Random Thoughts 2023-06-04

     I read that Google will be purging accounts of anything that has been inactive for more than two years. When I checked my Minetest blog the last post was in 2017.

     Two things:

1. Yup, better get something posted.
2. It's really been that long!?

     Well,... back then I was unemployed and had a lot of time on my hands. More often than not I miss those days. My health and peace of mind were much better back then. The rat-race of employment takes a heavy toll on a person.

     I still putter in my single-player world, "U4EA" (euphoria); put on some chill tunes, relax, and escape the insanities of real life for a while.

     Creating blog posts were very time consuming. Thinking of what to write, condensing notes into concise and coherent content; setting up screenshots, cropping, resizing, condensing; then reviewing it all and work through several edits before posting only to come back days layer and see mistakes with refreshed eyes followed by another round of edits.

     On that note...

Condense Your Images Before Posting

     Yes, we live in a day and age of high-speed Internet, wide-screen monitors, and powerful desktop computers but the most used device for frequently accessing the Internet is the smartphone. In comparison to the desktop gear, smartphones have tiny screens, wimpy processors, dinky amounts of RAM, and if you don't have access to WiFi you are stuck in the hell that is slow and spotty cellular service (at least here in the US).

     800px x 600px at 72dpi is good enough for most images. If the image is of the realistic sort, use the jpg file format. If the image is from a chunky, blocky game like Minetest, use the png file format.

     It may take several attempts using different compression levels in jpg or png formats to find the sweet spot between the amount of compression and the rendered quality of the image. After a few times you develop a feel for what settings work for what type of image is compressed.

     "GIMP" is a good, free, photo editor for Windows and Linux (not sure if it works for Mac).

     "Compress jpeg, png: Reduce image size" is the free app I use on my Android smartphone.

Perspective and Proportion

     One of the challenges of building in Minetest is interpreting your perspective and sense of proportion of the real world and translating that into the perspective and proportions of Minetest worlds.

     In Minetest everything is based on the dimension of 1 x 1 x 1 cubical space. Even the smallest, thinnest panel occupies a full 1 x 1 x 1 cubical space -- nothing else can occupy that space at the same time.

     This can be useful in some build-design tricks but more often than not it is a frustrating fact of builing in Minetest that you can't put stuff close together like you can in real life.

     To work around this means having to make compromises and sacrifices in how you assemble your builds and then relying on the viewers' imagination to fill in where Minetest won't allow stuff to be put.

     To build in Minetest with real life proportions would result in creations so massive that Minetest wouldn't be able to load all of the world chunks for viewing at a distance. The Minetest character would be like a tiny ant in a pro-sports stadium.

     To help adjust your perspective from the real world to a Minetest world and give you a better sense of proportion of your build to the player character stack two blocks, one on top of the other, to create a mannequin. Two blocks high is roughly the height and width of a Minetest character ("Sam"). Since the default "Sam" has blue pants and a green shirt, I stack a green wool block on top of a blue wool block. Then I place one of these wool mannequins in each room and at least one outside to get a better feel for how big or small to make stuff.

     I'll leave things here and save the rest of my thoughts and scribbled notes for future posts.

About Comments:

     Be civil and show some class toward your fellow commenters.
     Trolls will be ignored as will posts containing swear-words or alternate spellings of swear words.

IhrFussel Server Spawn Tower - Completed

~ Twin Statues Fountain Area ~
(click picture for larger version)

In my previous post, "WIP - IhrFussel Server Spawn Tower", I had created the statues but had yet to detail the fountain's base and the rest of the surrounding area of that corner of the spawn tower's courtyard. I had placed yellow wool to rough in some shapes at various positions.

In each of the four corner areas of the courtyard I wanted to create places that were interesting to walk through and explore. For this corner, I tried to accomplish that goal by not having a bland, solid base under the fountain and by creating more than one path.

The primary path is at ground level and is part of the main path that encircles the spawn tower. In the fountain corner of the courtyard, there are at least three other minor paths. One stems from the primary path and leads through the base of the fountain. Another is the walking path that goes from top to bottom along the wall.

I could have made a plain staircase out of stair nodes against the wall but I wanted something that helped make the journey more pleasing to the eye. So I created three, half-circle flower gardens at different levels and extended the stairs and path the full length of the wall. Breaking the span of the wall into three different levels makes the journey up and down along the wall visually appealing. I did not create this place with a mad dash race in mind; the spawn area is a place to leisurely wander through, explore, and enjoy the scenes.

~ Adding Natural Details to Walls ~
(click picture for larger version)

The three different levels along the wall looked fine from the top down but looking across, their plain, bare sides needed some detailing. I buried some tree trunks and placed pine needle nodes to simulate bushes along the sides of the walls. MoreBlocks' rope looks like a vine which works well for decorating vertical surfaces with something plant-like. I placed a few of them, sporadically, on sides of the walls. In one spot I created a third path, up the wall, by placing the rope the full height of the wall. Just like the four waterfalls in the tower, the MoreBlocks' rope scaling the wall is an example of creating subtle ways to reach high places, that are not as obvious as ladders, stairs, or elevators.

~ Ceiling and Interior of Fountain Base ~
(click picture for larger version)

I chose not to have the base of the fountain be a solid mass. Instead I hollowed-out the base and detailed it to make it a visually interesting place walk through.

Stone pillars were added to provide support for the weight of the statues. Each pillar is detailed with various pieces cut with MoreBlocks' circular saw. Normal, upside-down, stair nodes looked too puny when used for the braces at the tops of the pillars. The stairs just didn't look broad enough to support the weight above. With some experimenting, a combination of full-sized blocks and different panel sizes provided braces that look substantial enough.

The sides of the fountain's base are open but still the interior is rather dark even during the day. The back wall was a blank, smooth, broad, visually boring, iron-stone surface. To break-up the back wall's monotony, I used iron-stone brick and created a pattern with inlaid iron-stone panels. By placing torches next to those panels, I exploited the lighting glitch in node boxes (the panels, stairs, and micro-blocks). Light passes through node boxes, illuminating them. This trick is useful when you want to make things glow without having a bright light or to hide light sources. The waterfall in the center is detailed with more panels, stairs, and microblocks creating more levels of surfaces for light and shadow to be cast upon. All these little elements combining to transform a stagnant looking wall into something more visually appealing.

The interior's ceiling is detailed with panels to suggest structural reinforcement as well as creating visual variety on an otherwise flat, iron-stone grey surface. Take a moment to think about the builds you have created and other people's builds that you have seen. How were the ceilings detailed? Were they detailed or was there just some light stuck up there? Small observations like that help can you improve your design skills and provide inspiration.

~ Stone Pavilion and Junction ~
(click picture for larger version)

To the east of  the fountain, another quarter of the courtyard has wooden picnic tables and a stone pavilion. The pavilion is also a junction between the lower level and the upper level paths of the courtyard. One of the ways to make your roads and paths more interesting to travelers is to make junctions that are more than just a turn or flat intersection.

~ Odd Little Path Revealed ~
(click picture for larger version)

The spawn area is designed for exploring with several different paths and ways to get to various parts of the builds. In the stone pavilion's corner of the courtyard, a small, singular path splits off from the main path, trekking under the bridge and winds behind the stone pavilion.

~ Behind the Stone Pavilion ~
(click picture for larger version)

It would have been simpler to make the base of the stone pavilion flush vertically but it would also look rather bland. Adding a broader top and bottom to the base created more surfaces for light and shadows to appear which improves the visual variety of the base. Not a very complex or huge improvement but simple, little improvements, like this, can add-up and improve the overall scene of your project.

~ Pseudo-Secret Room ~
(click picture for larger version)

The stone pavilion touches the north and east walls. The spot were the curve is away from the walls is barely big enough for a small, hand-made tree and a couple blue flowers. But that's not the path's destination.

~ Stone Pavilion Base Interior - Before ~
(click picture for larger version)

The stone pavilion's base, at the inner ring, is 4 meters high with a 7 meter diameter. Just big enough to create a workshop in for the groundskeeper.

~ Stone Pavilion Base Interior - After ~
(click picture for larger version)

The groundskeeper's workshop is filled with junk in storage, a saw, toolbox, work bench, a ladder, and the most crucial piece of equipment of all - a coffee maker!

~ Groundskeeper's Workshop ~
(click picture for larger version)

~ Roughing Out the Administration Building ~
(click picture for larger version)

Now... what to do with the opposite corner?

Ok, so there is a tower for players to arrive at, a fountain, a pavilion with a groundskeeper's workshop - everything is shaping up to look quite stately and official.

"Official"?

Hmm... If a place is "official" it needs officials to officiate and to generate lots and lots of bureaucracy and paperwork. And all that is done in administrative buildings.

An administrative building it will be then to occupy this corner.

Again, I laid down yellow wool blocks to rough out the placement and size of things to see what would fit and where.

~ Administration Building and Path Plan ~
(click picture for larger version)

I wanted a path to circle around the tower so before I started construction of the Administration Building, I played around some more yellow wool blocks to get the route of the path worked out. The path around the tower is not a perfect circle. Some asymmetry mixed in helps to keep the rest of the symmetrical stuff from making the whole project look too monotonous, too mechanically perfect. The more man-made something is to look, the more imperfections there should be.

~ Administration Building Path and Foundation ~
(click picture for larger version)

The yellow wool block guidelines were replaced and filled out with split-stone to make the path around the tower and stone and iron-stone for the foundation for the administrative building. Like with the rest of the builds in the tower's courtyard, I improvised as I went; not knowing what the final build would look like but having a few ideas of what elements I want present in the build.

~ Administration Building - Main Section's Framework ~
(click picture for larger version)

Keeping with the cylindrical theme of the tower and the stone pavilion, the main section of the Administration Building was made to be a cylinder too.

~ Administration Building - Exterior Completed ~
(click picture for larger version)

Since the Administration Building was where the top officials would be, the build should look fancier than the stone pavilion but not too fancy as the tower is the focal point of the project so the tower should remain the fanciest build. I decided to make a miniature version of the tower out the Administration Building's main section.

~ Administration Building - Main Entrance Detail ~
(click picture for larger version)

As with the tower, the exterior of the Administration Building is detailed with blocks from the MoreBlock's circular saw. Minetest generates 3D worlds, make your builds 3D too. A flat sided build is still flat; to improve it make it bumpy with various micro-blocks and whatever else is available to you to use.

For the main entrance's archway I used glass microblocks and the split-stone supports are half-stairs. Did you know MoreBlocks had half-stairs? Sometime when you are playing in creative-mode, layout every shape the MoreBlocks circular saw makes to see them full size instead of trying to guess by the tiny images in the menu.

~ Steel Bars on Window Frame ~
(click picture for larger version)

Have you used Minetest steel bars for anything other than creating jail cells? One of the things you can do to improve your build designs is to look at the shape of items and ignore their description. Ask yourself, "What else does this shape look like? What else could it simulate?"

Instead of placing steel bars across the top floor's windows, I placed them outward to simulate ornamental metal sections of the stone window frames. Because the steel bars aren't connecting to each other, they appear as half-sections. Unfortunately, in newer versions of Minetest, this half-sized effect no longer works; instead the steel bars and glass panes place as full-length sections. I'll have to adapt several of my designs that used the half-sized effect. (For U4EA I can create custom nodes to replace them with.)

~ Administration Building's Vortex Floor ~
(click picture for larger version)

In keeping with the tower's design, I created a watery vortex pattern in the stone floor and added a glowing center point.

~ Administration Building - Main Section Floor Detail ~
(click picture for larger version)

Despite all the glass windows, the interior of the Administration Building's, main section's, ground floor was quite dark. Exploiting Minetest's lighting glitch, I created hidden light sources to make the interior glow.

"Glow", not glare.

Instead of using a lot of bright, glaring lights that would wash-out a lot of details of the interior's design, I opted for more muted, ambient lighting, leveraging the shadows to draw attention to the lit details.

Besides making things bumpy, play with lighting affects whenever and where ever possible to help improve the design of your builds.

~ Administration Building - The Boss's Office ~
(click picture for larger version)

On the upper floor of the Administration Building's main section is where the boss's office is.

The pattern in the floor repeats the vortex pattern but instead with solid stone. The desk is another element created from MoreBlock's circular saw. The diamond block isn't a full-sized block so it is recessed behind the flipped, obsidian stairs to create the desk shape.

Since this is the boss's office there are some small chairs facing the desk. The office is spacious, spartan but still opulent. The boss here isn't buried under paper work and mountains of files - that's what the underlings are for.

~ Courtyard Flower Garden - Beginnings ~
(click picture for larger version)

Now there is only one quarter section of the courtyard left. There are statues, a water fountain, a pavilion - what other decorative outdoor things are there?

A flower garden would fit the bill.

~ Roughing In the Flower Garden ~
(click picture for larger version)

As with the other quarters of the courtyard, I placed yellow wool blocks to rough in the size and placement of the  flower garden as well as layout the general flow of the final section of the path that wraps around the tower.

 ~ Courtyard Flower Garden and Path ~
(click picture for larger version)

Keeping a repeated pattern throughout the courtyard, I made the flower garden circular and the same, primary circumference, as the stone pavilion and Administration Building's main section. To make the garden more bumpy, I added a second and third level.

With the flower garden finished, the spawn tower and courtyard project was now complete. It took me about five, cumulative days, many hours at a stretch, to create this project, start to finish. In that time the areas surrounding the courtyard quickly filled up. I had created four, cardinal direction, paths to be extended as roads to and from the courtyard but some of them were blocked by structures built right in front of the paths.

Well, it was now up to the inhabitants of the server to decide whether or not to rework the builds blocking the entry points and connect roads to the paths.

Epilogue

I completed my spawn tower and courtyard project on IhrFussel's Server in late spring of 2016. During the months that followed, misfortune befell my beautiful creation.

When I returned for a visit in December 2016, I was saddened by what had become of my project. Bits and pieces of the details had been tampered with and altered. Lower portions of the courtyard were flooded with dirt in what looked like a WorldEdit mishap. A giant Christmas tree had been grown on the top of the tower and a stone chamber encased the spawn point.

Before beginning construction on my project I had set a 50x100x50 Areas protection over it to protect the tower and courtyard fully. IhrFussel said that, for a time, there had been a glitch in the Areas mod that left my build unprotected.

IhrFussel also said that the areas surrounding the spawn tower and courtyard had become such a congested mess that players were having great difficulty getting past and out into the rest of the world. So a new spawn point was created and the old spawn area and my once beautiful tower and courtyard were abandoned.

I could only shake my head in dismay as I surveyed the damage. My prototype had been taken for granted and mistreated.

Yeah - "prototype".

While I was creating the project, more build ideas based on the tower's architecture were forming in my thoughts. Structures that would expand the courtyard and develop into a town around the tower. But early on it was plainly evident that such expansion would not be possible with all the congestion forming around the project on IhrFussel's Server.

But I knew of a place where my tower and courtyard project would not only have space to expand but would also be safe from harm - in my main singleplayer world, "U4EA".

~ U4EA's "City of Aria" - A New Beginning ~
(click picture for larger version)

I'm continuing my beautiful creation's development as the "City of Aria" in U4EA.

Side note:  The letters and number "U-4-E-A", phonetically sound out the word "euphoria". These are the letters and number my grandfather carved into a wooden plaque that he hung over the porch of the family's cabin in the foothills of Colorado. The cabin was my childhood sanctuary. Many decades later my main singleplayer world is now my sanctuary, my virtual world "U4EA".

~ Aria - Poised on a Hill Top ~
 (click picture for larger version) 

According to Dictionary.com, "aria" is defined as "an elaborate melody sung solo with accompaniment, as in an opera or oratorio." A fitting description for this project.

My tower and courtyard are an elaborate and flowing melody. A solo centerpiece to be accompanied by an orchestra of support buildings of similar architecture to form an alabaster city.

~ Aria - Ground Entrance ~
(click picture for larger version)

An artistic creation of refinement, class, and grace - a Minetest opera of blocks in U4EA.

About Comments:

Be civil and show some class toward your fellow commenters.

Trolls will be ignored as will posts containing swear-words or alternate spellings of swear words.

WIP - IhrFussel Sever Spawn Tower

 ~ WIP - IhrFussel Spawn Tower ~
(click picture for larger version)

I was recently asked by "IhrFussel" to build a spawn house on his new Minetest server, "IhrFussel's Server". When I asked what style he had in mind he said, [paraphrased] "something open air with water". That left a lot of design options wide open for me to explore.

 ~ Excavating the Courtyard ~
(click picture for larger version)

I have been studying how to create round builds and experimenting with curvy designs. Flowing water fit well with the concept of using curves and water gave me the idea to use blue as a prominent color for the build. I was granted the "creative" priv which greatly helped with construction but I do not have "WorldEdit" privs.

Yup. That means every block was dug and placed by hand which achieved greater control over the various detailing aspects of the project.

WorldEdit is a very powerful tool but lacks finesse. If builders depend on WorldEdit too heavily, they will never learn to sculpt in Minetest.

 ~ Reshaping the Land Around ~
(click picture for larger version)

At the beginning of the tower's construction, the server was so new that the spawn point had not been protected yet. Already players were building close. I was able to set Area protection 50m x 100m x 50m with the spawn point in the horizontal center before any more players built too close.

I had a rough idea of the general shape and structure of what I wanted to create for the spawn building. As for the land surrounding the tower - I had no clue. So I focused on creating the tower first; hoping that however the tower turned out to look like would give me inspiration for what to do with the ground around it.

 ~ Outlining and Planning ~
(click picture for larger version)

As I worked on constructing the tower, players were creating more and more builds very close to spawn. Some structures were built right up to the edge of the Area protection. The spawn point was set on the lower side of a large hill. The spawn tower was already cutting into the side of the hill. With the other players building so close it was becoming less and less likely that there would be space to smooth out the cut in the hill so the spawn tower grounds would flow with the land.

Since I wouldn't be able to make the tower grounds to flow with the land, I tried to think of ways to make the grounds blend into the hill or at least make the transition look less harsh. To do that, I thought I would create background support structures at various levels to to break-up the sudden drop from the hill, down the shear wall, to the spawn tower's grounds. I excavated the tower grounds to reshape the land and laid down yellow wool circles and lines for roughing in sizes and locations of the background support structures. I still didn't know what to create, exactly, but several ideas were starting to form in my thoughts. Lay down some shapes and improvise as I go - that is about as detailed as my plans usually get in the beginning.

 ~ Twin Statue Fountain ~
(click picture for larger version)

I had already successfully created two statues, "The Archer" and "The Guardian" using MoreBlocks' circular saw and the screwdriver. This gave me some confidence to try a third statue,... or in this case, twin statues.

One of the ideas I had for a background support structure was a water fountain with a statue, or statues, that were holding the water source for the fountain. I cut some shapes and twisted them around, experimenting, and occasionally would leave the keyboard and try some poses myself, in real life, to try to figure out what sort of configuration to make the statues into. I didn't want to detract from the spawn tower by creating something taller or brighter or more colorful so the fountain statues had to be short. Kneeling fit the bill. How do you pour water when kneeling, particularly if you are a statue of classic nature? Shouldering large urns of water came to mind,... and so that's what I tried to create.

 ~ Upper Tower Lighting ~
(click picture for larger version)

By this time, the spawn tower was shaping up to look quite temple-like. I wanted stately, reserved lighting that was just enough to see by at night and to tastefully accentuate different parts of the tower. I didn't want bright and flashy; this isn't an amusement park.

 ~ Water Vortex ~
(click picture for larger version)

I wanted players to be able to reach the upper portion of the spawn tower so they could look across the burgeoning town below but I also wanted to keep the spawn open air with a mystical quality. Plunking a series of ladders up the wall just wouldn't fit the motif. In keeping with the water theme, I created four streams of water, pouring down from pools above, that players could swim up to reach the upper level of the tower. The floor is only four swirls of cyan wool. Looking straight up from the spawn point, the player sees lots of blue, streams of water, and swirls,  centered by an illuminated circle at the very top; all culminating to give the impression of a vortex of water.

This is still very much a work in progress as I have yet to finish the courtyard ground surrounding the tower, final detailing of the land and structures, and I also have an idea for an underground section that is quite contrary to the theme of the spawn tower.



About Comments:
Be civil and show some class toward your fellow commenters.

Trolls will be ignored as will posts containing swear-words or alternate spellings of swear words.

Introducing Forge

 ~ Introducing Forge ~
(click picture for larger version)

Welcome to "Forge", my Minetest creative-mode, singleplayer world.

I started Forge to see what I could create using the default mods that are part of Minetest's default game, "Minetest Game". Forge is the back-to-basics, creative counter-part to my fully modded, fully customized, main singleplayer world, U4EA.

Forge began as a survival-mode world. I dug a mine for cobble, coal, and tool ores.

 ~ Forge Mine ~
(click picture for larger version)

When I had enough steel ingots to craft a bucket, I created a well and planted papyrus for future books and bookshelf making.

 ~ Papyrus Well ~
(click picture for larger version)

The next task was a long-range plan - planting a large production field for cotton to craft lots of wool blocks so I could build with color.

 ~ Field of Cotton ~
(click picture for larger version)

I cultivated cacti for furnace fuel and building blocks. Many, many times I have seen houses made of either cobble or wood, so one of the things I try to do in Forge is to build with different materials. Sure, in real life a house made out of cactus would be very uncomfortable to live in but in Minetest, it is a nice, dark shade of green that comes with its own wallpaper pattern for the interiors!

 ~ Cactus House ~
(click picture for larger version)

So far, the builds I have created in Forge are small. Why? Well, one of the drawbacks of survival-mode is that it takes so incredibly long to gather and harvest enough materials to build even small houses. As a result, their interiors are small and that makes interior decorating a challenge. Throw in the fact that the default Minetest game isn't well equipped with much of anything intended for interior design-use and your creative skills get a real workout.

For the main room of the cactus house, I created a dining nook under a window and set it next to the wood stove. I try to imagine how a meal would be prepared, served, and eaten in such a small space.

 ~ Cactus House Cooking and Eating Area ~
(click picture for larger version)

Hmm... what to do with the rest of the room?

Adding stuff to the other side of the wood stove made the traffic flow into the back bedroom a bit too cluttered. Bookshelves are good for filling in corners so I added a couple of those with a dry shrub on top just for botanical decoration.

I thought about moving the reading chair next to the door but, again, the traffic flow would be awkward so I put it by the bookshelves. Chairs are one of the pieces of furniture that get moved around a lot so it looks OK when they are put away in a corner. For this layout, the out-of-the-way spot that seemed to fit best was next to the bookshelves. When someone wants to read by the window, just pull out the chair and settle in with a good book.

 ~ Cactus House Reading Area ~
(click picture for larger version)

The bedroom was originally supposed to be the kitchen but I changed my mind. The bed is made fancy looking just by adding wooden trap doors at the foot and above the head of the bed. Chests on either side serve as nightstands.

 ~ Cactus House Bed Design ~
(click picture for larger version)

The ceiling light is also made more visually interesting by using wooden trap doors as shades around the light source (a torch) in the middle.

The wall opposite of the bed has bookshelves to represent shelving with colored clothing and other items. The piece in the middle is a sturdy wood shelving unit constructed of wooden stairs.

 ~ Cactus House Bedroom Shelving ~
(click picture for larger version)

After acacia trees were added to the default game, I created a red house out of acacia wood planks. This house is even smaller than the cactus house. As such, the interior is only 2m x 4m. I tried but I couldn't figure out how to furnish something that small with the default blocks.

Though I couldn't do much for the interior, I had plenty of space to make the exterior look nice. Some extra landscaping, a different shaped roof with stone capping, and ladders for shutters along the windows really helped make this little place look good.

 ~ Tiny Acacia House ~
(click picture for larger version)

There is a small peninsula at the edge of the village and the first thought that came to my mind, for that spot, was a lighthouse.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse ~
(click picture for larger version)

The lighthouse is the biggest structure in Forge at this stage. The main room is long and narrow. Just enough space for a dining area along the side and a bay window that overlooks the sea.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse Dining and Living Room ~
(click picture for larger version)

The base of the lighthouse tower serves as the bedroom. Since it is circular, it has more corners to tuck decorations into. The wooden door between the stacked chests is a closet.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse Bedroom ~
(click picture for larger version)

Ok, so the bottom of the lighthouse tower has functionality as a bedroom. The top of the lighthouse is where the light is. What do do with the mid-section of the lighthouse tower?

What else do people do with spaces they don't use very often? - they store their junk there, that's what! So the mid-section of the lighthouse tower became a storeroom or attic.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse Attic ~
(click picture for larger version)

Every lighthouse needs a light. Originally, when I created the Forge Lighthouse, I put in the center a single column of regular glass with torches the full height of all sides. Later, when meselamps were added to the default game, I switched out the torch covered, glass column for a column of meselamps.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse Light ~
(click picture for larger version)

The tower also made a good spot to put a flag for indicating wind direction. You know how folks like to talk about the weather? Well, knowing which way the wind is blowing and how hard are just some tid-bits about the weather that folks like to chat about. For those who go out on the sea in sailboats, the wind direction and force is a bit higher on their list of weather priorities.

To create the flag, I staggered blocks of red wool. To place the wool blocks that are unsupported by other blocks, I placed dirt as temporary anchor blocks to stick the red wool blocks to. Then I dug out the dirt blocks leaving the red wool blocks "waving" in the wind.

When representing the direction of wind in Minetest, you can go in any direction but only the south bound wind will feel right. The reason is because, in Minetest, the clouds always flow from north to south.

 ~ Forge Lighthouse Flag ~
(click picture for larger version)

If you have a lighthouse and a harbor then you need boats too!

Ok, I haven't gotten around to making anything close to an armada but I did make a small boat for the lighthouse keeper to go out fishing in.

The boat is constructed of wood stairs and slabs. The screwdriver is a wonderful tool that helps expand design possibilities.

The mast is made of wooden fence and the loosened sail is made of white wool blocks.

I used ladders to simulate rope wrapped around the tree trunk and connecting to the boat to keep it moored to the dock.

 ~ One-Seater Fishing Boat ~
(click picture for larger version)

Between the lighthouse and the next section of harbor is a hill. I could have created a curved road around the land side of the hill, or a bridge wrapping around the sea side. I wanted to save the land side for buildings and the sea side of the hill just didn't look like a good spot for a bridge, at least not with the design feel of the village.

The next option was a tunnel. I wanted to add some interest to the tunnel so instead of digging straight through to the other side, I curved the tunnel both horizontally and vertically, making it bend into the land side of the hill and dip downward and then back up to the surface level. I might make a junction at the bottom of the tunnel that leads to some future build on the land side of the hill.

 ~ Tunnel Under Hill ~
(click picture for larger version)

And with that, we have come to the end of the road in Forge for now. I putter in Forge in between my many other projects, and as with all of them, I add a little here and a little there as time allows. Forge started out as a survival-mode world but my time is limited and I find building to be a stress reliever so I switched Forge over to creative-mode after creating the buildings in these screnshots in survival-mode.

It is easy to get spoiled in fully modded, fully customized worlds so it is good to have a world like Forge to get back to basics, where your design choices are somewhat limited giving your creativity a challenge.

About Comments:

Be civil and show some class toward your fellow commenters.

Trolls will be ignored as will posts containing swear-words or alternate spellings of swear words.