Dwarven library? :O

Ok, I just started looking through the last few week's snapshots, and I saw that writable books are going to be added to minecraft, dunno if this is old news to anyone, but it does throw up a brilliant new area for our dwarven city...cavernous library anyone? obviously wood is quite rare underground, so it could be build around the throne room, maybe even as a secret room along our escape tunnel (which I don't think has really been been made yet) we could have a couple of books with some lore about our city, and maybe even a work journal writing down when major events were completed, backlogged a bit obviously.

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Book_and_Quill if anyone wants to look into it.

also, we need to stockpile wooden slabs, they're being changed in the next patch, but ones made prior to the patch will remain old ones if i read this correctly

That is part of the reason I can't wait for the next update. We could always use more lore for our city.

I shall reply to this properly later, but ideas are flooding my head

3rdi wrote:also, we need to stockpile wooden slabs, they're being changed in the next patch, but ones made prior to the patch will remain old ones if i read this correctly

Why exactly do we need to stockpile them? It's not like they will be removed completely. =o

This update will indeed be interesting. We could make great use of the new chest.

As for a library, we were originally planning to have one and I'm glad we didn't make it already as this update will improve it a lot.

sret wrote:
Why exactly do we need to stockpile them? It's not like they will be removed completely. =o

I didn't mean we need to dig a new corridor for them or anything, just make sure we have a few stacks, because the new ones will burn, whereas old ones won't, so we have some on hand incase we need them.

Also, I thought a brilliant function for the new chest would be to put into the mini hidden farms we're building at some point, then we can use them to shuttle resources quickly to and from the store room. If we build one farm room next to each projet they could be very effective refeuling waypoints.

For those chests, there would have to be restrictions... some distance or other connection function that would stop us using it as essentially an instant resource transporter...

Anyway, what do you guys think of this:
I'm thinking 1 of 2 things
1. We were originally going to have a secret escape passage behind the throne right? Instead we could have a secret library behind the throne. Hidden by some method, it will either be through a secret door on the back wall, or through a secret passage where the current starting one is... Then we have an exclusive library for the king and his closest, with all the secrets of the kingdom, the history... Let's just say people's imaginations can go crazy writing books... And eventually we will stockpile an "official" history and lore of the dwarves of Mons Domus. Now, we still need to make this library look dwarven... I have an epic victorian-style library, with thousands of bookcases, but I don't think that would work very well for this situation (I did build it 100% vanilla though Had to build another large reed farm and an on-site farm... and collect brown wool before sheep regained wool) anyway, back on topic... If we create a library like that hidden away, it would be good and bad... It would make use of the whole "secret passage thing" and would be pretty cool having a secret spot like that... but then again, it would be hidden away for no one to see...

2. We make a massive grand library... think 20 blocks high, great arching pillars and walkways, shelves stacked with books to the ceiling, with walkways on multiple levels (ok, so I'm getting carried away here). The great dwarven library with more books that we could ever fill. but then... where would we fit such a thing, so that it is no more "out-of-the-way" than the hidden one? We would need to completely re-do our farms, create a massive reed farm (Easy to do, but time consuming), and make extremely efficient tree farms to harvest very regularly... Just for my library, which is tiny on the scale I'm thinking, it took over 2 chests of reeds for me to make all the bookcases required. 2 FULL DOUBLE CHESTS!!! For what I'm picturing we'll need over 10 full double chests... a bit of overkill...

I'm leaning more towards something of option 1 personally though... Just my suggestions

We could just make a temporarily cane farm outside(massive!) and get all the cane from there...

I like option 2, it's what we originally planned and it would mean we wont have to hide it. I suppose option 1 would be better for written books as the other one would be so big that we'd have to make a special section or something for the written ones. Option 2 would require a lot more work but it's fun and easy work, albeit time-consuming. I love making and tending to huge farms and as soon as we have them up we just need a few people to log on several times a day to quickly harvest them and that way we'll have enough materials before we've even decided where to dig out the room.

In conclusion, my vote goes to option 2. Harvesting reeds (and wood) is a simple task that I wouldn't mind doing ever so often.

There's another problem; in the next updates books require leather to be crafted. So we need to keep the cow farm in order to make shittons of books..

I'm for option 2 as well :>

I should alert you to the scale I'm thinking of... MUCH larger than what I think you would have in mind... This would be something to rival the plans for the farm caves, and perhaps even beat... I suppose it can all work out though

Brendanan wrote:I should alert you to the scale I'm thinking of... MUCH larger than what I think you would have in mind... This would be something to rival the plans for the farm caves, and perhaps even beat... I suppose it can all work out though

That's what you think... until you walk outside and find the desert completely wiped out to make room for the biggest reed farm ever seen

Actually I really like the idea of it being the grandest part of the city. There's just something about an awesome library. However, we should decide quickly so we can get started on the reeds and stuff right away in order to make as much books as humanly possible before the update as the added need for leather will make this a lot harder.

I love the idea of a grand library, and it being the focus, but not for the dwarven city... A billion books does not scream dwarves to me... A giant forge is what screams dwarves... Gold and jewels

True. So perhaps after the city is done the next project could involve a library that would make the ancient library of Alexandria seem pale in comparison.

sret wrote:True. So perhaps after the city is done the next project could involve a library that would make the ancient library of Alexandria seem pale in comparison.

Even better, on the same map

We are planning to have all future projects on the same map unless there's a good reason not to.

Yep, all on the same map the one option that I like most will be extremely difficult to do due to the amount of administration it would take... Due to uni, a lot of it would end up falling on sret

Now you're making me curious.

you should know the plan sret :p

I know I know, but it's been a while and we've discussed so much, I just can't remember or know which idea you're hinting at. I think I know though =P

I'd prefer option one, it's not that option two is too ambitious, it's that I don't feel the centerpiece of our city should be a library, I think it should be the forge we are going to make at some point, as well as all the decorations lining the walls.

I still think we should do a few more collections of reeds and make a stack or two of cases now before the update though... I have had free time (shouldn't - procrastination), but my Internet is too slow to play...

I agree that we dont want a library as the centrepiece of the city

I think the ender chests will make mining very interesting.

Splated wrote:I think the ender chests will make mining very interesting.

Pity it's the same inventory for EVERYONE. Although that's not necessarily bad :>

I actually love the idea of a Dwarven Library. As I understand it, it will be possible to cut-and-paste outside text into the books. So perhaps we could cut-n-paste a copy of the "So What did YOU do today" thread into in-game books as the Chronicles of Mons Domus, Volumes 1 through eleventygazillion?

A project I've been toying with doing on my own, either in SSP or on my other server was going to be a huge sandstone Great Library of Alexandria, but I could never figure out a good layout to use. Perhaps in doing this project I can gain valuable experience at least on the interior design of such a library.

But yes, no harm in stockpiling a crapload of books and bookshelves in case we do this project, they can always be used to decorate the apartments if nothing else.