Odd vs even

[Rawny]

Do you have a preference? I always tend to make my builds in odd numbers. Houses, hovels, circles, towers, Companions cube houses built by FC, all tend to be an odd number when I build things. I also find a lot of things just end up that way in minecraft like hydrated areas, one path for water and four hydrated earth on each side makes 9, odd. What's also odd is how good this ice wine I'm drinking is, they tend to be too sweet for me but this one is just right.

I remember hearing there's a magic ratio that can even make colored clay and blocks of poo look good (not that I am degrading the block of poo's beauty any where close to as low as the clay blocks belong).

The even numbered (5x4 or 3x2 depending on your point of view) portals have always caused me pause and building conundrums. A 3x3 (5x5) would be sweet.

How do you build? Do you have a strat that you prefer?

[DiamondArms]

I think it depends on the builds you make, but I tend to make odd-numbered builds.
This is generally because the builds focus is a single uncommon/rare block (Beacons, Enchanters, Pulleys).
My portal rooms are usually 2x3 or 2x2 tunnels to fit the portal access.
occasionally, the build will be even-numbered due to convenience related to stack size(a single layer takes clean fraction of stack to produce), especially in cases where the material being used is not so easy to mass-produce.

[Sockthing]

I used to build in even numbers. Just was used to the triagle roof made with stairs. And there buildings had to be even.
But then my build style changed. Watched loads of youtube vids, where people who build the most awesome buildings, said you should build in odds. So I tried what they said. And as I got buildings built, which I liked much more than my old ones I just sticked to it (most of the time). Also i could now put my windmills on nearly any building, with it looking good.
Sometimes I still build in even numbers. Eg when I want a double door entrance, or Buildings which are made specially for portals.
And when building towns, with loads of buildings, sometime it just looks better if everything isnt the same (Depending on the build style). Some variation is always good.

[ExpHP]

I think the majority of my planned builds are odd width, as oftentimes there's a key feature that I want on a central block (such as a hopper or other block with an inventory, or a water source). Railways also really only make sense in odd hallways (unless you're on SMP and need two lanes).

Portals obviously do spice things up a bit, as do double doors, which I used to use liberally. Even open door frames tend to look awfully big when they're 3-wide. In fact, looking at my LP world, it seems a great deal of it was even-width, including my mob trap and machinery room. And you know what... I reckon a lot of it stemmed from my initial decision to use a 2-wide staircase through an open door frame for my entrance.

[dawnraider]

I build almost exclusively odd numbered buildings, although occasionally I will make even ones for portals or just to make something different.

[Rawny]

So for most people it seems to just logically depend on what you're building, so to expand the question...

Do you build inside out or outside in? I used to build outside in all the time but would always end up with buildings that were too small for whatever I decided they would be used for. For a while now I've been trying to build the inside first ( usually a machine device of some sort) then build a suitably sized building around it.

[dawnraider]

It generally depends on what I'm making the building for. If I'm making it to house a machine, I always make the machinery first. Otherwise I generally just plan what I want inside, then build the exterior first.

[Katalliaan]

I prefer odd spacing. Portals are the only thing that throws me off, since they have to be even, but I usually get around that by setting them into a side wall.

And to the expanded question: Inside out. I start with the build, then consider looks once it's done.

[Sockthing]

I tend to build the outside first and then decorate the inside. But thats because I build alot of buildings with no real use. Just there for your imagination.
But if the build has to have a use then I build the mechanics first and then the outsides, but still focus on the outside.

So yeah, with me, depends on what I want it to be!

[EtherealWrath]

Odd numbered designs drop into even numbered patterns when repeated - plus 1 block on the end.

I don't know why this is easier to work with than even designs dropping odd numbered patterns.


I quite like having portals ect being 2 blocks wide- it makes for some interesting designs when mixing them into odd numbered patterns.
(blending odd into even and vice versa isn't the easiest thing to do.)

[eternal8phoenix]

Odd/even doesn't really feature into my planning so much as "What am I building and what space do I have?"

Most of my "home" buildings (yes, I still build houses with beds and kitchens and shutters. Bite me :P) Tend to be even on the front and back faces, with however many I feel I need on the long faces.

If I'm building machinery, I build that first, then house around it. Prime example was my windmill, which I built axle first, adding gearboxes as I got the gold, then worked on the redstone. This was partly due to a gold shortage, and partly due to an iron surplus for that minute, as I'd made a saw and was using it to trim the wood I was going to use to build the windmill. Sidings just look so much nicer.

Actually, it was the same for my smithy (crucible/kiln set up). The machines went in first, then I used the materials they provided to make their structure.

[Mud]

Always odd numbers. I generally build my structures around 5, 7, and 9 block interiors.

[magikeh]

For all those that feel that portals throw off their odd shaped buildings, just turn the portal sideways, bit more thinking to get in, but at least its symmetric ;)

[MoRmEnGiL]

That largely depends on the function of the build. I generally do not like building in odd numbers, but for some things they are very convenient.

[PatriotBob]

Odd. If for no other reason then power distribution. In a 7x7 interior, I can have power dead center in the room against the wall or in the wall. And it all be only 1 gear box from center. And power can be transmitter in the ceiling or floor in the middle, it just works so well. I like to build things modular.

Unfortunately i can't use double doors, which I love. And have to choose to use either 1 wide transitions between rooms or 3... Meh either way.

[Gunnerman21]

I used to have a door setup with 2 doors and a 2 block pillar in the middle. It kinda seemed like an office building, but with machines on the inside :)
You could only walk in one of the doors, so "traffic" could flow nicely.

[RandomObj3ct]

As a preface i'm the kind of player that will spend 3 hours moving a wall because something is out of line and/or asymetrical.

It all comes down to the doors for me, if i want a double door, it has to be even, and when even must have the doors in the centre/a quater of the way accross /8th etc. If i am using a single door it must be odd.

for larger buildings it's nearly always odd, it's just easier personally to find the exact centre, from there i make my structure, perfectly measuring out places to put stairs, furnishings etc. the centre also offers a great place to put something fancy.

[DaveYanakov]

Use both. The golden ratio in the distances we are generally using in minecraft can be simplified to the fibonacci sequence. If your east wall is five meters, make the north wall eight. If one wall is 13 meters, make the longer wall 21 meters long. It is fairly basic math if you want to be more precise about it but those four numbers will get you through 90% of your builds.

For the lazy

[TheAnarchitect]

This is the sort of thing I OBSESS over. What I've concluded is that a 10 x 10 x 4 grid is the basic unit of minecraft design.

What you get is a 9x9x3 room, with a 1x3 entrance. This room is perfectly sized for most early stage builds. Especially underground farming, which is how I first arrived at it. Find a source of water above ground, then dig up to it so you have a column of water. The water hydrates up to 4 blocks away, which means 1 block of water hydrates a 9x9 area with it at the center. The 4 block height comes naturally with the spiral staircase. The number of blocks dug out is divisible by 6, making measuring it's cost in stone picks easy. I plan all my underground bases around these measurements now.

[Rob]

This is the sort of thing I OBSESS over. What I've concluded is that a 10 x 10 x 4 grid is the basic unit of minecraft design.

What you get is a 9x9x3 room, with a 1x3 entrance. This room is perfectly sized for most early stage builds. Especially underground farming, which is how I first arrived at it. Find a source of water above ground, then dig up to it so you have a column of water. The water hydrates up to 4 blocks away, which means 1 block of water hydrates a 9x9 area with it at the center. The 4 block height comes naturally with the spiral staircase. The number of blocks dug out is divisible by 6, making measuring it's cost in stone picks easy. I plan all my underground bases around these measurements now.

I'm not trying to cause static, but doesn't a 10x10x4 grid, have an 8x8x2 interior? Unless you count two adjacent walls and the floor(or ceiling) as part of your room.