Thousands of hours in Minecraft, and probably only a few dozen hours in a base I actually designed myself. I almost always wind up in a (small) premade structure, or a sprawling Lawn Base with factories and machines everywhere.
What are some mindset shifts/simple self-imposed rules to help?
Similarly, building tools! Came across The Mighty Architect in Create: Above & Beyond, loved it, but haven't gone out of my way to add it (or its successor/port, The Mighty Architectury) to other modpacks. Are there other mods that support building structures instead of just factories? Or, for a different approach, any mods that incentivize building in some way?
I’m not really looking for schematic-based solutions (r/9×9, Createmod.com, etc). I’m more interested in tools or systems that support designing and building in-game.
by drcryllus
6 Comments
let’s say you’re building an andesite alloy factory. obviously it’s going to be made out of multiple parts. andesite generation, the other material, and assembly. build a dedicated room for them inside the larger andesite alloy factory
that’s what i do
Commenting for later from a shameless prefab addict
I can’t really help with the building tools part, but the general mindset I’ve had when building is that it’s okay for it to not be perfect right off the get go, and you can refine and improve upon the design as you progress in whatever modpack you find yourself in. I often just ‘send it’ with my designs; see what comes out nice, change it if I don’t like it. It also helps when I don’t compare myself to other builders (especially since I’m not that great to begin with).
My friend who often plays with me also plays around in Creative to set up a structure, and just ends up making them *huge* to fill in all the space we might eventually need. If Create is installed, we can then use schematics to share it between one another until we’re happy and build it in Survival!
Ahem.
*embrace it*.
Or, alternatively, make the rule that you *have* to make themed builds before you can put down any factories.
I had this problem with FTB Oceanblock 2 — I was definitely planning to build a nice base, but I built something that looked like a high rise girder skeleton around the starter wreckage and then… built a stone lawn that just kept growing and never quite built any more base by the time I finished
There are a few rules I’ve gotten in the habit of applying when I build:
“One job, one room.” Device smelts things? Time for a furnace room. Chest room. Blood Altar room. Bookshelf room. I try to make every room “feel” natural, and
“No thin doorways.” Every room with a function has to have either a hallway or an antechamber between it and the next function room. This makes them feel more distinct and makes the spaces “feel” more natural; it helps to build a throne room, or spaceship corridors, or some other place that works as a nexus.
“One block wider.” This is more of a general building trick afaik, but wherever I would put a flat wall I instead put a single-block “shelf” and the actual wall one block behind it. This gives the wall visual texture, keeps you thinking about the aesthetic, and allows you to “drape” machinery (or chests, or decorations, or whatever) in a way that looks good.
I’m still no expert, not by a long shot, but this is how *I* keep my builds feeling like one place instead of sprawling lawns.