Minecraft!

[The Mask of Norro]

Alright so I'm playing now and I can't figure out how to make a pickaxe. I mean I get that you combine sticks with certain blocks but damn it, I can't find sticks and/or know how to make them or a workbench. I've googled it, but every time I start off in a new biome I can't find the materials I need.

I hate it when I get a new game and can't immediately bypass the first stages of newbism... makes me feel like a dumbass. Of course once I get really into this thing I'm going to adore it but still. I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO STOP PUNCHING THINGS!

[Sousa]

Pick is a stick in the middle square and the square under it, then three materials (planks to start) arranged in a straight line on the top. Use a wood pick to mine stone to get cobblestone, then start making your picks out of that.

[The Mask of Norro]

Alright, alright, yeah, that makes sense.

One thing.

How do I get sticks and planks?

[Sousa]

To get planks, put a wood block (the ones you punch out of the trees) in your crafting square. One wood yields four planks. Fill the crafting square with planks to get a workbench, which gives you a 3x3 crafting square when you put it down and "use" it by right-clicking.

Sticks are two planks arranged vertically. Every two planks you stack yields four sticks. So basically, for every 16 wood you gather, you can turn them into 64 planks. Or 128 sticks.

If you want to get on MSN, I can explain this to you in more detail.

[The Mask of Norro]

I have found a Minecraft Tutorial on the interwebs and am putting it to use at this very moment!

Though I may come on MSN later anyone to bitch about Creepers. I was already blown up twice.

[Sousa]

There's a handy Wiki, too, if you don't mind having things spoiled for you.

[KevinStorm]

I just had a spider and 3 creepers besiege my base, AFTER two zombies in a cave killed me. Then one creeper exploded and blew me over my wall, and the 2nd creeper exploded and killed me.

Goddamnit.

[Rocky]

I had the same tree burning problem. I hadn't seen it before Beta so that may be a reason. And I didn't see any surface lava pools.

http://www.ewbattleground.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=81180&view=findpost&p=2210946

I checked the Cartograph thing and the burning trees cover a larger amount of land. You can actually see where the burning is up to and can tell that it is going to burn further

But it is all heading away from my base of operations and I tend to venture in the other direction anyway.

[StevenRichardsRules]

[TKz]

Honestly, I learnt all I needed to know from Sousa's diary and the wiki beginner guide. After that it becomes a case of trying to find out how to do certain things and wiki-ing them.

[EddieRuckus]

So after reading Sousa's diary(and listening to you chaps go on about this game for the last month or so), decided to give it a trial run. First few worlds I had a series of unfortunate accidents, but I'm settling into this world. Finally learned how to make basic stuff and was doing the whole "out in the world by day, in by night" sorta thing, but now I'm just mining into a mountain, making hallways with torches and doors in case I run into any baddies.

I started about...6:30 or 7, and now it's almost 11. Where has my life gone?

[The Mask of Norro]

You and me both ED. I made a massive freaking home into the side of a hill and starting digging. Found random spots of coal and iron ore, made roughly 100 torches for myself, outfitted the whole cave and really got it looking nice. Had way too much Cobblestone so I made this huge ass hole to start throwing garbage into, and lo and behold, I forget to put a decent barrier between me and the hole. Went to toss in trash later and forgot how close I built the entrance to the hole, wound up falling to my death.

Found my way back home (built a giant beacon for myself) but, sadly, with all my stuff gone, I'll have to get back to mining for more stuff. Sucks that I lost all those torches, but my home is well outfitted with them so at least I can make a safe refuge there and go out during the day to mine the mountain next to it. It's been fun so far, definitely can see how it's so addicting for everyone.

[King Ellis]

I knew nothing when I first started and picked up bits and pieces from the Wiki as I went. I watched the entirety of the X series the other week though so I was a lot more comfortable when I came back and even managed to stick to normal difficulty. I imagine I will need to go back to Wiki'ing from now on with all the new stuff.

I haven't played since last week and my never ending and fruitless search for my lost mine and materials. Might have to go back this weekend and try looking for more diamonds and maybe explore some caves under my house.

[Rocky]

I'm still shitting myself at the sound of a zombie right there.

Even though there is a wall there, I believe he is right behind me so I turn around and run...

I'm such a coward.

[Sousa]

For those who don't know (a.k.a. the newbies), if you don't like the look of cobble, you can fire it in the furnace to turn it back into regular stone. I'm a pack rat, so I very rarely get rid of cobble; I just build more chests to keep it in.

Helpful logic-ish thing to keep in mind: wood is one of the very few renewable resources in the game. I don't know if you guys are using coal in your furnaces, but planks--while they burn out more quickly--tend to be better just because it's possible to grow more by planting new trees. I use coal pretty much exclusively for torches, since powered minecarts are the only other use for them and they're useless compared to minecart boosters.

[EddieRuckus]

Thanks for the cobblestone tip. Last night I got into 4 hours of a world, had two "homes" that included an underground lava bed and some redstone. Was going to use that for my iron door(since it requires electricity), but when I was exploring a hole came out of nowhere, and landed smack dab in the middle of some zombies and spiders. I lost my entire Iron armor(I WAS IRON-MAN DAMMIT!), though I found another cave that was promising. When I loaded it up however, it just spawned a new map on me and I started at night time. REALLY need a new computer. I'm enjoying my new world though, lots of clay. Even though I didn't have any coal or torch materials the first night(which lead to me just standing around shaking in my boots), I found a different home where there was a bit of Iron, and some pumpkins right outside!

Also, you can put wood in the fireplace to make charcoal I believe, which lasts longer than coal as a heating material.

[Rocky]

I forgot about Charcoal being introduced. I've been using Lava to cook with. Cooks upwards of 100 units per bucket.

Downside is that you don't get you bucket back.

[KevinStorm]

I can't find lava in my new world anywhere. I need it to make a trash disposal.

[Rocky]

Dig straight down... Guarantee you'll fall into it.

[KevinStorm]

How do I change a "flow" water block into a "source" water block? My little watery cave has currents running all over it and I don't know how to stop it.