Hi PMCer's! We're thrilled with the response we've received from the Procedural Metropolis Project Contest! Gheppio updated the FAQ section of the contest description as well as the official forum thread to include the most common question's we've received. If you have a question, it's likely answered in the updated FAQ so please take a moment to read it :)

We're seeing some great entries so far and are excited to see more! Happy building!


Can I build more than six houses?
No, at the moment 6 houses, and one submission, per person is the limit.

Do I have to build interiors too?
It’s highly recommended.

Is there a specific style we should build in?
The city generation will create paved roads, so anything "Contemporary" will make sense. We wanted to keep the theme as open as possible while ultimately generating cities that will make sense.

Why are there slab borders and building limits in general?
Slab borders are needed for house spacing, that’s why you must leave them, and the air above them, as they are. They are on two sides only, this is correct; you can build up to the edge of the other two sides. It’s suggested to fill the surroundings of the buildings with the same slabs because that's the city's pavement, in this way the builds are better integrated into the city layout :-)

What about water, is it allowed?
In some rare cases it may cause problems when houses are placed by the structure blocks; anyway, water is allowed. If water presents glitches in the rotated instances, it will probably glitch also in the final city! If possible. Try containing water pools only with solid blocks, and not with stairs or slabs only; they're the ones which glitch the most. If not possible, replace glitching water blocks with ice that it will melt down after your house is placed. If there are still some glitches or problems, they’ll be corrected before their integration in the Infinity Matrix.

Are we allowed to incorporate command blocks and redstone into our builds?
It's better to avoid complex circuits, while they should work fine, I'm afraid that if too many people build complex circuits that "do stuff" in their build, than this will make the machine much heavier to run on low spec PCs.

I don't want to risk that some people aren't able to generate their cities with your builds included because of this problem! If you want to do a special lighting system with redstone or a teleporting elevator with command blocks it’s ok, but try to stay contained and absolutely avoid automatic machines! Your devices must be user-activated!

What about the streets? How are they made? I’d like to make a parking lot or a building with road access…
The roads are 7 blocks wide, 3 blocks per lane and 1 for the centreline. Roads are made of the grey terracotta already present in the building sites, at the same level, pavements are made of the same stone slabs of the 2-side border, at its same level.

If you’re building something that needs a road access (e.g. like a parking lot) place the road-sized entrance/access aligned with the "entrance here" passage for 1x1, 2x1, 1x3 and 2x3 plots. For 1x2 and 2x2 instead, put it on the middle of the left or right chunk. In this way I can reprogram roads so that they connect correctly to your car entrances when your builds are placed in the city!

Are the items in chests, furnaces, dispensers, etc. saved in the Infinity Matrix too?
Yes.

Can I use paintings, banners, custom player heads etc.?
As a rule of thumb, if something appears correctly also in the rotated instances, then it can be used.
Paintings and item frames sadly can’t be used for now. Banners and custom player heads work flawlessly.

Does the front door have to function, or can it be an open glass door?
It doesn't have to necessarily be a door! It's just a constraint that sets where the front of the building is, so that the engine makes your builds facing towards the roads correctly. More like a "the door should be here" indication, intend it as "people will access this area arriving from here". After that you can put the entrance you want, of even something else! For example, in the largest plot, you could even put two small buildings on the left and right side and a small plaza in the centre, that would work too!

Will my builds appear together in the final city?
The city will contain as many submissions as possible from participants, so there will be houses/buildings from different people close to each other, a city from the PMC community!

Any generated town will be different and potentially infinite, in some of them your builds will be closer, and in others more distanced, and every building integrated in the Infinity Matrix will have a defined probability to appear during the generation Process. Consider all that is being created here as a single neighbourhood!

Did Gheppio design the procedural Infinity engine by himself?
Yes.

Hey everyone! Tonight is MOVIE NIGHT (or day, depending on where you are!) and we're really excited!! We will be chatting and watching some short clips over on Channel 6 before the premier of Cyprezz by Ray_Savage! Let's get a good crowd in there and have some fun! See you there!

Two quick things:

First, I've created a folder which will eventually contain all of my ship schematic files, so anyone who wants to place them in their own worlds can do so (keep in mind you still have to provide proper credit if public). You can find this archive by going to my PMC profile page and opening the spoiler bar in the "About Me" widget. It's on the left of my page. These schematics are generally of a lower quality than what is shown on this site, and some may be incomplete, but I've received enough requests for schematics that I felt this would be a good option.

Second, I may have to slow down posting over the next few weeks. I have to adjust to online classes and other issues caused by COVID-19, as my university has been making the shift like many others. I still intend to provide at least one new thing per week, even if that's only an update to an old project. Hopefully I'll get used to this situation quickly and be able to maintain my upload schedule.

Thanks for listening.

-Skallord

Just a quick update. I'll be posting this weekend's new ship tomorrow instead of today. The plan was to update the Lhemon-class (now Linoph-class) on Saturday and upload a new light carrier design on Sunday, but I forgot I was flying home on Saturday and I didn't have the time. Don't worry, the new ship is already finished and I only need to do the description, so it will be live early tomorrow.

You can check out the updated Linoph-class patrol cruiser now.

So, it's been a while.

A lot of things happened that kept me from posting for the last two years. Senior year of high school/first year of college have been the two big ones, but there have been others. I won't go into details, because the only important thing is that I was inactive on Planet Minecraft, but that's changing now.

Although I haven't been posting any new projects since early 2018, I haven't really stopped building. I've updated my channel page art on a few occasions, and I have a number of projects that I sat on for years, never having the motivation to post them. Over the coming weeks I'll be posting at least one new capital ship per week. The first of those will be live as soon as I release this wall post: the Eerie class patrol cruiser. I'm also updating my old projects to 1.15, with much more detailed greeble and other visual improvements. I'll be updating one old ship per week. Finally, I have a few dozen small starfighters, space station mini-models, and other small projects which I'll release gradually alongside the other things.

You'll also hopefully be able to see new channel art soon. I'm working on a new and improved channel banner, and I want to get more art on the various widgets.

To sum things up, expect to see a lot of new projects and updated old projects in the near future. I've got some big things in the works, and a really large project coming towards the end of summer, if things work out.

Thanks for waiting; I'll make it worth it.

-Skallord

We'd like to take some time to say thank you for all the awesome stuff you all share with the community! We know how hard all of you work and how much creativity and time goes into every creation posted on Planet Minecraft.

Unfortunately, there are some people that would like to use your hard work for their personal or financial gain. While it can be exciting that someone wants your permission to share your content, it's worth taking some time to look into where your content is actually going. Sometimes, they don't even ask for your permission. Not cool.

The most common dishonest requests ask to use something you made for a different version of Minecraft or to re-upload content to another website or app without fully explaining how your content will used. Sometimes these are harmless, open and honest requests by people wanting to promote your work with credit to a community that speaks another language. Sometimes the person just wants to personally use your creation in another version of Minecraft or highlight it in a Youtube video. What's important is that you know how your work will be used and that proper credits are given. Sometimes the main reason the person wants the content you spent considerable time and effort to create is to make a profit off of it and could care less about crediting and promoting the real content creator, you.

Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself and your creations:

Step 1 : Documentation
Upload your creation to Planet Minecraft as soon as it is ready and before you share it with anyone else. Doing this gives you something super important that proves you were the one who made what you're sharing: a date and time attached to exactly when your creation was first shared. This timestamp and any other documentation helps prove ownership.

Tip: If you don't want to share your post publicly, you can still protect your content with this step! Create your submission but uncheck "Publish Live". This will draft your post so only you can see it!

Step 2 : Consider a License
Register your creation for a Creative Commons License. You might be familiar with this already as you might have seen it on other posts already. It's a simple step that allows you to express exactly when and how your creation should be used by others. You can get started on creating your CC License here: https://creativecommons.org/choose/.

Note: legally you are the owner of any skin or texture you make regardless the license you may put in place for it. Posting to PMC for timestamp reasons is a great way to protect and prove! Technically, the right to any skin or texture is the same as a painter having the right to their painting. Painters use canvases and so do you! Just in a different medium! There's a great article on The Informed Illustrator regarding digital art & copywright law that's worth reading if you need clarity on this subject.

Step 3 : Knowledge
If someone asks you if they can use something you made, do a bit of research! Something as simple as visiting that person's profile here or on their linked social media pages may help you determine if they mean well. Be cautious of new members reaching out to you who have empty profiles, no linked accounts and no posts here. Ask questions when people request to use your work such as where it will be posted, how it will be credited and who will see your work. Make sure you are getting credit for your own work and that it won't be put behind advertising links, sold or behind paid access.

Step 4 : Common sense
Listen to your gut! You have every right to say no and you don't have to have a reason why. Saying no doesn't mean you're selfish or mean. If something doesn't feel right and you think someone might be dishonest, don't give them permission.

Step 5 : Raise Awareness
Learn more and get involved in protecting your work and others. Share these steps. Helping others understand how to protect themselves can be just as important as protecting yourself. Awareness sites like https://stopmodreposts.org/ have been helping this cause for years!



We hope that this helps you protect yourself and your work. Your creations are valuable and so are you!

Happy Crafting,
Planet Minecraft Team