General Minecraft newbie advice thread!

[Doclector]

So, minecraft 360 is out today, meaning there's a load of us console players who will be complete newbs at this, so I thought we could have a thread in which veteran miners provide tips, and newbies can ask questions. Wonder how long before this boils down to a heated argument about building materials...

Here's my question; I've heard monsters spawn in dark places, I've heard they spawn underground, basically, I need to know whether building something underground/into the side of a mountain is wise. Are there ways if you build such a place that you can stop monsters spawning there?

Ask away!

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Never dig directly down or up.

You'll thank me later.

As long as there is light, monsters won't spawn, so make sure anything you build has torches in it.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Yup that up and down thing is highly dangerous.
- make a huge tower of blocks where your house is because you are 99% sure to lose it at one point or another
- periodically save your valuable ores in chests because the time will come when you fall into lava and not only do you die quick but also drop everything that will then burn up the second it touches lava
- when mining deep have a bucket of water on your hotbar at all times

 

[Doclector]

Never dig directly down or up.

You'll thank me later.

As long as there is light, monsters won't spawn, so make sure anything you build has torches in it.

I know that first tip from my time on fortresscraft. Sure, the lava at the bottom didn't kill me, but it was damn annoying trying to get back up without a jetpack before they put the teleporter in.

And thanks, I have a tendency to light up anything I build like a christmas tree, so I shouldn't have many problems.

 

[Doclector]

Yup that up and down thing is highly dangerous.
- make a huge tower of blocks where your house is because you are 99% sure to lose it at one point or another
- periodically save your valuable ores in chests because the time will come when you fall into lava and not only do you die quick but also drop everything that will then burn up the second it touches lava
- when mining deep have a bucket of water on your hotbar at all times

I learnt about the tower thing from tobuscus. In fact, you can pretty much learn how not to play anything from tobuscus. It's like top gear, you watch it to see things go wrong.

 

[Sixcess]

Spiders can climb over walls, but cannot get past overhangs - put a one block overhang at the top of any walls to make them spider-proof.

Also, more recently mobs have got a lot smarter and will seek shade in daylight. If you are building overground make sure your entrance/exit faces to the east with nothing blocking the sun (like a cliff or dense forest) Otherwise the mobs can camp outside your front door when the sun rises.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The most important piece of advice I ever had with Minecraft was "find yourself a project". Be it to explore the world, or a particular cave system, or to build a beach house, or to create a massive lava spewing fortress...just have a project. If you have a project, the game is ENDLESSLY capturing. You'll be happily smoothing out valleys and cutting down trees and having the time of your life. Without a project, you'll be standing around wondering what all the fuss is about.

 

[Qitz]

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki

Bookmark it.

Other than that, gold is shit for armor and weapons, you can smelt cobblestone to make stone bricks for building and grind up bones for bonemeal then use that to instantly grow and plant.

Also, don't forget to jump when you melee someone / thing. You'll auto-crit them.

 

[Seishisha]

You can't jump over fences unless from an elevated position, animals will trample your crops if not properly walled off, creepers will get you at the most inconvenient times.

 

[AceTrilby]

Never make the door leading into your bedroom a double door - for some reason monsters can spawn in even if they're both closed.

Water buckets make a fantastic reusable alternative to ladders.

Instantly kill any pigs you see, unless you want to ride it. You will need the pork.

Build your house close to water, and start a wheat farm as soon as possible. Put fences and torches around it. Until the Xbox version is up to date with the PC one, you can't safely walk on your crops, so make sure you have walkways to easily access them, as well as fences and torches to keep out pasky animals and monsters.

 

[Paladin2905]

You can build a bed out of wool and wood to skip the night, but don't place it next to a wall, if adjoining a wall monsters can sometimes spawn when you're sleeping- which is a bad thing.

 

[gigastar]

Since Mincecraft has the infamously fun [http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Losing] Dwarf Fortresss in its ancestry, always aim to make things as hard as possible for yourself in the long run.

 

[Under9000]

Instantly kill any pigs you see, unless you want to ride it. You will need the pork.

Do not do this. If you can get hold of some seeds (easy stuff, hit some tall grass. If there's no tall grass around, grind up bones to make bonemeal and use it on a plain grass block) and cultivate them into wheat (or again employ bonemeal) you can make pigs and other animals follow you by holding wheat. Once you've collected two of anything you can breed them by feeding them wheat. Renewable animals are a much better source of food than just about anything else

EDIT: Wait, no, my bad. I forgot the 360 version wasn't updated fully.

 

[Doclector]

Instantly kill any pigs you see, unless you want to ride it. You will need the pork.

Do not do this. If you can get hold of some seeds (easy stuff, hit some tall grass. If there's no tall grass around, grind up bones to make bonemeal and use it on a plain grass block) and cultivate them into wheat (or again employ bonemeal) you can make pigs and other animals follow you by holding wheat. Once you've collected two of anything you can breed them by feeding them wheat. Renewable animals are a much better source of food than just about anything else

EDIT: Wait, no, my bad. I forgot the 360 version wasn't updated fully.

Think I should tell you both that apparently the hunger bar has been removed from the 360 version. I'm not too bothered, but I hope I still get pigs running around being...piggy.

 

[AceTrilby]

Instantly kill any pigs you see, unless you want to ride it. You will need the pork.

Do not do this. If you can get hold of some seeds (easy stuff, hit some tall grass. If there's no tall grass around, grind up bones to make bonemeal and use it on a plain grass block) and cultivate them into wheat (or again employ bonemeal) you can make pigs and other animals follow you by holding wheat. Once you've collected two of anything you can breed them by feeding them wheat. Renewable animals are a much better source of food than just about anything else

EDIT: Wait, no, my bad. I forgot the 360 version wasn't updated fully.

Think I should tell you both that apparently the hunger bar has been removed from the 360 version. I'm not too bothered, but I hope I still get pigs running around being...piggy.

Eating food in this version is the only way to regain health (unless it's on peaceful mode), so getting as much pork and bread as possible is very important.

 

[Doclector]

Instantly kill any pigs you see, unless you want to ride it. You will need the pork.

Do not do this. If you can get hold of some seeds (easy stuff, hit some tall grass. If there's no tall grass around, grind up bones to make bonemeal and use it on a plain grass block) and cultivate them into wheat (or again employ bonemeal) you can make pigs and other animals follow you by holding wheat. Once you've collected two of anything you can breed them by feeding them wheat. Renewable animals are a much better source of food than just about anything else

EDIT: Wait, no, my bad. I forgot the 360 version wasn't updated fully.

Think I should tell you both that apparently the hunger bar has been removed from the 360 version. I'm not too bothered, but I hope I still get pigs running around being...piggy.

Eating food in this version is the only way to regain health (unless it's on peaceful mode), so getting as much pork and bread as possible is very important.

Yeah, I know that now I've played it. I learnt the hunger bar wasn't featured in a review I read that morning.

 

[Woodsey]

I've heard the 360 version is loaded with tutorials right up the arse hole, so I can't imagine anyone would struggle with it.

 

[Blondefool]

If you hear ssssss...run. For the love of god, run!

Digging out a mountain for your bases is a great way to getb a cool looking place and amass materials

 

[surg3n]

You'll probably learn this stuff as you go anyway, but it might save a few tears...

Don't wander without a compass. You don't have the luxury of teleporting to other players on your map, or teleporting anywhere. Start out with a base, and plan where you want to go, and make sure you make it clear how to get back to your base. A compass is vital, as that will point the way home - once you have a compass you can wonder for miles and still make it home quite quickly. It is very very very easy to wander off and find lots of things to explore, then realise your miles from anywhere and are left with the option of dying and respawning, or spending hours trying to backtrack. Plan your outtings as if they were expeditions, make sure you have food and a bucket of water in case of any lava trouble. You might find a load of iron ore, diamonds, anything really that you'll be very sad to loose.

Try making your house/base on stilts - then have a 1 block gap to get into your base - it is fairly common for enemies to get into your shit, even when you have doors and what-not. The best defense is making it practically impossible for creepers to get too close. They are the ones that'll screw you over, they'll follow you home and a creeper at the door can be a nightmare to deal with. Better to have them follow you, but then fall down a pit or something away below your base. I suggest making a secure little base somewhere first, then scout a location where you can have something more secure, bigger, better - but always have somewhere secure to go, with a bed. Spiders can be a pain, they climb - even the most secure base can have spiders on the roof in the morning. Cactus can help keep mobs at bay, try and get some early, grow it on sand, wait till it's 3 blocks then pinch the top 2 blocks, leaving the bottom block to keep growing.

Start a farm, 2 block wide strips of dirt with a 1 block deep water channel works well, like a little paddy field - grow lots of wheat, make lots of bread - Wheat is good for luring animals and making them breed, it's not the best idea to go slaughtering wildlife right away - farm the little buggers and slaughter the overflow, much more efficient.

Always have tons of torches, I don't leave the house without a full stack of 64. When spelunking (mining/exploring), take your time - it's very easy to get distracted by some interesting cave structures, get lost, loose diamonds etc very easily. Make a chest and make a hub to explore from. Often you have to dig yourself out, diagonally up, like a hellish staircase. If you need to use that route a lot, add in some stairs made from all that cobblestone you have, it uses it up and makes the stairs much more sufferable - does mean an extra block high though to avoid banging your head. Be wary of lava - always have a solid block ready in case you find a leak - the better you are at stemming leaks, the less likely you are to burn alive. Lava tends to be lower down, but it can crop up anywhere really.

When building, consider switching the difficulty to peaceful - so you don't have to worry about mobs ruining your stuff before it's even finished. Before long you'll be making crazily massive structures that take time - it's enough to worry about not falling and breaking your neck, there's no shame in going peaceful build mode, nobody who makes those elaborate massive structures you've seen does it with monsters on.