ChunkShift.com

It’s been a year since I published my first post on this blog. Fed-up with work and spinning my wheels in a minecraft world; I wasn’t sure where this journey would lead.

The work stuff passed; but what about the blog? I’ll dive into that in this post.

I’m posting once a month; hit the subscribe button below to stay up to date!

What’s in a season?

Why start a new season at all? Mainly to stay organized and mark the passage of time. For me it’ll help when searching through previous posts and keeping things organized offline.

And we all know minecraft isn’t about mining or crafting. It’s about organizing. Let’s take that serious.

Besides organization this post marks a year of progress; not just in Minecraft, but in blogging. My writing has improved and I’m slowly figuring out SEO, alt text and other back-end website stuff.

The Limits

In my season 1 post I set the following limitations:

• Focus on 1 chunk builds
• Not going to the end
• Small redstone projects
• No villager trading hall

I proposed this formula as treatment for the fatigue I often reach in a Minecraft play-though. There’s nothing wrong with starting over, there’s nothing wrong with riding a wave of inspiration or starting a new world to chase a new theme.

For me the issue was that I wanted to continue a world but had painted myself into a corner of unfinished large projects. These worlds were places I wanted to spend time and I was inspired by the themes within; however, a lack of meaningful progress and frequent goal posts had me loading up a new seed.

After a year in this world my new approach to game-play has kept me energized and I have no intentions to start a new world. 1 chunk builds might not be the right fit for you, but I recommend finding the limitations and exceptions to those that will keep balance in your world.

I have started a modded world or played other games when the inspiration wasn’t there. When inspiration came back, however, I wasn’t turned off by massive projects and could easily log in and get something done.

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Well. I’m a content creator now. How has that journey been? Well I didn’t get famous nor did I get a cameo in The Minecraft Movie.

Blogging isn’t the preferred content consumption method of the masses anymore. Maybe there’s a renaissance in the future, more likely there’s not. What I’ve found is a balance of content I enjoy creating and content that someone eventually reads.

In a very uncertain world, it’s nice to have the resources to express creativity in a genuine way and have genuine reactions to it.

I started with posts twice a month and that was too ambitious. I’ve fallen into a groove of 1 post a month somewhere around the 15th. This is a sustainable schedule that allows me to be intentional in the process.

1500 day update

My blog-a-versary coincides with 1500 days in survival Minecraft. As such I have added another chunk to my town.

Notable developments of the last 500 days are a trip to a size-able mushroom island and Significant progress on my storage area at spawn. 

I revisited archaeology in the last 500 days. This is a mechanic I’ve really enjoyed in the past and I think my focus on blogging distracted me from doing it sooner. Many candles from a trail ruin light up the interior and other artifacts are in barrels or placed within the various rooms.

I’ve made some progress on the river through town and am pleased with the bridge I built over this section. The retaining wall will get more texture or change in the future. For now it’s a roughly traced through a section of town to aide in mobility and the creative process.

At some point well in the future water will flow. I’m yet to decide if that will be Minecraft water, blocks that look like water or a combination of both. If the shaders in development work out well I’ m inclined to use actual water. I think it’s a more accessible approach.

Build stats

Real Life Days: 66

Minecraft Days: 221

Hours: 6

This build was a 1 chunk build, if you’d like to see more 1 chunk builds click here.

What’s coming in Season 2 of the let’s play blog?

There’s going to be a focus on levelling or powering up. Some of the builds planned expanded survival powers and capabilities.

But great power requires great organization…

1. Automated storage

I have a massive storage project underway. The redstone is done and functioning; however, the decorative side is taking longer.

I could have done the storage as a 1 chunk build but it didn’t have any cosmetic value. I experimented with a few different designs and cosmetic approaches in creative mode. I abandoned the 1 chunk limit and have no regrets.

The redstone is limited to the spawn chunks. The custom biome limited by the hillside and the ocean. So while it is a large project it’s fun to chip away at in between other builds.

Storage is where I spend the most time; or at least most frequent and having this magical biome surround it is already something special.

2. A guardian XP farm

As I discussed in my 1000 day update; this monument was too close to pass on. Any other comparable xp solution seemed like more work. If not to build, to connect to my main island.

I think I’ve found a way to make the farm itself a 1 chunk build and avoid a huge cosmetic project. I’ve been wrong about a couple things so far in this project though…

Expect a post later this year on things to consider with a project like this. The cosmetic details may find their way into season 3.

3. A junk

I’ve gotten a request to build a junk style 1 chunk boat. I have a need for another boat and had gotten the request to build in the traditional Chinese junk style from a reader.

Next month’s post will be dedicated to this build. If you would like to see me tackle something in this world let me know in the comments. And while you’re down there throw out some ideas for naming the island or parts of it.

4. More 1 chunk builds

This is a core part of my formula. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the key or other limitations were going to be needed in addition or in place of. But it’s worked out and I’m going to keep building in the 16×16 square that the game is built on.

Despite having 2 large, time consuming projects, I do not feel intimidated with my to-do list. These 2 projects are broken up with easy to complete builds that have taken me between 4 and 10 hours to complete. That’s without creative mode planning or any detailed plan.

I need a couple farms to gather materials for the guardian farm. And as you will see in future posts I was able to build these inside a chunk or go even smaller!

If you’d like to see more 1 chunk builds click here; and consider subscribing so you don’t miss my monthly posts!

Thank you for following my journey and I hope you found something helpful for yours.