A Cryptic Minecraft Blog

A New Adventure: The Struggle - Pt 5 (Vote For An Outcome)

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I gulp loudly as I stare at the blade. Suddenly, there is a rustling behind my captor. They look over their shoulder in time to see a zombie lunge at them. The blade sings as they bring it around to slash the undead monster in it's stomach. I use the opportunity to scramble to my feet, lunging to the side as the blade flies through the air, nearly slicing my leg. I hear the cries of my captor as I jump across the stream. I hesitant for a moment, thinking to my self "Should I just run, or help them?"

Hello readers. Here is your chance to effect how the story progresses. Please leave a comment below or click here to visit the site and leave a comment to decide if our protagonist will help or if they will flee.

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A New Adventure: The Struggle - Pt 4

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I push my way through the thick foliage, hearing a stream on the other end. Too focused on the water, I trip over a protruding root. I land flat on my face, in the dirt. "Owww..." I groan as I roll over, only to see a sword point centimeters from my face. I look at the blocky face of it's owner, but I don't see it as they are wearing a hood. "One false move, and you'll sleep forever!"

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A New Adventure: The Struggle - Pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I greedily eat the other three mushrooms I find. Feeling more reinvigorated from the mail, I suddenly realize where I am. I quickly scan the forest, looking for any of the monsters I ran away from the night before. Not seeing any, I slowly walk towards clearing. "I need to find shelter and and make some tools if I'm going to survive." I say to myself as I enter the clearing...

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A New Adventure: The Struggle - Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I grimace as I grab the nearest mushroom. I look over the tannish-brown colored fungus. I let out a sigh and murmur "here it goes." I toss the whole mushroom in my mouth and slowly chew. The spongy texture is a bit off-putting at first, but it's earthly flavor is satisfying. "Well, that wasn't so bad." I say to myself as I grab another mushroom. I spot a few more by another tree and walk over...

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A New Adventure: The Struggle - Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I let out a deep sigh as I look out into the ravine. I clutch my stomach as it groans again. I walk away from the edge of the ravine and back into the forest. All sense of danger is lost as I look for food. I stumble from tree looking for anything to eat. Under a darker colored tree with vines growing on it, I find a few mushrooms. "Uhh, I don't know if they are poisonous, but doesn't look like I have much of a choice..."

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 10

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

"How the hell didn't I notice this?" I say to myself as I look over the bandage on my right bicep. "Well, whatever. Need to figure out my next move." I say as I scoot close to the lip of the ledge. I look across the wide ravine, then to the left and right of me. "Huh, guess I'll go that way." To my left are some protrusions from the rock face I can use to climb. About a half hour later, I climb over the edge of the ravine, not far away from where I fell off. As I take a deep breath and relish the feeling of cheating death, I don't notice the rustling of the leaves to my left...

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 9

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

My eyes flutter open to the light of the sun shining down on me. "Uuggghhh..." I groan as deja-vu washes over me. I slowly push myself up into a sitting position as I take stock of the situation. There is a large bump on the back of my head. I quickly scoot away from the lip of the ledge. "Oh damn, I'm freakin' lucky." I exclaim. "Just happen to land on the ledge I had spotted, if not, I wouldn't be hurting like I am now." I flex my right arm to work out the stiffness from the injury of the arrow. "What the...?" I shout as I suddenly notice there isn't an arrow, and my arm is bound...

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Running a Minecraft Server Community

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

A manager doesn't manage people; they manage things and lead people.

This is a quote that has stuck in my head for many years. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the source of the quote. If anyone happens to know it, please leave a comment below or click this link so I can provide proper accreditation. Anywho, that quote, I feel, sums up quite well the role of a good community owner. If you search the web, you'll find many good quotes that sum up what a leader is.

“A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him.” - H.S.M Burns

Now that the quotes are out of the way, time to discuss the heart of the matter. As the owner of OmniKraft, I hold a lot of responsibility to myself, my staff and more importantly, the community. While my official title is owner, I prefer to see myself as a leader. I always need to be thinking about new ideas, new directions, or tweaking what is current to make it better. OmniKraft has been around for six months now, and there have been many lessons that I have learned.

I think it's best to break these down into a few categories, that I can expand on in the future.

Community
Staff
Advertising
Finances
Leadership
Comittment
Creativity

    I have to say I didn't expect this editorial piece to be so large initially. Go figure that as I write it, more ideas would pop into my head. I do believe that this post is necessary though. As a player of Minecraft, I have been on many bad servers. I'm sure you all can rattle off a list of what makes a bad server, but that's not what this post is for. There are also much information out there on how to run a server in the technical aspect.

    There is very little information on how to actually lead a server community. I think the obvious reason why is not many are good at writing (I'm not that great at it either), or are motivated to write. Some probably want to keep the secrets of their success to themselves. Regardless of the reason, I feel it's time for people to really learn what it takes to run a successful community. I do this because there are too many bad servers out there, run by those who barely know what they are doing, or are just looking to make money off of it.

    I hope you'll will come back as I continue this piece to completion (if that's possible), expanding each of the above categories. I'll add to this every Wednesday, and answer any questions that you have from the comments. Until next time, ttfn, ta ta for now.

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Fice Castle (Mega Build) - Featured Build

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

To arms, to arms!

   Today's featured post is brought to us by elli3ds. It is a castle that was originally designed to be a spawn structure for a server, but corrupted files prevent that from going further. Regardless, it is a very impressive build, and one that hasn't earned a lot of attention. That is why I write these posts, to give those who do great work the attention their work deserves.

   Just watching the video, I am met with awe at the scale and detail of the build. Not only is there the castle, there is a volcano, a great pyramid and a nearby village. The designs are very amazing, especially in the pyramid. In many places, the attention to detail is very amazing at and high quality.

    I did find a few things that needed work though. Interior decoration is lacking in areas, such as a few rooms in the castle. The surrounding land around the village could have used more work, to make it look more natural. The walkway could have used a bit more color as it has a lot of gray to it. After that, it's an amazing build, and one that needs more attention.

Fice Castle (Mega Build)

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 8

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

"I found my way to safety!" I mutter as I spot a ledge about five meters below the ridge of the ravine. Before I can crouch down to begin my descent to safety, something grips my shoulder. Fear once again grips my being as I spin around. I stare into those soulless eyes again as the repulsive stench of death overwhelms me. I instinctively take a step back and realize only a moment too late my mistake...

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The Great Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

You're a wizard Harry!

Greetings Minecrafters! Today I bring you a personal build of mine, the Great Tower! It is a tower I made for the old spawn of OmniKraft. With some assistance from Jon1rocks, this tower stands above the rest! With a few designed rooms that extend out from the tower and a beautifully designed staircase, this tower will stand as a marvel in your build!

The Great Tower

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Battleship - No plugins - Fully playable - Custom spawnable, destructible ships and more!

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Damn the torpedos!

    When command blocks first came out, I could tell they had a lot of potential. With the 1.7 update, that potential skyrocketed! I only knew it was a matter of time before the Minecraft community would come out with something amazing! This project is definitely one to blow your socks off, literally!

    magib1 has brought us a fully functional and interactive game of Battleship! Using "a whole ton of command blocks", magib1 was able to build a completely interactive board game to Minecraft. You can easily place each of your ships on the board using buttons. The ships are then actually spawned where you placed them. When you select which spot to hit, TNT falls from the sky! If your ship is where the TNT lands, that part of the ship is toast!

    This is a very amazing build. So many small touches were added that just makes this build so much the better! You have to download this map now! Do it here! What are you waiting for!?

Battleship - No Plugins - Fully Playable

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Coming back to the blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Greetings Minecrafters!

After a bit of a break, I've decided to start up my blog again. I want to give you all a big thank you for continuing to visit the blog and support my hard work. I've decided to prevent myself from being burned out again, and not to get overwhelmed between this and running OmniKraft, I'll cut down my posts from 6 a week, to three.

The new post scheduled will be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'll do what I can to give you the posts you want to read, continue on my story and start up a how-to series soon! Thank you again for supporting my project!

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 7

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

"Oh my God..." I gasp as my legs are pumping. Still grasping my bleeding arm, I weave around the trees and bushes in the forest. I skid to a halt at the edge of a ravine. I cautiously peer over and down into the deep crevice in the land. I quickly look around for a way across. My ragged breathing mask the foot steps as they approach from behind, not that I would have noticed anyway with my fearful search for a way across. A hand reaches for my shoulder...

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 6

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

"Aaahhhh!" I scream as I see the end of an arrow sticking out of my arm. I try to focus through the pain, but before I can get moving, I hear a rattling noise in front of me. I look up to see a skeleton, bits of fabric cling to the bones as it looks at me. At least, I think it is, there are no eyes to tell exactly, but I do notice it's intent as it notches an arrow into it's glowing bow. Without realizing, I leap to the side, in time enough to watch as the arrow flies harmlessly by. In a heartbeat, I'm on my feet and running again.

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 5

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

My breathing becomes shallow and fast as fear grips my being. My eyes staring back into soulless, blank orbs. The stench of death overwhelms as this rotting creature stumbles closer. I'm paralyzed, not even the thought of safety passes through my mind. Without warning, an arrow whizzes by and embeds itself into a nearby tree, inches from my head. "Run, you fool!" rings through my head. I turn on my heels and run like I've never run before. Crashing through the forest, desperately trying to get away with only the light of the half moon guiding me. As I turn to see if that horrid monster was behind me, I'm struck...

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Blog Shutting Down

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Due to low traffic and the elevated pressures with OmniKraft, I will be shutting the blog down. Thanks for those who did follow me, I appreciate it.

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 4

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

"Uuuggghhhh...." I groan as I come to. I slowly open my eyes, then quickly shut them as I'm met with a sharp pain behind them. "Ooohhh..." I groan as probably the worst headache I've ever had envelops my skull. I slowly open my eyes again and notice the setting sun. I struggle to get to my feet, and use the tree that I ran into, to steady myself. I let out a sigh as I stand on my feet. "I guess I must have passed out, it's going to be tricky to navigate in this darkness. Suddenly, my heart starts to race as I hear a distant and hungry moan.

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What Makes a Good Server?

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

What draws you in?

Greetings Minecrafters! Today, I wanted to start a discussion. What factors do you look for in a server to call home? Is it the type of server it is, such as Bukkit, Vanilla, Feed the Beast, etc. Perhaps it's the players that are there? A well designed website or special donor kits? Perhaps it's the staff or the set of rules on the server?

Granted, I'm curious what players look for since I'm a server owner myself, but I want to raise this as a serious question. There are thousands of servers that you can choose from, with a wide range of features, personalities and whatnot. What is it that draws you to a particular server, and what keeps you there? Leave a comment below or click here to leave a comment. I'd be very interested to see your comments!

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Minecraft 1.7.3 To Release This Week, Probably Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Update inbound!

   Greetings Minecrafters! This week, most likely tomorrow (Thursday), Mojang will release version 1.7.3. This will bring a slew of bugfixes. As a server owner, I can only say it's overdue. I am glad that a release is coming out. A list of all the bug fixes in 1.7.3 are listed below. But, 1.7.3 isn't only about, Mojang also added in the ability to live-stream to Twitch. Many a gamer will love this feature, being able to easily stream your game so others can enjoy. Here is the post that tells you how to setup your Mojang account.

    MC-35897 - Damaged armor, tools & weapons placed in certain inventory slots cause other slots to go black
    MC-36482 - upon exiting (shift click) minecart, the range and criteria is drastically off, up to 8 blocks away
    MC-40947 - Opening Broadcast Settings Crash

    MC-190 - Misaligned textures on south and east faces for non-full blocks
    MC-16259 - Enchantments not showing stats in tooltip.
    MC-29469 - Unable to take screenshot in GUI or active chat line
    MC-30527 - Achievement "Adventuring Time" does not work
    MC-31006 - Adventuring Time — list of visited biomes resets on login
    MC-31651 - Block break animations no longer display
    MC-35856 - Multiple Background Songs Playing At One Time / Automatic music overlap
    MC-36159 - Graphical glitch on beacon effects in inventory screen.
    MC-36772 - Enchanted items have big enchant around whole item
    MC-40580 - Changing a control to "Start Stream" key activates streaming
    MC-40621 - Flowing water surface not visible seen from inside flowing water blocks
    MC-40628 - There is no space between potion effect name & level
    MC-40647 - OpenGL greater than 1.5 but can't stream
    MC-40659 - Chest Texture flickers when looking at a dropped chest item
    MC-40718 - Shift + CapsLock / Volume buttons on Keyboard cause Twitch API to crash

    MC-32295 - Glitchy item borders with Mipmapping and Anisotropic Filtering activated
    MC-40512 - Stained glass panes are opaque in 3rd person mode
    MC-40527 - Twitch broadcast: Unknown error
    MC-40537 - 13w47c fails to launch
    MC-40603 - 13w47c Crashes at startup on Mac
    MC-40627 - Glass blocks in hotbar toggle backface culling on/off when selecting/deselecting a stained glass block

    MC-35296 - Draw order-related graphical errors involving stained glass
    MC-35561 - You can see a stained glass pane clearer through stained glass
    MC-35694 - Stained Glass Texture Different While in Creative-"Survival Inventory"
    MC-36329 - Rendering glitch when looking at water through stained glass
    MC-40255 - Falling Invisible slime causes "blue screen"

    MC-40537 - 13w47c fails to launch
    MC-40603 - 13w47c Crashes at startup on Mac

    MC-40523 - Game crash at Startup

    MC-12413 - Furnace GUI - "full" arrow texture always drawn on leftmost column
    MC-14323 - Minimising other windows open, resizes Minecraft window
    MC-23132 - Click or right-click stuck on OS X
    MC-26102 - OS X Fullscreen is not supported
    MC-30300 - Minecraft Mac Command Key Glitch
    MC-30537 - Flower duplication glitch
    MC-31388 - Right clicking a flower pot that has certain plants in it while holding another plant replaces the one in the flower pot with the one you're holding
    MC-35617 - Cactus has incorrect inventory image
    MC-35643 - Items with enchantment effect cause blocks and potion effects indicator to not render
    MC-35658 - Water too transparent?
    MC-35797 - Background Rendering Issues When Picking Up Enchanted Items / Caption of containers white
    MC-36383 - Translucent parts of stained glass not visible in 3rd person mode
    MC-36395 - Weird rendering of transparent blocks on the 0-axis
    MC-36705 - Block held in 3rd person rendered incorrectly
    MC-37106 - All the textures are flipped/mirrored on north/east sides of blocks

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Jump, Sprint, Run

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

You need dem hops!

Greetings Minecrafters! Today's featured build is a bit more interactive than previous ones. This is actually a parkour map! The map itself is called Jump, Sprint, Run, made by Pokeit. I am personally a fan of parkour maps and all the new types of challenges players come up with. I found this map quite enjoyable, with some good challenge areas. I didn't get stuck anywhere and raged, which is a plus.

The style of the game itself is good, though a bit plain at times. Overall, a good and fun map to play if you like to play parkour-style games in Minecraft.

Jump, Sprint, Run

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Tellraw Generator

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Come get your /tellra commands!

    Greetings Minecrafters! Today I feature a very hand tool, similar to the /summon generator I featured before. Created by Ezekiel Elin, this will make setting up /tellraw commands easy peasy! One of the most powerful, but also most complicated command added by Mojang, it offers many features. One of them is announcements on a vanilla server. My friend Jakem17 and I actually used the /tellraw command on a hopper clock to have re-occuring announcements, with click-able links (since Mojang either removed this ability or broke it in 1.7)!

    Here is an example of one of those announcements:

tellraw @a {"text":"","extra":[{"text":"<","color":"white"},{"text":"OmniKraft","color":"dark_aqua"},{"text":"> ","color":white"},{"text":"Please visit our website at: ","color":"green"},{"text":"omnikraft.net","color":"yellow","italic":"true","underlined":"true","clickEvent":{"action":"open_url","value":"http://omnikraft.net"},"hoverEvent":{"action":"show_text","value":"Click here!"}}]}

    Something like that would have taken quite some time to setup, having to research the different parts of the command and such. Using the /tellraw generator took no time at all to setup the command. I give you kudos Ezekiel for providing such a wonderful tool!

Tellraw Generator

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A New Adventure: Awakened - Pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

I walk down the hill towards the pigs, as I do, I can't help but think how tasty some pork would be. I start sneaking as I get within 10 meters. "Slowly now, move slowly" I say to myself, "don't want to scare this bugger away." I lunge for the pig and grab it's abdomen. A loud squeal and the pig is off like a shot. "Aaaahhhhhh!" I shout as I hold on. Unbeknownst to me, as I had my eyes closed, the pig and run into a forest. It starts jumping between trees as the branches whip at my body. Unable to hold on from the stinging pain, I let go. Thunk! I tumbled right into a tree, head first.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - A Journey Through Middle-earth

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Do you want to go on an adventure?

Greetings Minecrafters! With the popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's saga, we've been able to experience Middle-earth through the magic of cinema. Seeing such places as Rivendell and the Shire, but why not experience them in a new way? With the release of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" nearing, Warner Bros. Pictures brings us a fun way to explore the world of Middle-earth.

Called, A Journey Through Middle-earth, it allows you to explore Middle-earth in a new, interactive way. Fly through Rivendell on a leaf, or follow the trolls through the forest. Rather than have me explain it, why not check it out for yourself? Click the link below to start your adventure!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - A Journey through Middle-earth

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"Wrecking Mob" - A Minecraft Parody of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Kryptix_25) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Watch for the creepers!

Greetings Minecrafters! Today's fun is brought to us by CavemanFilms. A parody of Wrecking Ball, by Miley Cyrus, it's a reminder to all of you to watch for those creepers! They'll hunt you down and destroy your builds, even in space!

"Wrecking Mob" - A Minecraft Parody of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball

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