1.2 Preview Release

So they've done it! There's a preview release of 1.2 available now. As it turns out they're planning on releasing it tomorrow! I'm so excited for this to happen because I get to start my new hardcore series!
So, let's go over what you can expect to see in 1.2:
Jungles!
Cats!
Villager Breeding!
Iron Golems!
Smart Mobs!
Smart Villagers!
Zombie Invasions!
Flaming Balls!
Upside-Down Stairs!
Top Half Slabs!
Higher Worlds!
Redstone Lamp!
Rare Random Mob Drops!
DOORS WORK RIGHT!
A whole new world format!

Daunting Project

So the newest episode of Mining with Munchmo is up now, and I've begun building a cave spider exp farm from some spawners a friend of mine found. Now, in the end, this is gonna be a good thing, the zombie spawner was great for exp, but getting it at three times the rate will be even better.
Now, the video is going to end up being 3 parts. Originally it was planned to only be 2, but I got so much footage for the first half that I ended up dividing that in two. I'll still be releasing the videos at the normal times, just means I'll be ahead a week or two.
I must say that I was procrastinating a bit on this project because I felt a bit overwhelmed with everything involved. I still feel that way a bit actually, even though all I have left is the drop-tower. Of course, I do plan on clearing the whole area around the spawners out and making it prettier too, but that's mostly just gonna be digging rocks. After the work I've done, I still may need to modify the design slightly, but so far it appears to be working ok.

Creeper Madness

So, I have another episode of Mo' Angels 'n Creepers encoding now, and I'll be uploading it soon. In this episode we go back down into the cave system and explore some more. Turns out there is a nice ravine that leads down to lava level, so hopefully I'll be in the diamonds next episode.
I didn't expect when I installed Elemental Creepers that I would end up with so many creepers in my world. I think in this episode I fought off more creepers than I ever have before. Unfortunately, I had a little problem with one. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I think my fingers slipped off the WASD keys and wreaked havoc.

New intro idea

Smooth Jazz playing in the background, Deep voice speaks:
"Awww yeah baby, you ready to mine?"
overlaid text with title of series
Video showing my avatar mining and finding diamonds.

National Margarita Day Fail

Boy, that was a mistake. I Just can't believe how it went from bad to worse! I guess I just got a bit cocky and it totally bottomed me out. I lost all the stuff I had, diamonds, iron, bookcases, obsidian, everything! Even if I was able to get back to where I died, there was no way I'd have made it in time. So, look forward to next episode where I go cave diving in the hopes of replacing even a fraction of what I lost.
This has taught me a valuable lesson though. I think from now on, I will place a chest at each place I sleep so that if I do die, I will at least have something to start over with. Put one of each tool, the best I can currently afford to lose.

Holy Crap! 25 Subs!

So, it seems I just hit 25 youtube subscribers! YAY! Now I just need to put together the 25 subscriber special I was planning on. Luckily I'll have lots of time after work to put it together, so look forward to it either tomorrow night or Wednesday.

Stupid Greifers

So, I had to roll my server back three times over the weekend due to people being stupid. First it was because my son pissed off one of his friends and he was blowing creepers up in the world. Then this guy destroyed my zombie farm, which I thought might have been accidental. Of course, later someone totally spent god knows how long ripping the place apart and destroying my base, so I kicked the two people who could have been responsible and rolled it back again.
Now you might think it's wrong of me to kick both guys out when it was most likely only one of them. I can't know for sure which one did it, but the fact that the guy I'm certain did it (was the guy who destroyed the zombie spawner in my exp farm) was vouched for by the other guy it could have been, made me decide to err on the side of caution and just kick them both out.
Of course, right now as I'm reading this, I realized I should have recorded some video of what they did. Luckily the rollback didn't take long (it's like 1 minute of copying files). And no one lost anything. So really I don't understand what the point was, the guy spend a long time doing this, the damage was extensive. But in the end, it meant nothing.

Another Mo' Angels 'n Creepers is in the can!

So, I got another episode of Mo' Angels 'n Creepers recorded, edited and ready to upload. Should be going up in the next couple of hours, so look forward to that. In this episode we go cave diving and run into a lot of the new creepers added to the game. I sure have a lot to learn about them!
I had an issue Somnia, but after I finished recording I figured out the problem. For some reason, while recording with Fraps, Somnia goes REALLY slow, but if I'm not actively recording, time just FLIES! At least I know this for next time, so I don't have to worry about it.
I'm really happy about all the iron I found, so I can make some better tools. Next episode I'm thinking about moving my little hovel out of the hillside and into the cave I'm exploring. It appears as if there's a lot there, so I might spend a decent amount of time down there.
I've found another mod that looks like it might add some more challenge to the game, but it will change the world in a way that will require me to travel outside the areas I've been to find the new content. What do you guys think? Should I install Better Dungeons?

Meandering forward!

So the votes were in and forward was the choice! This week we fight off creepers in the night as we continue walking around my vanilla server. I am beset upon by all sorts of monsters and bugs, but the lag was kept at bay!
I think restarting the server just before recording helps, although I still got hit with the weird bug where I get stuck in a spot and the one where the blocks around me change (or even disappear completely!) as I light them up.
With that video up, it's time to begin work on my next Mining with Munchmo! This time we're going to clear out the old chicken room to make way for a new farm! Silk touch is going to be even more important than ever, unless I want to try to run grass down 30 blocks, which I don't.
Wish me luck!

Another weekly snapshot

So, there have already been two snapshots released today, the second being a huge bugfix from the first. This one adds things like waves of zombies sieging villages, villagers reproducing to make up for the deaths overnight, increased world height, and light sources that can be turned on and off with redstone!
I don't have a video yet, but I should have one up in just a few hours showing off some of this cool stuff. Have you found anything interesting in the snapshot I missed?
More information and the official download can be found here

Zipper towers and SMP

So, I really thought this was gonna be a great idea and really easy to do, but after spending a LONG time working on it, seems that zipper towers don't work on a server?
I didn't find a good tutorial for the build till I was already halfway through with the process, even though I was doing it all wrong.
Eventually I found the right tutorial and figured out I had to start over. Even in the end I'm not sure I did it right. It looks like it should work, so either I did it right and it just won't work on SMP or I did it wrong and I have no idea where I messed up.
If you want to see the tutorial, you can find it here.

Starting a Skyblock

So, I'm mostly doing this for fun, but if I do any good I might post a little video showing you around the place. For my records:


Challenges:
1) Build a Cobble Stone generator.
2) Build a house.
3) Expand the island.
4) Make a melon farm.
5) Make a pumpkin farm.
6) Make a reed/sugarcane farm.
7) Make a wheat farm.
8) Make a giant red mushroom.
9) Craft a bed.
10) Make 64 stone bricks.
11) Make 20 torches.
12) Make an infinite water source.
13) Craft a furnace.
14) Make a small lake.
15) Build a platform 24 blocks away from the island, for mobs to spawn.
16) Make 10 cactus green dye.
17) Make 10 mushroom stew.
18) Craft 10 Jack 'o' lanterns.
19) Craft 10 bookcases.
20) Make 10 bread.
21) Collect 10 Ender-pearls.
22) Cook 10 fish.
23) Craft 10 Black Wool.
24) Craft 10 Gray Wool.
25) Craft 10 Light Gray Wool.
26) Craft 10 Lime Green Wool.
27) Craft 10 Red Wool.
28) Craft 10 Yellow Wool.
29) Craft 10 Pink Wool.
30) Craft 10 Green Wool.
31) Craft 10 Orange Wool.
32) Craft 10 Snow Golems.
33) Craft 20 Paintings.
34) Build and light a nether portal.
35) Craft 5 Gold Ingots.
36) Craft 16 Glass Panes.
37) Collect 50 birch logs.
38) Collect 64 arrows and craft a bow.
39) Craft 10 stone buttons.
40) Craft 30 stone slabs.
41) Craft 10 signs.
42) Craft 20 ladders.
43) Craft 20 fences.
44) Craft 20 fence gates.
45) Craft 10 levers.
46) Craft 10 trapdoors.
47) Craft 10 stone pressure plates.
48) Craft 10 wooden pressure plates.
49) Collect 64 bonemeal.
50) Craft 20 cobblestone stairs.

Here it comes!

So I have my newest Let's Play series up and ready for release. I am playing on hard (not hardcore) in a new world with Mo' Creatures, Weeping Angels, Rei's Minimap, and Somnia installed. Now it turns out I didn't install Somnia right, so it didn't work the first couple nights (during this episode) but I think I've got it installed and working now.
I would love if you guys have any suggestions of other mods to install that would make it more dangerous to play. Of course, I'm sure it'll get even more intense once I start cave diving.
Also want to remind you guys that I don't know much of anything about Mo Creatures so I'm sure there's going to be a lot of stuff I miss out on, so please feel free to leave me comments and suggestions about what I need to do.
I had to do this all in Minecraft 1.0 though, since the mod author of Weeping Angels hasn't updated since then. There appears to be someone else who has updated it, but I'd rather have the official release.
Rei's Minimap
Weeping Angels
Mo' Creatures
Somnia

A new snapshot

So I just threw together a new video featuring this week's snapshot! Ocelots now have sound and it is awesome!
Zombies will break down wooden doors!
Doors work! Yes, double doors work the way you'd expect them to!
And much more!

Download the weekly snapshot here.

There it is

Another new Meandering is in the bag. Just got done uploading it and it is now available for your viewing pleasure. I'm not sure why, but I was suffering from a lot of lag issues, which I think I may have fixed, but I won't know until next week's episode.
In today's episode we talk about some more changes to the rules of this game. Instead of sleeping at night, I have to walk around and light up the world while fighting off monsters!
Mojang just released a new weekly snapshot! So look forward to a video about that one really soon.
Then tomorrow night I'll start recording my new series temporarily dubbed Mo' Angels, please feel free to leave me any suggestions for that one!

Let's get this party started!

So I just made my newest Mining with Munchmo public, it is up for viewing! I spend a lot more time working on my underground lair making it prettier, and so far this is just the tip of the iceberg. I've some major plans for renovation.
After widening the tunnel and getting all the clay I need (well, at the time I thought it was enough, but I realized now that I need some more) I begin to lay out the next phase of design. I need lava, and a lot of it! But before I do that, I'm going to replace that damned spinning minecart track to the surface with something nicer. Look for the next Mining with Munchmo where we'll build a zipper tower!
Now it's time for me to record another Meandering. . . Stay tuned!

Uploading as I type this

A new video is uploading as I write this. Today's video is Mining with Munchmo and in it I go on the hunt for clay to prettify the minecart tunnel to the zombie spawner. Unfortunately, since then I've changed my ideas around a little bit, and I need a lot more clay. That will mean at least 2-3 more visits to the surface and that rail track up bothers me. So what am I gonna do about it? I'm going to install a new solution to get to and from the surface.
So, today I'm going to start recording the next video where I'll be putting in a zipper tower to the surface. I've also got some other plans for changes to my base including getting rid of that fishing hole and expand the storage room into that. I never use the fishing hole and don't see a reason to have it. I'm also planning on widening some of the walkways because that narrow one just bothers me.
I also need to venture into the nether to get more glowstone and blaze rods, because I want to expand my brewing chamber.

Another new video is up!

Got another new video up. Episode 11 of Mining with Munchmo. In this episode I take you around the server and show off some of the recent changes and things the other players have been working on.
I implemented the PhysicalShop plugin for the players to use because I felt it would be beneficial for the players to have a decent trading system with each other. I'm not sure how much use we'll actually get out of it, but at least it gives me a way to turn all the rotten flesh I get from the zombie farm into something I can use. The values of everything I just kind of pulled out of my head, but luckily the other players seem okay with them.
Unfortunately, some of the players don't quite grasp how to use the shops yet, but I hope in time they'll figure it out. I'm trying to do my best to keep this server mostly legit while also making things a little bit easier for the kids who play on it.
Stay tuned for the next episode where I'll begin overhauling my minecart tunnel to the exp farm!

Stupid Youtube is Stupid

So, overnight I uploaded a new Mining with Munchmo video featuring another trip to the nether! But for some reason the video has been flagged as containing copyrighted material. The real problem I have is that the dispute form talks about whether I think it contains the copyrighted material, yet nowhere does it even mention what is actually being claimed as copyrighted! Something called the "Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society" has laid claim to something within the video, a video that is not even publicly available now.
It seems that within mere moments after filing the dispute, the claim is just gone now. This really seems like a malicious abuse of the system by a third party (an affiliate of the RIAA, I'm sure) to make money off other people's hard work. I understand people being upset for not getting credit for their art or losing money due to piracy, but I really don't think any third party should be allowed to claim infringement for another unless explicitly directed to do so.

Wow, Creepers and Kitties, eh?

So I threw together a little video having fun with the new AI stuff in the weekly snapshot. It really wasn't much, just me playing around with an idea I had from DocM's video earlier today. So I uploaded it and posted it to Reddit, and people actually liked it!

Awesome Minecraft resource

So, the other day I was trying to see if I could find a way to maximize my enchanting, and I did! I found this site that lists your chances of getting whatever enchant you want! This thing has saved me so much time and energy, you should really check it out for yourself.
Stuart Pernsteiner's Minecraft Resources