Minecraftventures, Part Something (and also some other stuff)

I've been on fall break this week. 'S been nice, having time to relax and do whatever instead of the usual routine of school. I also got the opportunity to see a couple friends from high school, which was fantastic. Had lunch with one on Friday, and today another came over for some fun times on Halo: Reach. I'll admit that I'm not very excited to be going back to school tomorrow, but it'll only be two weeks and then finals before winter break. I think I can handle it.

Anyways, I've also been playing quite a bit of Minecraft this week. The multiplayer mode was recently updated so monsters spawn at night, but we've currently got them disabled since they're a tad bit buggy. My major project this week was a tower based off of the Seattle Space Needle, and I just finished it earlier today. Here's some screenshots of it (Click for pretty large versions!):

A nighttime shot. The clouds actually pass right below the top area.

And a requisite sunrise shot.

According to Minecraft's dimensions of each block being 1 cubic meter, the tower stands just over 50 meters tall (the actual Space Needle is 184m tall) and is just 3 blocks below the vertical limit for building (hence why I wasn't able to add the top antenna-needle bit). A few modifications were also made to make it more suitable for building: the number of "legs" was increased from three to four (since I have no idea how to make an equilateral triangle in Minecraft) and the color scheme was modified quite a bit, since the only white blocks that I'm aware of are sand and cloth - sand being difficult to use since it won't stay up in the air if it isn't supported underneath by another block, and cloth being frustratingly difficult to obtain. Alternatively I could have used natural stone blocks, but you have to stick cobblestone in a furnace for a while to get those and it would have been rather time-consuming.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the final result, though a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to properly build the top antenna and that the color scheme is a tad bit... patchy? I've already begun to plan my next construction project, which will either be a castle of some type or some sort of circular, gothic-esque tower.

Moleskine! Also some other stuff.

(click for a larger version)

Yeah! Pictured there is the first drawing I've done in my new Moleskine sketchbook (From Amazon, for $12).

It really just started out as the central "body" sphere, from which I just started adding details and components and whatnot until I got bored of doing so. I have no idea how to draw water tanks, so improvised.

Now, on to other stuff.

I recently got a free pair of Skullcandy Icon headphones from the "grand reopening" of CU's bookstore. I'm using them now and they're decent - I prefer headphones over earbuds just for comfort reasons.

I also picked up some TUL mechanical pencils and Paper Mate Black Pearl erasers this past weekend while I was at home. I've used one of the TUL pencils before and really like the way it feels when you're writing with it. Haven't been disappointed thus far. The Black Pearls have been recommended to me and they were $1.99 for a pair of two, so I figured I might as well.

Speaking of being at home, I played some Halo: Reach as well (Amazon's currently got a promotional offer going - order Reach and you get $20 in credit towards your next video game purchase). The campaign storyline was fantastic - I think it's true that the previous iterations have been very Halo fan-oriented, with a lot of terminology, etc. Reach, on the other hand, went for a much more human story, and it really comes through. The customization system (You earn credits for doing things, which can be spent on new armor permutations, etc.) and daily challenges are very well-implemented and I was actually motivated to play multiplayer by some of the challenges (Of note - I very rarely play a game seriously. I'm much more likely to screw around.). All in all, an excellent conclusion to Bungie's Halo arc of games.