Playing Fair

Hey Guys:

Today I wanted to touch on the topic of playing fair in Minecraft as it has been a hot topic on the Cursed forums for some time now. In fact I have seen countless amounts of threads about playing fair and people's opinions of what it means to play fair.

Now first and foremost we need to understand that Minecraft is a Sandbox Game. According to Wikipedia a "Sandbox Game" is one where the player has tools to modify the world themselves and create how they play. This falls under the definition of "Open World" and can be found here.

Now if we were to purely use the Wikipedia explanation of "Sandbox Game" then it would mean the in Minecraft anything goes. This means that using mods to modify your Minecraft World is certainly acceptable.

On the forums the argument that many have put forward is that playing anything other than Vanilla Minecraft is ch\eating: this includes the use of Mods, Cheats etc.

Personally I do not use mods but not because I think it is cheating. I don't use mods because I am too lazy to go through the process of installing them. Additionally I have heard that a number of these mods are unstable and thus the hassle of downloading and installing them seems like a waste. I however, use and love to use Rei's Minimpa as this for me has been a lifesaver in so many ways. Some people believe that this is cheating, I for one could care less lol. It is my world so i play as i feel.

On the other hand I do think that using things like the X-ray mod to find ores is cheating as it gives you an unfair advantage and personally kills the game. Although I say this I personally enable cheats at times to give myself items. Yes I know that is cheating lol. There are mods like Death Chest, More Items and more that help you out a lot :)

Playing Fair on Single Player Mode

Personally on single player mode I believe that anything is okay. Therefore using mods, maps, cheats and anything else that you want is perfectly fine in my book. This is because it is your own world, and in your world anything is allowed. Sure you can set your own rules and you can decide if you want to play on easy mode (aka cheating) or on hard mode (no cheats at all). The choice is yours. Should you decide to play without cheats, mods then that is fine, the only thing I take issue with is when you decide to make other people feel bad by telling them that they are cheating. Do whatever you want on your minecraft world. It is yours after all :)

Playing Fair on Multiplayer

Now this is where using such mods as the X-ray mod becomes cheating. This is because it gives you a clear advantage over the other players. In fact most Minecraft servers have specific rules that one must follow in order to avoid getting banned. I believe that playing on a multiplayer server means adhering by the rules of the particular server.

Final Thoughts

In the end how you play is completely up to you, especially if you are in single player mode. Go nuts, cheat if you want, give yourself items if you need, play in creative, or Survival in peaceful mode. As long as you are having fun then that is all that truly matters. If you are on a multiplayer server then follow the server rules and don't be a scumbag to the other players.

Till next time my friends.

Happy Mining :)

Exceptional builds

Hey All:

Well these days I have been super concerned with automation in my Minecraft world as much as possible. So far I have been able to semi-automate the following:

• Wheat Farm 
• Potato Farm and 
• Carrot Farm 

You see (unless there is something out there that I am missing) there is no way to fully automate a the above-mentioned farms because you have to manually replant them. Perhaps there is a Mod out there that I am not aware of as yet to fully automate the process. If there is I will certainly find it in time (though i will not use it). You see there is just something special about making your own farm with old items. 

I digress. 

This week my friend and I were able to finish my very own Automated Watermelon farm. I must say that I really like it.

This is the front

And this is the side:

In the first picture i am standing in my semi-automated potato and carrot farm.

Shout-out goes to Ambi3n for his genius design. I have a cow cooker but that is for some other day :)
Oh I almost forgot to mention that Ambi3n also helped me to build a Blaze farm. It is not the most efficient (meaning the reduction of their health to the point where I need only 1 hit kill them) but it works so who am I to complain. Especially since i could not have done it myself lol. I did find another Blaze spawner so I might try to do another one. Who knows.

*I really should talk about my friend that got me into Minecraft lol* ... Someday i will. Someday.

Anyhow that is the best I have so far. Anyone else wanna share their amazing builds?

This post was inspired by the most amazingly cheap (in terms of materials ofc) enderman farm that i ever saw. SO i figured why not share mine. I will remember to save these epic videos so that i may share it with you in the future. Till then...

Happy Mining :) 

Introducing Fishing Craft for Minecraft 1.4.7

Hey All:

For all you fish loving miners out there. I have for you a real find. Introducing Fishing Craft for Minecraft 1.4.7.

This mod introduces some cool new fishing features and conditions. Some of the new features are:

1. 9 new fishes 
2. More boats 
3. Catching a disease when you eat a raw fish. (Get out your coal people lol). 
4. New Fishing Rods. 

Here is a post that explains in details the Fishing Craft mod. 

You will find the download link at the bottom of the page and also a video about the mod. 

As always guys: 

Happy Mining :) 

Professor holds virtual class in Minecraft

Hello All:

Okay so I just read some amazing news. Now as gamers we have all heard the never-ending debate on games and its learning benefits? Also we have all seen the wonderful things that that people can do with Minecraft. Well imagine having classes in Minecraft? Can you imagine it? Well believe it.

Undergraduates and professors were left without the use of their classroom after a cyclone left Australia’s Bond University closed because they suffered storm damage. Of course students and lecturers thought that they would not have any classes during the unexpected downtime; however, they were seriously wrong. One of the professors at this University had the perfect solution to keep everyone stimulated. His idea - Minecraft of course!

Professor Jeffery Brand currently runs the Minecraft Uni Project, where staff and students use Minecraft in order to continue their studies. Once signed into the game, students can access a pixilated version of the main campus, and enter classrooms to continue learning. This has been made possible because of Minecraft’s multiplayer ca[abilities, everyone can learn and discuss the material with each other, via virtual means of course.

Professor Brand used Minecraft after discovering Block by Block, a program that aides players to virtually re-create their actual neighborhoods for educational purposes. It took Brand and eleven students around 1 week to build the main campus, the other buildings includes interior details such as the library.

According to the project’s blog, the recent Minecraft class functioned in the same way that their classes functioned. The group essentially operated as if they were in the same classroom environment. Well there was one change; the waving of TNT replaced the usual hand gestures used in class. Once the Minecraft classes came to a close, they celebrated with fireworks.  

And there you have it folks. Minecraft is just for building blocks, it is also an exceptional learning tool. As if we didn't know that before.

As always – Happy Mining. J

Research Information was taken from this site. 

Minecraft Creativity

 You know the creativity of my fellow Minecraft players never ceases to amaze me. Just when you think that they have done it all, you are pleasantly surprised with something that extra-ordinary people can do with the game. Case in point; I saw some news today about some players that re-created the Kings Landing from The Game of Thrones in Minecraft.

I could say more but I will allow the website that I found to say it all. This article was written by Simon Priest of the Strategy Informer. Please see the link here

I watched the video and it is freaking AMAZING.

Go check it out and of course:

Happy Mining. J

Minecraft Pocket Edition Update

Originally the Pocket Edition of Minecraft was to be a very similar of the PC version; however, a number of updates have taken the game nearer to the ultimate experience. With update 0.6.0 scheduled to be released tomorrow, a number of people are wondering what to look forward to from this newest version. I did some research to learn everything that I thought you needed to know about this update.

Below is what I was able to discover:

Improved Graphics

Sure the portable edition is able to hold its own against the original; however, owners of the Pocket Edition will now be able to benefit from nicer looking clouds and for what it is worth nicer looking sheep. Just like regular Minecraft you will now be able to dye your sheep in a number of varying colors. You know the little things.

Easier Navigation

Owners of the Pocket Edition never really had too much difficulty travelling around the block filled world; however, you can look forward to having a more improved d-pad experience that will certainly help you to explore when the new update goes live. Speaking of navigation you will now have the ability to place signs (which personally I think is awesome).

Extra Blocks

What would Minecraft be without block construction? Pocket Edition owners rejoice as you will now have extra blocks with which to create new buildings with for example Nether Bricks.

Additional Stairs

With new blocks comes the ability to make new items and one such item are stairs. The new update for the Pocket Edition will bring with it new stairs for us Miners to create as we please. So taking the Nether Bricks from the example above you will now be able to make stairs with them. Oh and guess what? You will even be able to put the stairs upside-down J How is that for awesome.

Extra Gravity

Finally the new edition will bring with it a small but needed change to the way that a few blocks behaveThe forces of gravity will now affect gravel and sand, so you better be careful when making that underwater tunnel.

So in essence the new Minecraft Pocket Edition will ha

1. 1.   Improved graphics
2. 2.   Easier navigation
3. 3.   Additional blocks
4. 4.   Additional stairs and
5. 5.   Extra gravity

Sure to some it may seem small; however, as many of us know it is the little things that matter.

And there you have it guys, as much as I can find about the Minecraft Pocket Edition.

Happy Mining. J

Current Minecraft Texture Packs

Hey All:

Yes it has been a while since i made a post, but I hope to get much better at it :).

I just wanted to take a moment to talk my favorite Minecraft Texture Pack. Currently I am using the Soartex Texture Pack that can be found here: http://www.minecrafttexturepacks.com/soartex-fanver/

Now to me this is a wonderful texture pack and it is the reason why i still play Minecraft to this day. Asidefrom all the building of course lol. If you are reluctant to try Minecraft because of its look (let's face it the Default texture pack is UGLY) then you really should download this texture pack. To me it is simply beautiful.

However, I have found some issues with this texture pack. For starters there are a few items that it doesn't recognize - namely the anvil and fireworks. Even with its flaws I still decide to use it. How about you? Do you use a texture pack even though you have discovered issues with it? Is there any texture pack that you simply have to have?

Please leave your comments below. :)

As Always
Happy Mining.