{{tag>:modules:module conforming contemporary quarter_block tower }} [<>] ====== Minecraft Headquarters ====== **Designer:** [[designers:Jennifer Heaton]] **Designed:** July 2013 ===Designer's Notes=== My kids, both of whom play [[http://minecraft.net/|Minecraft]], asked me to build a [[http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Creeper|creeper]] building. I thought this would be a great idea, since Minecraft renders everything in blocks, which you'd assume would be easy to replicate in LEGO. This turned out to be completely wrong. First, Minecraft blocks are cubes. LEGO blocks are not. If you build a Minecraft creature out of LEGO 1 x 1 blocks it looks weirdly elongated or squashed, depending on how you position the blocks. Second, if you're building in 1 x 1 blocks, you're essentially building tall columns with nothing to tie them together. The whole thing falls apart. And finally, if you look at a picture of a creeper, you'll see that its legs are not actually attached to its body in any way that would work in the real world. After I realized that building a large creeper-shaped building was almost impossible, I got the idea of making the creeper emerge from the rest of the building. This worked a lot better from an engineering standpoint. I built this building with a picture of a creeper next to me (when I play Minecraft I tend to turn off monsters). I really didn't have all the parts I wanted for this build. I would have rather tiled the front, and perhaps used some of the rarer green colors. But all in all it turned out all right, and it is unmistakably a creeper. Because I built the entire building sideways, I had to figure out how to attach it to the baseplate. I've done this with several buildings (often using headlight bricks and/or jumper tiles). In this case, because of the parts used, I ended up friction-fitting the whole building into an atrium at the bottom. Nathan thinks this is an abomination of engineering (or lack thereof), but it was easy and it works. I did have to cover up one of the sidewalks when I built the atrium, but I just imagine the sidewalk continues on under cover. For those who don't play Minecraft, when creepers get too close to you in the game they make a hissing noise and then explode. The area around the creeper in this building is white, because that's a sign of impending explosion in the game. I always think I should put a chip with a hissing noise inside this building--maybe one I can turn on when people lean too close and ignore the "Do Not Touch" signs. {{gallery>http://bit.ly/137CqGi}} [<>] ---- ~~DISQUS~~
