Better Than Wolves Forum

Because wooden doors have a tendency to be busted down, what do you use as a front door? A basic dirt block with a stone shovel near by? Or maybe a complex piston door leaving a smooth surface along your hidden volcano underground base?

Post existing or planned entrances below :)

Gunnerman21 wrote:Because wooden doors have a tendency to be busted down, what do you use as a front door? A basic dirt block with a stone shovel near by? Or maybe a complex piston door leaving a smooth surface along your hidden volcano underground base?

Post existing or planned entrances below :)

My early-game entrance to my base is a ramp (using dirt slabs) down into a basement, with a couple of dirt blocks dropped above to narrow it down to a 1-block entrance, and a wooden grate blocking that hole. I just chop out the grate and break a couple dirt blocks to get out in the morning.

As soon as I can, I build a hollow tower with a ladder leading up from my basement, through the tower, to the top. Then I put ladders on the outside of the tower so I can climb up and down. At that point, I fill in my original base entrance and use the tower for all entry/exit from then on.

I never build piston doors due to the cost (by the time I can afford a piston door, I usually have my base walled in and torched up so zombies aren't an issue anyway).

I use a wooden door with a torch-gravel deadfall on top to trap, crush, and seal out any intruders while I'm not attending the door.

I've also taken to digging 2-wide, 2-deep trenches around my base entrance with a 2-trapdoor "Drawbridge". Especially with a water source nearby, this can turn into an early mob-drop booster, safely giving access to a healthy amount of fishing bait, bones, and creeper oysters, as monsters are apt to simply walk into the moat, where they can be carried off to a rudimentary grinder.

Ladders, jumping puzzles and later court yard.

I like to have multiple places to climb my walls on all sides. Later I light up and expand so far out that I can leave the labyrinth of a court yard open to the inside/outside.

Since I exclusively build underground, I have several towers leading up to the surface with a ladder on the outside for climbing that mobs can't get up. Lets me shoot arrows at any zombies or creepers that managed to huddle around my entrances and lets me scope out the landscape before leaving.

nothing beats the cheap ladder on a block. i don't care about spiders jumping so the rest of the wall is just a cobble fences. but now i'm expanding fast so i just spam torch.

I'm well developed already, but I like to use piston doors for their automatic coolness. I've also seen and used platform gates for large structures like town boundaries. I've also done lifts for aerial bases.

Early game: two grates :)

A trench with trap doors can be fun too

I set these up as soon as possible, so I don't have to sprint outside my door every morning. Also, if I find one early on, a cactus on top of the entrance to get rid of spiders.

As I go with a medieval theme for all my structures (just fits with the game's theme for me) I go for a platform portcullis and, once I have the resources, a moat around the entrance. Unfortunately, that world is long gone as hardcore features have grown, and now I just use iron doors with sfs pressure plates.

Currently early game, so I'm using dirt slabs for a door with grates for vision around it. I dug into a wall near to a lava-fall for some light outside and to catch mobs at night.

I tend to put one grate on the top half of the door way, sometimes I place a dirt block below it but not always. Later on if I brave a jungle I'll make a piston door but otherwise I use the grates most the time :)

Since the cozy builds thread, my door has received an upgrade! ^_^

This is the entrance to my base on the official server.
It's a piston door which prevents normal mobs from entering, while allowing the player to still see through to the other side via the fences in the middle. Cactus with any sort of full block on top handles the other mob, spiders, quite nicely.

This is the main gate to my base. Now, to add the walls and light it up.
The gate is a 3x4 wall of platforms, which are controlled by an XOR redstone circuit and 2 levers.

ExpHP wrote:Since the cozy builds thread, my door has received an upgrade! ^_^

Spoiler

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...because I am more likely to have a pick on hand than a shovel...

Next tech progression - Block of Concentrated Hellfire door.

one damn portcullis:

In the early game I usually burrow into a cliff-side so I can use my entrance design. I place a door 3-5 blocks off the ground in the cliff from the inside. A ladder leads up to this door, and I use 1x2 vertical slits to see out of (and shoot out of). No block destroying needed, and nothing can get in. Since the door is placed "backwards" and is elevated, I can stand outside of it above my ladder and snipe monsters in my way. (Or do the same from the window slits.) This backwards door helps prevent falling off the ladder while rushing home in a panic.

Downside is that cliffs are usually found in hilly areas, which is hard on poor Steve's feet.

Wookieguy wrote:
Downside is that cliffs are usually found in hilly areas, which is hard on poor Steve's feet.

Truth. In my current world I settled in a small cliff and built a road to the swamp nearby, which is where I'm building everything. Witches haven't been a problem and I don't think there are any huts in this swamp (it's quite small). Getting up to my base requires a lot of jumping unless I do it from the access point I built, which isn't always feasible if I'm rushing home after staying out too late.
This world has an unexciting door. Just a door and I place dirt there every night.
My last world I built a tower out of dirt I climbed up out of.

Honestly I just use a wooden door and do "bugtesting" like FC and Icy if a zombie shows up. I should have learned from them, but it hasn't killed me yet, so it must work fine! I do, however, prioritize setting a perimeter of light to keep such encounters to minimum. I also set up windows as soon as possible, so I can spot any creepers or skeletons waiting to ambush me.

2x2x2 moat (at least) on either side of entrance so no surprise explosions on exit. Then either a fence, wall or just half slab capped dirt above the door, so no surprises from above other than the odd spider.

This is early game only, but nice thing is it's easy to build with just a shovel and even doable without.

Is your moat filled or just a pit? Also, how wide is your entry way?

Mud wrote:Is your moat filled or just a pit? Also, how wide is your entry way?

Usually just a pit. 1 wide. Because it's only 1 wide, you don't want anything too dangerous/hard to get out of in the pit.

And make sure there's no shade in bowshot of the entry.

Later, typically transition to a fence or cobblestone wall with interior lit up, so the entry tends to go back to a normal doorway after awhile.

The first day just a dirtblock but i usually have one block open space for moonlight so the darkness doesn't get me.
Later i have a woodendoor occasionally blocked with dirt/gravel/etc.
I try to make the area around my base as safe as possible so i dont have to block the doors as much since that looks stupid :)

erikdk321 wrote:open space for moonlight

Can I interest you in some grates?

Seriously, wolves and jungle spiders are tough, don't do open spaces :p. Even a glass block is pretty easy to get as early as day 2.

Gilberreke wrote:Can I interest you in some grates?

You may be gratified to know that ever since you pointed out how amazing grates are some time back, I've been using them for every new base I build :)