Great guide! We definitely need more people like you around.
Although it's of little use to me (I've been making aesthetic things for quite a while now,) it's probably incredibly useful to some newer people around the forums and to Minecraft.
Not be a critic, but stairs with sighns on the side are ugly. Try using a different way to do it. Dont get me wrong; you did do a good job, just stirs look ugly. try this:(top view)
=wood
=wood slab
=wood stair
Any opinions on how to make it look better would be great!!
Uh ok, this is going to sound rude, no way I can make it sound nice. Destroy it, look back at the pictures in the thread, mainly, not the OP's. They aren't terrible, mind you, but he's sticking to much to the box theme. And a great height like you're house is, not good. Its to flat, to tall, to fat, use different materials, try a texture pack. I personally find most creations in original minecraft texture, very ugly, its just me, not saying it doesn't have potential, but this structure has ALOT of work needed.
Make it smaller first story, then maybe make a room or two on the top, use stairs as roofing, but go all the way around the house on the blocks that would be the flooring.
Also, WAY to much stone, just noticed that. WAY WAY to much stone.My quick house, whipped this up real fast for this thread.
I don't mean to be rude, but Ultimate really doesn't sound right for this thread. :/
This is more like, beginner to intermediate builders.
There are MUCH more advanced building things you can do that aren't covered in this, or probably not known to you.
@cut84li4e: Didn't you just say something about too much stone? What's up with the roof on your house, hm?
You do have a good point about the beginner/intermediate level, though. I'd rate BenJ's tricks at intermediate level, because they do seem to revolve around boxy houses. A really good house should blow the minds of everyone that passes by.
@Fire_Blazer: While I agree with cut84li4e and detest your exterior, the inside looks pretty good. Just... a little empty.
I'd also like to add a tip: If any side of your house is completely flat, fix it. Add a buttress, awning, roof extension, balcony, or similar feature. Actually, you shouldn't leave any flat space bigger than 5x3 on the outside of a house.
I built a new house; will upload pics soon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What is this thing you call logic?
...Oh, but I threw that away last week...
@cut84li4e: Didn't you just say something about too much stone? What's up with the roof on your house, hm?
You do have a good point about the beginner/intermediate level, though. I'd rate BenJ's tricks at intermediate level, because they do seem to revolve around boxy houses. A really good house should blow the minds of everyone that passes by.
@Fire_Blazer: While I agree with cut84li4e and detest your exterior, the inside looks pretty good. Just... a little empty.
I'd also like to add a tip: If any side of your house is completely flat, fix it. Add a buttress, awning, roof extension, balcony, or similar feature. Actually, you shouldn't leave any flat space bigger than 5x3 on the outside of a house.
I built a new house; will upload pics soon.
Hmmm well lets see, a box house, that takes 10 seconds to make, made with nothing but a few bits of wood, and all stone walls. The stone i'm using, alot or not, is fashioned into a pretty good looking roof. So....you're argument is invalid. :tongue.gif:
Another thing that looks nice (I'll post some pics later) is putting a corner in your house, making it an L shape. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit with you.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
I don't think this base looks terrible, even if it does go against everything in this thread. =P
The big wooden structure (not the wooden tower) was my first dwelling on this map. Its interior is a mess because of the fact that it's covered in leftover bits and pieces of the early storage systems o this map. I suppose when I complete my Desert Fortress mega project, I should probably do some work with the interior of this building.
The wooden tower is a storage facility. This is the most frequently visited structure in the entire base.
You can see a small wooden structure with a small sunroof. It serves as an area to store food and cook it. This structure, not going to lie, REALLY needs a facelift and is probably the ugliest thing I've built since I learned how to play survival, not counting the small (as in, like, 3x4 block interior, or at least something like that) wooden hut I built for a "Build a base in 5 minutes" challenge.
Then there's a small wooden pillar that appears in the Cartograph G render of my base and not in the screenshot (the screenshot is slightly outdated). This wooden pillar... well, there's not much that can be done to make it look any better. It's just a big tube that you put gravel in, then you remove the gravel to get flint.
The netherrack furnace building is probably the best thing I've done in this base. It's entirely Netherrack on the outside, yes, but it has a lavafall on the outside and water on the roof. Its interior is made of obsidian, lava, and of course furnaces, otherwise it wouldn't be a structure dedicated to the smelting of items.
The armory is okay, I suppose. This is the structure that has burning Netherrack as a decorative touch. The interior just houses three chests and is made out of Netherrack and lit with glowstone.
I have a decent looking forest in a desert, but it's not done yet. And yes, it's made entirely out of cobblestone. Sorry! It actually has gotten to a size where I have to think about what to do with each room because I ran out of ideas. So basically the entire third floor is made of bedrooms. Lots of making really thick walls because two of the rooms had a walk-in-closet (I had it for something, I think, but when I began decorating the interior I couldn't remember what it was for) and I decided to make all of them have walk-in-closets, which resulted in spaces I had to fill in because there wasn't room to do anything with them, and then there was always "this room is too big, I think I'll thicken the wall so it'll be smaller. But I'm probably okay with having this structure feel "prisonlike." The structure has no windows on the first three floors, though I might change that. And I seriously built five little prison cells, complete with wolves that I spawned in with SPC.
Well, feel free to critique this stuff, would be curious to see what others think of it. I probably won't change any of it (except that stupid food storage structure that looks like crap) because I'm kind of attached to the base.
I don't think this base looks terrible, even if it does go against everything in this thread. =P
With the wall around everything... there's not much you can do with it; it's a defensive wall.
As for the structures, you've got a good start, except that they're completely made of planks. That is a big no-no. Vary the material used, is a nice pattern. Doing the corners differently adds a nice touch.
Also, try to break away from box-houses. Porches and balconies work wonders for making a building look good. You can extend a second-floor wall over the edge of the first floor and add plank "props," or sink a first-floor room 1 block into the ground and lower its roof as well.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What is this thing you call logic?
...Oh, but I threw that away last week...
With the wall around everything... there's not much you can do with it; it's a defensive wall.
As for the structures, you've got a good start, except that they're completely made of planks. That is a big no-no. Vary the material used, is a nice pattern. Doing the corners differently adds a nice touch.
Also, try to break away from box-houses. Porches and balconies work wonders for making a building look good. You can extend a second-floor wall over the edge of the first floor and add plank "props," or sink a first-floor room 1 block into the ground and lower its roof as well.
I might try this with a newer structure in this particular world. I know I won't be changing anything (other than that stupid kitchen) in Fort Alpha just because I'm attached to it.
The new structure in question is a completely clean slate. I will definitely still be employing a one-material style for the defensive wall, except I used planks on this. Blast/fire resistance isn't really a huge concern of mine because I don't maniacally set fire to things and I don't feel like I need the creeper protection. I'll post screenshots of the structures within the new base once I finish it.
I never use cobble. It makes you look like a total noob, and its just plain ugly.
Well that's just, like, your opinion, man!
I happen to like cobble, but thats just me. The point of this guide was not to say "material X is better than material Y" but instead to illustrate how using a variety of materials can make a build look better.
Awesome guide. I'll definitely be using these tips when building my house.
Just a tip I've picked up when playing that I think would be a good addition to this: When building more storeys to your house make the floor on them two blocks thick. This means you can have carpets or some design on the floor upstairs and it won't show through to the lower levels. A carpeted ceiling looks ridiculous.
oh, good idea. Ill have to add a note about that in the guide.
When are you going to add a roofing section though?
Although it's of little use to me (I've been making aesthetic things for quite a while now,) it's probably incredibly useful to some newer people around the forums and to Minecraft.
Have yourself a diamond, good sir.
I disapprove.
=wood
=wood slab
=wood stair
:wink.gif: hint hint
Uh ok, this is going to sound rude, no way I can make it sound nice. Destroy it, look back at the pictures in the thread, mainly, not the OP's. They aren't terrible, mind you, but he's sticking to much to the box theme. And a great height like you're house is, not good. Its to flat, to tall, to fat, use different materials, try a texture pack. I personally find most creations in original minecraft texture, very ugly, its just me, not saying it doesn't have potential, but this structure has ALOT of work needed.
Make it smaller first story, then maybe make a room or two on the top, use stairs as roofing, but go all the way around the house on the blocks that would be the flooring.
Also, WAY to much stone, just noticed that. WAY WAY to much stone.My quick house, whipped this up real fast for this thread.
I don't mean to be rude, but Ultimate really doesn't sound right for this thread. :/
This is more like, beginner to intermediate builders.
There are MUCH more advanced building things you can do that aren't covered in this, or probably not known to you.
You do have a good point about the beginner/intermediate level, though. I'd rate BenJ's tricks at intermediate level, because they do seem to revolve around boxy houses. A really good house should blow the minds of everyone that passes by.
@Fire_Blazer: While I agree with cut84li4e and detest your exterior, the inside looks pretty good. Just... a little empty.
I'd also like to add a tip: If any side of your house is completely flat, fix it. Add a buttress, awning, roof extension, balcony, or similar feature. Actually, you shouldn't leave any flat space bigger than 5x3 on the outside of a house.
I built a new house; will upload pics soon.
...Oh, but I threw that away last week...
Hmmm well lets see, a box house, that takes 10 seconds to make, made with nothing but a few bits of wood, and all stone walls. The stone i'm using, alot or not, is fashioned into a pretty good looking roof. So....you're argument is invalid. :tongue.gif:
The big wooden structure (not the wooden tower) was my first dwelling on this map. Its interior is a mess because of the fact that it's covered in leftover bits and pieces of the early storage systems o this map. I suppose when I complete my Desert Fortress mega project, I should probably do some work with the interior of this building.
The wooden tower is a storage facility. This is the most frequently visited structure in the entire base.
You can see a small wooden structure with a small sunroof. It serves as an area to store food and cook it. This structure, not going to lie, REALLY needs a facelift and is probably the ugliest thing I've built since I learned how to play survival, not counting the small (as in, like, 3x4 block interior, or at least something like that) wooden hut I built for a "Build a base in 5 minutes" challenge.
Then there's a small wooden pillar that appears in the Cartograph G render of my base and not in the screenshot (the screenshot is slightly outdated). This wooden pillar... well, there's not much that can be done to make it look any better. It's just a big tube that you put gravel in, then you remove the gravel to get flint.
The netherrack furnace building is probably the best thing I've done in this base. It's entirely Netherrack on the outside, yes, but it has a lavafall on the outside and water on the roof. Its interior is made of obsidian, lava, and of course furnaces, otherwise it wouldn't be a structure dedicated to the smelting of items.
The armory is okay, I suppose. This is the structure that has burning Netherrack as a decorative touch. The interior just houses three chests and is made out of Netherrack and lit with glowstone.
I have a decent looking forest in a desert, but it's not done yet. And yes, it's made entirely out of cobblestone. Sorry! It actually has gotten to a size where I have to think about what to do with each room because I ran out of ideas. So basically the entire third floor is made of bedrooms. Lots of making really thick walls because two of the rooms had a walk-in-closet (I had it for something, I think, but when I began decorating the interior I couldn't remember what it was for) and I decided to make all of them have walk-in-closets, which resulted in spaces I had to fill in because there wasn't room to do anything with them, and then there was always "this room is too big, I think I'll thicken the wall so it'll be smaller. But I'm probably okay with having this structure feel "prisonlike." The structure has no windows on the first three floors, though I might change that. And I seriously built five little prison cells, complete with wolves that I spawned in with SPC.
Well, feel free to critique this stuff, would be curious to see what others think of it. I probably won't change any of it (except that stupid food storage structure that looks like crap) because I'm kind of attached to the base.
With the wall around everything... there's not much you can do with it; it's a defensive wall.
As for the structures, you've got a good start, except that they're completely made of planks. That is a big no-no. Vary the material used, is a nice pattern. Doing the corners differently adds a nice touch.
Also, try to break away from box-houses. Porches and balconies work wonders for making a building look good. You can extend a second-floor wall over the edge of the first floor and add plank "props," or sink a first-floor room 1 block into the ground and lower its roof as well.
...Oh, but I threw that away last week...
I might try this with a newer structure in this particular world. I know I won't be changing anything (other than that stupid kitchen) in Fort Alpha just because I'm attached to it.
The new structure in question is a completely clean slate. I will definitely still be employing a one-material style for the defensive wall, except I used planks on this. Blast/fire resistance isn't really a huge concern of mine because I don't maniacally set fire to things and I don't feel like I need the creeper protection. I'll post screenshots of the structures within the new base once I finish it.
Well that's just, like, your opinion, man!
I happen to like cobble, but thats just me. The point of this guide was not to say "material X is better than material Y" but instead to illustrate how using a variety of materials can make a build look better.
oh, good idea. Ill have to add a note about that in the guide.
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