My weekend was assassinated by Minecraft

[CeeKay]

did they ever fix the multiplying portal problem?

[Zinfan]

Twice in the last few days I've exited minecraft and had my computer BSD crash.  When I get rebooted the minecraft world I was playing in is gone.  A shame since I had diamond tools in both of those worlds.  I never had this problem in the alpha days.

Yikes! That's scary. I've been paranoid after the first couple of days when I realized how bad one hiccup could be. I have a simple (free) backing up tool, SyncBack, and what I do is periodically in the game I'll press ESC which causes the game to save, then run my SyncBack option that backs up the minecraft folder which is in my C:/Documents and Settings/[name]/Application Data/.minecraft path. I also do this after I terminate a session.

Obviously you don't need a backup tool, you can just leave a shortcut on the desktop and drag and copy to a backup location.

Great idea for backing up.  I'm not that put out as I'm more of a dabbler then a creator of massive structures so I never seem to have much to lose except for ore and such not.

[CeeKay]

I did soem decent exploration (or as some might call it 'Run away!') of the nether, and I'm not sure how it can be practical for fast travel since it doesn't match up with the real world.  going from what appears around my portal in the nether I'd end up portaling out into solid rock.

[baelthazar]

I did soem decent exploration (or as some might call it 'Run away!') of the nether, and I'm not sure how it can be practical for fast travel since it doesn't match up with the real world.  going from what appears around my portal in the nether I'd end up portaling out into solid rock.

I was under the impression that you build a portal in the real world at an "entrance" and then another portal in the real world as an "exit" then you can fast travel by running from one to the other in the Nether.

[Lordnine]

You CAN do that but I think the problem is that it can be hard to find your exit portal.  It's possible that one of them will open above a cliff in the hell world or hidden behind various forms of obstruction.

Regardless I can't wait till they're introduced into multiplayer.  Our server has grown to the size that some peoples projects are more than 2 days apart walking distance.

[EngineNo9]

Can't you just build one entrance in the real world, and then once you're in the nether build the exit?  I was assuming it would place the real world exit portal at terrain height at whatever x,y location you were at, no?  Then you've traveled 8x the distance when you go back to the real world.

[baelthazar]

You can do that No.9, but I think if you want a specific location to port to - i.e. between two different major projects or between your spawn point and your castle - then you have to build the gates in the normal world.

[CeeKay]

Minecraft Kinect.

version 2.0, with animated blocks.  it'd be crazy to log into a MP server and see that in action.

[lokiju]

Can't you just build one entrance in the real world, and then once you're in the nether build the exit?  I was assuming it would place the real world exit portal at terrain height at whatever x,y location you were at, no?  Then you've traveled 8x the distance when you go back to the real world.

I ended up going into the nether, randomly traveling a decent distance, building a portal, and seeing where I ended up in the normal world. I ended up loving the new area so much I built a new residence. I couldn't believe how far I ended up though with the Nether being 8 or 16:1 distance ratio. Even if you're not going to create a new place, it's great to have the portals to new biomes with their specialized items (like pumpkins in snowy biomes).

Also, once you start using mods, you'll never go back to vanilla.

The only problem I've found with this game is that I'm bored after completing my dream castle project. Of course it may just be burn out as I've played endlessly for 2 weeks (been having a ton of snow days off from teaching lately). Well worth the price of admission though! I'm going to put it aside for a bit and check in for updates from Notch, or until they update the Battle Tower mod.

[CeeKay]

or until they update the Battle Tower mod.

never heard of that one before so I looked it up.   I hope they update it, it sounds really freakin' cool.  or even better, Notch should buy it and incorporate it into the game.

[lokiju]

never heard of that one before so I looked it up.   I hope they update it, it sounds really freakin' cool.  or even better, Notch should buy it and incorporate it into the game.
[/quote]

Oh yeah, there's certainly a ton of options available to Notch right now. With the money he's pulling in, maybe he could hire a few of the top modders to officially help with survival mode. Battle Towers, Mo' Creatures, and others bring a whole new experience to the game.   

[CeeKay]

2 Player Productions is going to be doing a documentary on Minecraft.

[baelthazar]

Lokiju,

I actually went and tried several of the modded graphics packs and hated them - going back to the original graphics. There was just something about those packs that I felt messed with the pure aesthetic of vanilla.

Also, my performance has tanked since the last patch. Hopefully that will get fixed soon.

[Caine]

never heard of that one before so I looked it up.   I hope they update it, it sounds really freakin' cool.  or even better, Notch should buy it and incorporate it into the game.

Oh yeah, there's certainly a ton of options available to Notch right now. With the money he's pulling in, maybe he could hire a few of the top modders to officially help with survival mode. Battle Towers, Mo' Creatures, and others bring a whole new experience to the game.   

any chance this works in smp?  would love that

[Lordnine]

We've have about 5 new people join the OO server in the last week so here is a new map.

Click for full size.

[Caine]

That reminds me.  the last time i checked, i was able to log in but my friend couldn't. 

[lokiju]

never heard of that one before so I looked it up.   I hope they update it, it sounds really freakin' cool.  or even better, Notch should buy it and incorporate it into the game.

Oh yeah, there's certainly a ton of options available to Notch right now. With the money he's pulling in, maybe he could hire a few of the top modders to officially help with survival mode. Battle Towers, Mo' Creatures, and others bring a whole new experience to the game.  

any chance this works in smp?  would love that

Right now, Battle Towers isn't even updated, let alone ready for SMP. Not sure about Mo' Creatures.

[CeeKay]

We've have about 5 new people join the OO server in the last week so here is a new map.

Click for full size.

very impressive.  now when you spawn into the game do you always start back at the starting spawn, or did someone figure out a way to let you start from where you logged out?

[Destructor]

BTW, Battle Towers has been updated. Just not by the original guy. Done with his thanks however:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=151172

[CeeKay]

awesome!  now to try it out ebfore the next update breaks it again....

[Lordnine]

That reminds me.  the last time i checked, i was able to log in but my friend couldn't. 

There shouldn't be any problems there.  We've only blacklisted one person and pretty sure it wasn't your friend.  I would say have recheck the IP address.  Sometimes when you copy/paste it doesn't work.

[Archinerd]

I would agree about the atmosphere but since I consider Minecraft to be just a big box of Legos for adults this isn't really a draw for me.  As for things not working the only thing I can think of that hasn't been fixed/implemented in multiplayer is portals to hell.

The thing I noticed quickly is that when I played in single player I built everything simple and practical.  Since I was the only one who would ever see what I built there was no incentive to make things "impressive".  Because of this mining quickly lost its appeal because I knew I wasn't really going to use the materials anyways and I quickly became bored.

Multiplayer has been a whole different story.  I've constructed or helped construct giant rollercoaster's, palatial castles, mass transit systems and Redstone machines that do everything from lighting to locking doors and running simple traps.

Again, I agree this comes down to personal preference but I enjoy the majestic scale of multiplayer and would recommend giving your options a try before you settle for one or the other.

I would also add that in single player you can't take a tour of someone else's fort... and while they aren't looking fill their furnace with freshly harvested pumpkins.

You also can't build an underground rail line with your friend for an hour or two. Then take a break to explore a side cave you uncovered, accidentally light yourself on fire in the lava pool and be unable to extinguish the flames because your "friend" just blocked the natural spring looking for diamonds.

[CeeKay]

Or get a skin that looks like a creeper and run around scaring the bejeezus out of people.  Dang, now I may need to check out that server.....

[baelthazar]

Or get a skin that looks like a creeper and run around scaring the bejeezus out of people.  Dang, now I may need to check out that server.....

You are going to Hell. You know that, right? 

[CeeKay]

Or get a skin that looks like a creeper and run around scaring the bejeezus out of people.  Dang, now I may need to check out that server.....

You are going to Hell. You know that, right? 

Verily 

[msduncan]

OK... since OO is down, I have to come here and ask:

I can't get on the dang OO server again.    Remember I had major trouble yesterday getting on.    Same thing is happening today.   

Getting:    "Disconnected from Server.   Took to long to log in."

[Archinerd]

I just tested it. I can't get on either.

[CeeKay]

Is the OO server on the same server OO is on?  if they're doing something with it then that could be why.

[Archinerd]

Nope it's not.

I think Chris Grenard is downloading porn steam games again.

[msduncan]

Ugh!    My kingdom for a Minecraft server I can log on when I want to play it.  

[Lordnine]

Weird.  We tried to boost the memory of the server a couple days ago because it was eating through the 1.5 gig we had allocated for it.  I wonder if we broke something...  Will check into it.

[Lordnine]

Update OO Server: I remotely logged into the server computer.  It appears that it has hard-locked/crashed.  Sadly, I'm going to have to wait for Chris to reboot it because I'm on the opposite side of the country.

[EngineNo9]

[CeeKay]

Update OO Server: I remotely logged into the server computer.  It appears that it has hard-locked/crashed.  Sadly, I'm going to have to wait for Chris to reboot it because I'm on the opposite side of the country.

they got these things called planes doncthaknow 

[Lordnine]

Server restored.  As it turns out you CAN restart the computer remotely.  Now you can all stop being productive at work and get back to mining.   

[drifter]

is the minecraft website itself down?  I am getting 404 errors not found.  I bought the game and my son plays it a lot.  I tried it out myself and decided I might as well buy it for myself so we can play at the same time.

[Punisher]

How does armor work? does it need to be in a special slot?
I've spent several hours in this game already and wasn't really expecting to do so...

[CeeKay]

How does armor work? does it need to be in a special slot?
I've spent several hours in this game already and wasn't really expecting to do so...

there should be slots for it near your character portrait on the inventory screen.

[drifter]

Apparently he was doing a server move so I bought myself a copy of minecraft too now.  Is it possible to get a PM with the multiplayer server you have up so I can try it?  My name in Minecraft is the same as my name here with an x22 on the end.

[Punisher]

Anyone know why I can't find any mobs anymore... I spent "days" in my mine just mining loads of crap so I could outfit my guy with some decent weapons and armor, then I climbed back up to my house and I have days outside and wandering and other than some basic animals, I haven't seen anything.. I especially want some spiders so I can start farming some string and make some bows...... I would also like some creeps or ghasts to get my sulfur....
Is there anywhere you can think of that I could look? As an aside, I never saw anything while mining either, although somehow, I had animals get into my house even though it was closed up....