Like I said, it goes full screen, but there is a lot of artifacting (Lots of scrambled patches on the screen). I even updated to the latest catalyst drivers.
How deep do you need to go to get to some freaking iron to smelt into ingots? I went to the first hill that looked interesting and started my decent. Right now I have what amounts to a very long downward slope about a mile or so long, but all I seem to hit is cobblestone stuff. I'm really close to just abandoning the mine altogether and setting up shop somewhere else.
@GTM: Try finding a natural tunnel that sticks out onto the surface, if you go down those, you don't have to mine nearly as much and usually find a bunch of good stuff, depending on how deep you go. Bring lots of wood and torches, you can get stone and craft stuff down there.
@GTM: Don't start by digging. Start by hiking and looking at natural outcroppings. Go for the easy pickings first. Then, when you have sufficient coal and maybe some leather armor, take a bunch of pitchforks and torches and follow Omnutia's advice.
Another good piece of advice: when you find something rare (redstone, gold, diamond), mine that shit and get out of the cave. Twice now I've gotten some diamond and instead of just leaving the way I came, I explore this new route I found and wind up dying in lava or something and losing everything I just mined, along with all my good equipment.
I started fresh, with a new understanding of how not to be repeatedly raped in the face the first couple of nights. I managed to spawn next to some spectacular sky-scraper cliffs with some bits in the faces of the cliffs, and a deep gouge in the side. My main base was constructed out of dirt the first night and allowed for some easy mining. However, the veins that were accessible during the night are rapidly turning to all cobblestone. I did find a crater with some green-vein stuff in it, as well as coal and some other minerals I have not ID'd yet, and was mining cautiously when I heard some unpleasant sounds near me, probably through one of the walls. It's also tricky because it's a sand-surrounded pit.
Are you guys finding it is better to pick a spot and develop it, or wander around spot to spot?
How deep do you need to go to get to some freaking iron to smelt into ingots?
I saw a map over on the Minecraft forums that broke down what layers will hold what minerals, but the thread escapes me. Regardless of that, I do recall that mining into the side of a hill that is above sea level will net you mostly stone and coal, as Iron and other ores only spawn at or below sea level. Your best bet is going to be to dig down. Do a step mine if you don't want to bother with ladders. You won't progress downward as quickly doing that, but it should keep you from getting killed from an unexpected long falls.
You need to dig straight to the adminium, and then move 7-10 blocks up and dig horizontally. That gives you access to coal, iron, obsidian, lava, gold, diamond, redstone, and iron. Exploring upwards a little bit may yield even more iron for the talking.
green-vein stuff
What is this mystery ore you speak of?
Are you guys finding it is better to pick a spot and develop it, or wander around spot to spot?
My current world has a shaft navigable by cart, which leads down to the adminium layer. From the bottom level "lobby" I worked outwards in a giant plane to mine minerals.
I did find a crater with some green-vein stuff in it, as well as coal and some other minerals I have not ID'd yet, and was mining cautiously when I heard some unpleasant sounds near me, probably through one of the walls. It's also tricky because it's a sand-surrounded pit.?
Oh, yeah, mossy cobblestone. I edited massive amounts of that into my inventory and am using it to construct my main fort. It's really good-looking stuff. You're apt to get a lot of iron from that dungeon; the chests sometimes have 60 pieces. Just be armed before you enter.
I started fresh, with a new understanding of how not to be repeatedly raped in the face the first couple of nights. I managed to spawn next to some spectacular sky-scraper cliffs with some bits in the faces of the cliffs, and a deep gouge in the side. My main base was constructed out of dirt the first night and allowed for some easy mining. However, the veins that were accessible during the night are rapidly turning to all cobblestone. I did find a crater with some green-vein stuff in it, as well as coal and some other minerals I have not ID'd yet, and was mining cautiously when I heard some unpleasant sounds near me, probably through one of the walls. It's also tricky because it's a sand-surrounded pit.
Are you guys finding it is better to pick a spot and develop it, or wander around spot to spot?
The best way to get ores is spelunking, but if you are too pedantic about how you treat caves, or if you suck, you might find that mining gets you more ores per unit time. However, caves do tend to be much more fun.
As WindUpBird says, you should be digging horizontal shafts at a height of 10-16 for maximum mining yield. Since the adminium layer is 4 blocks high, you should dig around 9 blocks above the adminium layer. In order to get down to that layer, your best options are either to dig a diagonal staircase or dig straight down. Personally, I'd say that digging straight down is safe enough if you have water with you, since that will probably save you from lava if you do it right; for that approach, just make sure you bring ladders or a large amount of wood. In terms of the efficiency for getting ores it would be most effective to dig a straight horizontal shaft. The problem with that approach is it isn't very good for transporting the ores back to base. My suggestion is to dig outwards in a spiral, and then just mine backwards through the middle of the spiral in order to return.
Some other tips about ore gathering: 1) With diamond, you should dig fully around the diamond before you take the diamond itself, so there is no risk of losing the diamond to newly exposed lava. 2) Since ore veins can continue diagonally as well as horizontally, you might want to do some extra digging around ore you find. Individial veins tend to be located in configurations that are 2 blocks wide, 2 deep, and 3 high, so that should inform you where to dig around to check for extra ore.
Had to bail on two games, one because I couldn't secure myself for even a single night, and the other because after I finally got a base of operations up and running, I broke into a cavern. It was pretty awesome, and after poking around for a few seconds, a skeleton dropped on my head, killing me instantly. Then I spawned outside, where a spider immediately pushed m into a one block wide hole that was so deep, the sun couldn't light the bottom. With no respawn option, no way to kill myself, and out of reach of the monsters, I was essentially trapped forever or would have to spend eons digging to lava with my bare hands.
IS there a way to move the spawn point? Because that was super fucking annoying.
So I finally hit some veins of coal after digging closer to the surface, and then discovered some pockets about 20 blocks down. My main mine shaft resembles a monstrous, cobblestone stairway that takes a sudden left and doubles back under itself. I still have yet to find any significant sources of iron ore, but i have coal and cobblestone a plenty. I've also developed a clever way around the spawn-point thing. I build a small earthen hut with a door right near it, and then construct a long tunnel to my main mining area. This closes me off from the outside but for a single point, so the chances of having a swarm of unpleasantness drop in unannounced is slim.
I shy away from adventuring too much outside, because it is easy to get lost or get caught outside after nightfall. I have noticed a disturbing lack of pigs, making health recovery difficult.
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
I'll also point out that I have not seen any ore except iron, but I'm slowly progressing in a giant spiral-staircase pattern downwards, excavating big rooms (10 x 10 ish) or larger when I hit veins of coal.
EDIT: Oh yeah, what's the best way to dispose of the 64 stacks of stone/dirt that rapidly build up in the inventory? I've resorted to running to the nearby lake and tossing them in one at a time. There's got to be a faster way, right?
I shy away from adventuring too much outside, because it is easy to get lost or get caught outside after nightfall. I have noticed a disturbing lack of pigs, making health recovery difficult.
You might want to try growing wheat or fishing, then.
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
Leaves used to disappear when they weren't being supported, but unfortunately this stopped with the Halloween update. Fire is a good way of clearing unsightly floating leaves, and cutting the tree from above can be faster.
I'll also point out that I have not seen any ore except iron, but I'm slowly progressing in a giant spiral-staircase pattern downwards, excavating big rooms (10 x 10 ish) or larger when I hit veins of coal.
I don't think there tend to be concentrations of that ilk; just randomly located individual veins in 2x2x3 shapes.
EDIT: Oh yeah, what's the best way to dispose of the 64 stacks of stone/dirt that rapidly build up in the inventory? I've resorted to running to the nearby lake and tossing them in one at a time. There's got to be a faster way, right?
Put that shit in a chest, fool! Alternatively, to destroy items, you can throw them into lava, onto cacti, into the void, into fire, drop them anywhere you wish and wait for 5 minutes, or simply explode them.
Today I pushed a spider into a cactus in the daytime. The stupid thing didn't even fight back, as it could not sense its impending doom.
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
Flint & Steel, Light that stuff on FIRE!!. No, seriously, it looks cool.
You know you can light the hell blocks on fire and they never go out. No need to waste torches in hell. Or you could mine some of that shit, bring it back to your base, and voila! Perma-bonfires! Put our new Eterna-Burn™ technology to work!
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
Flint & Steel, Light that stuff on FIRE!!. No, seriously, it looks cool.
You know you can light the hell blocks on fire and they never go out. No need to waste torches in hell. Or you could mine some of that shit, bring it back to your base, and voila! Perma-bonfires! Put our new Eterna-Burn™ technology to work!
I'm still happier with torches in hell, since they can't set you on fire.
Hehe, maybe I should've had Minecraft as my trivia topic for your podcast. Unfortunately, there's not enough esoteric knowledge to be had in that game just yet.
I shy away from adventuring too much outside, because it is easy to get lost or get caught outside after nightfall.
Once you find some redstone you should build yourself a compass and a watch. That way you can make sure you know which way it is back to your spawn point and how much time you have left before nightfall.
I have noticed a disturbing lack of pigs, making health recovery difficult.
Until you get some areas cleared out where they can spawn your best bet is probably going to be to build a wheat farm. It sounds like you have some pretty big rooms in there so setting up a farm that's lit up by torches for grow-lights shouldn't be too hard. Just be sure to keep your water troughs well-contained.
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
The aforementioned flint & steel is your best bet - just be careful that you're not torching leaves when the trees are too close to each other, otherwise you may catch the whole forest on fire. I usually bust up the leaves I can reach to get saplings and then re-plant as I go so I can get more trees later. After that I torch the ones I couldn't bust (jump up & use the flint & steel.)
Oh yeah, what's the best way to dispose of the 64 stacks of stone/dirt that rapidly build up in the inventory? I've resorted to running to the nearby lake and tossing them in one at a time. There's got to be a faster way, right?
Garbage Disposal. Get yourself a bucket of lava and dig a 2x1x1 trench in some stone. Put a stone hearth up over it to keep it from throwing out sparks and damaging you if you're close. Empty the lava into the trench. When you have a block of 64 gravel you want to get rid of, go over to the trench, open your inventory, and drag the stack outside your inventory. You'll throw it into the lava and it'll disintegrate. FWIW, gravel is the only block form I've found that seems totally useless. All the rest can be re-formed into something useful or used as building material so there's no real reason to dispose of them. Just store 'em in double chests because you'll need the building material eventually.
Putting stuff in a chest is well and good, but then what do you do with a chest full of dirt and gravel?
Why did you dig up so much dirt and gravel? Clearly you are digging too far sideways and not enough down. Also, you can make things out of dirt and gravel pretty easily. When I build things below ground I usually dig out a whole bunch of extra space, since I have to stand somewhere. Then when I'm done I fill in the empty space with gravel. Because it obeys gravity, it's easy to fill in everything from the top, letting the gravel fall in. As for dirt, farming.
Comments
Are you guys finding it is better to pick a spot and develop it, or wander around spot to spot?
Man, I love the watch.
The best way to get ores is spelunking, but if you are too pedantic about how you treat caves, or if you suck, you might find that mining gets you more ores per unit time. However, caves do tend to be much more fun.
As WindUpBird says, you should be digging horizontal shafts at a height of 10-16 for maximum mining yield. Since the adminium layer is 4 blocks high, you should dig around 9 blocks above the adminium layer.
In order to get down to that layer, your best options are either to dig a diagonal staircase or dig straight down. Personally, I'd say that digging straight down is safe enough if you have water with you, since that will probably save you from lava if you do it right; for that approach, just make sure you bring ladders or a large amount of wood.
In terms of the efficiency for getting ores it would be most effective to dig a straight horizontal shaft. The problem with that approach is it isn't very good for transporting the ores back to base. My suggestion is to dig outwards in a spiral, and then just mine backwards through the middle of the spiral in order to return.
Some other tips about ore gathering:
1) With diamond, you should dig fully around the diamond before you take the diamond itself, so there is no risk of losing the diamond to newly exposed lava.
2) Since ore veins can continue diagonally as well as horizontally, you might want to do some extra digging around ore you find. Individial veins tend to be located in configurations that are 2 blocks wide, 2 deep, and 3 high, so that should inform you where to dig around to check for extra ore.
IS there a way to move the spawn point? Because that was super fucking annoying.
EDIT: I think that it has yet to be changed to work with The Neather. So you can only use it on worlds where you have yet to go there.
I shy away from adventuring too much outside, because it is easy to get lost or get caught outside after nightfall. I have noticed a disturbing lack of pigs, making health recovery difficult.
Also, cutting away treetops after the trunk is gone is annoying. Any suggestions on a way to speed this along?
I'll also point out that I have not seen any ore except iron, but I'm slowly progressing in a giant spiral-staircase pattern downwards, excavating big rooms (10 x 10 ish) or larger when I hit veins of coal.
EDIT: Oh yeah, what's the best way to dispose of the 64 stacks of stone/dirt that rapidly build up in the inventory? I've resorted to running to the nearby lake and tossing them in one at a time. There's got to be a faster way, right?
Today I pushed a spider into a cactus in the daytime. The stupid thing didn't even fight back, as it could not sense its impending doom.
Hehe, maybe I should've had Minecraft as my trivia topic for your podcast. Unfortunately, there's not enough esoteric knowledge to be had in that game just yet.
Also, I have yet to find Lava or anything but Sand, Gravel, Stone, Dirt, anything to start Wheat growth, and only one underground water source.
I also have yet to figure out buckets.
As for the magma, you're probably not deep enough for magma to be common yet. Most of it is pretty deep down.
Buckets have to be made of iron, and are used by right clicking.