If its a flat desert, just start shoveling. If its a mound and you can access the base stones without too much hassle, then column mine it using the torch trick.
Here's a few screenies from my current world, custom seeded with the name "Soulfinger", my all-time favorite funk song.
HQ - Day One
I spawned just south of here on lose sand that immediately dumped me into the water. A short trip inland revealed this interesting cliff structure. An abundance of sand and coal helped me whip-up this stylish dwelling in no-time.
HQ - Fast Forward
A more recent pic of my home base. Inside the main house is a mineshaft leading into the extensive cave network running crazy through the area. The portal leads to a hub in the Nether where cobblestone and glass pathways fan out in all directions, leading to portals to far-away lands. The "sun-sphere" is currently being constructed into the face of the cliff. It will either be completely faced inside with glowstone or merely bisected with them and the top half will be filled with water. I'll definitely fill the top with water if Notch ever adds sharks.
Nether Base
The north exit from my Nether hub. This is the original pathway leading away from the base, it dives under the lava and into the mountain only to emerge at the bottom where it then leads off to a portal that exits at cloud-level in the outside world.
Sea Lab
One of portals I built in the Nether dumped me into a huge cave system running under the ocean. I built this dome on the sea bed over the portal cavern to allow quick access to the surface. The small cobblestone hole to the left is another route to and from the cave system under the water.
Creeper Skull Mountain
That portal I mentioned earlier that exits at cloud level drops me out at the top of another very interesting cliff. Its more like a hollow, square tube with generous chunks of cliffside missing between the crown and the base on one side. I had wanted to build a creeper skull on a mountain and this seemed like as good a place as any. So good, in fact, that I built two (and am thinking of adding more). Funny side-note: while constructing the second skull, a real creeper snuck up on me and blew-up a good portion of the skull's face. doh!
Creeper Skull Mountain
A third Creeper Skull can be seen from a small house I built on the beach at the base of the mountain. The beach house and this skull, along with the other two skulls in the previous pic, are all connected to a dome I constructed next to the exit portal on top of the mountain.
The same trick works outdoors if you don't have a compass. I stack a few blocks and then slap a torch facing more-or-less towards home. If I'm really worried about getting lost, I'll build them so that there is always line-of-sight from one to the next otherwise I just throw one down whenever I feel I need to.
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This makes me happy
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Damn, beaten! Oh well...
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7
HQ - Day One
I spawned just south of here on lose sand that immediately dumped me into the water. A short trip inland revealed this interesting cliff structure. An abundance of sand and coal helped me whip-up this stylish dwelling in no-time.
HQ - Fast Forward
A more recent pic of my home base. Inside the main house is a mineshaft leading into the extensive cave network running crazy through the area. The portal leads to a hub in the Nether where cobblestone and glass pathways fan out in all directions, leading to portals to far-away lands. The "sun-sphere" is currently being constructed into the face of the cliff. It will either be completely faced inside with glowstone or merely bisected with them and the top half will be filled with water. I'll definitely fill the top with water if Notch ever adds sharks.
Nether Base
The north exit from my Nether hub. This is the original pathway leading away from the base, it dives under the lava and into the mountain only to emerge at the bottom where it then leads off to a portal that exits at cloud-level in the outside world.
Sea Lab
One of portals I built in the Nether dumped me into a huge cave system running under the ocean. I built this dome on the sea bed over the portal cavern to allow quick access to the surface. The small cobblestone hole to the left is another route to and from the cave system under the water.
Creeper Skull Mountain
That portal I mentioned earlier that exits at cloud level drops me out at the top of another very interesting cliff. Its more like a hollow, square tube with generous chunks of cliffside missing between the crown and the base on one side. I had wanted to build a creeper skull on a mountain and this seemed like as good a place as any. So good, in fact, that I built two (and am thinking of adding more). Funny side-note: while constructing the second skull, a real creeper snuck up on me and blew-up a good portion of the skull's face. doh!
Creeper Skull Mountain
A third Creeper Skull can be seen from a small house I built on the beach at the base of the mountain. The beach house and this skull, along with the other two skulls in the previous pic, are all connected to a dome I constructed next to the exit portal on top of the mountain.
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crap, I just started building a wooden house.
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