Piston Labyrinth
 Snikeren's Piston Labyrinth v. 2.0
| |
 The maze while forming | |
| About | |
|---|---|
| Owner |  snikeren
|
| Contributors |  skybirdthing,  Krenath,  captbunzo,  SlowRiot
|
| Category | Attractions |
| Underground? | Yes |
| Public? | Yes |
| Started | 15th November 2011 |
| Completed | 22th November 2011 |
| Size north to south | 31m |
| Size west to east | 31m |
| Height | 14m |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | X=-805 Y=82 Z=-4503 |
| Dimension | Overworld |
| Settlement | MountJackal |
| Map Link | |
Summary
Snikeren's Piston Labyrinth v. 2.0 is a 31x31 maze, which is formed by pistons when stepping on a pressure plate upon entry. It is made entirely without the use of craftbook signs, except the handy teleport and the hall of fame near the end. It's a public attraction at Mount Jackal.
Background
After making his first Piston Labyrinth, located near captbunzo's castle, snikeren wanted to improve his work. Seeing as his Piston Labyrinth v. 1.0 only was 13x13 and was way too easy to complete, he wanted to expand the horizon, and make it bigger. This idea crossed his mind shortly after building a home at Mount Jackal, and as a member of the Mount Jackal council he saw it fit to build inside the sand mountain, near the edge of town.
Fun fact: The Piston Labyrinth isn't actually a labyrinth, but a maze.
Version 1.0
No one knows exactly when snikeren made his first Piston Labyrinth, but it happened in a glass tunnel beneath captbunzo's castle. This is where he made his first maze in Minecraft - ever. The maze is 13x13, which makes the second maze 5.7 times bigger. It's a lot less impressive, without a proper ending and without pressure plates, but it is the birthplace for his maze projects. With merely (approximately) 144 pistons, this is a small-timer compared to anything else. The pink entrance is cute though.
Entrance to his first maze
ModernMyth7 is checking out the maze
The end of the maze, but sadly no princess
The room with the maze not powered
Specifications
To be able to build a fully functional piston maze, one must first dig room for the pistons and the redstone wiring. This means digging 14 layers vertically in the area you want the maze to be placed. Snikeren's Piston Labyrinth v. 2.0 is only 31x31 blocks horizontally, but with the height, that means over 13,000 blocks to remove. The number of pistons alone exceeds 900, not to mention the amount of redstone needed to power it all.
The mechanism consists of a RS NOR latch, connected to two pressure plates, one at the start and one at the end. Upon entry, the input from the pressure plate will activate the maze and close the entrance. The only way to deactivate it is to either complete it, or pushing an emergency button outside. At the end, there is a special room that is only open when the maze is active, making it impossible to cheat your way there without donor powers or griefing. The maze itself is computer generated.
Wiring beneath the first maze. Some even thought THAT was much!
Wiring beneath the second maze
Wiring on top of the maze
The end of the maze. What lies beyond?
Progression
Snikeren's Piston Labyrinth v. 2.0 is mostly a solo project, but he has recieved some help making it happen.
First, the hole. Starting with digging straight forward for 31 blocks, then making a left and digging another 31 blocks, repeating until you get back. There you have the surrounding walls of the maze. Now to dig the remaining blocks in the middle of those halls and downward.
At this point, skybirdthing came to his aid, to help form a big hole for the mechanism. With snikeren's supply of tools, Skybirdthing dug for some time, until both he and his tools were worn out. Snikeren then continued by himself.
After finally digging out the place, Snikeren could rest. But not for long, because there were much work to be done!
When starting to form up the lower mechanism of the Piston Labyrinth, he gets mad at himself for not thinking about it earlier. Just think of all the time he could've saved by just not digging everything, but leaving it in that state!
The lower mechanism is done, and the first 450 pistons forming the maze are placed. Now to wire this thing up and test it!
...sadly, no more pictures were taken during the progress of making the maze. After wiring it up, Krenath came to the aid, supplying enough blue wool to cover the floor. "You owe me," he said. The pistons worked, and it was time to begin on the upper floor. Much trouble had to be dealt with when dealing with the upper floor, as the redstone wiring is completely different than the lower wiring. A lot of trial and error, a lot of asking for help and a lot of redstone made it work at last.
Finishing touches were made, like an entrance, an exit and a hall of fame. captbunzo contributed with some diamond blocks at the exit, and SlowRiot made a teleport pad which marked the completion of the project.
Welcome!
Contributors
- skybirdthing - for helping me dig out some of the room
- Krenath - for giving me his time and his powers to cover the floor with blue wool and fill the top layer with redstone dust (and sandstone, to cover holes)
- captbunzo - for lending me some diamond blocks for decoration in the secret room
- SlowRiot - for allowing me to use teleport IC at the end
- And all of you who helped me on my way by sharing info and tips about redstone and such!
Disclaimer
The idea of the Piston Labyrinth is NOT snikeren's. It comes from a youtube video.