A new start in Minecraft

(click to embiggen)

Note: I enjoyed my moss-draped clifftop home (here and here), but I wanted to try something different, and I couldn't find the terrain I wanted in that Minecraft world. I'm sure the perfect spot was there somewhere, but I couldn't seem to find it. So I decided to create a new world, and after a couple of tries, I found one that really seems to fit the bill.

I don't know how I got here. I remember a raging storm, and me in my little boat, but then I came to my senses here, my clothes torn and ragged, no supplies at all, and a big gap in my memory. So be it. I've started from scratch before, and I knew I could do it again.

I decided to settle in this old flood plain. At least, that's what it looks like. There's a river to the north and some hills to the south, but in between, it's flat and heavily forested. In fact, this pine forest extends to the west as far as I've explored, so far.

To the east is a vast desert, and to the south, past the wooded hills, there seems to be a range of mountains. I don't know how far that extends. To the southeast, at the edge of the desert, there's a native village. They seem uninterested in my presence. But then, it's hard to communicate without a single language in common.

So I settled in this pine forest, all green and beautiful in the sun. There was a crust of ice on the pond, which should have given me a clue, but I was still taken by surprise at the first snowstorm. It was a real blizzard, and I was lucky to be inside when it started. The snow still hasn't melted off most places.

One of the more interesting things about this location is the vast hole in the rock just south of my farmstead. I discovered that it leads down into an expanse of caverns - and those caverns themselves are bisected by a deep crevasse. Actually, it looks deep, but I don't know how deep it really goes, because it's too dark to see very far.

And the caverns are infested with monsters. Luckily, most of them seem to be stuck on the other side of the crevasse. But I've kept my underground exploration to a minimum, so far. First things first, and I needed to concentrate on basic survival.

(the NPC village)

So I built a little shack, where I could sleep in safety, and set about building my farm. Despite the cold weather, my wheat is doing well, though I have to go to extraordinary lengths to keep even running water from freezing. And I may end up building a greenhouse for the sugar cane.

There were sheep everywhere, so wool hasn't been a problem. But I had to search to find a few cattle and chickens, and I haven't found any pigs at all. Well, the forest to the west is positively infested with wolves. I've never before seen so many wolves in one place, and maybe for that reason, there's little other life there.

But although I'll definitely miss bacon - ahhh,... bacon! - I can survive without it. And I was able to tame one of the wolves for a pet. The rest of them don't bother me, and I don't bother them.

The monsters are a worse problem, especially the creepers. I've always been rather inept at combat, and I've had a hard time preventing creepers from blowing the hell out of everything I've built here. Still, they haven't gotten me yet, and everything else can be rebuilt.

Nevertheless, I've started building a stone wall around my settlement. Maybe, someday, it will be a real fortress, a vast structure of stone to keep out all possible enemies. Heh, heh. Sure, it's only me, so I don't exactly need such a place. But as long as my crops and my livestock do OK, why not? I've got plenty of time for a hobby.

I'll explore when I get tired of stonework. I'll need to find more coal - and mine lots more stone - anyway. I must say that I'm curious about those underground caverns. I wonder how far down they go?

PS. I don't know how long I'll play this. I've got lots of different games to play. But I'll probably post more again, sometime.