Why Do People Avoid Building on Non-Flat Land?

[Conguy97]

Why Do People Avoid Building on Non-Flat Land? Everywhere I see, people always clear out chunks upon chunks of flat land to build on, ultimately making their "cool base" a lot lamer than it needs to be. Any base on the side of a mountain makes it tons cooler, but nobody ever does it? Do people not realize that or are they avoiding the challenge? Also state your point of view. Thanks for your time


Ask me about a 1.6.2 modded server.

 

[Malexion]

Most people avoid going against a current.

There are more challenges and difficulties associated with building on non-level terrain.

More effort goes into putting up the machines, farms, and housing that you want. Some people like me enjoy building on difficult terrain, while others would much rather get to the content quickly.

 

[SonOfABirch]

I built my base entrance in the side of a mountain and my base from there is generally all underground

 

[Golrith]

I've always built on the landscape, trying to merge the design of my base to the land. One extreme example is that I'm currently making a base in a Myst Island Age, the shape and contours of the island determine what my "sky palace" will actually look like. Been challenging working out the design (especially with a partial nether biome, damn flamescar spiders!), but I'm hoping it will result in a semi-natural shape surrounded by a fringe of normal untouched land. My biggest build to date, perhaps too big

But, it's just easier if you have a blank canvas (flat land) to work with.

 

[b0bst3r]

Cos flat is easy.

 

[Runo]

I agree with you in theory, but in practice, mine craft doesn't do diagonals. What would require 1 space for wire now requires 3, not the 2 that would be needed if diagonals existed. Space-efficient layouts require some semblance of flatness for this reason.

I do like the design challenge with uneven terrain too, but 'hack' myself into doing it. I build out the civil engineering projects first and then attach my buildings to said roads/rails after since its easier to do the transport networks in-terrain. That forces me to think aesthetically about the buildings connecting to the already laid roads.

 

[ViruzzzDK]

Most of the time bases in mountains just end up digging in and then down, not actually using the terrain for anything other than a convenient roof.

 

[DREVL]

alot of it is because I'm function over form with basis... to a fault. That being said, I also really push for flat even surrounding my 3x3 chunk flat build area because I want to see things far off... like trying to find a mob I need drops for. ESPECIALLY enderman. more flat, less surprise too.

 

[Mjw]

why clear out when you can go in the sky?

 

[Virgoddess]

Because some people like it? I'm not a builder. I don't even care what my base looks like. All I care about is functionality. Sometimes I do build into mountains, sometimes I look for flat spaces, sometimes I just live underground. It's whatever I'm in the mood far.

I also don't care what other people consider "cool".

 

[zorn]

I always end up building platforms 10-15 blocks above the surroundings, but this thread has given me some ideas.

I do think that part of the issue is that in a big flat area it is easier ot make things look 'neat'. If you build on a hillside or something, you can easily make things look messy. I tried building on a small U shaped island and utilizing the terrain, putting up small platforms and having each area be for specific things... but it was hard to handle and in the end it just looked... wrong.

There are 'rules' to Design, like the Golden Ratio, etc. I think this is kind of part of the issue. Maybe in flat areas people are more likely to design something that looks appealing.

 

[snooder]

It also depends on the aesthetic you want. Building around terrain makes for a very organic looking or "green" design. But it ruins any sort of "techy" or Art Deco style structure.

Personally, I tend to build into the sides of mountains because I'm lazy, and hollowing out a mountain is easy to do. But it limits the sorts of build I can do.

 

[zorn]

I used to get all bummed out looking at super amazingg builldings designed by people on r/minecraft on reddit.com... then recently i found out that many people who have design educations love minecraft... and those are generally the builds you see displayed the msot.

So if you see huge cool buildings and can't build ones like it, it's likely that they spent 4 years and a bazillion dollars learning how to do it, so don't feel too bad.

 

[Antice]

I like to build on difficult terrain. I have a certain style tho, where I space my buildings out, and often partially insert them into the terrain. I also build a lot of standard architectural features like retaining walls and such on the downard sloped side of the pathways, or even have the access roads made like bridges, thus hanging them over the abyss...
I do die a lot when building btw... mostly from fall damage

 

[RedBoss]

It's a style thing. You won't get a consistent answer at all. Even people who like to build with the terrain sometimes build in flat areas for a change. There are even fantastic builders out there that absolutely can not build with the terrain so they flatten it or go for flat areas.

The only slightly consistent thing I've noticed is that in the tech mods, there seems to be more people going for function over form than in vanilla. But even this isn't a hard rule of thumb.

 

[SilverDragon]

It is mostly easier then building with the terrain. I prefer building inside of mountains I have hollowed out.

 

[Antice]

It's a style thing. You won't get a consistent answer at all. Even people who like to build with the terrain sometimes build in flat areas for a change. There are even fantastic builders out there that absolutely can not build with the terrain so they flatten it or go for flat areas.

The only slightly consistent thing I've noticed is that in the tech mods, there seems to be more people going for function over form than in vanilla. But even this isn't a hard rule of thumb.

I think that tech mods are somewhat biased against builders, since the tech mods tend to require certain design features in structures to be functional.
I have quit more than one world after becoming disgusted with the results of my labour.

 

[RedBoss]

I think that tech mods are somewhat biased against builders, since the tech mods tend to require certain design features in structures to be functional.
I have quit more than one world after becoming disgusted with the results of my labour.

LOL I know what you mean. I really enjoy a nice looking base. These multi block structures kill my design aesthetic lol. The only way to fight this is to build big and I don't have the motivation to do it. My only community Showcase post is a huge build and I still had space issued

Terrain can help hide the larger machines depending on how you set up your base though. My next big build will be in 1.6 and my goal will be to not have machines on the walls at all and still make things look nice

 

[Tylor]

I don't understand the point of building on any surface, flat or no. Underground or up in the sky are safer from stray mobs and players. And underground is also closer to ores.

 

[Staxed]

Depends on what I'm doing as to clearing out land or not. For example...currently working on a skyscraper...so, flat land is good (can't build a sky scraper into the side of a mountain...). However, I do build houses/bases/etc on the landscape normally (building houses on hills and having the "basement" on the lower ground looks good a lot of times.