Factions

Hey guys! Today I am writing about Factions. It is not considered a mini-game because there is no time limit or ending to it, but it is on most servers. It is survival, but you make factions (teams) with other people and make a home base. You also have to try to raid other people’s bases. A lot of bases are covered by obsidian. You can’t break into the bases because factions can claim an area, so people who aren’t part of the faction can’t destroy/build in the claimed land. To destroy obsidian bases, you have to keep shooting them with TNT cannons. Some obsidian bases are also covered in water. This makes the TNT do less damage to the blocks of the base. You will also find a few bases covered in bedrock. This makes it impossible to raid the base. You can usually buy bedrock, but it will be very, very expensive. Most faction servers give you some items to start out with like armor, tools, food, blocks, and weapons. There are also kits that give you these things daily. Most servers allow you to donate for better kits and items. On most servers, there are also auctions run by the server where you can bid or auction your own items. To get money, usually you can vote using a link provided by the server or just sell your items. I think that everyone should at least try the game out. I enjoy it a lot.

This is what a good base looks like on the inside:

This is a TNT cannon:

 

Pictures From:
www.Minecraftoid.com
www.Minecraftforum.com
www.Planetminecraft.net

How This Blog is Different than I Had Ever Imagined It Would Be

Hello guys. Today my web design teacher asked me to write about how my blog has evolved since I first started it. I first started this blog eight months ago for a web design class. I basically only did it because it was an assignment for the class. However, now I really enjoy writing for this blog, and I not only do it as an assignment but for fun also. In the beginning, I thought that I would run out of ideas to talk about, but I am still able to find something to write about. I never thought that the blog would have an average of five views everyday. Last year I only had about 80 visitors, but this year I have already doubled that. I have views from over 30 different countries. Last year I only got views from 2 different countries. My vision for this blog has changed a lot because it has already surpassed my expectations. I plan to keep on talking about mini-games and tips & tricks as I run across them on the internet and as I play Minecraft. I would like to thank everyone who has subscribed and/or liked or even viewed my blog.

Keep on Minecrafting!

 

Top picture from:

http://www.stuffpoint.com

Minecraft Furniture Ideas

Hello guys! Today I am going to give a few Minecraft furniture ideas. To make furniture in Minecraft, you just have to use certain blocks to make objects that look like real-life furniture.

Furniture #1 – Couch

To make a couch, all you need is two half slabs for the seat and six blocks of your choice for the back and sides. You can also extend the couch by just making it longer with more slabs and blocks. Here is a couch:

Furniture #2 – Table

All you need to make a table is two pressure plates (table top), two fences (table legs), and four stairs (two for each seat). The table can also be extended. Put it together like this:

Furniture #3 – Mirror

To make a mirror all you have to do is make two rooms that image each other. Then put glass or ice in between them. I have not personally done this but it looks pretty easy Like this:

Furniture #4 – Bed

All you need to make a bed is three quartz slabs (pillows), six wool of your choice (bedspread), and three blocks (mattress under pillows). The three blocks go underneath the quartz slabs. Build it like this:

Pictures from:
www.minecraftfurniture.net
www.garthrigth.blogspot.com
www.minecraftbuildingince.com

VampireZ

 

Hey guys! Today I am going to talk about the Minecraft mini-game VampireZ. At the beginning of the game, you have to choose whether to start out as a vampire or human. However, if you choose to start as a vampire, chances are slim that you will actually be one since only 3-5 players start as vampires. There are usually around 25 people in each game. The aim of the game for the vampires is to hunt down and kill all of the humans. There are also waves of zombies helping out the vampires by trying to kill the humans. Once you die as a human, you become a vampire. The aim of the game for the humans is to try to hide from the vampires until the game is over. When playing the game as a human you have blindness which limits some of your ability to see. But, if you play the game as a vampire, you have perfect vision. The game is only about 10 minutes long. The humans start out with only a wooden sword. The vampires start out with a vampire tooth. (This is is a ghast tear with a level 3 enchantment of sharpness that was renamed “Vampire Tooth”.) For the humans, after around 1-1 1/2 minutes, they get points to spend in their shop. Vampires are similar except they get more points sooner. In the shop, humans can buy food and equipment like armor and weapons. In the shop, vampires can buy abilities like being able to fly, a jump boost, and strength boost. If the vampires are able to kill all of the humans, they win. But, if at least one human is able to survive the 10 minutes, the humans win. In my experience, the vampires usually win. I also think that being a vampire is more fun than being a human. Here is a VampireZ map:

This is the view from a vampire’s perspective:

This is the view from a human’s perspective:

 

Pictures from:
www.minecraft-double.ru
www.twitchstarter.com
www.ageneralsguidetomc.wordpress.com

 

Tips & Tricks #5

Hello Minecraftians! I’m going to share a few more tips and tricks.

Tip #1 – You only need two buckets of water for an infinite water source.

An infinite water source is where you can take water out  from one water block using a bucket, and then it just refills itself from the water blocks next to it. First, mine a 1 by 3 by 1 hole in the ground. Then, place two buckets of water as the picture shows, and you will have an infinite water source. This is useful for the Skyblock mini-game since you have limited resources.

Tip #2 – Make a cobblestone base around your Nether portal in the Nether.

In the Nether, Ghasts can’t destroy cobblestone blocks with their fireballs, but they can disable portals. Build a base made of cobblestone around the portal you came through in order to protect it from the Ghasts.

Tip #3 – X-ray vision

Trying to find a cave, but haven’t had any luck? Just push a glowstone block into your head. This sounds very violent, but all you have to do is put a glowstone block on the end of a piston and activate it so that the glowstone block goes into your head. When you do this, you can see everything underground.

Tip#4 – Fireplace

Do you have a home built out of wood, but want a fireplace? No problem! Most of the time, when you build a house out of wood and light a fireplace, it will burn down, but all you have to do is experiment. To do this, recreate the area of the house that you want the fireplace in and test different ways to build a fireplace. Experiment with different materials that don’t light on fire in order to find a suitable fireplace that won’t burn your house down. Don’t let your house turn into this:

 

Pictures from:
 www.shrinemaiden.org
 plus.google.com
 www.planetminecraft.com

 

Servers

Hello guys, today’s blog is about Minecraft servers. A Minecraft server is a world that any player can get into using a chosen ip address. An ip address is pretty much your ticket into the server. There are websites dedicated to listing servers and their ip addresses. Most popular servers have a bunch of mini-games and the option to play normal survival. Survival on a server is just like playing single-player Minecraft except with other people. The difference between survival and mini-games is that mini-games only take about 20 minutes while survival goes on indefinitely. Each mini-game is in a different world. That means when you select a mini-game, you get teleported to that specific world. Survival is the same. You also have the ability to host a server, but you have to download a lot of software, or you can hire someone else to host one. The advantage to having your own server is that it could be profitable (people donate to the server) or you could keep it as a private server that only chosen people could join. The most popular servers have thousands of people on at a time. There is also a LAN server. LAN stands for Local Area Network. These servers only allow players to join if they are near the person hosting the LAN server. LAN servers only allow 20 people on at a time, while normal servers can hold hundreds of thousands of players. Any person with Minecraft can host a LAN server, which means you do not have to download a bunch of software. Here are a couple famous servers.

This is MinePlex (I have been on this server with 43,000 other players):

This is Minecraft Central:

Pictures from:
Planetminecraft.com
Minecraftforum.com
imgarcade.com

Skyblock

Hello Minecraftians! Today’s blog is about the Minecraft mini-game Skyblock or Skyblock Islands. This is similar to the Minecraft mini-game Skywars, but instead of trying to kill other people, you have to try to survive and thrive on your tiny island. You will also want to expand your island. To begin the game, the server always gives you a little island, a tree, and a starting chest. The normal starting chest has one bucket of lava, two ice blocks, a couple pieces of watermelon, a piece of sugar cane, a normal seed, a pumpkin seed, a red mushroom, a brown mushroom, twelve strings, a bone, and a cactus. The two ice blocks are there to make an infinite water source, and the lava is supposed to be combined with water to make a cobblestone generator. When you mine the tree, which you start with, you need to make sure that you get at least one sapling from it so that you can replant the tree and get more wood. On most servers you can sell and buy things from the server and get money (not real money but money that you can use on the server). You can buy, sell, and trade items with other players by giving them money or other items. Most servers will give you some money to start out with. This is a fun mini-game, but when you play it, chances are you will fall off the edge of your island and die a couple times, but of course, you will spawn back on your island. Because of this, you should not keep very many resources in your inventory.

This is a cobblestone generator:

 

Here is a very extended island:

Here is the island that you start out with:

 

Pictures from:
 www.minecraftguides.org
 www.minecraft.wonderhowto.com
 www.minecraftforum.net
 www.ubermc.net

Tips & Tricks #4

Hey guys! Today’s blog is about some more tips & tricks.

Tip #1 – Lava Traps

Have you ever wanted traps around your base against mobs? Just put down four pressure plates with lava in the middle like so:

 

Tip #2 – Never put a pressure plate outside a door.

If you put a pressure plate outside a door like this…

 

…mobs can step on the pressure plate, open the door, and walk in your base.

Tip #3 – Water to get seeds

A good way to get seeds or harvest your farm is to put water on your farm. This destroys all of the grass or wheat and gives you the resources from it (i.e. harvested wheat and seeds). You can also use this to make an automatic farm by putting a water bucket in a dispenser and activate it by a redstone signal. This will place the water on the ground, and it will flow on to all of the wheat in your farm.

 

Tip #4 – Torches in a Cave

When you put torches down in a cave, always put them on the right side so that when you need to get out of the cave, you can just follow the torches on the left side.

 

Picture Sources:
 www.onrpg.com
 www.rocketsplashgames.com
 minecraft.wonderhowto.com
 www.reflectionsandcontemplations.wordpress.com

Block Hunt

Hello fellow Minecraftians. Today I would like to tell you about the Minecraft mini-game Block Hunt or Prop Hunt. It is pretty much hide-and-seek. There are about 30 people in a game. About two-thirds of them are disguised as blocks and have to hide. The other third of the people are trying to hunt down and kill the hiders. When you are a hunter, you usually get a sword, a bow, and armor. On some servers the hiders get a sword and bow too. The hiders have the huge advantage of being able to transform into any block or mob. The hunters cannot tell a normal block from a person disguised as a block. This means the hunters have to watch for the hiders to move, and they try to hit random blocks hoping the block they are hitting is a hider. The aim of the game for the hiders is to stay hidden for a certain amount of time, which differs by what server your are playing on. If you are a hider and you die, then you become a hunter. The aim of the game for the hunters is to hunt down and kill all of the hiders. If you die and you are a hunter, then you are out of the game. If you are hiding, and the time runs out, you and all other hiders still alive win the game. However, if the hunters are able to kill all of the hiders, then the hunters win.

I have not played this game much but would like to in the future. As you can see, it is better to become a hider because if you die while being a hider then you become a hunter. This gives you the chance to try both roles.

Here is the view of a hider:

 

 

Minecraft Skins

My name is Alec. I am Darren’s older brother. This week our Web Design teacher asked us to write a blog for someone else. So, I am writing a blog for Darren on Minecraft Skins. I usually write about weapons and their history on my blog. So, if you would like to check it out, here is the website: https://historicalevolutionofweapons.wordpress.com/ 

In the Minecraft world, you can change your skin to look like just about anyone.

These are the Marvel Avengers:Here is Spider-man and some of the villains he fought:

 This guy is one of my favorites…Dead Pool:

These are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

There are so many more that you can find.

The list of skins is just about endless.  You can find Halo characters, Mario and Luigi, an upside-down Steve, a creeper, a hoodlum, a football player, or even Assassin’s Creed characters.

If you would like to change your Minecraft skin you can get them from websites like:

http://www.minecraftskins.com/search/skin/free/1/

http://www.minecraftskins.net/page/1

http://www.minecraftxl.com/skins/

Picture Sources:

http://www.worldminecraft.com
http://www.marel.com
http://www.pinterest.com