How to get started properly on MineCraft

Post by **Sera158** » Thu 23 Feb 2012 20:03

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Here are some tips and advice gleaned from the internet about Minecraft.
(They apply to the paid version (Beta) and not the free version. Note that these tips are for single-player mode. They don't necessarily apply to multiplayer mode because it doesn't behave exactly like single-player mode.)

You can replant trees: after cutting the trunk, destroy the foliage, you can recover saplings that you can replant. Trees grow quite fast (usually in one day). It's practical to have an endless wood resource.
To fell the foliage of trees, no need to waste your axe: use... tree saplings, exactly!
To grow large trees, start by digging a hole two blocks deep, then place the sapling in it. The tree will be much larger.

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On the right, a "normal" tree (sapling placed on the ground), on the left a large tree (sapling placed at the bottom of a hole 2 blocks deep).

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It is possible to grow trees underground without daylight, provided there is soil, enough space and they are well lit by torches. Always start by placing a torch on each side of the newly planted sapling.
Lava and water can be collected in a bucket and poured wherever you want to create a new source or a new stream of lava. Practical for making a fountain.
Never dig directly the block just below or above you. In the first case, you risk falling into a cave, in the second you risk getting lava on your head, or suffocating under tons of gravel.
If you're in a cave and part of the ceiling is sand, whatever you do, don't give the slightest shovel blow to it, it will cause the entire ceiling to collapse and you'll suffocate in the sand.
A day lasts 10 minutes, so does the night.
If you don't want to wait for the end of the night, craft a bed: you can sleep in it and you'll wake up immediately at dawn. A bed is built with 3 blocks of wool (hit sheep) on top of 3 blocks of wooden planks.
The sun and moon always move in the same direction: you can use them to orient yourself.
Monsters appear in poorly lit places: be sure to light up with torches. The deeper you are underground, the more tolerant monsters are to light, so you need to bring the torches closer together.
Lava advantageously replaces wood or coal in the furnace: it heats much longer.
Avoid making gold tools, weapons or armor: they are much less durable than diamond, iron... or even stone!
Never build your house in wood: In case of fire (for example a zombie burning in the sun), it can set your entire house on fire and you'll lose your belongings (including chests). Always build in stone (cobblestone).
By putting two blocks of water one above the other, you can fall into them from any height without hurting yourself. Practical for getting down from a very tall tower under construction, for example, or for quick entry to a very deep mine.
By holding the "Sneak" key pressed (see keyboard config), you move slowly (at half normal speed) and silently. But it also prevents you from falling off the edge of a block. This is very useful when building a bridge.

Configuration of the "Sneak" key in the preferences (Left Shift by default):

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With the "Sneak" key held down, you can extend beyond the edge, which allows you to add a block to the side. Warning: if you release the "Sneak" key, you will fall.

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Be careful to use the right tools: pickaxe on rock, shovel on earth... a tool used for the wrong purpose wears out much faster.
Don't try to recover gold or any other precious metals with a stone or wooden pickaxe: once broken, the block won't give you anything. For that, you need to break it with at least an iron pickaxe.
Some blocks won't drop anything if you don't use the right tool.
Remember to keep your most valuable belongings in a chest in your house: this will prevent you from losing them on an expedition or in a mine.
If you have trouble surviving the monsters, consider temporarily switching the difficulty to "peaceful" mode: monsters don't appear at night, and your health points regenerate on their own. This is useful when starting in Minecraft, for example. You can then switch back to "normal" mode.

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Remember to build yourself a tall watchtower, on top of a rocky peak or a mountain, near your house. This will help you find your way if you get lost. Put torches on your tower, or better: lava. The light will be visible from far away.
To find your way back, you can also scatter blocks at regular intervals, or even make yourself a road.
When you place a cobblestone block on the ground, you noticed the "L" in the pattern? When the L is displayed in the right way, you're facing North. The trick also works for Nether blocks.

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Remember to use signs to show you the way (example: "<---- House").
As an anti-flood barrier in your mines, you can use bamboo or a door (even if it's open!): you can cross them, but water cannot. The door also stops lava, even when open.

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A substitute for windows can be made with simple torches (if you have trouble finding sand to make glass): make an opening of one block on each side of the door and put a torch in it. This allows you to see well what's going on outside and prevents monsters from entering. As a bonus, you can hit them with your sword from inside your house.

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Make a pool 2 blocks on each side and 1 block deep. Take two buckets, and fill them at a lake or source, then pour them at opposite corners of the pool: you have an unlimited source of water. You can take as many buckets of water from it as you like. This trick doesn't work with lava (too bad!).

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Saving and reloading your game will make monsters that haven't burned in broad daylight flee.
If you burn because of lava, throw yourself in a water source.
Monsters don't know how to open doors: Use this to secure the entrance to your house or your mines. Remember it too as an emergency exit if you're being chased: you can take shelter.
Warning: Monsters can climb ladders under certain conditions.
If unfortunately you looked an Enderman in the eyes, you can still get out in two ways: Keep looking him in the eyes until it gets light (it will burn), or move to an expanse of water without taking your eyes off him (Endermen can't stand water).
Falling toward the enemy at the same time you strike him will do much more damage. So, here's a tip: In combat, hold the jump key (this will make you jump in place) at the same time you hit with the sword: You'll do much more damage to monsters.
Press the forward key twice quickly and hold it to sprint. You'll go very fast, but this will gradually consume your food.
To avoid getting lost in your mines and caves, you can use signs or signaling systems with torches.

For example, two vertical torches to indicate "This way to the exit", with a third to indicate the direction.

Exit to the left:

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Exit to the right.

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So even in case of panic, you can run without thinking towards the exit.

You can also place a torch on the ground to indicate a danger (like a lava pit).

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Feel free to invent other signaling systems.
You can also use these torches outdoors to indicate the direction to your house.

In caves, reducing the render distance (Render distance) allows (ironically) to improve visibility (and the fog color tells you whether it's day or night outside). Press the F key to change the render distance during the game.

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If you want to exit the Minecraft window without pausing the game, put yourself in "crafting" mode before changing windows: Time will continue to pass in the game while you do something else. Useful for letting the Minecraft night (10 minutes) pass while doing something else.
To take a screenshot, press the F2 key. You can use the F1 key before that to hide the statistics.
See the wiki to find out how to craft the items needed for these tips: https://minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Crafting
The existing game modes are:
Creative single player or Creative MultiPlayer (free), also called "Classic": No resource management, you have an unlimited amount of blocks to build with.
Survival single player (paid), also called "Alpha": The survival mode. With more complex terrain generator, resource management, tool crafting, monsters, animals, day/night cycles, etc.
Survival MultiPlayer (paid) also called "SMP": Multi-player with resource management. Still under development but accessible. List of servers here.
Indev/Infdev: Test/development versions, currently removed.

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The paid version can be played in the browser or downloaded to play in full screen. The "Survival Single player" mode can also be played offline (without internet connection).

Stability

Minecraft puts graphics cards through a lot of work.

Some low-end graphics card drivers will crash a little too easily (for example Intel graphics cards and drivers built into some laptops). In this case, reduce the render distance (Render distance), and possibly avoid playing in full screen.

On servers, avoid playing at "FAR" render distance. Always take "NORMAL" or "SHORT", otherwise you risk crashing the server.

Performance

If performance is not good, reduce the render distance (FAR ---> NORMAL ---> SHORT ---> TINY). This will greatly improve performance.

If that's not enough, play without enlarging the Minecraft window, or even reduce it.

You can also switch graphics from FANCY mode to FAST (you'll just lose the transparency of the foliage).

If you play in full screen, it's better to press F11 than just enlarging the window: With F11, display performance will be slightly better.

Post by **Yoann-95** » Thu 23 Feb 2012 20:24

Honestly I'm not a fan of the game, I tried it 1 year ago but even so your topic is really nice!

Post by **Sera158** » Thu 23 Feb 2012 20:30

Well thank you very much

Post by **Oops** » Thu 23 Feb 2012 23:37

great tutorial but I didn't get into the android version either

Post by **MamieSophie** » Fri 24 Feb 2012 00:12

This game reaches its full potential in multiplayer.

When you were younger, did you ever play with lego?

Did you build a city, with houses, cars, maybe even a supermarket? a restaurant?
Did you ever get mad because you were missing pieces? once the city was finished, did you tear it all down, pack it all away thinking it was pointless because no one would ever come play with you for more than half a day to bring your city to life?

Now imagine all that put on a server, where you have infinite blocks (that you have to go find yourself...). That the whole city you built block by block comes to life, that people come live in a huge lego city built by everyone.

Creativity is then multiplied, you build with everyone, all seasoned with lots of mods and plugins that add spice to the game...

But Minecraft isn't just lego, you first have to survive in a hostile world with mobs that will make short work of you once night falls or in a place that's too dark.
Then go looking first for food, but also for ores to make yourself a sword and armor worthy of the name. Find diamond then obsidian to explore the Nether, a kind of hell full of very interesting loot.

Build yourself a nice house, raise your animals, become a farmer, go look for an NPC village, an abandoned mine, or a stronghold, go kill the ender dragon, master of the end dimension, gather xp points to enchant your items, mix all sorts of ingredients to make potions, go storm a dungeon that holds a hostile mob spawner, build mob traps (or kikou traps...), use redstone to make electrical/electronic circuits (NAND gates, etc...), ... the list goes on...

There's something for everyone and you never get bored. On top of that, lots of mods/plugins are there to add elements, or give you new ideas for goals. Adventure maps are also there for those who like puzzles.

What's more, this game is constantly evolving and on average every 2 months we get a new update that adds content.

Do you like zelda-style adventure? There are maps for that.
Do you like creating puzzles? Do you like creating electronic circuits? Redstone is there to delight you.
Do you like exploration? The caves are there for you.
Do you like creativity? Creative mode is there for you.
Do you like robinson-crusoe-style survival? Hardcore mode is there for you.
Do you like magic, mana, xp points? Enchantments are there for you.
Do you like racking your brain with lines of code? Create your server.

And there you go, that's what Minecraft IS.
A game that costs €20 and that has a lifespan bordering on infinite.

How to get started properly on MineCraft