Poll: Your Minecraft Strategy.

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I you haven't checked out multiplayer yet take a look at the escapist group server here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/EscapeCraft

It isn't as exciting because you can't die and there are no monsters but it is really fun to build things other people can see and check out the things other people have built.

 

[gigastrike]

I start with a cave house (because it's fast) facing east (so I can see the sun rise). After a few days mining for coal and stone, I venture out, looking for a large natural cave system. When I find one, I choose a nearby, tall mountain with a flat top and shear sides to build my fort on top of.

 

[rokkolpo]

I made myself a giant tree trunk, then make an elevator inside it to the top as well as one down.

I now have the options of building at the top, building underground or going to either side till I hit water and make it an underwater base (absolute favourite).

Also fast travel inside your own house is very handy.

 

[MassiveGeek]

I made a house that I was very pleased with once, on the side of a "mountain". The first part was built entirely with wood(stupid, stupid idea in the end), then I dug into the mountain; first upwards, so I built a very visible tower, with glass and lot's of torches so I could always find my way back, and then I started building downwards.

And I eventually found lava.

... And I was holding a lava filled bucket.

And I opened a chest.

I burnt down my house.

D:

 

[MGlBlaze]

You left out an option where you build your house underground/into a mountainside but not in an existing cave. I like the control of being able to shape the rooms as you wish. That said, depending on the area, I'll have a 'sunken' base that is mostly underground but has some parts protruding into the open, like a nice front wall or a tower.

Mostly I just build my base how I feel like at the time.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

My latest house in singleplayer has (I restarted because Minecraft crashed and I lost my save) is dug into a mountain and I started converting all the walls (well, almost all the wall, since I have to put up torches) to glass.

Before my game crashed I had a small castle on top of a small, steep mountain. No creepers or zombies could get up there.

 

[Lord Kloo]

I build castles, with perimeter walls to keep out dastardly creepers and their ilk, on top of hills and then dig down a tunnel straight to the surface, and then have a steel door so I can get back in when I die, then the tunnel continues to the cave networks.. there are many horrors down there..

 

[Count Igor]

Dig a huge moat around a base, then expand.

 

[Lord Kloo]

And I eventually found lava.

... And I was holding a lava filled bucket.

And I opened a chest.

I burnt down my house.

D:

I've done that before, once did it in a forest, my wood supply was gone in minutes..
Also..
I came back to my house to find that my lava pit had somehow set fire to my floors and then my ceilings, luckily the base component was stone so I only had to re-fit the wooden parts..

 

[Kukakkau]

I only have one game where I built a house just up from the beach but just off from a mountain. Built a straight down mine shaft with glass floors every so often to prevent falling deaths.

The house was made of wood for aesthetic value but I had a slight problem when I installed the lava incinerator...

So it's know a solid stone bunker with rivers on either side and a greenhouse just outside.

 

[MassiveGeek]

And I eventually found lava.

... And I was holding a lava filled bucket.

And I opened a chest.

I burnt down my house.

D:

I've done that before, once did it in a forest, my wood supply was gone in minutes..
Also..
I came back to my house to find that my lava pit had somehow set fire to my floors and then my ceilings, luckily the base component was stone so I only had to re-fit the wooden parts..

Yeah, well... I burnt down all my equipment and killed my character as well, so. D:

 

[DestinyCall]

I usually build my first shelter in the side of a mountain and eventually convert that spot into my main mining operation. Then I build a large walled compound, well-lit with torches so I have plenty of room to build additional projects, night or day, without fear of zombies/creepers. With this strategy, I will often not even leave the area around my spawn point for many game days. By the time I venture out, I have a huge oasis of safety to come home to, often surrounded by a moat of deep water or lava.