IMPORTANT: extreme terrain features frequently glitch out the lighting, creating large black areas. This can be fixed by updating the areas by moving close to them, using torches, or breaking blocks at the edges of the black areas. An easier method is to select the whole area in MC Edit (after making the world and generating the land), click on "chunk control (the bottom rightmost button) and then click "relight" on the right menu. Then save the world.
Seed Hunting Tutorial
They key to seed hunting is to search seeds for terrain features as fast and as smart as possible. This guide will show you how.
First, you need three things: the program Amidst which displays biomes from a seed; Val's Minimap which shows terrain and biomes on the map, and Zombe's Mod Pack which includes a flight map that allows you to fly as fast as your computer can render terrain.
Here's a quick overview of the process:
1) Search for candidate seed in Amidst
2) Make new world with seed in Minecraft and quit to main menu.
3) Load world file in Amidst and move position to mountain biome.
4) Open world in Minecraft and search mountain biome.
5) Search additional mountain ranges if clues of funky terrain are found
Here's a video so you can see it in action:
Full details and tips:
--------------
Start in Amidst. Press control-N to input a new seed, and type in a long string of random symbols such as 38x73n5bv8ks22v2v2. Do not press enter yet; now press control-C to copy the string. Then press enter to input. You're looking for frequent and/or large mountain biomes (orange-brown) closer to the center of the map (and thus closer to spawn.)
If you don't have a good candidate, press control-N to input another seed. Now, paste your string of symbols and delete the last symbol; for the above example string, it would be 38x73n5bv8ks22v2v. Rinse and repeat until you find a suitable candidate. This allows you to search through many unique seeds quickly with limited keystrokes.
A quick note about setting up flight: the keys to enable and control flight are slightly different for Zombe's mod; make sure to read the readme and set up the keys as you like, and make sure to test the flight speed optFlySpeedMulNormal = 10.0 so that it is as high as your computer can render terrain; I use a multiplier of 8 for my mid-range gaming computer. This is essential for actually searching the terrain in Minecraft quickly.
Once you have a candidate, in Minecraft make a new Creative world with it as your seed. Save and quit; this is essential to change your position. Now, in Amidst, go to file->new->from file and open the Minecraft world. You should see a Steve head marking your position. Near the end of a mountain range closer to the center of the map, left click and select "move player here." This will move your in-game position. Press control-S to save your position to the file.
Now, re-load the world in Minecraft and use the minimap along with the displayed biome map in Amidst to guide you down the mountain range. There is a recurring rule with seeds: that if a seed generates funky terrain in one spot, it is more likely to generate funky terrain in other spots, which is what you want to find. This is where experience and skill comes into play; over time you will develop a "feel" for exactly what terrain features you are looking for, but in general it is things like small floating bits, overhangs, max height (around 128) mountains, and very "broken" terrain.
If the mountain terrain seems like it is rolling hills or mostly flat, you may want to stop right here. However, if you find clues that there may be epic, funky terrain in the seed, you will want to check surrounding mountain biomes as well. Do this similarly as above, by exiting the world and moving your position in Amidst.
Be aware that sometimes when you delete worlds, it won't delete all the chunk data properly; to fix this, delete the world folder manually. You can see me do this in the demonstration video at around 1:40
The above may seem complicated, but in practice it is very quick and efficient. This method is the result of me searching countless thousands of seeds; I have found some of the most popular seeds ever using this method (most of them using an alt.) THE BIGGEST TIP: watch movies and Youtube videos while you do this! Your worst enemy is boredom and monotony; multitasking makes this effortless, especially as once you have the method down, it becomes semi-autonomous.
It is my hope in posting this (and please repost it anywhere you want!) to help others become seed hunters so that the Minecraft community will have a flood of extraordinary seeds of the likes we have never seen. Use this tutorial to find something outstanding and unique for your server, let's play videos, personal use, or merely to get epic amounts of Karma. Because I'm crazy, seed hunting is its own reward for me; I like the hunt, and the sense of discovery and thrill of a major find. Hit the seed jackpot and you'll be vaulted to the front page of /r/minecraft.
Flying rock bay is nice.If you go on the other side of it from the screenies, you'll find a hallowed out area. Just in front of it is a very short cave, but if you did further along it you run right into a skelly dungeon.
Flying rock bay is nice.If you go on the other side of it from the screenies, you'll find a hallowed out area. Just in front of it is a very short cave, but if you did further along it you run right into a skelly dungeon.
Very nice find If anyone needs coordinates:
-180,71,280 is the hollow area he's talking about; it's very Yogcave-like. It has a low roof and is large, and would make an excellent first base. Especially since the skeleton spawner is so close at -159,64,276; you can make your skelly farm right in your base!
Here's a pic:
It was infested by a party of 20 hostile mobs when I arrived. Seems they like it too, so be careful!
IMPORTANT: extreme terrain features frequently glitch out the lighting, creating large black areas. This can be fixed by updating the areas by moving close to them, using torches, or breaking blocks at the edges of the black areas. An easier method is to select the whole area in MC Edit (after making the world and generating the land), click on "chunk control (the bottom rightmost button) and then click "relight" on the right menu. Then save the world.
They key to seed hunting is to search seeds for terrain features as fast and as smart as possible. This guide will show you how.
First, you need three things: the program Amidst which displays biomes from a seed; Val's Minimap which shows terrain and biomes on the map, and Zombe's Mod Pack which includes a flight map that allows you to fly as fast as your computer can render terrain.
Here's a quick overview of the process:
1) Search for candidate seed in Amidst
2) Make new world with seed in Minecraft and quit to main menu.
3) Load world file in Amidst and move position to mountain biome.
4) Open world in Minecraft and search mountain biome.
5) Search additional mountain ranges if clues of funky terrain are found
Here's a video so you can see it in action:
Full details and tips:
--------------
Start in Amidst. Press control-N to input a new seed, and type in a long string of random symbols such as 38x73n5bv8ks22v2v2. Do not press enter yet; now press control-C to copy the string. Then press enter to input. You're looking for frequent and/or large mountain biomes (orange-brown) closer to the center of the map (and thus closer to spawn.)
If you don't have a good candidate, press control-N to input another seed. Now, paste your string of symbols and delete the last symbol; for the above example string, it would be 38x73n5bv8ks22v2v. Rinse and repeat until you find a suitable candidate. This allows you to search through many unique seeds quickly with limited keystrokes.
A quick note about setting up flight: the keys to enable and control flight are slightly different for Zombe's mod; make sure to read the readme and set up the keys as you like, and make sure to test the flight speed optFlySpeedMulNormal = 10.0 so that it is as high as your computer can render terrain; I use a multiplier of 8 for my mid-range gaming computer. This is essential for actually searching the terrain in Minecraft quickly.
Once you have a candidate, in Minecraft make a new Creative world with it as your seed. Save and quit; this is essential to change your position. Now, in Amidst, go to file->new->from file and open the Minecraft world. You should see a Steve head marking your position. Near the end of a mountain range closer to the center of the map, left click and select "move player here." This will move your in-game position. Press control-S to save your position to the file.
Now, re-load the world in Minecraft and use the minimap along with the displayed biome map in Amidst to guide you down the mountain range. There is a recurring rule with seeds: that if a seed generates funky terrain in one spot, it is more likely to generate funky terrain in other spots, which is what you want to find. This is where experience and skill comes into play; over time you will develop a "feel" for exactly what terrain features you are looking for, but in general it is things like small floating bits, overhangs, max height (around 128) mountains, and very "broken" terrain.
If the mountain terrain seems like it is rolling hills or mostly flat, you may want to stop right here. However, if you find clues that there may be epic, funky terrain in the seed, you will want to check surrounding mountain biomes as well. Do this similarly as above, by exiting the world and moving your position in Amidst.
Be aware that sometimes when you delete worlds, it won't delete all the chunk data properly; to fix this, delete the world folder manually. You can see me do this in the demonstration video at around 1:40
The above may seem complicated, but in practice it is very quick and efficient. This method is the result of me searching countless thousands of seeds; I have found some of the most popular seeds ever using this method (most of them using an alt.) THE BIGGEST TIP: watch movies and Youtube videos while you do this! Your worst enemy is boredom and monotony; multitasking makes this effortless, especially as once you have the method down, it becomes semi-autonomous.
It is my hope in posting this (and please repost it anywhere you want!) to help others become seed hunters so that the Minecraft community will have a flood of extraordinary seeds of the likes we have never seen. Use this tutorial to find something outstanding and unique for your server, let's play videos, personal use, or merely to get epic amounts of Karma. Because I'm crazy, seed hunting is its own reward for me; I like the hunt, and the sense of discovery and thrill of a major find. Hit the seed jackpot and you'll be vaulted to the front page of /r/minecraft.
Thanks
Very nice find If anyone needs coordinates:
-180,71,280 is the hollow area he's talking about; it's very Yogcave-like. It has a low roof and is large, and would make an excellent first base. Especially since the skeleton spawner is so close at -159,64,276; you can make your skelly farm right in your base!
Here's a pic:
It was infested by a party of 20 hostile mobs when I arrived. Seems they like it too, so be careful!