Building Oceana: The Verge’s Minecraft Pyramid – Week Three

Lights!

One of our newest additions has been the new Vergas (Verge + Vegas? Geddit?) square, masterminded by Alec and Saravog. Still far from complete, but showing incredible promise, the sandstone hotel is not only gorgeous with a pond in front (well, this is the south side), but swing around the back side…

…and you get to the valet loop and encounter this piece of lighting madness. Those lamps actually blink end to end in sequence in a spectacularly gaudy style that evokes the Vegas spirit. Alec stated the display took ten stacks of redstone to wire properly (for those not in the know: it’s a lot!) and I have no doubt we’ll see much more when everything begins to take form.

And now in sports…

Over at Moza805’s Spleef Stadium (Which obviously still needs a ton of work, Moza. I’m telling you.) Caio hosted Oceana’s first tournament. I fought Marodox in the first match, my first match ever, and lost within about a minute and change. Above, we see Maradox and Connor in the finals where Connor lost within seconds each time around. I don’t know if he simply lost his will to play, but it was a pretty spectacular lockout.

Oceana Grand Central

One of the last works we started this week was Oceana Grand Central: the terminal for inbound/outbound rail lines to the outside world as well as an accompanying structure that spanned upward into the pyramid, the only true vertical facility in the whole pyramid as the primary methods to go up are through the diagonals. The platform had been in place for some time, but as the project has taken several owners over the past few weeks, the net result was no structure at all. So, Saturday came and it was time to break ground. Alec, Moza, and myself plotted the structure out, originally a spiraling glass column with a rail line that spiraled around its perimeter to each level. This design didn’t work well as it began to intersect various tunnels that the structure encounter on its way up to level E. Instead, we tossed out an hour’s worth of planning in exchange for a system of water elevators (blocks of water suspended with signs) that makes vertical access super easy.

At night, the slight blue tint of the tunnels are spectacular, but on lower levels, we decided to build a large glowstone sculpture that really makes them pop. Also: the Nether sucks.

Oceana Day/Missing Paul

It looks like Saturday, May 19th is going to be a celebration day around the pyramid! It’s my hope that by then, we’ll have most of the spaces up and operation and we’ll be able to bring everyone on at once to hang out in the pyramid. Our goal is to also get some Verge staffers (and maybe even some FEZ staffers!) in the mix, so you haven’t been white-listed for the server at The Verge (the list is down right now, but should be up soon. I know, such a tease.) you should go over there!

On a sad note, Verge Senior Editor and Oceana benefactor Paul Miller has voluntarily decided to stop using the internet for a year. While Paul’s been a busy guy, he’s always been friendly and support of our efforts. Come back soon, Paul. We’ll mail you pictures!