I don't mine for coal unless I happen to trip over some; I burn some wood to make charcoal, and make my first torches that way. It's faster, and gets me some torches right away so I can light up my house.
I prefer to build in Extreme Hills because I like digging houses into the sides of cliffs. So I start out by punching out a tree for some wood. With that wood I build a crafting table and a wooden pick. I pick up the crafting table, select a promising looking cliff, and dig in to build a 3x3 room. I plop my crafting table in there, and use some of the cobblestone I just mined to build a furnace, some more to make a stone axe and stone pick. I run out and chop a bunch more trees, as many as I can get before it starts getting dark. This gives me plenty of wood to make a door for my new house (which I promptly install), a chest, and wood to burn into charcoal for torches. I then make myself some torches, stick one up over the door (I like building 3-high ceilings because 2-high rooms just feel cramped), and keep the rest ready for future use. Then, during the night, I expend my new home (possibly hitting a vein of coal in the process), rearrange things as needed, decide where I'm going to put windows once I find sand to make glass, etc.
If by some chance I happen to find sheep my first day, there will be a slight diversion of time to make a stone sword and kill three sheep, so I can make a bed. Also, setting up a sheep pen will be a high priority.
Food starts becoming important, so I look for a spot I can set up a wheat farm, make a stone hoe (cobblestone, being a by-product of house expansion, is cheaper than wood), and plant some seeds. (ideally, I'll find a cow or two I can kill, too) While my wheat is growing I'm chopping trees like crazy, because I want to be able to fence in my wheat patch, put a fence around my front door (6 squares out) to keep out creepers, etc. Plus, I want the area I can see from my house clear to avoid any nasty mob surprises. At this point I'm also looking around for a source of sand so I can make some glass windows for my house. Once I have a surplus of wheat, I can use it to lure cows into a pen and breed them, for an infinite supply of steaks, and of course sheep for wool, once I have iron to make shears.
Incidentally, I try to situate my base facing west because I like watching Minecraft sunsets. YMMV.
This^
I prefer to build in Extreme Hills because I like digging houses into the sides of cliffs. So I start out by punching out a tree for some wood. With that wood I build a crafting table and a wooden pick. I pick up the crafting table, select a promising looking cliff, and dig in to build a 3x3 room. I plop my crafting table in there, and use some of the cobblestone I just mined to build a furnace, some more to make a stone axe and stone pick. I run out and chop a bunch more trees, as many as I can get before it starts getting dark. This gives me plenty of wood to make a door for my new house (which I promptly install), a chest, and wood to burn into charcoal for torches. I then make myself some torches, stick one up over the door (I like building 3-high ceilings because 2-high rooms just feel cramped), and keep the rest ready for future use. Then, during the night, I expend my new home (possibly hitting a vein of coal in the process), rearrange things as needed, decide where I'm going to put windows once I find sand to make glass, etc.
If by some chance I happen to find sheep my first day, there will be a slight diversion of time to make a stone sword and kill three sheep, so I can make a bed. Also, setting up a sheep pen will be a high priority.
Food starts becoming important, so I look for a spot I can set up a wheat farm, make a stone hoe (cobblestone, being a by-product of house expansion, is cheaper than wood), and plant some seeds. (ideally, I'll find a cow or two I can kill, too) While my wheat is growing I'm chopping trees like crazy, because I want to be able to fence in my wheat patch, put a fence around my front door (6 squares out) to keep out creepers, etc. Plus, I want the area I can see from my house clear to avoid any nasty mob surprises. At this point I'm also looking around for a source of sand so I can make some glass windows for my house. Once I have a surplus of wheat, I can use it to lure cows into a pen and breed them, for an infinite supply of steaks, and of course sheep for wool, once I have iron to make shears.
Incidentally, I try to situate my base facing west because I like watching Minecraft sunsets. YMMV.
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