He will be around checking things out.
If you see him on, give him an hand and help him out.

Enderpearls Teleport!

This is great news... and should make hunting Endermen the new national Minecraft pastime!
I would not be surprised if Endermen become extinct because of this!
Hell they can come and tear apart my house any time!
YouTube Enderpearl Teleport

Tribute to Tony the creeper magnet

I have completed the creeper tribute to Tony.
I was worried that the 1.8 would change his luck and creepers would quit coming around his village.
HA HA HA seem there are more than ever...
Three cheers to Tony!
Hip hip... Heraye
Hip hip... Heraye
Hip hip... Heraye

Made a 10x10 colored wool creeper face just north of Tony's Village

At the foot of the tribute

View from the church

I placed the tribute so it can be seen all up the main road in the village!

Tony prays a lot... He asks that the creepers GO A WAY!

View from the Castle

PLEASE NOTE THE TWO REAL CREEPERS IN THE LOWER RIGHT!!!!!!!

1.8 release on Monday!

I am numb with anticipaaaaaaaaaaa "say it!" tion
The Prelease is available from:
Minecraft Forums
Here is a YouTube channel of Swamps, Ravines and a Stronghold.
PvPwithTotems
MinecraftRedneck

Tribute to Tony "Creeper Bait"

Tony attracts creepers like no other on the server.
I have collected some fine Creeper Art for him.

 I have also been inspired to craft a gift for him in his village!

PAX Prime this weekend Notch talks about 1.8 & 1.9 Adventure Update

In an interview on the floor at PAX Prime, Notch demos the Adventure Update and talks about the release.

Notch Interview

Part one, 1.8 could be by end September!

Minecraft on earth

These pictures remind me of mindcraft!

Some great build ideas.

If you get a chance, head over to the castle, church and town that Tony is building... Very nice work.

View from the road... Epic

I did not know we had a King!

Stained glass window looks great

View of Inn and Castle from the roof of Church

I think Tony is on the right track and will have a town on par with these videos....

Castle Lividus

Airport

HMS Titanic

That reminds me, Tony was talking of building a ship... here is an idea for you!

Minecraft Ship

Ship building (with Mod) 

More 1.8 Rumors... Did I mention I am excited about this update?

Endermen in the house!

Size is better displyed in this screen shoot... not near as big looking.
Still no information on the Endermen attack strength.

Posted on the wiki that NPC villages my have Pigmen living in them.
Not to be confused with Zombie Pigmen.

Sneek Peek at 1.8 Adventure Update Part 2

Oh boy, I cant seem to contain myself.  More leek of 1.8 (SPOILER ALERT!)

technobuffalo.com minecrafts 1.8 adventure update screenshots

NPC (non player character) villages... No word of NPCs to live in them. I would think they would be like the Pig-men... passive until attacked.
Giant red mushrooms?

NPC village

Ruins! Guessing gateways to caves and dungons!

Did I say I am soooo excited for the update?

Sneek Peek at the 1.8 Adventure Update

Sneak Peek at the 1.8 Adventure release (SPOILER ALERT!)

New mob! Very Creepy... and diabolical!

The psychology of the reticle and the feeling of control

This is much like the stone angels of Dr. Who.

I can't wait!

PICTURES!

technobuffalo.com minecraft 1.8 new mobs

They will be called Endermen!  NICE!

 The Endermen will move blocks around... it is not clear if this will be natural blocks only of if they will be able to move crafted blocks as well. It is not clear what kind or strength of attack they have.  I just hope they burn up in sunlight, or fade away at dawn.

Need Red or Yellow dye?

To add color to our drab creations, dye wool and use it in the construction.  There are a variety of colors and there is a link to the right with ALL minecraft recipes.  The problem is having / finding the ingredients, and red is one of the toughest.
Red flowers, roses, are required to make red dye.  One rose will make 3 red dye. But roses are found in the wild and as far as I can tell, they can not be domesticated.  But, nature can be given a push.  The use of bone meal, made from bones, dropped by skeletons is a fertilizer.  Use some bone meal on a sapling, POW get full grown tree.  Use some meal on a planted seed, POW get full grown wheat.  Use some on a rose, POW get LOTS of tall grass! Hummm.... not what I expected ether, but lots of tall grass looked cool so I did it over and over.  Then, pow, a yellow flower showed up in the tall grass.  So I did again and again, pow, a rose!  Yippee! I grew a rose! Three more red dye in the pocket.
Well, I know Tony needs red dye and lots of it for his castle (oh yea... Tony is building a castle, check it out).  So, I took 3 bones, crafted them into 9 bone meal and ran to Tony's house but he was not home.  So I used the 9 bone meal on the grass in his front yard and managed to grow 7 roses for him!  As well as 10 yellow flowers and lots of tall grass, that I am sure he does not want.

So, the effects are random, but you do get roses, without having to search the world to find them.

 

Oh, by the way Tony, your roof leaks... maybe but a hatch on the roof access.

IRON GATE at wall.

The Iron gate has been installed at the North East Tower.
To Exit the compound, just step on the pressure plate in front of the door.
To Enter the compound, you must press the button.

Open Doors from Outside Gates with this button!

Iron doors ONLY open with a power source....
Doors are open only momentarily and will close automatically.
This is to insure security within the walled area.

Change the "look" of Minecraft with texture packs!

I have been playing Minecraft with a texture pack that looks VIKING!
Texture packs are easy to add and change.
First, you need to know where to find your Minecraft data folder.
Run Minecraft and click the button "Mods and Texture Packs" from the main screen.

This will take you to the Mod and Texture Pack selection screen.

Click on the locate folder button. It will open the folder.

It will empty until you add texture pack.
Note how ALL the packs are zipped folders.  This is how they download and all you have to do is move them here!  NO unzipping required.

There is a very good selection of texture packs on the Minecraft Wiki page
Minecraft Wiki.net Texture_Packs
The one I like best is the NorseCraft one
You can find a links to the down load pages.
 Lord Trilobites-norsecraft v1.5
Make a note of the version compatibility.
Each time there is a Minecraft version update you may have to down load an updated texture pack.
For instance, when Minecraft 1.7 with pistons came out... the texture back did not have an image for them.
Once you down load a texture pack ZIP file, simply move it to your Minecraft texture pack folder.
Now, when you are at the Main Menu and select Mods and Texture Packs Button, your down loaded packs are available.

Highlight the one you want, default is still available and click done.
This will take you back to the Main Menu and depending on the Texture Pack, you may seen changes already!

Now you can select Player Mode and enjoy the new look to Minecraft.

Matt is building a Critter Killer

Matt, I think this video will help you with the grinder.
How to build a Zombie water trap

Corey has a Castle

Corey has built quite a castle... the beacon tower goes damn near level 128!

Primary and secondary observation platforms.

Wall towers at all four corners

Ladders to the top... pre-CALOSHA

Keep up the good work... What is next?

Get Skined!

Minecraft is customizable through Texture packs and skins.
To yourself, this is not important, not until Notch makes mirror blocks and reflective water.
However, for the rest of the folks on the server.... it is like the Mr. Smith program in Matrix three.
Everybody's default image is "Steve" and if not for the names above your heads... you can not be distinguished from the crowd.

Changing your skin is easy. Begin with a deep incision at the back base of your skull and slice axially up and over the crown of the skull, stopping at the forehead and... and... hummm.... Oh, Boy!  Wrong website! Damn Google search!

OK... I found the correct references.... let's proceed.

Changing your skin is easy. Begin on the minecraft home page, there is a link to the right. from the top menu bar select "Profile" here you can change your password, change your skin or redeem gift codes.  If you would like to make your own skin, down lowed the reference skin.  It is a PNG file that can be edited by most drawing and photo programs.  It is important to NOT change the size or resolution of the file, but edit at will the colors and patterns.  I used MS Paint, with my PC set to very low resolution. save the file, with a new name, in PNG format, or download a pre-made skin to a known location on your computer. Some skins can be found at Minecraft Wiki Skin and Minecraftopia Skins links.
Once you have your new skin use the Profile tab on Mincraft site to install it.
Select the Browse button, navigate to your desired file and then select Upload Image.
You are done, to test your skin, select your name from the top of this blog, the Union members roster and you will see a 3D rendered image of your game skin. There does seem to be lag in updating the moincraft website.

See you in the world!

Tony has a lightlouse!

Tony hase just put the cherry on top of his lighthouse.

He has filled it with Netherack and lit it up... with out catching on fire himself!

It looks great with the sand and cobble stone bands.
What's next Tony?

Let's Build a town!

Lets extend the road out to an area (suggestions for locations please) and build a cross roads with about 5 -10 buildings. I have included some pictures of a small town I built. Over all, I think it looks good.  Some things I like are the fire in the smoke stacks of the foundry... and Signs on all the buildings.  Some thinks I don't like... Every building is the same style / type... only the materials vary.  Let's think about what kinds of buildings are in a "Western" town or "Mid-evil" village and build accordingly.  let maintain a theme, any will do... let's just be consistent.  Please respond here for any discussion on this item.

My Hedge to keep mobs out - WORKS!

Wheat field and a stab at animal spawner - FAIL!

View above First St. with well at end of street.

First St. at night

Minecraft Diagnostic Mode (GPS - Mob locator)

Pressing the F3 key will bring up the games diagnostic HUD.
There is a lot of technical (cryptic) information, but some key parts are the GPS and Mob identifiers.
On the left side, halfway down the page, there is a set of coordinates x, y, and z.
these coordinates are accurate out to 10 or 12 decimal places... all that is really needed is the integers making note of positive or negative.
The y coordinate is ALWAYS positive and is an indication of altitude.  value 0 (zero) is the bottom of the world and the start of the VOID.  Seldom will you ever get a value below 4 for two reasons.  First, the coordinate value is of the center of your head, as you are about 1.8 blocks tall and the center of your head is 1.6 blocks from your feet, even standing on the VOID, your y > 1.6. Second, there is a rough layer of Bedrock, otherwise known as Adminium 1 to 4 layers thick. A side note, Adminium is indestructible in the normal coarse of game-play. Sea level is at about level 64 and level 128 is the highest block location.
The x coordinate is your position North and South, travel North will make x smaller, travel South will make x larger.
The z coordinate is your position East and West, travel East will make z smaller, travel South will make z larger.
The cardinal location x=0 z=0 is the initial spawn location and is were you start the in the world and is were you re-spawn when you die.
The HOME base in this world is located at x=41, y=65 z=-55
The f value is your facing and will range from 0 to 3.  Facing West has an f value of 0. facing North has an f value of 1. Facing East has an f value of 2 and facing South has an f value of 3

The second benefit of the Diagnostic Mode is each and every mob will have their ID above their head and this number can be seen through all blocks.  When in diagnostic mode, look into walls, floor and ceilings, step to the right and left and you may see these numbers, some will appear close, others far way.  This is a very good way to find caves and tunnels.

Damn... the Mob locator has been disabled in 1.8
I had not realized how much I relied on this feature!

In search of Diamonds!

Great Add for Minecraft!