Minecraft, Timeboxing, and Planning

[Thorin]

After my initial weekend of what-the-hell-the-sun-just-went-down-now-it's-coming-up-and-I'm-not-talking-about-ingame, I'm now trying to timebox my Minecraft time.  To keep my mind from wandering back to the game all the time, I've started writing down my plans (I've found writing things down makes me stop dwelling on it as it's okay to forget now).

The first notes were just a brain-dump, though, and didn't make sense the following day.  I'm now switching to creating a theme with planned builds with tasks for each build.  I've got a little word doc with the sections Decisions To Make, Current Tasks (split into daytime / nighttime), and Planned Builds (listing tasks like what to mine or craft or smelt or brew, and notes explaining why).  This is still point-form, but now if I have 30 minutes I can start up the game, see what time of day it is, and work on matching current tasks.

I haven't used this word doc yet as there's been no timebox for Minecraft since deciding on this method.  However, I'm already no longer desperately trying to remember all my plans until I do get some Minecraft time.

Did you find yourself obsessing about the game when you first started playing it?  Have you done something similar to counter that obsessing?

[Mr. Analog]

I obsess all the time, sometimes I see something and think to myself "I wonder if can build that"

Or now that there is a real group of people I think about how better to interact with people (i.e. hold up, lets explore something together).

Most of my nights end up as decision trees based on priorities, but I try not to be on Minecraft for more than 2 hours, I will set my microwave timer to keep me aware of how much time has gone by (also the in-game messages that update every 30 min helps me keep track as well).

Like tonight I really want to play but I know I have to get some other stuff done so likely I won't be on. *shrug*

I have a really big build planned too...

[Lazybones]

Did you find yourself obsessing about the game when you first started playing it?  Have you done something similar to counter that obsessing?

I just spent a very large amount of time discussing minecraft plans with another someone in the forums over IM... SO no I have not solved obsessing during the day. (and I am replying to this post)

I have managed however to cut my play time into MUCH smaller chunks that don't involve seeing the real world sun rise...

1. Decide what TYPE of session you are going to play before logging in (these are my 3 general types of play):
- mine, explore, craft? (fairly easy to quit from, takes moderate time)
- creative friendly mode prototyping (you can fly, break bricks in a single hit and have access to all items) (takes lots of time, but easiest to quit from)
- project: but only after prototyping with a reasonable stop goal. (hard to quit and takes lots of time)

2. When exploring don't wander off too far, really, you are going to get in a rut of "i have to get home to log off"

3. check your resources before committing... did you use up all your food and tools last session? well you better do some crafting and light resourcing. do you have enough X to craft the X you need? Have you asked if anyone has extra X? (note some players will have lots of a particular resource as they have more of it in their area)

4. http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki because even if you know how to craft it, it still takes effort on the server. No need to fumble around, there is already a lot of time sink in this game.

5. watch tutorials on being more efficient or how to build things. I don't think I have ever built something EXACTLY like in a tutorial or video... I always had to come up with my own twist to fit my design... So there is lots to be creative with even if you are using these resources (I noticed you said a few times you didn't want to get into the videos and etc but it comes at a cost of time)

6. Tools like JourneyMap do take away from things like crafting the map and day cycle clocks but really don't detract from play...

[Tom]

Did you find yourself obsessing about the game when you first started playing it?  Have you done something similar to counter that obsessing?

I just spent a very large amount of time discussing minecraft plans with another someone in the forums over IM... SO no I have not solved obsessing during the day. (and I am replying to this post)

snip...

5. watch tutorials on being more efficient or how to build things. I don't think I have ever built something EXACTLY like in a tutorial or video... I always had to come up with my own twist to fit my design... So there is lots to be creative with even if you are using these resources (I noticed you said a few times you didn't want to get into the videos and etc but it comes at a cost of time)

Unless you're like me and find a good set of videos and end up watching them for an entire evening. Then it really doesn't save that much time

[Lazybones]

Unless you're like me and find a good set of videos and end up watching them for an entire evening. Then it really doesn't save that much time

Well after spending over an hour trying to get a neither portal to work to my airship I went looking for how-to videos and re-read the wiki... Turns out they don't work above the cloud layer currently... Problem solved... no more time spent on that..

Also found the a lot of good minecart stuff that lead me to the current beach station design... It is not exactly like any of the videos but uses many of their elements and I god it working in one evening...

but yes, WATCHing them can take up just as much time... lol

[Mr. Analog]

Great points and actually many of which I subscribe to

I try to do rough math before I build stuff so I can find out what resources I'll need, most things I build are mostly already in my brain before I do it (or written down on scratch paper). Or if not I try in creative mode to see what the challenges are first. There are some nights where I spend 30 min in creative trying to build something just to see how it works.

For example:

When I started digging the first subway tunnel I found that if I stood right next to a wall and just held down the pickaxe I could dig 5 blocks, so it was easy for me to count out distance especially when I started placing a torch on every 10th block, when you are in a minecart you can determine your distance on the parts I built by counting torches. This came in handy when I had to figure out how many powered rails I'd need to make the first leg. I had figured out that if you put a powered rail every 9th block you'd achieve max speed with no loss of momentum. So for every 100 regular torches I'd need 11 powered minecart rails (which is 6 gold bars and 1 redstone dust) so I'd need 66 gold bars and 6 redstone dust to go 100 blocks at full speed.

I'm just thankful that multiplying ratios is easy lol

Same thing with the build height for my first big building. I had TONS of cobblestone, I mean a lot of stacks of 64. So did some math if I made a basic tower 64 blocks high and 4 blocks per floor (including the floor) I'd end up with a 16 storey tower on top of the building I had already made. I picked an arbitrary rectangular shape but made sure tha it was an odd number of blocks on the short side to allow for a centre pillar and door, several days later I had an awesome looking tower.

For the top floors I had actually wanted to build something specific and while my inspiration stemmed from the Singer Building I eventually came up with something unique.

Conversely, I did miscalculate how much sand I would need but it worked out in the end as the surplus windows went to Stewie.

[Thorin]

5. watch tutorials on being more efficient or how to build things. I don't think I have ever built something EXACTLY like in a tutorial or video... I always had to come up with my own twist to fit my design... So there is lots to be creative with even if you are using these resources (I noticed you said a few times you didn't want to get into the videos and etc but it comes at a cost of time)

I don't remember saying I don't want to watch videos...  In fact, the reason I dove in is because I found myself reading Minecraft wiki and watching tutorial videos.  However, I didn't watch the beginner videos before starting 'er up, and said as much in-game.

Anyway, now I've had my starting over-the-top couple of days and can hopefully only think about it at the right times instead of all the time.

[Darren Dirt]

I try not to be on Minecraft for more than 2 hours, I will set my microwave timer to keep me aware of how much time has gone by (also the in-game messages that update every 30 min helps me keep track as well).

http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,8565.0.html   http://cd.justinjc.com/   

[Mr. Analog]

I try not to be on Minecraft for more than 2 hours, I will set my microwave timer to keep me aware of how much time has gone by (also the in-game messages that update every 30 min helps me keep track as well).

http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,8565.0.html   http://cd.justinjc.com/   

I've trained myself through almost Pavlovian means to respond to the Microwave beep.

[Thorin]

Anything microwaved only tastes good the first few minutes it's out of the microwave.  After a few minutes, if I haven't started eating it yet I have to put it back in to heat it up again.  Maybe you've had the same experience and thus now jump for the microwave the minute it beeps?

[Tom]

I try not to be on Minecraft for more than 2 hours, I will set my microwave timer to keep me aware of how much time has gone by (also the in-game messages that update every 30 min helps me keep track as well).

http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,8565.0.html   http://cd.justinjc.com/   

I've trained myself through almost Pavlovian means to respond to the Microwave beep.

I dunno, sometimes I don't even hear mine. Its more than loud enough, but 10% or so of the time, it completely passes me by

[Mr. Analog]

Anything microwaved only tastes good the first few minutes it's out of the microwave.  After a few minutes, if I haven't started eating it yet I have to put it back in to heat it up again.  Maybe you've had the same experience and thus now jump for the microwave the minute it beeps?

I use my microwave timer for boiling water and flipping things on the grill, so, very rarely am I late for it.

Once I put soup in there and ended up on a call for 2 1/2 hours, I just threw it out...