User:Simons Mith/Basic Construction

''Author's notes: In general, listing materials is a waste of time in my view. Unless a project specifically needs a particular block type, don't waste the time mentioning it. The exception applies under aesthetics, where it might be helpful to list block combinations that work well together, and possibly ones to avoid as well. Beyond that, don't bother. --82.69.54.207 13:43, 30 July 2012 (UTC)'''

This page discusses the first few useful things you are likely to build in Minecraft. These objects are rarely more than 30-60 blocks in size, and may be much smaller. They don't generally need floorplans, but sometimes an illustration may be helpful to demonstrate the clever way a particular block has been used. These items are usually made with common materials such as cobblestone, dirt or wood.

Basic construction also includes some simple mechanisms such as 'roads', manual farms and possibly some mob spawning systems. Many of these designs already have their own pages anyway.

In most Survival mode games there is a constant need for 'utility' structures, so even when you are fully established you will probably still need to build these things from time to time.

Once you start to collect materials like glowstone dust, redstone and obsidian, or if you are playing in Creative mode, look at the User:Simons_Mith/Intermediate Construction page to see some further building suggestions.


 * Basic construction (No plans needed)
 * Intermediate construction (Plans useful)
 * Advanced construction (Plans essential, but you have to make your own)

Draft headers (order of headers subject to review): ==Roads

The most basic level of road is a simple gravel track, as used in NPC Villages. These are trivial to make; all you need is a road material that contrasts with the surrounding terrain.

The next level is to make a railway, using the Track block. Track can be placed on almost any surface, but you may decide to use a particular block type underneath - commonly cobble or gravel - for aesthetic reasons.

A third option is to make canals. A 1&times;1 trench filled with water is sufficient for this. Banks, locks and wider sections of water can be added later.

After this, there are a wide variety of powered movement systems. There are various ways to boost the speeds of minecarts, and by using sections of flowing water you can create a canal that propels boats down it.

Piston transport systems (many varieties) are an intermediate level design.

==Farms

Some Minecraft resources can easily be regenerated using a farm. You can farm many things, including wheat, mushrooms, sugarcane, pumpkins, cacti, trees, passive and hostile mobs. The simplest designs just involve fencing off an area and collecting or planting the object you want in that area. Whenever you want to collect some supplies, you can manually harvest them and then breed the mobs or re-plant the items ready for next time. Automatic farms that work with the least amount of manual intervention are the next stage of complexity; those are intermediate level designs.

==Grinders

A grinder is a specialised term for a type of farm that collects and damages or kills mobs, usually hostile mobs. Grinders can be used to gain experience points, collect mob drops, or do both at once, and they make it easier to collect the rare drops that only appear if a player kills the certain mob types by hand. As you are usually dealing with hostile mobs, grinders are a bit more dangerous to make than passive mob systems, so they usually count as intermediate level designs.


 * Tutorial Guidelines
 * Writing guidelines for the construction tutorials themselves


 * Redstone
 * Trivial redstone for absolute beginners
 * Roofs
 * Basic roof types
 * Simple decorative refinements for roofs
 * Roof construction guidelines
 * Curved roofs (intermediate)

==Shelters

==Landmarks

==Mines

==Aesthetics

Even for simple projects, looks may matter. Yes, you can make everything out of dirt blocks or cobblestone, because you've got unlimited amounts of the stuff, but using consistent building themes makes a world much more attractive. The best rule of thumb for materials is to deliberately limit yourself to just a small number of block types, or always use a particular design for your lamps, pathways, canal docks or whatever items you may build. You can change the rules from room to room, building to building, or project to project, but using the same motifs helps give the things you make a common theme, and makes the world much more attractive.

All of the in-game structures give good examples of this; a desert village has its own unique building style, as does a jungle temple or a nether fortress. They gain their unique styles by deliberately limiting themselves to just a handful of block types. It's true that if you list every last block type these structures use, there are quite a few, but in every case the majority of each building is made with just 3–5 basic block types, sometimes less.

For a given project a good rule of thumb is to use just a small number of block types. 3–5 or so is a good initial guideline. Even with such a small limit, there are an extraordinary number of possibilities.

For example, even for something simple, like a beacon, while a dirt column with a torch on top is perfectly adequate, you could equally well use a column of smooth stone with a block of gold on top, or a glass box containing lava. Once you've been to the Nether, glowstone blocks, redstone lamps and burning netherrack also become possible light sources.

It doesn't matter what materials combinations you choose, but by using something slightly unusual you add a small amount of detail to your world.

Cut and pasted content from the Tutorials/construction page:

For new players on Minecraft, fending off monsters and harvesting materials can already be a very painful and confusing job. This tutorial will help you construct some of the most useful as well as some of the most impressive buildings available to Minecraft. For advanced/expert building, go to Tutorials/Advanced Construction.

Mountain marking
A simple way to mark a spot, if it is next to mountains, is to put some torches on the top.

Statue
Statues, especially big ones, can be used to indicate a certain spot.

Things needed:
 * Cobblestone or stone. They are a preferred building material, but wool or blocks of gold can be used as well.
 * Optionally, Glass blocks or panes.
 * Signs. Again, it is optional, but it may be used to tell which statue is which, if you want to build many statues.


 * 1) Start by making the base of your statue. 10x10 should do.
 * 2) Place the blocks to make up the figure you want. It can be from Creepers to Slimes, from Busts to full sized, be creative in making your statues!
 * 3) Mark the statue with a sign. Again, it is optional.

Light Beacon
Beacons/Pillars can be used to mark where your house/favorite mine is.

Things needed:
 * 4 torches, a bucket of lava and 5 blocks of glowstone and 4 blocks of glass
 * Lots of sand/dirt etc.
 * 2 buckets of water
 * Some cooked pork (if you get damage, although this is optional, you can make it on peaceful)


 * 1) Start by making a pool of water that is 3 blocks deep (make sure it's 2 blocks away from your pillar).
 * 2) Use the dirt/sand etc. and use the "pillar jumping" method to continually make a pillar up to cloud level. You now a have the pillar.
 * 3) Now for the light. Start by putting the four torches one block lower than the topmost block, then change the topmost block with glowstone, and put the four remaining ones around it. Put glass above the four blocks and put the lava in the middle.
 * 4) Then jump into the water (don't worry the water stops fall damage) and there you have it, your own light beacon.

Navigational Towers and Lighthouses
Navigational towers and lighthouses can be created to help you find your way home after a trip to say, the beach. You'll need at least enough of some kind of block to make a tower of your desired height, a light source, and enough ladders to climb that tower.


 * 1) Start by using the Pillar jumping method to create a tower, it is recommended that you use a more stable material, such as Cobblestone. This tower should be built to your desired tower height. Feel free to add a balcony around you, but make sure to leave a hole where you can climb up. If desired, you can add glowstone, a Torch, or a Redstone Torch to the top, otherwise this can be accomplished later.
 * 2) Fall off the side of your tower. As you fall, stick against the tower, and place ladders right below you. If you're not worried about the damage, you can choose to simply fall off, and then place ladders as you climb up to reach the top. If there is water nearby, it's recommended to jump into deeper water.
 * 3) You should now be able to access the tower with ease. If you didn't do so already, place some sort of light source (Glowstone is preferable if you have some) at the top.
 * 4) Other more complicated options are redstone torch blinkers, and even clocks that are attached to Note Blocks.

Lava Pillar
Another useful landmark tool is a lava pillar. Though slightly more costly than a lighthouse, it can be spotted much easier, during day or night. To build one, you need one bucket of lava, and enough materials to build one pillar of your desired height.


 * 1) Dig a 3x3x1 square in the ground. Ensure that the square is walled on all sides.
 * 2) Build a pillar right outside the grid (two blocks away from the center). This one should be made out of a weak and preferably collapsible material such as sand.
 * 3) Once you have reached the desired height, build a two block long walkway directly over the center of the pit.
 * 4) Go back to the pillar and destroy the single connecting block between the block over the center and the pillar.
 * 5) From the pillar, step as far back as you can and place your lava on top of the center block. Then destroy the outer pillar. Bear in mind, this could result in you being set on fire if you touch the lava.
 * 6) You now have a 3x3 column of lava that spans the height of your pillar. Because the lava falls into the 3x3x1 hole you dug in step one, it won't flow outwards, risking damage. If you still feel unsafe, feel free to build walls of glass around the pillar.

Farms
Farms are ways of getting Renewable Resources in a relatively time-efficient manner. Contrast this with blocks used to grow Wheat. If you want that kind of farm, see Farming. There are certain plants that can be farmed automatically. To see examples of this, look here

Cobblestone Generator/Farmer
See Cobblestone Farming.

Mob Farming
See Tutorials/Mob Farm for directions on making a mob farm.

Tree/Cacti Farming
See Tutorials/Tree farming or Tutorials/Cactus Farming for directions on making one.

Sugar Cane Farming
Sugar canes are good for making Sugar or for bookshelves. To farm it, you must:


 * 1) Find Sugar Canes in the wild and cut it down.
 * 2) Find or make a dirt block (as of 1.8.0 a sand block can be used too) touching water.
 * 3) Plant it on the block by right-clicking.
 * 4) Watch it grow.

NOTE: Sugar Cane will grow at any light level. This means you can have an indoor sugar cane farm without wasting so many torches. Just remember to have at least a 1x1x3 space for maximum growth.

Mines and Mining
Your first stop should be to visit the general Tutorials/Mining Techniques Page.

See Tutorials/Quarry for an explanation of quarrying – a time intensive, but potentially resource rich method of mining.

See Tutorials/Vertical Mine Shaft With Water Drop for a method to build a quick access shaft to the lower reaches of the earth.

Tutoriels/Bâtiment et construction

Simple Framed Building
A simple and good looking house can be made by making 4 3 block high pillars arranged in a square or rectangle. These pillars can be made of cobblestone. Join them at the tops with cobblestone beams. Then fill in the gaps with wooden planks. You can also add windows. To make a roof cover the top and place wooden stairs on it, arranged in a pitched fashion. Logs and white wool can be used instead to make a Tudor house. (Picture to come!)