Minecraft Introduction

I know this is a bit late for a Minecraft introduction, but I felt like I never did an actual intro like I did for Skyrim.  Since I've been showing so much architecture from it I feel like I should go ahead and do a post about who created it and what it's all about.  So you know what's coming: here is my introduction to an unusual 16-bit game called Minecraft.

    Minecraft is a game that was started by one single person: Markus Persson (A.K.A. Notch)  It is probably the most unique game ever made because everything is blocks.  Although it's graphics aren't that great, it offers an unlimited amount of adventure and creativity, and you will surprisingly find yourself putting hours into it.

    (Before I go on, I want to say that I'm going to post mostly architecture pictures because this is what my blog is about obviously.)  It was created way back in 2009 and had only 3 major blocks: stone, dirt, and wood.  Aside from its simplicity, Minecraft gained countless reviews and sold hundreds of copies a day when it was in alpha stage. People created amazing structures, including recreations like the Titanic and the Taj Mahal.  There were also creations of cathedrals and castles similar to the one in the picture above.

   If you follow my blog, I bet you have seen FyreUK.  They create massive builds in Minecraft and make a timelapse out of them.  This is a picture of one of their builds.  (All links will be below at the bottom of the post.)  Soon after making the game, Notch started a company in Sweden called Mojang AB.  He now has many programmers working at the company.

 

    Today, Minecraft is now a full game, but they are still adding onto it.  With over fifty blocks to use, you can build some amazing structures.  With texture packs, you can change the games graphics and make it the way you want it.  The world is over 12 million blocks wide and long.  (Remember that each block is one meter long.)  And each world is different no matter how many you make.  I have been playing for almost a year now and it's a great game to get involved in if you like adventure and creativity.  The cool thing about Minecraft is that you have one limit: your imagination.  You can build anything, and that's why I like it so much.

Be sure to follow my posts on my current Minecraft project here.  (Posts will be called Minecraft Architecture)

If you want to buy Minecraft get it at www.minecraft.net.

Pictures from:

>> http://ludolik.deviantart.com/art/Minecraft-Cathedral-of-Azra-201774131 

>> http://bnbgaming.com/2011/11/13/sunday-morning-cheer-the-building-of-waterfall-city/ 

>> http://ludolik.deviantart.com/art/Minecraft-Roman-Colosseum-204039963 

References:

>> http://www.youtube.com/user/FyreUK/ 

>> Skyrim Introduction 

Today's ArchiPic #92

 

    Ca' Rezzonico in Venice, Italy, courtesy Wikipedia

    Today ArchiPic is a museum in one of the most romantic cities of all: Venice in Italy.  Obviously, today is Valentine's Day, and I didn't feel like leaving you guys hanging!  I wanted to post something related, so I am here to show you the Ca' Rezzonico.  It's a museum that houses all kinds of stuff from Venice in the 18th century.  Mostly displaying Venetian art, the Ca' Rezzonico has a wide assortment of paintings way back to the 17th century.  The museum part opened in 1938 and was used as a palazzo long before it became a museum.  The Ca' Rezzonico is one of Italy's many museums, and it's very popular with Venetians and tourists.

Sources:

>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca'_Rezzonico 

>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo

References:

>> http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/

Minecraft Architecture | A Very MINI Update

I didn't do much this weekend on the city of Alimar in Minecraft.  Actually, the only thing I did build was a recreation of a mine from Skyrim in Alimar.  Today's episode will be quite short, and instead of pictures, there will be a lot more talking.  (or typing) 

    As I said in the very first post on the city of Alimar, I would be adding a mine in the hills.  And I didn't want to just create a regular mine that didn't have a unique entrance.  So you can kind of guess what I did: I used a design from Skyrim. 

   The second picture above is obviously from Skyrim and includes the original design of the Embershard Mine close to Riverwood.  The first picture is the recreation, and I did my best to recreate it, but with Minecraft you are limited to squares and right angles, so it's a bit hard to do.  Overall, I think it turned out well. 

    Here is the same picture of the recreation of Embershard Mine, except it's at night.

    When I first was testing out with different mine entrance designs, I had a lot of trouble just getting the right shape.  It's very hard to make an incline and angle like that in Minecraft, especially with fences.  I could not recreate it exactly, but it's pretty close to it.  (I just noticed I forgot to add the cobweb on the right, but I'll add that next time.)

    Here is a close-up view of the entrance.  I added grass on the sides to make it feel "full." 

    This is inside the mine.  It's very simple, (I know) but it is meant to be.  There is nothing fancy other than a wooden plank pathway and a couple of chests and crates.  The crates are actually meant to be barrels, but we all know what Minecraft is.  (all squares)  (Ha!  I guess that is the end of this week's Minecraft Creations.)

     Before I leave, I forgot to mention the new texture pack.  It is a mix of four different texture packs.  They include Ovo's Rustic Pack, Ornate 5, Jamziboy's Edit of Ovo's Rustic Pack, and Dokucraft Saga.  If you want to download it click here, and follow the instructions carefully if you don't know how to install a texture pack on Minecraft.

References:

>> http://www.msc510zach.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-custom-texture-pack-download.html

>> http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Embershard_Mine
>> Skyrim Introduction

Minecraft Tutorial | Building a Viking Style House

 I highly recommend checking out my new series called Minecraft Building Guide!

Edit: 9/5/2013 - This post is VERY old and I am considering making a new tutorial on this topic of Viking style houses.  It is a senstitive topic, because it is very easy to say, "this is Viking style" when it really isn't.  I'll be doing more research of the "Viking style" in the future and hopefully make a revised version of this tutorial.  When I do, I will link this post to the new one!

*A NOTE ON THE TEXTURE PACK*
      "It's actually a custom texture pack I put together using the Ornate 5, DokuCraft Saga, Jamziboy's Edit, and Ovo's Rustic texture packs. Mine is NOT up to date.  There is a texture pack out there that is almost identical to this one though.  It's called Ovo's Rustic CONTINUATION by Pinky4341. Here's where you can find the download and more info: Planet Minecraft - Ovo's Rustic Continuation."

As you saw from the post on the city of Alimar last month, the houses in the pictures were complex, especially the roofs.  I thought you guys would like to see a step-by-step tutorial on how to build a simple Viking-style house.  Here is my first Minecraft tutorial on how to build a Viking-style house.

    First, we start out by marking where the frame is going to be.  Each log block has a 3 block space in between.

   Then, we build up the frame to where it is 4 blocks high.  By the way, it is very important to build a frame because it marks out for you the sections of the house.  It also helps with symmetry.

    Before we build the frame of the roof, we are going to build the walls of the first floor.

    Build them up until they are one block lower then your log frame.  (In other words, build the wooden plank wall 3 blocks high on each side.)

   Then you will connect the frame and make it look complete.  (That's as best as I can describe it.)

   The frame of the roof goes in one block every two blocks until it reaches the center point at the top. 

    After building the frame, you just fill in the middle with wood blocks. 

    The gables are the complex part.  I decided I would just make them and take a couple of pictures instead of going in-depth on how to make gables.  (I might make a future tutorial on that.)

    Then you just fill up the empty part in the front with wooden planks.

   The part that really makes it look Viking is how the roof goes farther out every couple of blocks.  To make that curve at the front/top of the roof, I simply put a stair on top of a stair facing the opposite direction of the other stair.  (I know that sound confusing.)

   This is the front of the home's first floor. 

   Also, the front of the house's second floor can be designed anyway you want.  But this is the way I designed it.  Using wool blocks on the side of the glass panes. 

   Once done with the gables on the sides just cut out the logs of the roof and replace the front of the gable with glass.  (like in the picture above)

    In the end, if you followed all the instructions and understood what I said, then your Viking house should look similar to mine.  I haven't done the interior because I only showed the exterior in the Alimar update, but I might do a tutorial on how to fill your Minecraft house with rooms and stuff that makes the interior look like a real house.  I know this tutorial wasn't the best it could of been.  It could of been more in-depth and more informative, but I tried my best.  I may do a follow-up tutorial on this, but instead of pictures, it would be a video.  A video would be the best for this kind of tutorial because you guys can actually see me place the blocks, and it would be much easier to follow.  I hope you did like the tutorial though, and I hope you learned some things about houses that you didn't know before.

*Alimar Update 2 coming Next Week*

References:
>> Minecraft Building Guide Series

>> Previous Alimar Update

Skyrim Architecture | Markarth

Welcome to the next installment of my Skyrim Architecture series, where I scout the Skyrim world in search of the most beautiful structures and landmarks Bethesda's award-winning franchise has to offer.

    Markarth, an ancient city in far west Skyrim that was built by the Dwemers, is one of the most beautiful cities in the game.  The style of architecture is often called Dwarven or Dwemer.  It is said that the Dwemers were very smart people, until they mysteriously vanished.  Little is known about the people that built Markarth, but it's architecture is obviously ancient, while still breathtaking.

    Although the Dwemers or "Dwarves" as many call them, usually built their cities using metal, Markath is mostly stone.  Most likely, the Dwemers built it out of stone because of the natural abundance of mountains in Skyrim. 

The picture below is a picture of the jarl's palace.  It is a beautiful building that has unique designs in its arches and archways. 

There is more to come next time on my Skyrim Architecture series.

References:

>> http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Markarth

>>http://programmingace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2011-12-14_00001.jpg

>> Previous Skyrim Post

NEW Minecraft Content!

    There will be new Minecraft content coming next week all about the city of Alimar.  Meanwhile, I will be posting a step-by-step tutorial on how to build a simple house similar to the ones we saw in Alimar a couple of weeks ago.  I know many people would be especially interested in how we built the roofs.  They look very complex, but in reality, they are very simple.  All you do is make...well, I'll explain in the tutorial.  (Ha! Cliffhanger)

  
To see the previous update on the Minecraft city of Alimar click on the link below:
City of Alimar - Update 1 

Today's ArchiPic #91

Drum Bridge in Tea Garden, San Francisco from architecturaldigest

    Today's ArchiPic is the unusual but intricate-looking Drum Bridge in the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California.  Part of Golden Gate Park, the bridge is a famous tourist attraction.  Although not much people know about it, once you get into San Francisco, I think you will eventually learn about it.  What it lacks in size, it makes up in design.  It's curves and steep incline are very unusual.  It is a 19th century bridge that was made in Japan and was shipped to California in 1894.  Also, Architectural Digest said that it serves more of an aesthetic purpose than a practical one because of the high arch and secondly, the visitors have to climb the ladder-like footholds.     

Today's ArchiPic #90

A'marree's in Newport Beach, California from architectural record

    Today's ArchiPic is a high-end fashion emporium called A'marree's in Newport Beach, California.  Renovated by Paul Davis Architects, it is the center of style.  The building has been in use since the 60s, and it is still being used today.  Ladd and Kessley created the building way back in 1961. It served as a restaurant and bar for a long time until Davis came along. He stripped the bar/dining area away and created an interior that shines.  Davis took out everything in the retail floor that was used as a bar/dining area and replaced it with an empty but brightening room painted in a sparkling white.

Read More at archrecord.construction.com

FyreUK's Ancient Egyptian City

    FyreUK did it again.  They created another spectacular build that amazed me after watching it.  (like always)

    In their latest build, the team created an ancient Egyptian city.  The first video shows their timelapse of the build, and the second video includes Matt and Phil walking around the build and showing it off in detail.  (Make sure to watch both if you're really interested.)  It includes, "everything from statues of Egyptian Gods to the Pyramids. All built around an Egyptian Walled city with a palace looming over everything," says FyreUK.  It as an amazing work of art as always, and they prove why this year will be better than the last.

    With their first timelapse of 2012, they start off with building a massive wall.  The wall isn't really a wall though.  It has huge columns that have about 10 block spaces in between.  I would say that the columns go up about 50 blocks or so.  Trust me, that is big for Minecraft standards, considering that each block is about one meter in length.  Since the city is Egyptian, they made pyramids, sphinx, docks, markets, temples, and even massive jackals.  Subscribe to FyreUK's YouTube channel if you haven't already.  They are an amazing group of Minecraft architects.

References:

>> http://www.youtube.com/user/FyreUK

Dazzling Designs | Beijing's Box of Bubbles

Welcome to the next installment of my Dazzling Designs series. Tonight, I am here to show you Beijing's "Big Box of Bubbles" as continuingeducation.construction.com says it.

     It's a structure that was built to host the swimming and diving events at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Inside this "big box of bubbles", you will find huge Olympic-size swimming pools. The designers didn't want to make just a regular building to host the events. They wanted to go out with a bang or a "pop" as I should say. They also wanted to capture the essence of water and wanted to make you feel as if you were inside a big bubble or under the sea. Min Wang, a man that is part of the China Construction Design International group said, "We wanted the building to dematerialize, to change moods, to react to changes in the environment around it."



     I can imagine that at different times of day the atmosphere and color of the inside change. Imagine being there while the sun sets, the inside will probably light up bright orange and will have a glow. It would be even cooler if they were able to capture the essence of an actual bubble. If it was possible to get prism-style lighting inside the bubble box, it would be electrifying.



     The group studied the geometry of soap bubbles to understand how to make the structure look like liquid. In other words, they wanted you to feel like you were really inside a huge bubble!

     "During the day, diffuse sunlight provides much of the lighting for the Water Cube's interior spaces, such as the competition pool. At night, the building becomes a glowing blue box with the help of LEDs."

    The building's roof alone is over 340,000 square feet.  In the pictures above, you can see how the frame was put together.  22,000 steel tubes were welded together to make the frame.  "To visitors, the gray-water-recycling and rainwater-harvesting systems will be invisible. For them, the bubbles (and the Olympic competitors) will steal the show, especially at night, when the Water Cube becomes a glowing blue box with the help of LEDs integrated into the pillow frames," says continuingeducation.construction.com.

    The Water Box is truly one of architecture's most intuitive and creative design.  Those bubbles look amazing.  I would probably get distracted from watching the show because of the structure itself.  I just hope it doesn't POP!

Read the full post at http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=418

Sources:

>> All pictures and information from continuingeducation.construction.com