VGHVI Minecraft: August 31, 2017
In the August Minecraft session, the next question was what to do with the surroundings of the building I’d been working on.
Approaching the mountain
Getting closer up
At the back of the building, looking towards it
There was a green area behind that I was thinking of a sort of garden; I had a vague idea that I might fence it in? But when I started wandering around, that didn’t work: it was too large, and it was also hilly enough that a fence didn’t feel like a natural boundary. So I looked around, trying to figure out what I could do.
Around one side of the building, I saw an area that just didn’t look good; when I cleaned it up a bit, though, it actually did turn into a nice coherent area. So I started out emphasizing that, which ended up turning it into a patio.
Uneven territory right next to one side window
There’s a pretty sharp edge right past that tree
Creating a fenced-in patio
Here’s the view past the tree
And here’s the view off the side next to the building
The view of the whole thing
Looking at it from inside the house
That was pretty successful: I’d started with something that looked actively bad (as opposed to the main part of the forest back there, which was fine on its own), cleaned it up, and turned it into a nice little area of focus. So maybe I could repeat that idea elsewhere? The next question, then, was how to connect it to the door out the back of the building: just being adjacent via a window seemed a little funny.
Looking along the back of the building towards the patio (which is around the corner)
Maybe a wood path would work?
Here’s what the end of the wood path would look like
Stepping stones are a better fit
The stepping stone version at the patio
Later I came back and made the border more uniform
At this point, I had a bit of a design language: I’d try to find spaces that particularly stood out (and I’d clean up spaces that look ugly), I’d use fences to enclose them as appropriate, and I’d have stone paths between them, with spaces between the stones reflecting that this is a loose federation of spaces rather than a tight and dense neighborhood. And I actually had another immediate place to put this into action: the area right outside the door was a bit of mess, so I cleaned it up too.
These lumps and holes don’t look good
We’ll start by leveling it out more
Next, fence it in
Looking straight out the back; and we don’t need fences everywhere, the dirt on the side is a good boundary once it’s been made a bit less lumpy
Wandering a bit further afield, I found a relatively empty flat area that was overlooking the chasm in the middle: it had a nice view, but needed a bit of punctuation. This time I decided it didn’t need a fence, but maybe a fountain in the middle would look good?
Here’s a potentially interesting spot with a good view
Starting to construct fountain walls, but this doesn’t really look right
I like it better built into the ground
Here’s the end of the path to the fountain; and stone stairs seemed like the best way to handle the change in level
Finally, I started going further back looking for one more spot to emphasize; I found one area with a steep drop over a nice view under a tree.
Looking back towards the house partway down the hill
I think we can do something with this view under this tree
Fencing it in and trimming away some dirt
Here’s the path leading back there; you can also see the branch off the left to the fountain
Let’s add in a wood floor
And a table and chair, to make it easier to enjoy the view
That was enough for the back of the building; my next question was what I should do with the door over the chasm. I’ll work on that in September!
What should I do with this doorway?
That’s what I was doing; Pat was finishing off the latest addition to his city, in the mean time.
A purple carpet
More purple upstairs
A tree and flowers in the middle of the courtyard
The vestibule behind the entrance
The street right outside
Comments Off on VGHVI Minecraft: August 31, 2017