Call of the Naughty

So I was climbing out of that cave I fell into when I heard a wolf howl.

Wolfy seemed really anxious, so I went outside. One run in with Wolfy's bad-tempered kin later, I went in and--GASP!! WOLFY!!

NO! BAD WOLFY! YOU ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE!

Another cave of mystery!

Well I was mining around when suddenly,I fell into another cave.

 I was looking around and saw...what is that?

I wasn't sure what that was, but before I could explore, I needed a way back to the surface.

One burst of ingenuity later:

And then I could explore the cave. I found:

 An abandoned mineshaft. This could use some further exploration....

Rubber farming!

Guess what? THE RUBBER TREE SAPLING FINALLY GREW!!

 Now I can finally tell you how to get rubber from these. You hit the yellow spots(right-click) with the treetap, which makes them drop

You then cook it in the furnace to get rubber.

It's that simple. And there are also machines you can make(in the Technic Mod pack) that let you get more rubber from the Sticky Resin and rubber from the wood of the tree and those huge trees we saw before. 

But we'll get there when we get there.

THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY CEILING!!

It died.

Mining time!

Now that Wolfy's incident of naughtiness is over, how about some MINING?
I went back to the cave that I fell into , and proceeded to liberate it of it's treasure like I promised. Some notable(and unfortunately, Technic Mod Pack exclusive) goodies:

 These are SAPPHIRES!! They're like diamonds, only slightly weaker, and they come in pretty colors(they also come in ruby and emerald). They are good for making tools early on because they're EVERYWHERE(relatively).

This is Marble. It has no purpose besides being pretty. I am going to build something cool out of this.

Let's see...21 coal, 28 copper ore, 6 sapphires, 19 iron ore and 63 marble.
Everything considered, a very good haul. Now the only reason I have to come back here is to maybe get more marble(I might need more of that).

Down the Mining hole

So I was digging a tunnel underneath my Minecraft house when suddenly, I fell into a cave!

 I was flipping out, but after lighting up the place, I quickly found the exit. This would require human ingenuity.

One quick crafting session later...

 Ingenuity will get you out of many situations. Especially in Minecraft. I'll be back, cave. YOUR LOOT WILL BE MINE!

Wolfy earns a treat

So I was minding my own business, workin' in my wheat farm when suddenly, a zombie appeared and started attacking me! But then, Wolfy showed up and ate the zombie!

 And then, I loved Wolfy so much, I was going to give him a treat! Yes I was! YES I WAS!

And then I let him in my house.

The way he's eyeing up my farm, I know I am going to regret this in the end. BUT I WUV HIM SO MUCH-sigh...

Farming time!

If I'm going to run a semi-permanent base of operations at my current location in Minecraft, I am going to need to make a farm. A girl can not live on apples alone; I don't need THAT much wood.

The quickest way to make a wheat farm is to fence off an area, get seeds and plow it.

...No! Bad Wolfy! Get out of there!

You aren't getting any biscuits when this is over. Heck, you can't even get biscuits at all in Minecraft.

The rest was simple.

Now I just have to wait a few days to get enough wheat for bread...

A second thing I need to farm(Exclusive to the Technic Mod Pack though) is rubber. to do that, I need a tree tap:

You use the tree tap to get rubber from rubber trees that look like this:

You just put it on the yellow spots...

...wait, this tree doesn't have any yellow spots.

Grow, rubber tree sapling! You are my only hope to actually do the cool stuff!

In order to make a generator(in the Technic Mod Pack)...

...I need a Rechargeable Battery, a Machine Block, and a Furnace.

The furnace is simple: 8 cobblestone.

A machine block is made from 8 refined Iron, which is made by smelting iron ingots in the furnace.

A rechargeable battery is made from an Insulated Copper cable, 4 tin ingots, and 2 redstone.
     An insulated copper cable is made from 6 rubber and 3 copper ingots. You get rubber by cooking sticky resin from rubber trees(which look like this) in a furnace.

Which brings the total to 8 cobblestone, 8 iron ingots, 4 tin ingots, 2 redstone, 6 rubber, and 3 copper ingots.

And this is to power any other machine I make.

I have a lot of mining to do.

Wolfy, the Science Dog!

So I was working on my house one night, and I found this little rascal.

 After killing a murderous skeleton, I dubbed him Wolfy, the Science Dog.

Now he follows me when I go mining.

I sense the beginnings  of a glorious friendship.

In the Technic Mod Pack...

...axes are the best tool.

I love this seed

I love this seed. It makes an awesome world in the Technic Mod pack. If the previous statements make no sense, let me explain. Minecraft uses an algorithm to generate seemingly a different world each time you make a new one. I say "seemingly" because the algorithm uses a "seed" value to generate the world, and every time the "seed" value is run through the algorithm, it gets the same result, guaranteeing consistent terrain.

Minecraft(since beta 1.3) has given you  the option to choose your own seed. So, if you get a cool world, you can share the seed you used for it with your friends so you can all play on the cool world(in singleplayer.)

Now, I have been(unsuccessfully) trying to create a Let's Play video of Minecraft. After 1 treeless island too many, I tried the following seed:

I was glad I did. First off, just outside the spawn forest, was a Millienare(sp?) village of the Hindu civilization.

Also, there were wolves(I hope they stick around long enough for Wolfy, the Science Dog!)

And these HUGE trees(I think they're either rubber trees or magic).

And I'm not sure what mod these are from, but I am pretty sure it is not to be messed with.

And from the minimap(that's a mod) there is a visible cave. With various goodies. And get this, not one, but-

4 veins of coal! The cave I aptly named:

A reminder for anyone who wants this awesome: the seed only works with the Technic Mod Pack. If you try it in normal Minecraft, it won't work and you'll just get a normal boring swamp. Thanks for reading!

5 things I can't wait to do in Minecraft 1.3

People have been waiting for the Minecraft 1.3 update for a long time(since march!). Through the snapshot updates, people have gotten glimpses of many awesome things. With the official release of the update on August 1st, here are 5 things I'm excited to try:


1. Write a book

In Minecraft, books have existed, but only to make bookcases, which were entirely cosmetic.

With the 1.3 update however, if you take a book and craft it with a feather and an ink sac, you can make a book with quill,

which you can open and write in.

And if you sign the book, you can share it for anyone else to see!

Hello, journals!(you are not allowed to read those)!

2. Use an Ender Chest
Has this ever happened to you? You are minding your own business, walking into your cave house from a long night's mining, when OH NO, a creeper got in and blew up your chest, scattering it's contents all over your floor! It'll take forever to clean up!

NOT WITH THE NEW ENDER CHEST!!!

THIS MARVEL OF CRAFTING IS MADE FROM OBSIDIAN WITH AN EYE OF ENDER! IT HAS ALL THE POWERS OF AN ENDERMAN, WITHOUT THE MURDERING YOU! IF YOU PLACE YOUR DIAMONDS INSIDE THE ENDER CHEST, YOU CAN GET IT FROM ANY OTHER ENDER CHEST! EVEN FROM THE NETHER!

THE NETHER?!

THE NETHER!!! 

AHem...It's also explosion resistant, and people can't steal your stuff from it. I'm sold.

3. Trade with Villagers

You know this fellow? He is a Villager from Minecraft. Also known as Squidwards for their appearance or Testificates from their initial testing:

These fellows(some are girls because they have babies, but we can't tell) have a reputation for having no purpose. But not anymore. Enter trading.

This is an emerald. You can find them in the ground rarely. The Villagers use them as currency to trade for goods and services.

They will also enchant stuff for you(at the right price...).

Now we have a(n optional) reason to visit villages besides to loot/burn them(burning the village would be a bad idea though; it would provoke the iron golem).

4. Exploring the Temples
With Dungeons and Strongholds and Nether Forts, you'd think there were enough places to explore in Minecraft.Well guess what. THERE'S MORE NOW.
First off, the Jungle Temple.

Inside there is a puzzle. using pistons and levers. A PUZZLE. Which reveals TREASURE!!

And you see this other chest? ITS A TRAP(you can see the dispenser...right?)

You'd think this would be the most clever generated structure in Minecraft yet. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE: the Desert Temple.

I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be Ankhs. Hidden inside at the bottom of a pit is TREASURE!!!

But wait. There's a pressure plate. That means there's a trap. But what kind of trap?

DYNAMITE TRAP. It will kill you and destroy all your items, and the loot. So, plenty of stuff for your inner Indiana Jones.

5. The Singleplayer/Multiplayer Merge.
   Once upon a time, Minecraft had two uniquely coded modes: Singleplayer and Multiplayer. Whenever anything was updated, it needed to be updated in Singleplayer mode and separately in Multiplayer. This equalled twice the work for both the programmers who code Minecraft and the modders who work with it. But starting with 1.3, that all will change. The Singleplayer world will use a Multiplayer server to run, meaning only 1 mode to update, making it easier to add new things and remove bugs.
   But why am I so excited about this? Well, since every Singleplayer game is a Multiplayer server, you can, over Local Area Connection, join a Singleplayer game. While I'm not fond of random people joining my singleplayer world, I would be more than happy to pop in on my friend's singleplayer and do crazy stuff.