Trevor Talley - The big book of building: everything Minecraftʼ? imagine it ... create it ... build it

Copyright 2014 by Triumph Books LLC

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street; Chicago, Illinois 60610.

This book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For further information, contact:

Triumph Books LLC

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

Phone: (312) 337-0747

www.triumphbooks.com

Printed in U.S.A.

ISBN: 978-1-62937-028-6

Content packaged by Mojo Media, Inc.

Joe Funk: Editor

Jason Hinman: Creative Director

Trevor Talley: Writer

This book is not authorized, sponsored, endorsed or licensed by Mojang AB. The trademark Minecraft is owned by Mojang AB; and other company names and/or trademarks mentioned in this book are the property of their respective companies and are used for identification purposes only.

If youve got this book in your hands, youve probably heard a bit about Minecraft. From its origins as a cult game with a small but dedicated following to one of the biggest video games of all time (if not the biggest), Minecraft is truly on a roll. With every passing year, the game gets on new platforms, gets in the hands of new players and, to put it simply, gets more and more massively popular. And theres a good reason for that.

Put simply, Minecraft is one of the most inventive, creative and unique games ever created. Posing as a simple survival and world-building game, Minecraft fans have taken its unique system and caused it to blossom into something much more: a global cultural phenomenon.

In fact, Minecrafts genius has earned it so many fans all over the world, its now considered one of the most successful games ever released for not one, but three major gaming systems (PC, console and smartphones). To put it in numerical terms: as of summer 2014, the game has sold over 50 million copies on the PC, 54 million copies on the console and 21 million copies on smartphones. Put together, those 125 million copies are just shy of the entire populations of Mexico and Canada put together.

With so many people taking the plunge into the crazy, block-filled world of Minecraft, its no wonder you might be curious about the game. But like many before you, you might be asking yourself, What is it about this low-resolution existence that people like so much?

Lets get this out of the way right off the bat: Minecraft is not like other games.

The basic premise of Minecraft is that you are a character who has spawned into a world thats entirely made up of materials, which you can harvest, and populated by creatures called mobs, which you can kill. Your immediate goal is this: survive.

There are animals and plants for food, and materials to build a shelter, but the world of Minecraft is not all out to help you. At night, hostile, dangerous mobs come out to try their best to kill you and maybe even wreck your home a bit.

Once youve secured your defenses against the dark, dark night, however, the resemblance to a typical video game ends.

Minecraft has little plot, the graphics are basic (though we think theyre cool looking) and it rarely tells you what to do next. So why is Minecraft so popular?

From your dream home to pirate boats straight out of history, Minecraft lets your imagination run wild.

Its simple: Minecraft is whatever you want it to be. That might sound like exaggeration, but it really isnt. Everything you see in the world of Minecraft can be changed, from knocking down a tall mountain, to drying up a lake to building enormous structures that tower into the sky anywhere you like.

This is possible because everything in the environment of Minecraft is created by blocks, each of which is made up of a resource such as Stone or Wood. These blocks can be removed by breaking them, and you can then either use them to build the world the way youd like, or you can turn them into even more materials and items. All it takes is a little exploring, and you can find the resources to create just about anything.

Not only can you create your own worlds in Minecraft

And Minecraft does not shirk or mess about when it comes to giving you plenty to explore. One of the master strokes of this modern classic game is that it uses complex algorithms to create massively diverse and unique worlds to explore every time you load it.

There are endless deserts populated by thriving Villages and cut through with winding rivers. There are towering snowy mountains that cast shadows over sweeping plains dotted with flowers, Lava fields and cave entrances. There are even multiple dimensions and an underground filled with ruins and adventures that will take you dozens of hours to fully explore, if you can survive the creatures that dwell there.

In the end though, theres one reason Minecraft has cemented its status as a truly great game, and thats this: Minecraft is only limited by your imagination.

If you can think of it, you can build it or make it happen. That is, if you know how the game works.

but you can also explore the entire universes Crafted by the minds of players all over the globe!

What you have in your hands is The Big Book of Minecraft, and its a whopper. We have now put out two Minecraft guides (Minecrafter and Minecrafter 2.0) to help you with that knowledge of the game part of the game, and now weve put together the best of the best from our past two books and thrown in some brand-spanking-new chapters in what is truly the biggest, baddest Minecraft guide yet.

We want you to be the best Minecrafter you can be, and its a time-honored Minecraft tradition for veteran players to pass down their knowledge to newcomers. Here youll find everything you need to get started and begin your first monumental creation, but dont get us wrong, this guide isnt just for the noobs.

The Big Book is also full of advanced info, exclusive strategies and tips and tricks that even the best pros will find useful. With chapters that take you from the early stages of the game all the way through to advanced tactics for combat, mining, farming, exploration, Redstone and just about everything else in the game, this book is meant to be your go-to for any question or issue you might have about Minecraft.