259
Hi everyone,
This is just a small article of mine detailing how I put together cities as a solo effort and how I make them feel unique and yet no two buildings feel exactly the same. This little article perhaps will not contain anything for veteran city builders out there, but if you are new and feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of building your own city in Minecraft, this might be for you.
I have a list of simple rules or ideals I strive for when building cities, I have built a total of four now that are of substantial size (Valinia, Agramoor, Versouna, and Anacostia; as well as dozens of villages) and I always learn new things each time that I have learned from others or have taught myself.
Tip #1 when building a city:
This means that you need to either formulate your own by experimentation with not only the blocks you're given but on how to use them within your texture pack as the texture pack is a HUGE influence on how you use said blocks. If you choose to adopt a real world style as your theme, use Google and study pictures of it for different building types (houses, government buildings, commercial (shops), and industrial buildings of that style). Often you'll find variations in each type of building for that particular style.
Tip #2 when building a city:
Trust me on this one, I have made four cities and my first one was made organically (without preplanning) and it is a literal maze, it feels congested (which is wonderful for a city) but I even get turned around in it myself and this is something you do not want players to complain about too much. Plan major roads and plazas and focal points first and then build around them. If you want to build the city organically, then you can do so by making a rough plan and instead of adjusting terrain to meet your needs, adjust the city to the terrain. This brings me to my next point:
Tip #3 when building a city:
Another do not do, because a city on flat ground is not only boring to build but also boring to get around in and explore. This doesn't mean you need to build on a mountain (which would be interesting) but you can simply just use rolling plains that have a little height variation. You'll find that when you're halfway done and getting fatigued, that you'll be thankful for the areas that are different in terrain and more of a challenge to be creative in.
Tip #4 when building a city:
I find that music is a great aid in keeping the creative inspiration going and it can help you focus on the task at hand more. The best way to go about this is to find whole collections, playlists or albums of your favorite songs or make your own and then let them play. The less switching back and forth to find a song the better and the more focused you'll be. I personally listen to a lot of older country (Cash, etc.) and classical (Vivaldi) because I find it more uplifting and because I was raised in the country lol. The music is great at keeping boredom and builder's fatigue at bay.
Tip #5 when building a city:
Yes yes, I am sure there are those of you out there that wish to make a build "legitimately" but the fact is that building in survival means you will spend more time gathering resources to build and survive than you will use by building alone. Survival is a fun challenge and worthy of trying on it's own but if you intend to build a city, survival is more work than it is worth. I myself started my first city, Valinia, in survival by gathering resources and after mining about... 12 columns * 16 high * 2x2 thick = 12 stacks worth of obsidian, I found that survival building had lost its appeal. The obsidian was for the palace's "Great Hall" and was worth it but far more time than I ever wanted to spend. You also shouldn't be afraid to use editing programs to help make the terrain a bit nicer if you're planning on doing the city in a pre-planned mode.
Tip #6 when building a city:
Though I have built my cities mostly on my own, I have had from time to time, friends visit to give me fresh opinions or help with a building that I needed help with. It gives you new ideas and letting them try out your style can help give you perspectives on how to use your building style.
Tip #7 when building a city:
By making a list of the shops and factories that you want, you cut down on having to add more buildings later towards the end when there may not be as much space. You should also plan what kind and how much of each social (wealth) class lives in your city. I generally adopt the 50-30-15-5 rule wherein 50% of the city's homes are lower-class, 30% are middle class, 15% are upper class, and 5% are noble class (noble class basically being in-city mansions). Not only do you need to plan for shops but you need to plan government buildings as well, by knowing what kind of style and what kind of government your city has, you can plan where to place it (centralized if it is more modern, or at one end if it is more akin to a monarchy).
Tip #8 when building a city:
When I say this, I mean figure out what blocks you're going to use and how to use them. Certain blocks like smooth slabs are my road edgers and between floor siding or how I use brick mostly underground for things like sewers. But creative uses for other blocks is equally helpful such as using netherbrick with sandstone in a desert theme to establish a sharp contrast to make the city stand out from its surroundings (Agramoor being the city I learned this from). Think of this builder's palette as your ready to use paint.
Tip #9 when building a city:
This is fairly common sense, you need to take breaks every so often to avoid getting burned out on your project. I will often build for almost a week and then take a day to just do nothing, and during the building days, I will build for a few hours then take a small break. It is easy to take breaks, but sometimes you need to kick yourself hard enough to get back to what you're doing. The best way is to always save a large but interesting side-project or building in the city to get you back into the swing of things.
This is just a small article of mine detailing how I put together cities as a solo effort and how I make them feel unique and yet no two buildings feel exactly the same. This little article perhaps will not contain anything for veteran city builders out there, but if you are new and feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of building your own city in Minecraft, this might be for you.
I have a list of simple rules or ideals I strive for when building cities, I have built a total of four now that are of substantial size (Valinia, Agramoor, Versouna, and Anacostia; as well as dozens of villages) and I always learn new things each time that I have learned from others or have taught myself.
Tip #1 when building a city:
- Adopt a theme (can either be real or made up and study how to use it).
This means that you need to either formulate your own by experimentation with not only the blocks you're given but on how to use them within your texture pack as the texture pack is a HUGE influence on how you use said blocks. If you choose to adopt a real world style as your theme, use Google and study pictures of it for different building types (houses, government buildings, commercial (shops), and industrial buildings of that style). Often you'll find variations in each type of building for that particular style.
Tip #2 when building a city:
- Plan the layout before building.
Trust me on this one, I have made four cities and my first one was made organically (without preplanning) and it is a literal maze, it feels congested (which is wonderful for a city) but I even get turned around in it myself and this is something you do not want players to complain about too much. Plan major roads and plazas and focal points first and then build around them. If you want to build the city organically, then you can do so by making a rough plan and instead of adjusting terrain to meet your needs, adjust the city to the terrain. This brings me to my next point:
Tip #3 when building a city:
- DO NOT BUILD ON FLAT GROUND
Another do not do, because a city on flat ground is not only boring to build but also boring to get around in and explore. This doesn't mean you need to build on a mountain (which would be interesting) but you can simply just use rolling plains that have a little height variation. You'll find that when you're halfway done and getting fatigued, that you'll be thankful for the areas that are different in terrain and more of a challenge to be creative in.
Tip #4 when building a city:
- Music is your friend
I find that music is a great aid in keeping the creative inspiration going and it can help you focus on the task at hand more. The best way to go about this is to find whole collections, playlists or albums of your favorite songs or make your own and then let them play. The less switching back and forth to find a song the better and the more focused you'll be. I personally listen to a lot of older country (Cash, etc.) and classical (Vivaldi) because I find it more uplifting and because I was raised in the country lol. The music is great at keeping boredom and builder's fatigue at bay.
Tip #5 when building a city:
- Don't be too proud to use creative or WorldEdit/Voxel/Etc.
Yes yes, I am sure there are those of you out there that wish to make a build "legitimately" but the fact is that building in survival means you will spend more time gathering resources to build and survive than you will use by building alone. Survival is a fun challenge and worthy of trying on it's own but if you intend to build a city, survival is more work than it is worth. I myself started my first city, Valinia, in survival by gathering resources and after mining about... 12 columns * 16 high * 2x2 thick = 12 stacks worth of obsidian, I found that survival building had lost its appeal. The obsidian was for the palace's "Great Hall" and was worth it but far more time than I ever wanted to spend. You also shouldn't be afraid to use editing programs to help make the terrain a bit nicer if you're planning on doing the city in a pre-planned mode.
Tip #6 when building a city:
- Have friends help out and give you opinions
Though I have built my cities mostly on my own, I have had from time to time, friends visit to give me fresh opinions or help with a building that I needed help with. It gives you new ideas and letting them try out your style can help give you perspectives on how to use your building style.
Tip #7 when building a city:
- Make a list of the buildings you want
By making a list of the shops and factories that you want, you cut down on having to add more buildings later towards the end when there may not be as much space. You should also plan what kind and how much of each social (wealth) class lives in your city. I generally adopt the 50-30-15-5 rule wherein 50% of the city's homes are lower-class, 30% are middle class, 15% are upper class, and 5% are noble class (noble class basically being in-city mansions). Not only do you need to plan for shops but you need to plan government buildings as well, by knowing what kind of style and what kind of government your city has, you can plan where to place it (centralized if it is more modern, or at one end if it is more akin to a monarchy).
Tip #8 when building a city:
- Develop a palette
When I say this, I mean figure out what blocks you're going to use and how to use them. Certain blocks like smooth slabs are my road edgers and between floor siding or how I use brick mostly underground for things like sewers. But creative uses for other blocks is equally helpful such as using netherbrick with sandstone in a desert theme to establish a sharp contrast to make the city stand out from its surroundings (Agramoor being the city I learned this from). Think of this builder's palette as your ready to use paint.
Tip #9 when building a city:
- Take breaks when you need it
This is fairly common sense, you need to take breaks every so often to avoid getting burned out on your project. I will often build for almost a week and then take a day to just do nothing, and during the building days, I will build for a few hours then take a small break. It is easy to take breaks, but sometimes you need to kick yourself hard enough to get back to what you're doing. The best way is to always save a large but interesting side-project or building in the city to get you back into the swing of things.
| Credit | All of my friends. |
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I have found that creating foundations for buildings makes everything work out better later, as well as creating a palette on your Hotbar appropriate for the theme you are creating. Building in your free time when you have no stress is best, especially listening to your favorite types of music and your favorite songs, or listening to new songs, still relating to your favorite type of music
Also, I am quite professional at WorldEdit and somewhat a professional at WorldPainter, but mainly apart from terraforming I find that it is best to create the first floor (Lobby), and then the second floor, which you then Copy / Paste to create as many floors as you like
The beauty of this technique is that the Stairs / elevator shafts match up perfectly between floors, so that you have less work to do when you've pasted all the floors in
Yes, breaks are wonderful, and stretching and getting food or drinks is always refreshing
Lastly, yes, working with friends makes things work faster, but you cannot really use the tricks of Spock to merge your brain with theirs, as they will most likely build differently to what you planned. But this can be a good thing, because sometimes they may be better than you
Blerg
You are right though, setting foundations first can help; though this method is more along the lines of pre-planning a city, which may not be conducive to organic construction.
All very good points though.