It sure has been a while

Wow, I've been so busy making videos and stuff that I've kinda neglected this place. I haven't really written any new turtle scripts, so I don't have anything to publish on that front. But what I do have is a topic to talk about, and that topic is FTB Ultimate pack. There is talk of wanting to switch the server from Mindcrack to Ultimate, and I almost think we should. I'm not sure what will happen when/if we do though. If I can change the server over without having to restart the world, I might do it. If we have to start over though, there's no way.
Not every player on the server has weighed in, but I think most will be ok going along with whatever I decide. I know I'd love to get Mystcraft back, even though I barely touched it back in beta. I've looked at the mods we'd gain and lose and I'm not sure what to think. There's still no release date on Ultimate, but there's a beta version out people can try. I'd love to hear your opinions on it if you have any.

And we're back!

So Mining with Munchmo is back with a vengeance! And boy do I have some plans . . .
I'm finally going to get to work on my spawn house, and it's going to be epic! Or will it? I really don't know. I'm not a great builder, but it was suggested of me to build a Japanese style pagoda, so that's what I'm going to do. I figure a lot of people out there have made them, and there are pictures all over the internet that I can use for inspiration and guidance that I might actually be able to make one that looks decent.
Not only that, but the Nether has gotten a bit of an overhaul that I'll share with you guys soon, but I'm thinking of completely redoing the whole thing in the hopes of making it better, although it would be a lot of work. We'll just have to see how it goes.
Also, you remember my lair? Yeah, I'm done with that. I need to find a new home, and we'll be doing that together. I have an idea for what I want to make and where, but I haven't finalized anything yet so you can look forward to the adventure.

Ideas so far

So far I've come up with the following things for the amusement park:
Roller Coaster
Zoo
Spleef Arena
Melee Arena
Bow Arena
Mob Arena
TNT Arena
Glass Maze
Hedge Maze
Monorail
Tunnel of Love
Shooting Gallery
Food Court
Carousel
I'm thinking I'll start with an area about 500x500 and I should hopefully have enough space for it all and more space to grow.

Mindcrack Public Server

I got in! For those of you who weren't lucky enough to ever make it into the Mindcrack Public Server, I've got a video uploading right now. I hope to maybe get back in at a later time, once it all dies down a little. I'm not really sure what it will be like at that point though.
Some of you might have noticed in my video something I didn't notice until after I put it together, turns out I got connected just a minute or two before they rebooted, which is what really kicked me.
For those interested, the address is mindcrack.mcprohosting.com

Here comes another one!

So it's been nearly two weeks since I've started my push to get out a new video everyday. So far so good, I don't have any backlogged video now, but I should be able to get something special put together tonight for tomorrow. I've been invited to a server by one of my viewers, so I think I'll check it out tonight and record my experience. I've only ever played on my own local server, so I don't have a lot of experience with SMP outside of that. I might not notice a difference or I might have some serious lag issues, we'll see.
I'm not sure exactly what I'll do, probably look around at whatever I can find and head off into the sunset to settle down. From what I understand it's a Bukkit server running essentials (similar to mine) and some anti-griefing plugins. Obviously, I don't intend on griefing, I've had it happen to me, and even though it only took me a very short while to fix, it was still aggravating.

New Poll Is New!

Just got done recording the newest episode of Meandering, and a new poll is up! You can vote as many times as you'd like, and the poll will close automatically before the next recording. Please feel free to also leave any suggestions about where I should travel next either here, or in the comments on the most recent episode of meandering.
I'll be uploading this video overnight tonight, so look forward to watching it tomorrow.

Special Edtion

So over the weekend my son has challenged me to the Minecraft Super Pirate Battle Royale! The video finished uploading a short while ago, and is ready for viewing. Unfortunately, I failed to win, but I had a great time playing!
In case you want it, the map can be found here.

What a disaster!

Do, today I got a new video up, Meandering. I actually had it up yesterday, but stupid me, I forgot to watch the video or anything before going through the process of encoding and uploading it. There was no audio! I had game sounds, but for some reason, my mic didn't pick up. Not sure if I accidentally muted it, or what, but I had the video up at the usual time, but it was unwatchable.
So, instead of recording a whole new video, I just decided to dub it. I watched the video and recorded commentary. Then I took that audio track and overlaid it with the video and Viola! you have the newest Meandering.
To be honest, I was kinda scared to do it. I thought I'd have a hard time making it feel real. But in the end I think it turned out ok. There are some points in the video when I was watching it that I almost forgot the voice-over wasn't recorded with the video.
Don't worry, this won't become a regular thing, unless you guys really like it, then I might start doing the series this way. Not having the commentate (is that a word?) would make it easier to survive, but who wants to see that?
Of course, I recorded some footage for Mining with Munchmo that same day and had to completely re-record that portion. Luckily there wasn't anything major that went down.
Course, then later as I was doing some work on the rail station, I found a cave and went exploring. Found another zombie dungeon, and got eaten alive by them. Then, within moments, the guy that was tagging along got killed by a creeper and Poof, there goes enchanted diamond sword, pick, and shovel. . . /sadface

Last chance to vote!

Going to record the another episode of Meandering in a few hours, and there's been no more new votes, so unless there is, it's time to explore that mineshaft! I've been busy building and digging and playing recently.
A friend that I introduced to Minecraft just started his own server, running 1.2.3 on his home internet connection, and I've been playing on that some. I've got myself a treehouse in a jungle. Found a TON of diamonds in a mineshaft that's really close to bedrock.
Got the spider farm just about the way I want it on my server. Next project is going to be a mine cart station, I'll be starting that soon.
I also plan on recording more hardcore in the next day or two, so you can look forward to that.
I'm pretty close to "beating" skyblock too, so I'll show you guys around there when the time comes. It's not too impressive though, I'm not all that good at making things pretty.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Meander with me now

So, 30 Minecraft videos, wow. I'm kinda surprised at myself for that. And over only 5 months? That averages out to be more than one video a week. Obviously it hasn't been too hard, cause they're really fun to make, and I just love playing Minecraft. The hardest part is putting them together, and I still have some issues when it comes to that. I kinda wish I had a good opening, I tried putting something together once, but it really didn't work for me.
Once again, thanks to all my current subscribers, it makes me happy to know that I don't totally suck, and some people find me interesting. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Links, lists and video behind the cut.