Witnessing the end - a minecraft Journal. Chapter 20, 27/11

[Stormweaver]

Sorry it's late ^.^

Chapter 14: Despair?

Hope, huh.

I spent a few idle hours yesterday, sat with my notebook. I suppose that my education at the academy wasn't half bad, for me to remember half of what I have written, but it's taken time to do the simple transmutations to confirm things. Time. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to work out how much of...anything it would cost me to actually make dark matter right now.

From my basic calculations, it'd take me mining around 500 blocks of stone to make one diamond. It would then take me around 30 diamonds to make a simgle piece of dark matter. Even if making something of it only required one piece, there is always the chance of failure - which is 15000 broken blocks of stone wasted. I guess there are other routes to it, but put like this...hope is a goal I can't afford to reach for right now.

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My fireplace doesn't seem as warm as it was when it was first built...to begin with, it was enough to boil the water quite happily, and now there is barely any steam rising from it at all. Something else I'll have to deal with, I guess. All in good time.

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When collecting some flour for today's bread, the shape of the shelter irritated me. Why does it stick out like that? It was fine when I first built it. That will have to be changed...may as well do it today. It's not like I have anything better to do.

How about those aggregators then? about 30 glowstone comes to a diamond. So I'd need about 900 for a piece of dark matter. One aggregator seems to be able to make 10 glowstone in a day, so that'd be 90 days, right?

90 days of waiting for...what? a chance at making something to make time faster? However I look at it, it's beyond what I can do.

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I didn't realise it had gotten dark, but the millstone's shelter now doesn't feel like it's getting in the way. I guess that's good. Chicken for supper again...that is, if I can trust it to be fully cooked. Maybe I should just stick with the bread tonight.

90 days can't be that long. I've been here at least that long up till now. but if I were to make a second one...I wanted to find out if I could make one work faster anyway, I guess.

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I guess 45 days is better than 90. The second aggregator is identical, no matter how I tried putting it together...even the added light from raw glowstone crystals, blocks, doesn't seem to change things. But 45 days is better than 90. Though didn't I just use 9 days-worth of glowstone to make it? I should sleep, before I think about it too much.

I need that cauldron to be hotter, I can't trust cooking meat in it like this. Not chicken anyways...Perhaps if I had beef It would be fine. I guess for now I'll impregnate some more cobblestone with redstone dust, though if it's going to always cool down like this over time, I'll need something better.

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A larger fire seems to work. Still, if it's just going to cool down again, perhaps I should try something different. It was banned, but it's not like the tutors are here to punish me anymore...I'm alone now. Just me and...chickens. I used to have a pet dog, I suppose he's gone now. Be good if he was here though, he was always good company.

Two things were banned at the academy, two things that always stood out. The first was the transmutation of living things; too many mistakes were made too early, the monstrosities killed mercilessly. The other was any attempt to summon matirials from the underworld. Not that there was reputed to be much there...lots of lava, which I guess doesn't count. Glowstone wasn't 'technically' from there, it just happened to be there. No, what was really banned was two simple matirials: 'soul' sand, supposedly some form of living quicksand apparently was too dangerous, it corrupted the world around it. The other was netherrack, the stone responcible for the eternal fires of hell. Or so they say. The latter at least was the origional inspiration for what I'm using to cook my food right now.

Hellfire, huh? Perhaps the real deal would burn hotter. Why were we disallowed it?

I'm tiring of these torches. I've been thinking for a while now, but I need some real lighting. torches are dim, give off smoke, and easilly broken, while glowstone...it just looks strange. Not to mention, neither can be switched off...I don't think I've been able to sleep in a dark room once since I've gotton here. That said, I think I know how to go about making something more suitable, and thankfully the cauldron should be hot enough to do it.

I already have a decent number of glass panes handy, and forming them into hollow cubes is simple. What I need is a filament, a non-magical, non-alchemical, simple piece of technology. While I suppose the matirials are rough, I already know that redstone and glowstone mix well in this world, and if I could just get it to solidify around something like a string or a bundle of fibres, it'd be exactly what I need, I think.

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It worked, more or less. I hate to think what tonight's food is going to taste like - I should really set up a second cauldron for more industrial work - but I suppose I'll have to to clean it, after all I'd really like to wait till nighttime to test this anyway.

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Simple, yet effective. despite having to replace the cauldron - no amount of cleaning seems to stop the bitter taste of redstone leaking into the food - the lighting seems to work. Just a small redstone charge, and the filament bursts to life for simple lights that can be switched off. I should sleep well tonight.

I dreamt about home again last night. I suppose they were my thoughts from before, but I kept seeing my old dog. Whatever god rules this place would know the company would be worth it.

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opening the door to fetch the night's load of eggs, a chicken ran inside. If I didn't already have some cooking for the day, I suppose I'd normally-

I need to try to remember.

I know I shouldn't do this, but why not. At worst, I guess I could run, but this can't go wrong. If the journal ends here, know that I'm about to use the same laws that govern the conversion of one form of plant like to another on this chicken. Hopefully it works. It would have been better if I'd ever even been taught the basic rules of animal transmutation, but here goes.

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The first test is done. Have my thoughts really been drifting towards eating real meat so much? I had meant to just turn it into a duck, or another form of bird - just to see if it could be done. I didn't expect a cow. Do I really trust the meat coming from something I created? Then again...didn't I create those chickens from a few feathers?

I should try again. I'll try for a dog. I have some bones handy, and some chicken...it'd be nice to have a pet.

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It took a couple of tries. It's done, I suppose, even if it does look more wolf than tame.

What was my old dog's name? I can't remember...

[walker_boh_65]

I have started to care for this unnamed character, (which is another way of saying you are writing a really nice story) but now, with my luck, he will be dead in a week.

[Stormweaver]

I have started to care for this unnamed character, (which is another way of saying you are writing a really nice story) but now, with my luck, he will be dead in a week.

that can be arranged

Well, it's not like he'd stay dead. Plus, he's going to have ghasts attacking him sooner or later anyway.

[KriiEiter]

Now that our buddy has his pet, it's time to get that walking poo-machine to work!

[Stormweaver]

I'm gonna put this on hold for a couple of days (on purpose this time)

Two reasons really. The first is the BTW update; which I'd like to play around with before integrating it's changes . The second is that I'm going to put my terribly pathetic paint.net skills to use, and see if I can get myself a texture pack that works, and looks half decent. Mainly by cannibalising parts of the albion pack. I think.

Either way, the sooner the next release is out and I give up on trying to be an artist, the sooner chapter 15 will be out >.<

[Corzan]

Just would like to say, now that I'm using BTW, this journal has given me huge inspiration. The way you integrated the story in is completely awesome. <3

I will start being more active on this forum, too. :P

[redrew89]

Just wanted to let you know that my next youtube video will be focusing on EE, and that I mention this thread as the deciding factor with respect to my adoption of EE in my personal mod repetiore. (Pardoner moi to the French-speakers, if I happened to misspell that last word.)

Honestly, your progress has nearly inspired me to try the SkyBlock Challenge, or some other variation. I'm notorious for falling from high ledges, however, so I would probably try a deserted-island (the type surrounded by water) challenge, so that I can work more with the "Castaway" aspect of the story-telling.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Stormweaver]

Just wanted to let you know that my next youtube video will be focusing on EE, and that I mention this thread as the deciding factor with respect to my adoption of EE in my personal mod repetiore. (Pardoner moi to the French-speakers, if I happened to misspell that last word.)

Honestly, your progress has nearly inspired me to try the SkyBlock Challenge, or some other variation. I'm notorious for falling from high ledges, however, so I would probably try a deserted-island (the type surrounded by water) challenge, so that I can work more with the "Castaway" aspect of the story-telling.

Thanks for the inspiration!

so long as you keep important things in your chest, falling off isn't that bit a deal >.< I know I've fallen to my doom waaaaaay more times than I've let on.

But thanks :)

[walker_boh_65]

so long as you keep important things in your chest, falling off isn't that bit a deal >.< I know I've fallen to my doom waaaaaay more times than I've let on.

But thanks :)

So "Steve's" memory is even worse, so he could be telling us lies this whole time and we wouldn't even know it? How could you do this to us?;)

[Stormweaver]

so long as you keep important things in your chest, falling off isn't that bit a deal >.< I know I've fallen to my doom waaaaaay more times than I've let on.

But thanks :)

So "Steve's" memory is even worse, so he could be telling us lies this whole time and we wouldn't even know it? How could you do this to us?;)

Think of it this way. You're completely alone, and the only output for your thoughts is a journal you one day expect someone to read. Now imagine that one day you get bored, stick on a golden hat, throw a load of slimeballs in a pool of water and jump in with the wolf while throwing chickens eggs everywhere.

Some things you just don't write down.

[pi4t]

A bit off topic, though inspired by your post, but I've been wondering what the bare minimum items are that you'd need in the chest to get everything using EE. Obviously you had several items that weren't needed (the string, the egg, etc). It would probably be better to think about adding things to the 'hardcore' chest.

Again, the string for a bed is just a convenience, as is the bone. Lava is needed for cobble, which is needed for the furnace for charcoal and philosopher's stone. The ice is also needed, but could be replaced by a single cactus (2 cacti can be crafted with a bucket into a water bucket without the use of the philosopher's stone), and there doesn't seem to be a way to get cactus otherwise. That just leaves the melon. The wiki doesn't seem to state the recipes for melons, and my EE time was pre-1.8, so I don't know what you can do with them. I gather that you can make them into pumpkins, but other than that I don't know. If someone could inform me, I'd be grateful.

Sugar cane is needed to get slimeballs for eggs, but not before we get the philosopher's stone. It might make more sense to use a piece of paper (a 'note'), and reverse craft it to sugar cane. Sugar can be crafted into redstone, which can be made into basically any mineral product, and seeds can be obtained from grass through bonemeal. We can then make flowers, to craft into mushrooms, and I think that covers all of it.

So I think that you can get everything with a chest containing a bucket of lava, a cactus, a melon seed, and a piece of paper. Am I right?

Again, sorry to hijack your thread, Storm.

[Stormweaver]

You could get everything yes, but not before you've starved to death four or five times >.<

[pi4t]

You could get everything yes, but not before you've starved to death four or five times >.<

Are you sure? Craft a hoe within your first minute or two, plant the seed, it'll probably grow by the next day, and if you're careful about not doing hunger inducing things, you'll probably be able to survive until you get a melon. In my experience, one melon plant is just about enough, and you can always get a few more.

[Stormweaver]

You could get everything yes, but not before you've starved to death four or five times >.<

Are you sure? Craft a hoe within your first minute or two, plant the seed, it'll probably grow by the next day, and if you're careful about not doing hunger inducing things, you'll probably be able to survive until you get a melon. In my experience, one melon plant is just about enough, and you can always get a few more.

can't plant the seed until your cactus has grown twice so you have water. Maybe you'll starve once then -.-

Dying isn't really an issue though, I admit.

[gftweek]

Inspired by this I've started playing the skyblock challenge again with all my mods installed.

I'm using version 2.1 which is the L shaped one, but this time there are even less resources, you only start with 1 ice block and a bucket of lava, you have to build a bridge to a floating sand island before you can get a slice of melon, and have to get to the nether before you can build an infinite spring. I never got any seeds hoeing plain grass, so was mostly starved before I managed to get my melon grown (if you don't jump too much or fight mobs, your hunger lasts a while on normal).

Took me ages to get the philosopher's stone (yes I hacked in an egg), but I managed to get a single hemp seed from long grass and I've expanded from that to four plants now, but it's going to take a while to build anything as impressive as Stormweaver. I haven't died yet though!

[pi4t]

can't plant the seed until your cactus has grown twice so you have water. Maybe you'll starve once then -.-

Dying isn't really an issue though, I admit.

I forgot about that aspect, I admit. But still, I've survived for several days in a 'normal' world where I had to mine, make a house, etc, without food. Even when it ran out completely I only died when mobs injured me and I couldn't regen, and barely noticed starvation damage. I don't know if it's doable without any deaths, but you certainly don't need more than one or two. Your four or five was a major exaggeration.

[Stormweaver]

can't plant the seed until your cactus has grown twice so you have water. Maybe you'll starve once then -.-

Dying isn't really an issue though, I admit.

I forgot about that aspect, I admit. But still, I've survived for several days in a 'normal' world where I had to mine, make a house, etc, without food. Even when it ran out completely I only died when mobs injured me and I couldn't regen, and barely noticed starvation damage. I don't know if it's doable without any deaths, but you certainly don't need more than one or two. Your four or five was a major exaggeration.

I'm still trying to get out of a bad habit - I jump constantly. When I have space, I jump while sprinting. So if I was doing it with those bare minimum of items, I'd die 4-5 times :p

The skyblock 2.1 looks kinda interesting.

[M!C]

can't plant the seed until your cactus has grown twice so you have water. Maybe you'll starve once then -.-

Dying isn't really an issue though, I admit.

I forgot about that aspect, I admit. But still, I've survived for several days in a 'normal' world where I had to mine, make a house, etc, without food. Even when it ran out completely I only died when mobs injured me and I couldn't regen, and barely noticed starvation damage. I don't know if it's doable without any deaths, but you certainly don't need more than one or two. Your four or five was a major exaggeration.

Which difficulty are you playing on if I may ask?

[Stormweaver]

Just so people know, I am playing this on 'hard' difficulty.

Anyways. Since it turns out that I have the artistic skills of a doorknob, Me modifing the texture pack isn't happening. I may have to go bug dante about it...but that isn't important. What *is* important is that now I know what FC's change to minecraft is, I now know how (3 'ow's in a row, wierd) the skyblock part of the journal is going to go.

Take that as you will. Either way, I should have the next chapter up within 24 hours ^.^ Depending on how long it takes me to wake up.

[msticninja]

Just so people know, I am playing this on 'hard' difficulty.

Anyways. Since it turns out that I have the artistic skills of a doorknob, Me modifing the texture pack isn't happening. I may have to go bug dante about it...but that isn't important. What *is* important is that now I know what FC's change to minecraft is, I now know how (3 'ow's in a row, wierd) the skyblock part of the journal is going to go.

Take that as you will. Either way, I should have the next chapter up within 24 hours ^.^ Depending on how long it takes me to wake up.

I've been working on a texture pack for my own use. I have the artistic skills of a painting of a doorknob, painted by a doorknob, but here's what I have so far:
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/7279/btwitems01.png
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1235 ... rain01.png
Download the Zip if you want to use them: http://www.filesonic.com/file/277864608 ... xtures.zip (imageshack kills the transparency).

They're 256x256, but reducing the size is easy, if necessary. I've taken stuff from alot of different places, so don't accuse me of ripping you off if you see something you made. :) If you have any interest, I'll up the finished version as well.

[Stormweaver]

Just so people know, I am playing this on 'hard' difficulty.

Anyways. Since it turns out that I have the artistic skills of a doorknob, Me modifing the texture pack isn't happening. I may have to go bug dante about it...but that isn't important. What *is* important is that now I know what FC's change to minecraft is, I now know how (3 'ow's in a row, wierd) the skyblock part of the journal is going to go.

Take that as you will. Either way, I should have the next chapter up within 24 hours ^.^ Depending on how long it takes me to wake up.

I've been working on a texture pack for my own use. I have the artistic skills of a painting of a doorknob, painted by a doorknob, but here's what I have so far:
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/7279/btwitems01.png
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1235 ... rain01.png
Download the Zip if you want to use them: http://www.filesonic.com/file/277864608 ... xtures.zip (imageshack kills the transparency).

They're 256x256, but reducing the size is easy, if necessary. I've taken stuff from alot of different places, so don't accuse me of ripping you off if you see something you made. :) If you have any interest, I'll up the finished version as well.

No need tbh. While idling today building my 2-byte RAM (I think it's RAM at least) I've given a lot of thought to how the series is going to play out, and I can't seem to fit the new texture pack idea into skyblock right now. Instead I'm just going to focus on the story, untill the texture pack does fit.

Yes, I may have hinted at something just then.

[Deepsniper]

I wish I could hve the imagination/story writing skills you do man... Every time I start a new world theres so much potential to it...

[Stormweaver]

Man flu is srs bsnz. In other news, quick, short chapter for the moment. More will be on it's way, fairly soon. ish.

Chapter 15: Fire

The nether. I suppose back in the days where it was simply myth, it was known as hell - an infernal wasteland where souls were trapped for eternity. Knowing the reality of it, or at least it being revaled by that man shook a lot of people's faith: how long can superstition last when something you only half believed in turns out to be real?

I know that the place and everything in it is dangerous, but I can't help but feel it being the same danger as standing near a volcano, or overlooking a sharp precipice...dangerous, but not in a supernatural way. And I need a lasting fuel source here...

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I can't decide what to call the wolf. There's only the two of us here, so does it need a name? Even if I gave it one...it behaves oddly. If told to sit it stays where it is regardless of hunger, and if not it just follows me around constantly. So long as I stay in the house, at least; it won't go out of the front door, no matter what I do. At least I don't have any carpets in the house, though I'm starting to like the idea of having a few comforts, as this house still feels too...empty.

If I'm going to mess around with the matirials of the underworld, I figure I should probably do it in a safe place. I'm going to start building another platform today, far away enough from anyting wooden to avoid danger; let alone the possibility of it exploding. I don't know why that worries me - I've never heard of netherrack exploding, regardless of how much experimentation was done with it - but...It's a gut instinct, I suppose.

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If this does work, perhaps I should build a real furnace? So long as everything is fireproofed and I have some form of bellows, it could be useful. And it's not like I have any reason to not try...at the very least, being able to make stronger tools or weapons could be useful. Never know what might happen in a world where monsters literally appear from the shadows.

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The platform is done. I've left a large enough gap to construct a platform directly underneath it, if I do decide to make a real forge after all. For now...I know the transmutation involves redstone dust and stone, but it doesn't feel like it's enough somehow. Something is missing...

As I thought, all I ended up with is this impregnated cobblestone. I guess I can throw a few more things into the mix; after all, this is the stone that hell itself is made from. Perhaps I should look into involving something more...fitting? Being attacked by the undead seems hellish enough, so perhaps some of the remains should work...

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In the end, by introducing some rotten flesh from the sun-blasted remains of some zombies has...improved the end result. It's almost blood red, and soft to the touch, but it burns. Even with just this, I can tell the flames will be hotter than before. If it stays like this, my cooking issues will be solved, if partially. It's gotten a bit dark though, I should sleep.

I didn't sleep well. I can't remember dreaming of anything in particular this time - dreams here are strangely vivid, at times - but as I woke up, if felt like there was someone else here, saying something. Perhaps this isolation is getting to me...I wish someone would hurry up and find me. Anyway, breakfast.

I've been wondering about these 'Glowstone aggregators' I have upstairs. I still feel they're not working right, but I can't see any reason they shouldn't be working faster. And if they're built right...did I build the wrong thing instead? Be interesting to see what they actually are. I can't seem to figure it out right now though...

That bloody dog. Wolf. Whatever - While I can't get used to this world, there are various things that are useful. Dampness from rain vanishes quickly, fallen leaves and plant stems become unstable and break apart, and I haven't once needed to clean out the chicken pen. So why is it, of the admittedly few living things I've seen here, is it that this wolf's dung happens to be able to remain stable? I can't think of much I can really do with it, except for waving it around, flinging it...though I know some forms of dung are used in the tanning process of leather. I don't want to think about it too much, but...The belt for the saw isn't going to last forever.

I tried out tanning some leather with the dung. It worked, complete with the acrid smells that tend to keep people away from tanneries. Glad I built this platform away from the house. Now if I can use this to create a bladder, I should be able to hook up a form of bellows to stoke the fire. I've never tried my hand at metalworking myself, but I know it's iron and carbon which make steel. It'll be interesting to see how something like that will exist in this world.

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The mechanism for the bellows is ready. The bellows themselves are simple; inside, a mechanically powered crank forces the air bladder shut, and opens when the power is removed. For now I'll have to use this lever to manipulate the flames, maybe an automated setup would be possible?

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The netherrack...I was so close. Why did it go out?

[pi4t]

... I take it that 'mistake' was intentional?

[Stormweaver]

... I take it that 'mistake' was intentional?

If I'm not missing anything silly, then yes it was. I think...'steve' needs to progress to torturing souls in a more...logical manner than the tech tree really asks for.