Server May Go Down

Yeah, the server may go down for a few days, depending on when the guys from support get back to me about upgrading.  We also might lose our IP.

I'll keep y'all informed.

Bukkit Released!

Hi guys, Bukkit has finally been released for Minecraft 1.0.0!

I've spent a while setting things up, so far it's just some basic stuff.  If you're interested, i've activated these plugins:
Essentials - the basics
PermissionsEX - this one's new, hope it works better than GroupManager
LWC - you can lock your shiz, use /cremove or /cpublic to let others use it
Tombstone - creates a chest with all your stuff in upon death

It's not supported yet, but I've put in a request for them to support ControlORBle, so you won't lose experience when you die.

Still setting things up, won't have much time for a week or so.

But enjoy.

Updated the Rules Page

Take a look, if you want to suggest a new rule or contest one that I've listed there, just make a new post about it.

The End of the First Age

Alright, so the plan with the server is as follows.

The server is going to expire in a few days, and I'm not going to renew it until around December 1st, once Minecraft, Bukkit, and the major plugins have been updated.  So if you can't log on, this is probably why.

When I do renew it, I'll probably upgrade to 1GB of Ram, which will be much nicer and hopefully cut down the occasional lag spikes we experience.  It'll also mean we can have more members; I'm all for creating a stronger community.

Our IP will change I think, but that's not a big issue.

After I renew Gunar and I will take a day or so to set everything up, plugins, permissions, whatnot.  How long this takes will depend on how busy we are, but it should be fairly quick.  Then we will let everyone in and you can all go nuts!

At some point I'll need to set up a Rules page that you should all read.  I don't expect any of you would break the rules intentionally, it's more for things like actions that can't be reversed, and so on.

Awesome, looking forward to it, bring on the 1.0!

The Interim

Axtrivium

Prolancaster

fluidic_ice

Welcome Chris (fluidic_ice) to the server, at least until release.
Also to Prolancaster and Axtrivium for anyone who hasn't met them yet (sorry I forget you guys' names... =/).

I think we're gonna have to upgrade anyways, so you should be able to stick around after. Have fun with your island.

In Other News:

Notch has finally done it.  In a move that some of you may find amusingly familiar, he has decided that instead of just rotating the Map item to fix this 'North at left of map' issue, Notch has instead gone and ROTATED THE ENTIRE WORLD.  Yes Notch, I suppose north is at the top of the map now, but, surely there was an easier way to go about this...? -.-'

What does this mean for you, the humble player?  Well, not much, seeing as we're starting a new world.  You'll find if you play any old maps that your carefully positioned sunrise/sunset balconies now face entirely the wrong direction.  However, for me, your Almighty Creator and Deity, it means that I have to go and change every instance of direction in the new world (mainly at the portal shrines) as well as the wall sized map in my texture pack.

It also means that if you, like myself, learned early on in your humble Minecraft beginnings the lesson that clouds always fly north, you are going to find yourself getting a bit lost.  You can still use them, but I believe they now float west. Maybe.

In other other news, I've been updating MitchCraft to include some custom paintings, including some small portraits of our players.  Now you can finally pimp your houses to the limits of your vanity, or hang a picture of that special someone next to your bedside (D'awww).  If you'd like to be included, you have to have a custom skin made by yourself or by someone for you, and you need to send it to me.  I know Sarah's isn't technically her, but seeing as I made it and it is also f**king rad, I'm allowing it.  Also, I'm totally up for making skins if peeps want one!

Hope you like waiting.

Sooo, 1.9 is never going to be a thing.  Notch and Jeb have decided that they aren't gonna release any more full patches until Minecon, at which point they will release Minecraft 1.0.

Sounds lame, but it's probably a good thing, as far as my grades are concerned.  I'm sure most people don't have a lot of time to play for the next month or so anyway.

So, 18/11/11 is Minecon, and incidentally that's also the date for thesis submission.  I'mma take that as a sign.  In terms of the server, I imagine it will be (at least) a week after that before the server providers and bukkit guys get everything updated.  But hopefully that'll mean that Notch has a whole month to fix the laggy piece of crap that is 1.8+.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that has trouble running it, and I have a gaming PC.

Here's to the future.

What Could Have Been...

All my hopes for Endermen, they could have been so scary:

Not exactly server related, but interesting nonetheless.

Why doesn't anyone tell them to stop picking at it?

So 1.9 Pre-Release 3 came out, introducing a bunch of new things, including a couple of terrain elements.  Goddammit.  As far as I know, it's only a change in Strongholds, in that a new room spawns with a portal in it.

What this means for us is because I've already generated the world, our strongholds will not have this new room.  I don't think it's a big deal, i can always cheat to make the portal later.  I could also try regenerating the terrain there, but I think that would probably mess up the surface...

This also means that the server update will be pushed back even further.  At the moment, I wouldn't have any time to play on it anyways, and probably won't for at least four weeks.  If the update comes out, I'd be happy to start it up for anyone that does have time.  Buuut, yeah.  I think the server will really only become lively again once everyone's assessments are done.

In other news, still looking for a name for the world / blog.

I Am a Witherd, Hear Me Roar

Were you, like me, disappointed in the vast, flat snow biomes of 1.9?  Are you sick of these gentle, rolling hills, and just yearn for some wintery mountain goodness?  Then you're in luck!

"Fear my power, for it is great.  You need only see for yourself..."

Using all my powers as a Witherd - and they are plentiful - I have managed to splice a decent-sized mountain range into the heart of our large, boring snow biome.  Now, my skills are honed, and I take great pride in the result, however there may be the odd seam or two that looks unnatural.  But I have had a look around and everything to my eyes looks great.

What's that?  "But wait!" you cry, "There's no snow on these 'so-called' mountains!"  Ah, well, the terrain is still technically a snow biome, and therefore the first spell of weather should cover them with a fresh dusting of snow.  If for some reason I have made a terrible error and this is not the case (weather is so darn rare in single-player that I haven't yet had the opportunity to test it), then I shall be able to use my almighty Witherd powers to cover them with artificial snow, and freshen it up from time to time.

Well, I'm quite chuffed.  Can't wait to get amongst it!

New World Ready and Waiting for Update

Alright, so we've chosen a seed (it's "Bubbles", if you're interested) and I've generated most of the world in singleplayer, ready to be uploaded.  The world is twice as big as the last one, with a boundary at radius 1000.

What I've explored so far, showing the sizeable snow biome in the north-west.

I've also set up the portal network, so travel shouldn't be a huge hassle and you can find somewhere cool pretty quickly.

As soon as the server updates to 1.9 with Bukkit plugins, i'll upload the world and everything will be ready to go!

Still looking for a good name for the world.  If we don't find one, it'll more than likely end up being "Equestria", so if you want to avoid that fate, suggest one below in the comments!

MitchCraft 1.9 Flying Off Shelves!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1897632/MitchCraft1.9.zip
For glowstone and glass that won't make you want to tear your eyes out!

So I got lazy...

Yeah, with 1.9 only a week or so away, I think I'll just wait on updating the server til then.

Fresh new world, should be good times!

I'll keep a copy of the old world, so if anyone wants their old house (read: items) I can put it in at a later date.

Still looking for a good seed, with some snow, maybe a mushroom biome.
If you know of one, flick it this way!

1.8.1 Will Be Ready Tomorrow

Bukkit is updated, but the server isn't yet.

Tomorrow I'll set everything up and post when it's ready for action.  If anyone's free for a romp through new terrain tomorrow night, leave a comment.

Do remember though that we aren't doing a whole world restart until 1.9, which may actually hit within the week.

1.8 Is Being a Hussy

Sorry guys, but there's still a number of issues with 1.8.  Craftbukkit still isn't updated (to run our basic plugins) and 1.8 is a lot more intensive on the machine than ever before (as you'll have noticed if you've been playing ssp).

One of the issues is related to the amount of squid spawning, so when Bukkit is out i'll be able to disable them, but 1.8 is just all around beefier, so we may still get some lag.

Still no news when Bukkit or 1.8.2 will be out, but I'll post here when they are.

Plan for 1.8 and the Server World

1.8 is nice and all, but the terrain generator still has some problems (ie. no snow), and it turns out it's going to be completely rewritten for 1.9 anyways, including new biomes.

I had planned on starting the world afresh for 1.8, but unless we want to start over twice, perhaps we should wait.  However, in order to get some of that 1.8 goodness, what I could do is expand the boundary out to twice its current size.  All the new land will be yummy 1.8 terrain.

The only problem is that old terrain doesn't play nicely with new terrain, and there'll be an awful slice-off between the two.

If anyone else has any thoughts/alternatives, leave a comment.

1.8 Is Here, Kids!

(Well, half of it...)

And it's glooooorius! Well, it's...nice.  The server's still not updated, so if you still want to connect to it, stay with 1.7 or use that Switcher I posted about down there.

Probably won't update the server until the couple of core plugins are compatible.  But if anyone wants to look for a good seed for the new world, that'd be awesometastic!  Snow, plx. :)

MitchCraft 1.8 Released

Be ready when 1.8 (officially) rolls around!

 http://db.tt/W7k4M25

Isn't Mitch generous!  Get yours today!

Please Wait for 1.8

Unless you are using a version switcher like I am, do NOT update to 1.8 until i give the all clear that the server's been updated. That is, unless you're happy to stay offline til it is. Because you won't be able to connect, plain and simple.

Matt, i expect you to pass this along to your people.

For those interested, the Switcher I use lives here: http://digiex.net/minecraft/mcvtool/
It is awesome.

Also, to anyone using MitchCraft, i'll have a 1.8 version out in a few days, seeing as some of us are already playing it. Gotta get rid of custom cobble and add glass panes.

First Post Test

Only 10 moar days!