This is the first post on this blog, but in fact I'd already been playing in this world for a few days now. I'm on the beta 1.7.3 version of Minecraft which was released way back in July 8, 2011. If you're wondering why I'm playing on this specific version, check out the about page. Long story short, this is the first time in many, many years that I've felt excited to play this game again, and so I've decided to document the progression of my world. Because the scope and mechanics of the game is far smaller and simpler than what they are now, I think it'll be a lot more laid back and easy-going to document.

I named my world yello, as in yihui + hello. I didn't think too deeply about it because I thought I'd just abandon the game after an hour like I always have over the years.

One of the more immediate things that struck me while playing this beta version is the day night cycle feeling very different. The transition between these two phases is not as gradual as it is now. You can perceive the brightening/darkening of the environment radiate outward from your player character as day turns to night, and vice versa. It's hard to describe but OG players will know what I'm talking about. Because of this, you're more aware of the day night cycle, and with that comes the same sense of dread that I felt years ago when night approaches.

Maybe it's because the game is a lot darker in this version, and torches don't give off as much light as they do now. So you know once night falls you won't be able to see much, or far. By the way, this is a cliff just beside my temporary home. That torch is doing a lot of work to keep the monsters at bay.

For now, I'm trying to be more deliberate than I was as a kid playing this game more than a decade ago in terms of exploring the world and making full use of the game mechanics available. Hence I crafted a clock for when I go cave exploring to know when it's safe to surface, and plenty of maps for keeping track of where I've been and where I'll go to next. These are items I never crafted when I first played the game; I have a lot more things I want to experiment and play with next, which I'll likely cover in future posts.

This is a little beach shack I built to the east of my temporary cliffside home. It's right on the edge of the first map I crafted, and I crafted a new one at this shack's location to continue expanding and mapping out the world. I'm not sure if that's how maps are supposed to be used though. I just want to maintain a documented trail of my travels. I tried crafting a book and quill to write directions and notes, but I found out that they weren't added until release 1.3.1 version in August 2012. And now I have a useless book. Guess I'll make bookshelves for decoration.

Exploring caves. I love how lava looks in this version.

Dusk to night... I really hope I'm safe...

A new day begins!