When you start any new game of Minecraft, empty-handed and surrounded by untamed wilderness, there is always a real sense of urgency to get your shit together as fast as possible before the first night arrives and the world's monsters come out. As i'm playing in Iron Man Mode, the pressure is heightened further as I don't want to die an idiotic death and have to end the blog at such an early stage.
I've only got about ten minutes until sunset, so the race is on.
I need to find my bearings, get wood (heh), find coal for torches, aquire a bit of food, locate a safe spot, deck it out with crafting gear and secure it from nighttime attacks. It's a fair bit of work, and many a Minecrafteer has been caught with his blocky pants around his ankles as the darkness draws in around their ill-equipped shelter.
Naturally, the very first thing I do is murder a duck.
Since the last MC update, animals flee if under attack, so the first two minutes of the day are spent flailing around after the duck before finally managing to end its life with my bare hands.
Killing the demonic-looking pond dweller wasn't an entirely pointless exercise, however. This was more than just a random act of brutal violence. It is an opening statement; this is me telling the world that I am not to be trifled with, and if I so much as catch a passing suspicion that the game is going to get fresh with me during the course of this adventure, I'll sure as hell punch a duck in the head for two minutes.
This is the kind of hardcore maniac which has spawned into the world, World, so you best watch it sister! *black-woman-clicky-hand-thing
But the more practical benefit here is that my wanton murderfest has netted me a feather and some food, since ducks are obviously a very good source of...
... raw chicken?
I mull this mystery over, killing another duck in the name of science (it is also made of chicken). My idle puzzlement takes up another minute and a half before I realize that it's just the texture pack I've installed making the chickens look like ducks - there's no such thing as a 'duck' in Minecraft, anyway, so on reflection I'm not sure why I struggled with that.
Almost half the day in and I've accomplished pretty much bugger all. Time to take stock and check out my immediate surroundings properly.
It's like this in every direction, though I can't see for how far the swamp stretches as there are no high spots to use as a vantage point. Featureless, wet, flat and devoid of anything interesting - it's like I've spawned in bloody Norfolk.
I begin to explore by meandering in widening circles. I can't seem to walk ten feet without finding a deep-looking hole or cavern entrance... evidence of a massive cave system just a few blocks under the surface?
I can't risk the dangers of spelunking at such an early stage, so I'll take care to avoid falling into the cave entrances from now on.
By from now on, I mean as soon as I've clambered out of the one I just accidentally fell into because I was busy trying to take a screenshot.
With the sun making a decisive move towards the horizon (as suns are wont to do in the afternoon) I chop some trees down using the hardest and sharpest thing in my inventory, the feather, before soldiering on. It doesn't take too long before I come across something of interest...
Behold... The Ziggurat!
Meh, I know. As far as randomly generated features go it's not exactly the Great Dividing Ridge, but at least it gives me some height in order to see above the tree canopy.
I head on up, looking forward to seeing how the land lies and hopefu... oh, wow.
Um.
Wow.
I'm only a few blocks above the treeline, but let's just say that I feel a bit foolish for having such meagre expectations. It's a panorama worthy of kings, and very difficult to describe with mere words alone. Silly, inadequate words.
What's that? Oh, yes. I guess this is where screenshots come in handy.
Word on the street is that the next post will have plenty of those.
You should totally check back often for the next post.
