Survival Diary

Day 28 - The End

Despite premonitions, I decide that an overground adventure is exactly what I need. I suit up in decent armour, grab a diamond sword, food, bow, arrows, and a bucket of lava, and make my way to the surface. The trade will be on my terms, I decide, and if people want to ambush me, then they’re out of luck.

I PM the potential trade partner, who offered one diamond and a few iron for my 12 obsidian. He had agreed that Obsidian mining was dangerous and was keen to make the trade, since he had a lot of diamond. I assured him that I would arrive promptly and told him to put the items in a chest at 1000,1000. Only then would I reveal where I had put the obsidian. He was to log out while I was at his chest, and then I would message him to finalise the deal on his end. I guzzle down some fresh watermelon and begin sprinting across the plains and up and down the mountains.

My journey takes me through swamps, deserts, mountain ranges and ocean but I eventually arrive within range. 1000,1000 unfortunately is underwater, and something feels fishy, but as my trading partner’s patience splinters, I decide to press on. I forget all about the plans I’d made and don’t even ask him to sign off.

Before I know what has happened, a diamond-armoured ambush is upon me and I am quickly cut to pieces. My items scatter and my time on the server comes to an abrupt end. Instantly I curse my idiocy for both trusting another and neglecting the precautions I should have insisted upon. I log off and am reunited with the real world. It hurts. I feel so stupid and am very disappointed. Later, insult is added to injury as the group circulate an image of my resting place as a warning to others. Curses, I’ve become a political message!

“Death cortesy of Umbram Phoenicibus”

Day 27 - Trade

Having been deep underground for many days, I am feeling relieved to have had some human contact. As I descend back into the labyrinth of passageways, I question the logic of going back to a place which was destroying my mind. Sure, it sucks that I was wrenched prematurely from the deep in the most unsatisfying of ways, but maybe I should wait until my cave-mate can come too. Then I wouldn’t feel alone and we could work together. Safety in numbers and all that…

I finish the steps I was digging, as a safer passage back down than falling down a firefall, and return to base. It’s not worth it to go alone. I want company. My cave-mate informs me that he will be logging off soon, so I help him carve out a cavern for mushroom farming. To our right, the trees sprout magnificently in a similarly sized cavern, giving us hope for a decent harvest of mushrooms. Melons and wheat also continue their impressive growth cycles. We are the kings of our castle.

In the chat, a superhighway of obsidian is being described and I offer mine, since I have no use for it myself. I am wary to seek others for face to face contact, but the builder seems fair. Unfortunately, he is not looking to pay for my blocks and that makes the risk all too dangerous for me. I get back to sculpting the cavern, smoothing the sides into pure smooth stone, of uniform height and light distribution. Certainly no amount could tempt me from my cave…I try to convince myself.

Day 26 - Glitch

Life is full of disappointments. I awaken on the surface, many metres higher than my location when I logged out. Instead of feeling productive as I fought my way to the surface, battling mobs and collecting more goodies, I am disappointed. Definitely it will be easier to get back to my base now, but it won’t feel anywhere near as rewarding when I do.

I walk through the forested mountainous area, wishing I had remained underground. The daylight looks great but doesn’t feel deserved. Navigating through the trees, I quickly gather my bearings and make my way to our cave’s secret entrance. Descending back into the deep, I consider heading straight back into the depths. If nothing else, I could harvest mob goodies…

My cave mate is working the farm when I arrive, and is happy to see me. I let him know that I am disappointed to be on the surface, despite my longing for it hours earlier. I tell him that soon I will be heading back, so that we can harvest the mobs for items, notably arrows, string and bonemeal. He agrees that it would be worthwhile and I head back into the depths, mere hours after wishing I could be out as soon as possible…

Day 25 - Waypoints

If this blog had a sponsor, Rei’s Minimap would be that sponsor. However, Rei’s Minimap is a minimap mod for Minecraft and not a company which sponsors blog posts. As such, I will have to work a real job as well as writing this blog post.

***

For the past few months, Minecraft has been made easier by the presence of a minimap in the top right corner of my screen. Beneath the fully customisable map, which I have chosen to reflect accuracy of landscape and light levels on the surface (as a compass/clock/map combo when underground), are my coordinates, so I never have to wait for the red box of F3 to subside and reveal my location!

Deep inside my cave farm, this was no exception. In a room made up of smooth stone and objects I’d placed, it was wonderful to have a sort of idea as to the location of North, and even the location of spawn. However, I suddenly realised, I had neglected to utilise one of the most amazing features of the minimap; waypoints. Waypoints were markers which you could add to the map at any three dimensional location which would show up on the minimap as diamonds when in range, or directional arrows when far away.

Deep, deep underground I began cursing my idiocy. How could I not have left waymarkers as I travelled? Escape then would have been as simple as walking point to point, backtracking all the way to the top. Before I could feel stupid again, I added a waypoint for my farm-in-a-cave, calling it MelonCave. I would remember that. That was a useful name. I coloured the arrow the closest green I could get to melon, and headed out. If I was to reach the surface, I would need to eliminate all the dead-ends in the underground maze of tunnels.

Turning left, and then left again, I make like a maze-professional and keep my elbow to the wall. If I follow this path forever, it will lead me to my freedom. It will probably take forever, but that would be better than endless, repetitive shots in the dark. I curse my stupidity at having not better documented my descent, and keep walking…

Day 24 - Melons

I am so lost. So, so, so lost. My melon pieces reach single figures and I decide that it is time to make myself a base. Deep underground, I find a darkened corridor which leads nowhere. It is here, I declare to myself, that I will build my base. Tearing down the two support beams along the corridor, I get to work blocking the entrance with glass panes (panes which I found in a chest on my first day, and have not yet used!) and a door. I curse Notch’s name for not making the two building materials flush, but immediately beg his forgiveness for my blasphemy - glad to still be alive and safe.

In my mind, the design for the area starts to fall into place. I will have a farm along the wall, with water out of sight, and the wall at the end will be made up of furnaces. Already carrying stacks of cobblestone, I quickly fashion the furnaces and get to work on my large piles of ores. The sound of water flowing in the distance takes my interest, so I grab a bucket and head out. For an infinite farm, I’ll need two buckets of water but for starters, one will do. Turning the corner I notice green bobbing in blue. The blue is good: water. The green is bad: creeper.

Fortunately, I am king of the creepers! As such, I stab him twice in the jugular, and collect his explosive remains! Filling my bucket, I head back to the farm cave. In the twelve dirt blocks I plant four watermelon seeds, light the area and fill the trench with water. Now I must sit and wait and hope, as I had to with my tree farm, that it will work. To pass the time, I chat to others on the server. Even when I’m doing nothing, the server is a lot of fun! A sudden flash of green on the edge of my sight stops my heartbeat! I turn quickly, expecting a hiss, but nothing happens.

It’s not a creeper; it’s a watermelon! I feel silly…

Day 23 - Labyrinth

Continuing on, I collect the bones and arrows, in case I get to a point where I will need them. As I walk, I am compelled to light every passageway and explore every area. I burn through stacks of torches but keep placing them at regular distances. I reason that it’s better to have looked everywhere and not have to worry about monsters in swarms than it is to not be a little lost.

Although, as it happens, I am more than a little lost!

I start to feel hungry, having left the hunger bar unchecked since meeting the spiders, and notice my dwindling pile of watermelon. Sure, I still have bread and some wheat - but I realise that it’s limited and my time underground might not be. I hasten my efforts to regain my direction, but end up even deeper in the mines than before. It is here that I discover that I am cursed. Cursed with what I will label a flawed perfectionism.

The problem is that I want the tunnels to be well lit, but as yet I have not used any sort of system. Lights on certain sides or blocks could have been used to indicate direction - but my lack of planning has rendered the majority of this option redundant. Why start now when many tunnels are incorrectly lit? This is also the second problem. If I had only lit the tunnels I would need to get out again, escape would be easy (albeit with a heightened threat of zombies, creepers, spiders, endermen, and skeletons). As it happens, every direction is lit sporadically and every direction could be the way out. In the distance, I notice an area of shadow.

Better go light that up…

Day 22 - Shelob’s Lair!

I unsheathe my diamond sword, fighting for my fallen brothers and their beautiful network of tunnels and mines, and sprint towards the spiders, hacking and slashing away! The force of my swing combined with the speed of my run sends spiders flying in all directions, recoiled and tentative. As I stand in the centre of the room, slowly turning in each direction, I stab out at any spider which dares to move, killing it instantly.

After a short while, the room is clear. I stick a few torches in the ground and proceed to investigate the chests. To my delight, I find more items than I could need, including ingots, food and even a saddle. As holes in the wall start to vomit arrows, I decide that it is time to continue on. I would finish my plunder on my return journey…

I carve a micro-fortress in a side wall and slash at the legs of passing zombies and skeletons. The attacks reduce them to grounded piles of bones, meat, and arrows. For the first time in the world, I feel as though this battle might rage on indefinitely…

Day 21 - Arachnophobia

I had to explore this abandoned world. What secrets would I find in this lost underground city? Advancing quickly, I carved a crude stairwell and climbed to the tunnel in the side of the ravine. Farewell feeling of confusion; I was an archaeologist! I set about lighting up the tunnels, trying to get to the bottom of the story left behind. Who were these people? Why had they left this world behind? What else would I find in this lost world?

I followed an intricate system of carved stone tunnels with wooden supports, and found a few interesting things. The walls were littered with untouched ores and coal, and very little effort had been made to provide a sense of direction. Either the mines were intentionally confusing or their progress had been halted prior to the extraction and signposting phase. Despite the evidence that progress had been halted suddenly, I found a few chests containing not only processed ores (as ingots and buckets) but even a few diamonds, much higher in the mines than should have been expected. Bread that had not yet staled and some watermelon seeds ready to plant accompanied these strange object combinations. Who were these people and what had forced them to leave, so apparently recently?

Turning a dark corner to a symphony of hisses - I soon discovered a potential hypothesis. In a darkened room of moss-covered cobblestone, stood a small army of giant spiders (easily two metres across) with glowing eyes and giant fangs. Between the room and my stunned expression stood a wooden support, almost created specifically as an anti-spider measure - allowing only objects and creatures of 1 metre width to pass through. In the darkness, more and more eyes opened and advanced in my direction. If I was to pass through this room - I was going to have to fight!

Day 20 - Civilisation

Despite limited memory of where I had come from prior to mining the diamonds and obsidian, I decide to work on making the passageways more clean looking, rationalising that it would help with a swift getaway (although obstacles would surely hinder the directionally-challenged mobs) and would make finding my way back easier, if routes had recognisable characteristics.

The sound of mobs echoed in the distance but with no impending threat I got to work. Crawlspaces became tunnels and tunnels became passageways. By the time I had added some lighting and filled the dirt areas with smooth stone, it was starting to look like an extension on the main base. Proud of my work, I trekked on.

In the distance, I could see a faint glow, and hear the sounds of both lava and water. As I approached, carefully and to the rhythm of torches being tacked to every surface, I realised that I had stumbled across a great canyon, deep underground. Fog filled my vision when I looked up, left and right. There was no doubt, this canyon was huge! Below was a now familiar sight of lava pools, as far as the eye could see, and along each canyon wall were occasional firefalls, similar to the one which I had found earlier in my adventure. However, this canyon was different to any I had seen before in this world, for across the middle - unsupported by blocks or logic, led a trail of wooden pillars and planks.

There was no doubt: humans had been here before!