A few Minecraft screenshots

Hi all!

Well, like so many people, I have to admit I've been sucked into the fun that is Minecraft!  Now, I am not playing as much now as I did, but I did want to share a few screenshots of my primary creation; Castello City!

By the way... before I continue... EVERYTHING in this server is done in SURVIVAL mode.  Not one thing was done in CREATIVE... every bit of that cobblestone was mined!:D

I play on a server with maybe eight or nine other people, all of whom build on a continent and build whatever they would like.  A few build sort of randomly, creating things as they pop into their heads.  Others are machine programmers, and build crazy redstone projects.  I am very much a "create realistic things" sort of builder, and my main idea came when I saw two neat mountain peaks overlooking a village.  I thought those two peaks would be perfect for a mountaintop castle and its gatehouse tower, and maybe eventually I could build a city up full of villagers!

Below is a shot of the castle itself, before any serious work had started on the city.  You can just make out the planned arrival port of the rail line from the main spawn house of our world.

Over time I expanded the inside of the castle all the way down into the mountain it sits upon, incorporating several underground swimming grottos, a huge Great Feast Hall, an art gallery, a spa, kitchens, multiple guest suites, a forge, my own personal quarters (the tower on the right side of the above shot) and a whole host of battlements.

Eventually, however, I started to construct the city around it, first by outlining a huge area with walls, and then building within!

Above is a shot from outside of the main gate of Castello City.   You can still see the main castle overlooking everything, but obviously there is a lot more now.  To the bottom right you can see the arrival of the rail (all enclosed in glass now).  Leaving off the right side you can see another rail line, with a covered foot bridge above it.  The fortified spot it is leaving is the main rail center of the city.  Dead center is actually the house of one of my buddies, whose first home was made in my city.  Yeah, that is his roof deck and pool there.

A word on the main gate itself; it is actually a functioning portcullis, created using KidMischief's tutorial video.  It was a bear to create, as I am NOT a redstone person, and my security was lax, so I got hit mid-project by creepers twice, which REALLY set me back.  The circuitry actually takes up the entire tower around the gate and goes a solid 15 squares deep underneath it!  In the end, though, it was worth it.

The best views of the city are from the various towers of the castle.  Looking north you get this view of the city.  A few points of note:  to the lower right is the City Park, including (clockwise, starting from the bottom right) the Japanese Water Garden, the Rose Garden (which I just noticed is missing a block and a sign!), the Bridge, the Treehouse, the Water Sculpture, and the Birch Walk.  To the right of the Park you can just make out the archery range, a perfect place for occasional shooting tournaments.  In the center of town you can see the Cathedral and its square, and to the left of the Cathedral my buddy's large place.  Near the back of the North Side you can see the Library (the building on the top left with the courtyard) and, at the top right corner, the multi-level city pool.  The city ampitheatre is just out of sight on the veerrry top left of the above photo.

If you look south, this is the view of the harbor of the city, which sits just under the rather severe edge of the mountain (it looks must less steep from here!)  You can see the harbor, and to the bottom left the market.  The warehouse is center, and my little Japanese inspired home is to the top right (just under the rail line that leads to Thunder Mountain).  There is also a small garden there, with a brick path and a number of nice little spots to sit and take in the view of the harbor and the jungle across the way.  Out of the shot to the right are my skyscrapers, where I imagine my villagers work in their cubicles!  This part of the city DOES have a touch more work to go; you can see a few bare spots awaiting homes!

Now... I did mention Thunder Mountain there.  One fellow (the guy who hosts the server) is a big time engineer, and his main project has been the rail system that connects our worlds.  The world itself is pretty large... about 4x4 individual maps, and he has largely connected everything with a fully automated rail system!

And remember... it was ALL done in SURVIVAL mode.  Yeah, it was crazy.

The system is contain in a mountain called Thunder Mountain.  It was the largest mountain we found in the world.  A few people spent several days hollowing it out.  Above is a shot of that huge chore.  They hollowed it out to within one square of the surface in every direction, and it is MASSIVE... it actually stretches way back behind the person who took the screenshot above, but there was no way to get it all in one shot.

Then came the station.  Above is the transportation hub.  The doors are all piston doors which automatically open when you arrive or leave.  In order to pick where you are going you just press one of the buttons under the appropriate destination sign.  I think TM has the possibility of 15 outbound and inbound lines... right now about 9 are being used (there are four to the left that you cannot see here.)

Once you pick a destination the system automatically brings you a cart.  One button push, the opening notes of a race in Mariocart (courtesy of note blocks) and off you go!

Now, the engineer who made this ALSO included one rail line that is JUST for touring the inner workings of the transit hub.  It isn't as easy to see as it used to be (it was open for a long time, but a creeper accident which required some serious work changed that) but I included a few screenshots of the machinery and wiring that make it all tick.