Hey guys, are you ready for your Christmas present?  That's right, this year I'm going to be uploading something extra special on Christmas day.  I think you guys are really going to enjoy it.  But for now, let's talk about the best projects of the week.

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The best structure of the week is something just plain epic.  Serenity Imperium, the Floating Fortress is Gazamo’s entry in a build battle against Solari.



This is a beautiful, circular palace, composed of both futuristic and industrial architectural themes.  It has a myriad of impressive details, including rocket engines, laser beams, interior work, and a fleet of small battleships flocking around it.



Serenity Imperium also sports a large quantity of brick, a material that’s difficult to work with, especially in the default texture pack.  It takes a lot of skill and restraint to make that material work, but Gazamo makes it look oh-so easy.



Another aspect of this project that requires skill is the fact that it’s a circular build, largely composed of rectangular structures.  This, of course, demands that the builders work on a diagonal slant, which is very difficult to do in Minecraft.  But, again, this is a prime example of how to do it correctly.



But what I find really inspiring about Serenity Imperium is how seamlessly it incorporates different architectural styles.  The almost-Victorian architecture is blended with the space-age mechanical structures in such a way that it becomes a style all its own.  It’s not exactly steampunk, but something similar.



Overall, there’s a sort of malevolent, tyrannical atmosphere present here, which is good because that was actually the theme of the build battle.  It’s the sort of structure that condenses detail into a relatively small space, and takes advantage of different materials to create its own, novel architectural motifs.

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The best terraforming of the week, and quite possibly of the year, is The Rage of Hades, created by Week in Review terraforming veteran Gabersid.



All throughout the year, Gabersid has continuously pushed the envelope and challenged our understanding of landscaping.  His globular, almost organic style is very identifiable, and has been employed by many other aspiring terraformers as well.



And The Rage of Hades is no exception.  What we have here is a veritable web of jagged volcanic rock, woven together with streams of flowing lava, pluming smoke, and gnarled trees.  It’s a lesson on how chaos and destruction can be used to create something melodious and beautiful.



Truly, this is a deconstructed volcano, its fragments arranged in an ethereal manner, creating an entirely new interpretation.  When you look at these fragments close-up, they bear no real meaning or significance.  But when you step back and look at it as a whole, it becomes clear that The Rage of Hades is far greater than the sum of its parts.

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And finally, the best organic work of the week is Calamitous Castle, created by Jimjabway.  I swear every time this guy builds something, it makes God lose self-esteem.



This is a castle, but unlike an ordinary castle, this one is being torn apart by a pack of ravenous demonic gargoyles while a flying boat attempts to fend them off.  It’s quite a chaotic scene, and the title of the map is very fitting.



Calamitous Castle is complemented with some stellar terraforming, and excellent architectural style.  But the real achievement here is the angles that Jimjabway was able to incorporate into the towers.  Several of the structures are either tilted or broken in half, which basically means that they had to be built diagonally.



As I’ve said many times on Week in Review, building things on diagonal axes is extremely difficult to do in Minecraft, since all of the building materials are incapable of being manually rotated.  Jimjabway executes that difficult task with ease, and creates something that defies preconceived limitations.



But, moreover, this build doesn’t just portray a castle, it portrays a scene.  It’s an extremely charged and lively build that almost seems like a single frame from a film.  To me, Minecraft is pushed to its full potential when it’s used to create a theme or idea, open to the viewer’s imagination, rather than just being a static castle.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you all have a merry Christmas!  ;)