[Prodigy9]

Sorry for the double post - I really wanted to make sure all the screenshots were included.


One thing that I think is particularly neat about my build is the lighting system. A daylight sensor is used to determine what time it is and adjust lighting conditions accordingly. A few strategically placed glass holes in the floor/ceiling of each level allow the tower to be well lit by natural lighting during the day. At night, lighting is provided by both interior redstone lamps (embedded in the floor and ceiling) and outdoor burning netherrack (don't worry, it's surrounded on all sides except the top so the ugly netherrack texture can't be seen!).

Nighttime Lighting.JPG (184.94 KiB) Viewed 2832 times

Control of the lighting system is achieved by the circuitry shown below. The sticky pistons with redstone blocks are used to expand and retract a few blocks in the tower's perimeter; this allows for control of the outdoor lighting. The rest of the circuitry, of course, is used to control the redstone lamps. Redstone signal is transmitted through the central part of the tower (which in a finished build would be surrounded by sandstone and either brick, stone brick, or netherbrick). The three-block wide floors allow plenty of space for the redstone circuitry to be entirely concealed - once complete, visitors to the tower should be able to go about their business without tripping over pistons and redstone! The 3x3 holes in this picture mark the site of (as-yet unbuilt) spiral staircases in each quadrant of the tower, allowing passage to the upper levels.

Redstone.JPG (274.25 KiB) Viewed 2832 times

[The-Jack-DeCk]

Prodigy is the first to be accepted! I really am impressed by the interior workings of the tower. Because it is a challenge to view the outside works in detail, I can't provide the same compliment, but the shape looks perfect and I have no doubt the outside view will be impressive as well.

Just two questions:
1: Will any of the circuitry be able to been seen by pedestrians?
2: How tall is the design?

[Prodigy9]

Prodigy is the first to be accepted! I really am impressed by the interior workings of the tower. Because it is a challenge to view the outside works in detail, I can't provide the same compliment, but the shape looks perfect and I have no doubt the outside view will be impressive as well.

If you'd like, I could take some additional screenshots showing parts of the exterior in more detail. Additionally, if you think it's a bit sandstone-heavy, I'd happily add more of the stone-slab / netherbrick accents - it's your realm, after all!

1: Will any of the circuitry be able to been seen by pedestrians?

Nope! As I mentioned in the post with the circuitry screenshot, the floors will be three layers thick. The bottom layer will also be the ceiling of the lower section of the tower. The middle layer will contain the vast majority of the circuitry, and will not be visible to visitors. Even the glass blocks provided as light are surrounded on all three sides by bricks, so that the circuitry is hidden behind opaque blocks even if you're specifically looking for it. The top layer (which is mostly stripped away in the screenshot) will have the same arrangement of glass skylights and redstone lamps as the bottom layer, but will otherwise consist of opaque blocks that obscure the view of the middle layer's contents. Furthermore, the central column containing the redstone torches will be encased by a 3x3 column of thematically appropriate stones (probably some two of: netherbrick, brick, stone brick, stone slab, sandstone). I didn't have time to put in that column in the creative build, but once complete it will ensure that not even the redstone torches are visible to visitors.

2: How tall is the design?

It goes just about to the sky limit. The different "layers" of tower sections are each about 25 blocks thick, and the last one will terminate at about Y = 250. On top of this will be a small peak containing the daylight sensor and a little bit of circuitry to connect the sensor to the torch column.

[monkeychunks]

Did you supply Prodigy with all that?

[Prodigy9]

Did you supply Prodigy with all that?

This does not yet exist on Minerealm - it is a prototype that I built in single-player creative.

[The-Jack-DeCk]

I would indeed like for a closer view of one of the chunks.

Other than that, I'm ready to give you permission to some realms very soon. I think I can supply sandstone and netherbrick, and I am certain I can spare the redstone.

[Prodigy9]

Here's a closer view from the outside of one of the wider layers. One of the four windows is shown. The fire outside the windows illuminates part of the outside of the tower, in addition to providing a supplementary source of indoor light at nighttime (though the redstone lamps are the primary light source at night). During the day, the redstone circuit I showed earlier causes the netherbrick directly above the fire to push outwards, covering the flames.

Wide Layer - Windows.JPG (127.56 KiB) Viewed 2812 times

This is a closer view of one of the narrower layers, with an entrance to the tower's interior in the foreground and part of the inside of the tower in the background. The balcony extends all the way around the tower, allowing for a 360-degree view of any and all builds that might be nearby.

Narrow Layer - Balcony.JPG (118.13 KiB) Viewed 2812 times

This is a slightly zoomed out view, showing a wide section and the narrow section above it together. This is the basic unit of the tower, which is repeated several times as the tower ascends. The area within tower layers (i.e. between the window and the balcony) is almost entirely sandstone - as I mentioned in an earlier post, different types of blocks could be added as accents if you would prefer a less monochrome appearance. Note that since it is now daytime, netherbrick below the windows has extended, covering the flames as part of the conversion to daytime lighting.

Zoomed out.JPG (132.02 KiB) Viewed 2812 times

Both the balconies and the windows occur several times in the tower at different heights (basically, any Y layer that is a multiple of 25 from 100 to 250 has one or the other). This allows for the viewing of the megabuild from various different heights.

[BlockMan]

Not trying to rain on your parade.. but a 50 realm palace may take you months to complete... maybe years building to 256 elevation. Good luck

[Prodigy9]

Not trying to rain on your parade.. but a 50 realm palace may take you months to complete... maybe years building to 256 elevation. Good luck

He knows:

Also, I am aiming to finish the build in 2015.

[The-Jack-DeCk]

Not trying to rain on your parade.. but a 50 realm palace may take you months to complete... maybe years building to 256 elevation. Good luck

He knows:

Also, I am aiming to finish the build in 2015.

Yes, it is true. I feel as if maybe I bit off a bit more than I can chew with this project, but if it is completed at any point in time then I will be immensely satisfied with the accomplishment. Thank you for the encouragement, block!

As a side lying reason for this post, I want to make sure that other tower designers won't forget about finishing up their designs like prodigy did.

As another side line, I'm looking for you whenever I'm in game, prod, but we haven't seen each other yet. I'm certain we'll cross paths soon.