MINECRAFT HOENN REGION: November 2014

Saturday 29 November 2014

Minecraft Hoenn: Part 26/43: Safari Zone.

Part 26/43 of the creation of the Hoenn Region in Minecraft.

The Safari Zone is a large area where you can catch many types of Pokemon that aren't found in other areas of Hoenn. This area took a little longer to make as now I have a new job so I have less spare time and the Safari Zone is quite a complicated area. But as always it turned out great. Excellent quality and accuracy as usual. Only one modification had to be made this time. The Safari zone building in the gameboy game is an L-Shaped building that leads into the Safari Zone. Here it is two sections for reasons that will become clear further on.

SAFARI ZONE

(Image sourced from Bulbapedia)

The Safari Zone is large. It measures 160x160 blocks. It neatly fits in with Route 120 and Route 121 which are both 160 blocks long on both sides of the Safari Zone.

Building from the ground up is the easiest way to build. Big details are added first then smaller detail are gradually added. As seen here the tree boundaries are mapped out.

Then the small lakes, puddles and that small desert area in the north east are added.

Then all the other details such as the rocks, light coloured grass and the rest house. The rest house was copied from the rest house on Route 111. The interior was changed to match the interior from in the Safari Zone.

Now the complicated bit. The Safari Zone building. In the gameboy game the building is an L-shaped building that deposits the player in the Safari Zone. In the gameboy game the Route 121 building is in the centre of the route. The building in the Safari Zone is on the eastern side. This doesn't matter in the Gameboy game as the player is teleported from one map to the other. But in Minecraft there are problems.

Because Minecraft is a 3D programme and loads the entire map, not just different areas that the player teleports to, there were two options. 1: Make the building L-shaped but deposit the player in the wrong place when they enter the Safari Zone or 2: Put the building's in the correct place and build an underground tunnel to connect them.

I decided to go with option 2. It preserves the feel but spoils the look slightly. But that's fine.

Below is the main building with a staircase that leads to the underground tunnel connecting the two buildings together. The big window at the back of the building is not original. I thought it would look nice to have a view of the Safari Zone from the main building.

Here is the tunnel. It's quite long and boring but at the end is the other building.

This is the other building built where it's meant to be, depositing the player in the correct place. The tunnel runs underneath the building.

The interior of the other building. Entry is free.

Populating the trees.

Building up. This is a small lake where the player can catch some water type Pokemon by either fishing or surfing.

In the Hoenn Safari Zone there are Pokeblock dispensers in the middle of some areas of tall grass or in the middle of this lake. The Pokeblocks are suppose to attract Pokemon. The dispensers are replaced here with cauldrons because they sort of look like a dispenser.

Building up more. This area is only accessible by Acro Bike. Luckily you won't need an Acro Bike as you can jump.

This area is only accessible by riding a Mach Bike up a muddly slope. But you won't need to because there are stairs.

FINISHED PRODUCT
5 days of work has led to this. The Safari Zone.

The main building. It may look like it's night time but it's actually the tree's on the other side causing the appearance of darkness.

Safari Zone. This Way -->

The second part of the building.
Entry is free.

In the Safari Zone. This is the first patch of tall grass you will see.

Puddles and grass in the southern area.

The lake with the rest house in the background.

The northern area that is only Acro Bike accessible.

The western side that is only accessible by Mach Bike.

On the cliff on the right-hand side of the screenshot below is the top of Route 120.

Looking over the Safari Zone from Route 120. I added a non-original fence to prevent players from falling off the cliff and into the Safari Zone.

The Safari Zone from the top of Mt Pyre.

Progress so far.

Stay tuned and subscribe.

PS: Check this project out on Planet Minecraft.

http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/hoenn-region-x2/

Or you can now download a preview here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ep80fje9igh6no/Hoenn%20Preview.zip?dl=0

If you have any tips for improvement please don't hesitate to share. It would be greatly appreciated. Next: Part 27 features Lilycove City and Team Magma Hideout.

After That: Part 28 features Route 124

59% Complete.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Minecraft Hoenn: Part 25/43: Route 122 and Mt Pyre

Part 25/43 of the creation of the Hoenn Region in Minecraft.

Route 122 and My Pyre are located within a bay near Lilycove city. Mt Pyre is quite symbolic in that it is the resting place for deceased Pokemon. It represents the end of life. It is where the red or blue orb is obtained to wake up either Groudon or Kyogre depending on what version of Pokemon you're playing. Nothing really special happened while making this part. Route 122 is a water route with essentially, a load of dirt piled in the middle to create Mt Pyre.

ROUTE 122

(Image sourced from Bulbapedia)

Route 122 is a water route that links routes 121 and 123. It consists of clay and dirt barriers. And that's it.

Step 1: Place the underwater half of the barriers, underwater, to act as reference points. Reference points are essential if you plan of recreating something.

Step 2: Add the upper half and then you are done.
Route 122 lines up perfectly with routes 121 and 123 which means that nothing has been built accidentally out of alignment.

MT PYRE
My Pyre is the final resting place for many Pokemon in the Hoenn Region. It is also where the player can collect either the blue or red orb to awaken Kyogre or Groudon. Mt Pyre in this Minecraft world will be built upon the mountain seen in the overworld. Why? Well the top of Mt Pyre is so big in the Gameboy game that if it were built to scale it would stretch back over route 122. Not only is that ugly but it will make the view from the top un-natural. Imaging looking from the top of the mountain while directly above route 122.

(Image sourced from Bulbapedia)

But the multi-level interior will be present. Inside Mt Pyre are numerous gravestones for numerous deceased Pokemon.

It is 6 levels tall and is built at a 1:1 scale so it may feel a little small once you get used to the 2:1 scale of the overworld. The entire interior area might need to be moved down further underground if the exterior of Mt Pyre cuts in.

These cobblestone fences are suppose to represent the gravestones.

Stars in the sky.

This is how the interior stands once complete minus the internal stairs.

Now with the internal stairs. The stairs are the bulky bits at the back.

The staircase on the left protrudes right out so it can be trimmed once the sides of Mt Pyre reach the same level at the area of staircase it intersects. That staircase leads from the ground level of the interior of Mt Pyre to the exterior.

Building up. The lowermost layer is built twice as high as normal. This is in an attempt to cover the interior without having to move it down. By the way the grass is there so I won't confuse myself with dirt of the same colour when adding layers.

Building up and up. But it seems that the sides of Mt Pyre will intersect the interior after all. This leaves no option but to shift the interior down.

Using an external world editor the interior was moved down by 8 blocks. This means that the exterior and interior of Mt Pyre don't need to be modified which means this is more original to the real thing. But moving the interior down 8 blocks has made the staircase that protrudes out the top lead to nowhere. No matter though, as just the stairs need to be changed.

The roof of the interior is now flush with the current summit of Mt Pyre. The stairs are currently unchanged.

Mt Pyre now semi-completed. Now the stairs have been modified. You can see the new opening for the stairs that lead to the ground level looking top left from the entrance.

Here's a clearer view.

The summit is not a complete remake but I have tried to capture some elements to make it feel like the real summit. Gravestones scattered around and tall grass on the way up all make up to the feel of the original.