Folks may remember a while ago, last year even, that I booted up a seed in Minecraft and just wandered. I became the nomad of the land, walking, running, climbing, swimming in whatever direction the path led me to. Unfortunately I met a critical issue with regards to dying, losing my equipment and location. So that was that.
Or more precisely, that was then. Yesterday I booted up a new seed and wait, hold that. I downloaded the new installer (or new for me) and then booted up the game, giving myself similar starting equipment to that which I had last year; full diamond armour and tools, fully enchanted, some food (in a variety of forms) as well as a bed, a boat and an oak sapling as a character thing. Why did this wanderer have it? Who knows. Oh and remedying something from the last attempt, I found the command to prevent loss of items on death. Now the punishment for dying is heading in a different direction. The wanderer doesn’t die, he simply moves again.
After a very short hop I came across a village. In exchange for, err, borrowing some diamond horse armour amongst other goodies (in case I wished to make use of a horse later on) I defended the village from nasties at night. They were never going to use the armour, anyhow. They seemed quite content milling about the village, not leaving its perimeter. Not The Wanderer. He took off without looking back and in terms of human interaction, that was pretty much it. Hours of trekking through valleys, swamps, numerous forests and cliffs, frozen tundras and finally a desert I encountered only one other human, an alchemist atop a hard to reach platform in the middle of a swamp.
I thought they would be approachable. I was incorrect. After felling a tree, crafting a ladder and making my way inside I was greeted by some thrown bottles. I swiftly took them down, covered the entrance and slept for the night. That my last interaction with humans for hours unfolded this way was contrary to most of my animal interactions, coming across the odd rabbit, some wolves in packs and alone, numerous chickens, cows and pigs and one area I dubbed the Valley of Alpacas. For obvious reasons.
If I was unable to find somewhere safe to hole up for the night I took to my boat and the water and blazed through the night. I came across numerous arresting natural phenomena, including a hole in a cliff that perfectly lined up with a tree on the other side, a hilltop littered with bizarre ice structures that stretched as far as the eye could see/computer could render. Forest fires started by lava streaming out from pools scattered around. One particularly curious find out whilst sailing was a massive underwater structure fiercely guarded by some very angry and spiky fish. A deep breath and I went inside. I searched but found no pocket of air. With no tool available to me to ensure extreme duration underwater my respiration enchantment began failing and I panicked my way back through the route encountering a larger monstrosity. I got lost in the panic, but eventually made my way out and swam desperately to the surface.
As much as I wanted to explore further, I knew it would not be possible. I took one last look at the structure from a near by beach as the sun set, then continued my travelling through some more forest. After some time I came upon a desert and swerved into it, knowing that whilst the enemy would see me easily, as would I them. With the light dimming once more I spied a temple, but the central entrance was buried and without wanting to search around, I headed towards a not too distant light. Hoping that it would not be a trick as so many lava pools had done prior, to my fortune it was a small village. I took my bed/sleeping bag out and took much needed rest.
In the morning I returned to the temple finding a side entrance. Its solo occupant, a skeleton archer, was quickly felled, but much of the structure was underground. I destroyed the central block in the main chamber revealing a severe drop into a treasure chamber. Walking back out I headed towards a close pond, filled a bucket with water and returned to the chamber, pouring it down the hole so as to secure a physics-defying route in and out. Unfortunately I triggered a massive explosive trap and whatever lay in the room was now rubble. With nothing to find and the day dimming once more, I returned to the village and took my final rest for the session.
In many respects the hours I spent playing this evening were fruitless. The odd moment of interest, including a somewhat tense stand-off in a small plain as enemies surrounded me and the odd sight of curiosity broke up what was else wise a monotonous trip. Of course that’s the thing about roaming. You do so for those odd moments.
Here’s a link to my Steam picture library. The latest session has most of the pics from this seed with three into the previous division (I don’t know why it’s done it like that, but there we go).