The graphics are simple because the game is capable of generating a world eight times the size of the Earth, relatively speaking.Oskuro wrote:When even stuff that does not need be made of blocks, like animals or clouds, are drawn with low-res square blocks, tends to mean it's an art direction, not just sucky graphics. And it is a practical choice, seeing how the terrain engine will make it look blocky anyway.Stark wrote:'Retro art direction'? I thought it was just 'shit graphics'. It's seriously 'worse than Underworld 1' level awful/hideous.
Survival mode usually starts like this:
Start the game, find the nearest tree.
Harvest the tree for logs, go on to the next one. Repeat until you have at least 12 logs.
Craft the Logs into Wood, And a portion of the wood into sticks. Use the wood and sticks to create a Workbench and some wooden tools (Axe, Pick, etc...)
Find a mountain and look for an exposed Coal Deposit. If there are no mountains nearby (unlikely), start digging until you find one. Mine it out (Surface and higher deposits tend to be small). Use the coal and some remaining sticks to make torches.
Use your gathered wood and cobblestone (gained by digging through rock) to build a simple shelter. It should be completely enclosed with a single block for a window, and space to get away from said window (skeletons shoot arrows). I recommend digging your first shelter into the side of the mountain. It cuts down on building time, and you can dig up more cobblestone and possibly coal while you wait out the night. Otherwise, use the time to craft stone tools and weapons or make more torches.
That's pretty much your first day and night in Minecraft.
A few general tips:
You will eventually gather a lot of dirt and gravel. You can use that to fill in holes or build up/flatten land as needed, but if you have too much (and you will), you can later bring up a bucket of lava or two and make an incinerator.
When the Halloween update goes into effect, torches will become temporary. As a service to all of us who presently use them for illumination, all presently placed torches will become permanent lanterns. So until then, don't be afraid to place your torches liberally.
If you fill a hole in the dirt 2x2 or larger with water (i.e.: each square space gets a water bucket emptied into it), it becomes an eternal spring that you can draw as much as you like. You can cheat this buy building a bowl of dirt underground and take a spring down there. This is invaluable when you dig deep underground and start encountering lava. Incidentally, if you use just a 2x2 square, you can make a spring with just two buckets of water poured into opposite corners.
Never dig or mine straight up or down. You never know if the block below you is part of the ceiling to a cavern, and when you dig deeper, you might end up digging up or down into lava. Not fun.
Gold and Diamond require Iron picks to dig up.
Always carry a supply of Wood with you (or at least a workbench and/or chest) when digging underground, especially if exploring a cave. I once suffered a crash (the game is in Alpha state, after all), and when I re-entered the game, I found that it had erased the entrance I dug, leaving me stranded in a cave literally at the bottom of the world.
The final Bedrock/Adminium layer is not perfect. This is another reason you don't stand where you dig, even at the lowest levels. Falling into oblivion is understandably fatal.
At least he's got the sense to hire others, even if his structure sounds poor.
