The JMichael214 Spawn Build Submission

Well, my spawn build submission is basically done, so I want to share it with everyone. Too impatient to wait. Here it is!

Post # 1: Overview
More posts below re: specific features of the build!

This is the entire spawn from y=256:


It is built around a main square, envisioned as ECC's combination downtown/headquarters. The main square, looking north:


Looking east:


Looking south:


Looking west:


And here is the entire spawn from the outside, first from the northeast:


From the southeast:


From the southwest:


And from the northwest:


More details below. ​

 

Post # 2: Functionality!

The competition requires that the build contain nine portals, total, including six for set purposes and three extras.

The main portals are all located at floor level in the main square:


The three "extra" portals are located on the second level of the Main Building, in a modular space with five openings, which can be adjusted for more or fewer portals, or within which the portals can be moved without disrupting the design -- as, for example, if they are all used and are too close together for three giant signs (although use of the openings at each end for a portal would require minor widening of the opening):


In spite of the fact that the build has many levels, every single functional space -- except one -- is accessible by stairs, ladders, or other means. So every space -- except one -- is equally as accessible to brand new players as it is to those with fly or /j:


Yes, every space:


There is not a single lift sign in the entire build -- although access to higher levels is often tucked away, providing a reward for exploration of the spawn:


Finally, every single non-functional space is filled with ordinary grey stone, which is used as a design element in only one small section of one building. This serves two purposes:
1. The entire build is immune to abuse of /jump, with no unused interior spaces for players to get stuck in. A /jump from any spot will land the player in another usable space.
2. When staff are making adjustments to the build for whatever reason, there is no need to check to see if a change impacts another room or space. All ordinary grey stone is filler, so any removal or change of ordinary grey stone will not impact any other room:


The only use of ordinary grey stone as a design element is in the lowest exterior level of the blue/purple building (seen above in the picture of the main portals), behind the spruce leaves in the lowest level of the outer walls.

Also, there is extra modular space under the build for future projects or staff use for events. Originally, I was going to build the tutorial here, but ended up putting it elsewhere. So there are 12 30x30x25 rooms under the spawn, with no purpose whatsoever, accessible by a main stairwell (which can be walled off until they are used):



In future posts, we'll look at the use of natural light in the build; the server shop; the tutorial; and the spaces for SG, sportsbook, the forum bank and one other little idea I thought of ...
​

 

Post # 3: Natural light!

So, light is always a big component of any build for me, and I pay a lot of attention to what a build looks like at night.

However, one of the main complaints about the current spawn is that it's awfully dark even during the day, because light physics in Minecraft are just ... perverse.

My solution, as in Zenith, is light wells. No matter how many layers of glass block it passes through, Minecraft light is just as bright below the bottom one as it is at the top. The light wells are vertical columns of space within the build, where the only blocks "Minecraft light" encounters are glass. The result = every space the light well passes through lights up all day every day, all equally brightly.

Here are some examples:

Here is a building I haven't named yet. It contains a chunk of the tutorial, as well as space just for exploring and a room I'll describe in a later post. Note that the roof of the tower is entirely made of glass blocks and panes:


Entirely glass:


With the end result that a column of space which looks like this from above:


Looks like this from below:


And that the daylight lighting up the room shown here has already lit up multiple levels above it before it hits this floor at y=64:


The sea lanterns in that room are too far away to light the carpet in that picture -- that's all natural light coming in through multiple light wells.

Another example:


And another:


There are a total of 29 light wells scattered throughout the build, carrying sunlight down even into some of the deepest parts of the build.

In the next update post, we'll look at what these light wells in the floor of the main square are lighting up. It's ... big:


So keep watching this thread!​

 

Post # 4: the server shop!

The Server Shop is the first major space I built. The competition requires that it be expandable, and divisible into sections. Beyond that, the present shops take up a lot of space, and they block a lot of light. Solution: put the shop underground. So it's under the light wells in the main square. Seen here from above:


These stairs lead down to it, although there will also be a warp or warps:


And here is the main shop space:


The light wells draw natural light down from the square into the shop space:


Different categories of blocks are separated onto separate floors. No more running from building to building for players with /fly -- just fly from one balcony to another:


Equally convenient for players without /fly, with a full set of staircases in each of the four corners:


Several extra levels are built in, providing ample space to expand. Also, given the nature of the design, the shop space can be rearranged and divided in any way staff sees fit. No more being tied to a particular schematic.

Also included, the shop lobby which I envision as the new star shop:


Still to come: posts on the tutorial, the SG lobby, and the "extra" spaces built into the design! I'll be traveling between now and the deadline, so the final two posts will be up soon.​

 

Post # 5: The Tutorial!

The tutorial causes the same problem as the server shops -- if you put it up in the air, it makes everything under it dark. But put it underground, and it would be pretty dark itself. So I abandoned my original underground idea, and it's up in the buildings around the spawn.

You may already have noticed the bridges connecting building to building up at y = 90. They're not ornamental. They link each room the tutorial to the next room, starting behind the Nether sign, and working all the way around to the other side of the spawn:


The new player spawns here, in the Nether Tower, for the opening welcome to the server, and with directions to cross the bridge to the next room. The contents of this room are left to the creativity of staff:


The second room is the "making money" section. I had a bank here, but the prohibition on armor stands eliminated all my bank tellers. So again, this is left to staff:


The towns/farms tutorial is in the big blue skyscraper in the corner, seen here:


Given the placement of the tutorial rooms behind the signs, they're actually barely visible from the main square:


The market/trade sign tutorial is directly behind the Market portal:


The mining and nether sections are contained inside the second level of the Hall of Fame:



Followed by a short End section:


And the SG section:


Which leads back to the Main Building, inside which is a room which could contain final tutorial suggestions, and which includes a staircase down to the square:


Next up: the SG Lobby, the extra spaces, and the Hall of Fame!
​

 

Post # 6: the SG Lobby, the extra spaces, and the Hall of Fame!

So, I don't play SG well at all. I am so bad I die of things like the flu or bee stings. But it's an important part of the server, and it's always been in the main spawn. At the same time... it's not a portal. It messes with the symmetry. Solution: a new SG lobby!

Located here, in the Main Building -- centrally located and convenient, but not violative of my obsession with symmetry, because it balances out the two staircases at the opposite end of the same building:



Not much to it, really, but SG is important to players, and it should have a suitably elaborate space. So, the proposed lobby:


Incidentally, the chandelier and the roof beams might completely conceal a player lurking nearby, waiting to see who joins a game... just saying...

Also, the extra spaces! There are a number of them. Designed to serve as the "forum bank" room, the "sportsbook" room, or just whatever space staff might need for an event or whatever:



The spawn chest needs a spot:


And finally, last but not least, this spawn contains something this server could use but does not really have at the current spawn: a Server Hall of Fame:

This is the Hall of Fame Building:


The Hall of Fame is on the first level:


Six modular spaces plus empty wall space for ... whatever players get famous for:


And that's it! Thank you for viewing these posts. It's been a pleasure building this design, and I hope it meets with approval.


Best of luck to all other entrants!​

 

Post # 2: Functionality added above.

 

And there are plenty of spaces for staff to do that in this spawn, too.