I enjoy building in Minecraft and especially with the added challenge of doing so using only what I get myself. However, I get kinda bored with the landscaping or terraforming, it takes so long to flatten out the area to make it look appealing. I was wondering how many that like to build in survival do so without any cheats? Lately, I've turned cheats on so that I can go back and forth between survival and creative only because of the ability to find other biomes without getting completely lost and cutting the time down to find the other biomes. I have tried exploring on Survival without cheats and it takes forever to make it any significant distance, then you have to make it all the way back... which just takes away the fun of exploring anywhere beyond your spawn point.
Tonight I also used creative to flatten out some of the dirt. I made sure I didn't break any stone, or trees. I'm giving myself the limit of only breaking the dirt just to cut the time down.
Are there other ways to do these things without the cheats or do you switch between gamemodes too if you want to do more than build a main base house?
You can use TNT. It won't flatten an area, but is a good way to take down several levels at once. Then you just need to fill back in to the level you want.
Make sure you have 10 obsidian and a flint&steel when you explore. Then you can build a portal and use the nether as a quicker return route.
You can also preview your world in the https://chunkbase.com/apps/ website. I've been known to click through random seeds in the biome finder, looking for one that has the biomes I want reasonably close to spawn.
You can look into datapacks and resource packs. There may be some that would help. I like the https://vanillatweaks.net/ website, but there are several other reputable sources.
There are also a lot of different servers, including some that are building oriented. Mine is a fairly new PVE in Normal mode. Spawn is on an island, so most biomes are a short boat ride away.
I dont normally get much obsidian because it takes so long to find it, and i havent built a successful area to make obsidian.
Generally I don't bother going down to the lava lake level ( 11 ) to get obsidian, I just take a bucket of water and harden up one of the small surface lava lakes and mine it all out to the bottom using the water-in-a-hole method. Then I refill with stone and dirt to make the area look good again rather than leave the crater. Get more than I need that way.
I have a nether tunnel system up in the 120 level in nether and when I build a portal in the overworld, I activate it but don't enter then go to the calculated spot in the nether ceiling tunnel area and build one, and step through to connect. That way I can easily go from any overworld portal to any other all on one level and very fast. Takes a bit of digging but I'm laying in a rail system up there for even easier and faster movement. Currently fartherest overworld portal from base is about 5,000 blocks away but an easy distance in this system as I don't have any terrain to get over or around.
I'm confused. Why are you getting lost so easily while exploring? Do you navigate by dead reckoning? Maps are easy and relatively cheap to make. I routinely range out 2000 blocks or more from my home base when exploring. Use banners to mark locations of interest. Once I've filled a map I establish a satellite base and repeat the process.
Staying close to your starting spawn point is no longer so critical now that sleeping in a bed will reset your respawn location.
I do understand you desire for relatively level terrain for a base. I don't preform massive terraforming, aside from excavating strongholds(!). Rather than trying to level a hilly terrain I simply explore and explore some more until I find the ideal location for a base. Typically I like to find a seaside village in Desert or Plains biome on more or less level terrain. The village has to be really exceptional before I bother with 'straightening out' messy layout on hilly terrain.
On an infinite world there are so many interesting locations available for the finding that I've never seen the the need to fix a less than ideal terrain. As such, I have never used creative mode as way of fixing my survival world.
I would also suggest Amidst for helping to find biomes of interest.
I don’t switch to creative mode, but only because I don’t get bored terraforming and collecting resources. I have no compunctions about switching to peaceful mode, though, because it increases my enjoyment. As a matter of fact I recently went back to my original way of playing primarily in peaceful mode. Enjoyment factor increased by 80%. I also use Amidst maps to find biomes, which is also a form of cheating, though one not universally criticized. My advice is, if you are playing a game to have fun or relax, don’t waste time not having fun. Life is too short.
Another way to challenge yourself is to modify the terrain less. For example, I built a rather large scale castle, and while I did take down part of a hill, I didn't flatten the entire area. So when you walked inside the castle there were floors at different levels. It can add interest to your builds. Another build I really enjoyed was building inside of a mountain. I had periodic spots where a balcony would come out or a window, but never at the same level.
Another way to challenge yourself is to modify the terrain less. For example, I built a rather large scale castle, and while I did take down part of a hill, I didn't flatten the entire area. So when you walked inside the castle there were floors at different levels. It can add interest to your builds. Another build I really enjoyed was building inside of a mountain. I had periodic spots where a balcony would come out or a window, but never at the same level.
Agree with this. In my current world, I chose an area for base on a hillside plateau overlooking a small flat-bottomed valley below and another plateau off to one side. Only terraforming was to fill in a few small depressed areas (5 x5 or less) and cut a stairway between the various levels. Farms and small buildings in the valley and any major buildings ( House, Trading-Hall, etc.) on the plateaus with no major changes to the terrain.
I enjoy building in Minecraft and especially with the added challenge of doing so using only what I get myself. However, I get kinda bored with the landscaping or terraforming, it takes so long to flatten out the area to make it look appealing. I was wondering how many that like to build in survival do so without any cheats? Lately, I've turned cheats on so that I can go back and forth between survival and creative only because of the ability to find other biomes without getting completely lost and cutting the time down to find the other biomes. I have tried exploring on Survival without cheats and it takes forever to make it any significant distance, then you have to make it all the way back... which just takes away the fun of exploring anywhere beyond your spawn point.
Tonight I also used creative to flatten out some of the dirt. I made sure I didn't break any stone, or trees. I'm giving myself the limit of only breaking the dirt just to cut the time down.
Are there other ways to do these things without the cheats or do you switch between gamemodes too if you want to do more than build a main base house?
You can use TNT. It won't flatten an area, but is a good way to take down several levels at once. Then you just need to fill back in to the level you want.
Make sure you have 10 obsidian and a flint&steel when you explore. Then you can build a portal and use the nether as a quicker return route.
You can also preview your world in the https://chunkbase.com/apps/ website. I've been known to click through random seeds in the biome finder, looking for one that has the biomes I want reasonably close to spawn.
You can look into datapacks and resource packs. There may be some that would help. I like the https://vanillatweaks.net/ website, but there are several other reputable sources.
There are also a lot of different servers, including some that are building oriented. Mine is a fairly new PVE in Normal mode. Spawn is on an island, so most biomes are a short boat ride away.
I love the chunkbase site, that is so helpful!
I dont normally get much obsidian because it takes so long to find it, and i havent built a successful area to make obsidian.
Generally I don't bother going down to the lava lake level ( 11 ) to get obsidian, I just take a bucket of water and harden up one of the small surface lava lakes and mine it all out to the bottom using the water-in-a-hole method. Then I refill with stone and dirt to make the area look good again rather than leave the crater. Get more than I need that way.
I have a nether tunnel system up in the 120 level in nether and when I build a portal in the overworld, I activate it but don't enter then go to the calculated spot in the nether ceiling tunnel area and build one, and step through to connect. That way I can easily go from any overworld portal to any other all on one level and very fast. Takes a bit of digging but I'm laying in a rail system up there for even easier and faster movement. Currently fartherest overworld portal from base is about 5,000 blocks away but an easy distance in this system as I don't have any terrain to get over or around.
Learn something new each day
I'm confused. Why are you getting lost so easily while exploring? Do you navigate by dead reckoning? Maps are easy and relatively cheap to make. I routinely range out 2000 blocks or more from my home base when exploring. Use banners to mark locations of interest. Once I've filled a map I establish a satellite base and repeat the process.
Staying close to your starting spawn point is no longer so critical now that sleeping in a bed will reset your respawn location.
I do understand you desire for relatively level terrain for a base. I don't preform massive terraforming, aside from excavating strongholds(!). Rather than trying to level a hilly terrain I simply explore and explore some more until I find the ideal location for a base. Typically I like to find a seaside village in Desert or Plains biome on more or less level terrain. The village has to be really exceptional before I bother with 'straightening out' messy layout on hilly terrain.
On an infinite world there are so many interesting locations available for the finding that I've never seen the the need to fix a less than ideal terrain. As such, I have never used creative mode as way of fixing my survival world.
I would also suggest Amidst for helping to find biomes of interest.
I don’t switch to creative mode, but only because I don’t get bored terraforming and collecting resources. I have no compunctions about switching to peaceful mode, though, because it increases my enjoyment. As a matter of fact I recently went back to my original way of playing primarily in peaceful mode. Enjoyment factor increased by 80%. I also use Amidst maps to find biomes, which is also a form of cheating, though one not universally criticized. My advice is, if you are playing a game to have fun or relax, don’t waste time not having fun. Life is too short.
Another way to challenge yourself is to modify the terrain less. For example, I built a rather large scale castle, and while I did take down part of a hill, I didn't flatten the entire area. So when you walked inside the castle there were floors at different levels. It can add interest to your builds. Another build I really enjoyed was building inside of a mountain. I had periodic spots where a balcony would come out or a window, but never at the same level.
Agree with this. In my current world, I chose an area for base on a hillside plateau overlooking a small flat-bottomed valley below and another plateau off to one side. Only terraforming was to fill in a few small depressed areas (5 x5 or less) and cut a stairway between the various levels. Farms and small buildings in the valley and any major buildings ( House, Trading-Hall, etc.) on the plateaus with no major changes to the terrain.
Learn something new each day
Ohh hehehhehe,, I got one and Still working on it.