I’ve built a lot of “fancy” structures in Minecraft. I’m not a very good builder, but I’ve definitely gotten better over time. Still, a part of me really enjoys the aesthetic of older, flatter, blockier Minecraft builds. I wish the aesthetic were less hated on among builders, like it’s a problem needing to be solved. Here’s a comparison of an older build I did (first pic) and what I’m building now (second pic). Using depth and texture and interesting palettes is cool, and I’ve had fun doing that. But it gets to a point, at least it has for me, where it feels empty. I got to a point where building a house became a laundry list of things to add and ways to fill empty space. It stopped being fun for me. And returning to this older aesthetic with pillars, walls, and roofs all on the same plane, it’s kind of…restorative in a way. Not just for the nostalgia, but because it shows me I can be content with empty space and just let a structure exist in a world without being the most important thing in it. And that’s been humbling.
by guyroks
2 Comments
I can’t tell if this is trolling or not.. but I’ll have a go. The first picture is really aesthetically pleasing. I agree that simple is often underated. I’ve seen so many builds that while neat, feel over designed and kind of ruin it for me. I like to make structure packs and I see this all the time. I really like the first structure.
The second picture is trolling and doesn’t even really make sense in context of what you’re claiming to critique.
I don’t think the first picture is overly complex which is good and the second picture isn’t even really a “build” imo. It’s just a box, which is fine if that’s all you want to build but they’re clearly not comparable lol
early on (as a kid) i’d spend a lot of time in both survival & creative seeds focusing on scale & grandiosity, but in my later minecraft years i really enjoyed focusing in on practicality, simplicity, littler details… lately ‘been moving in right next to or within throwing distance of the villagers & sort of matching their building style & aesthetic with whatever house i built so i can keep it small & humble & act like i fit right into their little weird community hahaha sometimes even picking the same style as them but using different blocks, & later converting the entire village into whatever blocks i’d used on My house hahaha like swapping their cobblestone with stone bricks, stuff like that. -making it my own & gussying up the place over time.
it’s an opportunity to keep a humbler sized house though, & tap into that more “pure” minecraft look without feeling the need to build a mega mansion. you can focus on practicality & fun & build multiple little houses like that too for different purposes, like your enchanting temple over here or a farm with a cooking oven over there… little shack for fishing by the water, [whatever].
you can beautify the entire village that way too basically & focus on the smaller details over grandiose architecture. -adding flowers & firefly bushes everywhere, fancying up their pre-existing gardens & lantern fixtures, village walls for defense, etc.
(that said I don’t find your first photo to be *too* grandiose, but i can tell what you’re saying)