Megaprojects Howto

Make a rough sketch of what you'll make, as long as you understand it, that's fine

Do a little each day, do something else when you get bored and come back to it another day.

building up and processing building materials

When worn out you can hire other players to dig and build to save your sanity

You want to build something big, something giant and you've not built a project like this before, how can you get organised to make it happen?

Have a vision

• Sketch out what you're thinking of on some scrap paper
• Do a little research of your own via the main website and wiki to see if someone has already created such a thing in game
  • If they have, do you still want to go ahead? Perhaps you might prefer to come up with another idea that's more original?
    • If so how will your creation be different?
• Think about your time and material sources
  • Do you have the raw materials saved up
    • If not can you mine them
    • If you can't mine them you could buy them in
  • Can you store the raw materials without them getting stolen?
  • Can you hire in trusted players to help you build?
• Where will you build?
  • Do you want as many players as possible to visit, with the associated grief and theft problems
  • Or perhaps are you gaining pleasure from the fact the construction exists / the building process, and don't mind it being in a remote location where raw materials might be easier to get.
• Can you do it by eye or do you need some tools?
  • Note Minecraft Structure Planner no longer exists (Jan 2019) as its web site is gone.

Case Study:: we will be constructing a undersea glass dome, with forests and grass. It's not very original however the scale will be massive (120 block diameter) which should make it unique. Similar Projects include UnderWorld, which is the same size but a hollowed out cavern, and Tayrons BioDomes, which are above ground. I used the live map to find an unpopulated area nearby that would be suitable (GuyEd). Building underwater needs some special techniques and the size of the dome means we need to find a desert and use the Minecraft Structure Planner so as not to screw up the domes shape.

Do a little at a time

Remember that you don't need to finish it in a day.

Remember that you don't have to follow the traditional method of getting all the materials ready then building. Instead you can alter your playing style and tasks to the day/night cycle and weather conditions so that you gather and build, gather and build, reducing the amount of stored materials at any time and so reducing the risk of theft/grief theft.

Case Study: UnderWater: I marked out the rough perimeter first. During the day I mine sand for the glass or collect wood for furnaces, at night I mine or turn the sand into glass. I plant up the surrounding coastlines with saplings to have more wood available later and I use excess iron and lava found when digging to power the furnaces as buckets of lava. I use up some valuable items I have gained and that I don't use by hiring other players to make the digging task less laborious and stop myself feeling burnt out on the project. -  GuyEd

Case Study: Project Angel: The initial blueprints for the statue were located, and the footprint required calculated well in advance. A few players mined out a rectangular area required to house the statue's footprint over the course of three or four days by hand. After that, the footprint was laid out, support chests placed, and the project opened to player contribution by invitation. Over a dozen individuals took part in the project voluntarily, either by providing materials or by working in shifts on construction. Due to the nature of the project, only one or two players could build simultaneously, so it was imperative to organise shifts in turn to avoid burnout. The entire project was completed in under two weeks from conception due to effective personnel management -  SlowRiot

See also

• Megaproject