• Tag Archives Cair Denbar
  • Magekeep Overhaul

    I was repairing a hidden staircase in the Magekeep, and started to realize just how old and outdated it was.  It was a very old build, and it hadn’t many updates or changes over the years. It was well overdue for some TLC.

    The Magekeep is the western-most section of Cair Denbar, and it is the home of the Order of Wizards.  The regulate magic to an extent, train new wizards, and house the Library of Magic.

    The building got a massive upgrade on one side, and a whole new wing on the other. I gutted most everything inside and rebuilt it.

    Below are stage by stage pictures of the changes to the exterior.  Click the link below to view the pictures of the inside!

    The Order of Wizards / The Magekeep – on Mincraft: Alpha

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  • Minecraft: Cair Denbar Updates

    Things have been busy in Minecraft since I last posted.  I’ve been tooling around with random updates, upgrades, and additions to my main castle, Cair Denbar.

    It started out after Christmas just looking around for little things to work on, and I just ended up going from one project to the next in quick succession.  Here’s a list of the projects I can remember from the madness:

    • Removed silly security doors throughout the complex
    • Updated all directional signage (intersections, stairwells)
    • Built a new addition for the Royal Academy and re-configured its old space back into First Hall
    • Moved the Halls of Healing to West End, and re-purposed old space as the Music Hall once again
    • Updated Throne Room interior using walls to give more depth & detail
    • Updated wall along Second Hall to be thinner using walls
    • Raised the ceiling in Royal Library (been putting this one off for ages, involved moving fireworks & redstone)
    • Added new West Stairs & Balcony to replace cramped West Tower Stairwell
    • Updated The Grotto (hadn’t been touched since it was built 8 years ago, added a large stained-glass window)
    • Converted Royal Pools to East Spring (was bad location for pools)
    • Moved the Royal Dungeon to West End
    • Replaced old dungeon with Royal Baths

    After that laundry list of minor projects, I got carried away updating the exterior of the whole place. I added some minor tweaks to the Great Hall and liked it so much, I went a little crazy.

    Overall, I think the exterior looks ALOT better now!!!


  • Minecraft Updates

    I’ve been busy at working finishing up the Royal Gardens in Cair Denbar.  It is now complete!  The Emperor is sending out invitations to join him for tea in his new gardens.

    I then went on to create several pixel-art maps to use as signs!  I had some fun doing this.  Pixel-art can be soothing.

    I finished up by overhauling the Portal Nexus a little bit.  I cleaned it up, added thew new signs, and created an “info” room for information and rules about the server.

    Now I need to figure out what my next project is….

     


  • Cair Denbar: Royal Grounds

    For the last week I’ve been working on overhauling the Royal Grounds at Cair Denbar.  They were originally build eons ago, and didn’t look too extravagant.

    I started by gutting and expanding the Stables, as they were cramped.  I then finished paving the courtyard, as it still had bare bits of dirt and grass.

    I then moved onto what is becoming the Royal Gardens.  Before, the back half of the royal grounds was just open to a lake with no enclosing wall, and just had one path and very little decoration. I intend to fix that.  I updated the area outside the Stables, and converted the simple dirt cliff face into some tiered gardens.

    I still have a lot of work ahead of me.  I’ve finished the outer wall enclosing the area, and laid out some ideas of where I want the paths to be. I still need to develop the entire other side of the lake.


  • Updates in Cair Denbar

    The other day I started planning out making a video of Imperial City. One thing led to another, and now I’m working on a laundry list of upgrades for Cair Denbar, my royal palace (my home on the server).

    This is actually a good sign. Usually when I loose my “mojo” for Minecraft for a bit, what gets me back into the game is upgrading or adding onto my main castle 🙂

    Cair Denbar is the oldest structure on my server. I laid the original foundation on April 7, 2012 – the day I got Minecraft. It started out as a small castle on an epic mountaintop. Over the last nearly 7 years, it has grown and expanded over and over. It grew into a large castle spanning two mountaintops, and they a village sprung up in front of it. The castle eventually expanded to fill all 4 mountaintops, and the small village has grown into Imperial City, my single largest city on the server.

    I started with something that had been bugging me for ages – the Royal Vault.  It had a two-digit combination lock that was very easy to figure out, and once you had entered it anyone could walk by and see the combination.  The interior also needed some love.  I created an entrance hallway outside the door, where you now pull a lever to seal the two entrances to that hallway. It then opens access to a small room with the new 4-digit combination lock.  Also, while the vault door is open, the hallway doors cannot be opened. It feels much more secure now.

    I also did some updates on the inside, making it look more vault-like. Previously, it just looked another storage room with precious-gem columns.   It looks much more vault-like to me now, and I’ve even placed a bunch of items in there to store in shulker boxes 🙂

    I then went on to the Storage Level. I had purposed a level in the complex simply for storage, but never did more than put a warehouse room on it and ton of boxes.  I knocked out a wall and made a large loading area with a crane down to the Courtyard Level.  It looks really cool!!

    To finish off, I finally finished a project I started eons ago. I found this design for an awesome hidden staircase inside a fireplace, and I’ve wanted to add it to Cair Denbar for ages. Problem was, the castle is so old, compact, and dense, I couldn’t find anywhere to fit it in. Especially where It needed access to the floor below, as the castle has multiple levels down into the mountain.

    I changed a few things around in the oldest section of the castle, and managed to fit it into the Emperor’s Study!  I had to remove a sitting area by the South Landing and vacate the Royal Healer, but I made it work!  The hidden stairs access a room three floors below (lots of stairs).  I still need to figure out what I’m going to put down there though.