10 Simple Ways to Improve your Minecraft Builds!
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00:00 Building in Minecraft is hard.
00:02 It took me a really long time of playing this game
00:05 to get comfortable with it.
00:06 Thankfully, I'm now in a pretty good position
00:09 and I'm able to pass on some of my knowledge
00:12 to you wonderful people
00:13 and hopefully help you improve your building skills.
00:16 So here are 10 ways to improve your Minecraft builds.
00:20 First up, we have what I consider to be
00:22 the most important of them all,
00:25 having a creative test world to plan your builds
00:27 and mess around with some ideas.
00:29 Being able to have access to every single block in the game
00:33 is super helpful when it comes to building,
00:35 not to mention the ability to fly
00:37 and instantly break blocks too.
00:39 Building in creative mode is just so much easier
00:42 than it is in survival.
00:44 You can focus on the actual building
00:46 and let the creative juices flow
00:48 without having to worry about the aspects of survival,
00:51 eating, tools breaking, death, all that fun stuff.
00:55 This doesn't mean you have to use it to plan every build.
00:58 Occasionally, it is nice to make something off the cuff
01:01 in your world without any prior planning,
01:03 but generally it'll take less time
01:05 and you'll be able to build better in creative mode.
01:08 So if you don't already have one,
01:10 get yourself a creative world and start practicing.
01:13 Something you can do to take your build to the next level
01:17 is terraform and landscape the area around it.
01:20 It's all well and good making a beautiful build,
01:23 but if you just plonk it somewhere and do nothing else,
01:25 it can look a little bit out of place.
01:28 Now, this doesn't mean you have to construct
01:30 a giant mountain range behind it
01:32 and build thousands of custom trees all around.
01:35 You could, it would look awesome,
01:37 but that is a lot of work.
01:39 Instead, it may just mean something as simple
01:42 as cleaning up the ugly parts of the generated land,
01:45 changing up the texture in the terrain,
01:47 growing some regular Minecraft trees,
01:50 adding in a pond here and there,
01:52 or even just spamming some bone milk can help.
01:54 All you're trying to do is integrate your build
01:57 into the Minecraft world so it looks like it belongs.
02:00 Now, as I said, you can turn a simple Minecraft build
02:04 into a huge terraforming project.
02:06 If you can do it well, there's no doubt
02:08 it's gonna look better than regular terrain.
02:11 But ever since 1.18, there is some seriously
02:14 amazing generation that takes place in a world.
02:16 So if you're not up for a mammoth terraforming task,
02:20 just make sure you take the time to scout out
02:22 a good spot to build in your world.
02:24 The setting around it is just as important
02:27 as the build itself.
02:28 Next up, we're gonna talk about depth.
02:30 Now, this is something that can greatly improve
02:33 the look of your build.
02:34 Take a glance at this comparison.
02:36 Here we have the front of a house
02:38 with next to no depth added in.
02:40 And here we have that same house with much more depth.
02:43 Really, all we're doing is pushing parts of the build
02:46 back by one or two blocks.
02:48 You can always go further back than that,
02:50 but it might start to look a little bit strange
02:52 unless you're building on a much bigger scale.
02:54 For a small and simple house,
02:56 I'd recommend adding in a frame of sorts
02:59 and then where you want to have your windows,
03:01 that is where you can add in the depth.
03:03 You can also smooth out that transition
03:05 by adding in some stairs, slabs, and trapdoors like so.
03:09 You don't really want a harsh change in depth,
03:12 it needs to be a bit more gradual.
03:14 Even just doing something as simple as using glass panes
03:17 instead of full glass blocks,
03:19 and then placing some stairs either side
03:21 can make a huge difference.
03:24 Lastly, something else you can do
03:26 is make sure you have an overhang on your roof
03:28 and it isn't just flat with the rest of the build.
03:31 All of these tricks combined
03:33 can create a much better looking house.
03:36 Choosing which blocks to use in your build
03:38 is super important.
03:39 You want to try and use a wide range of different blocks
03:42 instead of just sticking to a handful.
03:45 This is another time when that creative world
03:47 is gonna come in really handy
03:49 because you can test out what blocks look good together
03:51 and what blocks don't.
03:53 I would encourage you to try branching out a little bit
03:56 and maybe use some blocks
03:57 that might not be so obvious at first.
04:00 In my survival world at the moment,
04:01 I'm really trying to build
04:03 with some unusual block palettes for my build,
04:05 and it's been really fun.
04:07 Also, make sure you're using the Minecraft blocks
04:10 to their full potential.
04:11 If a block has stairs, slabs, walls, and trapdoors,
04:14 as well as other variants, use those too.
04:18 Finally, try and use some blocks that complement each other
04:21 instead of just using some that look similar.
04:24 Basically, have a play around
04:26 with what you think looks good.
04:28 As a colorblind person,
04:29 I don't think it would be wise of me
04:31 to try and teach you color theory,
04:33 but it's that sort of thing.
04:34 Here's something that I absolutely love to do with my builds
04:37 and I think it totally changes how you look at them.
04:40 That is the idea of adding life and movement.
04:44 So this can be done in a lot of ways, really.
04:47 Maybe you could have some villagers roaming around.
04:49 You can make use of some blocks with particles in
04:52 that you'll be able to see.
04:53 You could build an active Minecart track
04:55 and see a Minecart whiz by every now and then,
04:58 or even just incorporate some animals
05:00 or pets into your build.
05:02 This game is very static in nature.
05:05 You can't really get much to move around.
05:07 So when you're looking at a build
05:09 and you see something move or change,
05:11 it really grabs your attention
05:13 and can make the build feel much more alive.
05:15 There's many more things in this game that I didn't mention
05:18 that you can add into your build to get a bit of movement.
05:22 Just have a think at what isn't necessarily
05:24 a building block, but can still be a part of the build.
05:28 That isn't the only way you can get your build
05:30 to have a sense of life.
05:31 You can also build things that are in motion,
05:34 if that makes sense.
05:35 For example, a rocket mid-flight
05:37 with the plume shooting out from underneath.
05:40 Another way you can add life is to make small details
05:43 around your build that almost tell a story
05:45 and make it seem lived in.
05:47 Maybe there's a small campsite
05:49 that some travelers once stayed in,
05:51 or possibly some sort of ruined structure
05:53 that has decayed over thousands of years.
05:56 Hopefully you get the idea.
05:57 You're basically just adding lore into your world.
06:00 Sometimes when we build in Minecraft,
06:02 it can look sort of plain and boring.
06:05 This is when the idea of texturing comes in.
06:08 So let's say you're making a stone tower.
06:10 You start by just using stone bricks,
06:12 and when you're done, it just seems a bit too bland.
06:16 Now, this is where you can go around
06:18 and mix in some other stone types.
06:20 Crackstone bricks and the site and stone in this case.
06:23 It's simple, but really effective.
06:26 Of course, this doesn't only work for stone.
06:29 It can work for just about any block,
06:31 as long as there are a couple of other blocks
06:33 that look sort of similar.
06:34 You can combine them and create something
06:36 that feels a bit more interesting to look at.
06:39 I'd recommend only doing this for areas if you're build
06:42 where you're using a lot of the same block.
06:44 So if you've got a big chunk of your build,
06:46 all made out of the same material,
06:47 it can look a bit harsh on the eyes.
06:49 So adding in that texture is really helpful there.
06:52 But if you're using a block
06:54 that isn't taking up a large area, it's not really needed.
06:57 Something else I quickly want to touch on
06:59 is gradient texturing.
07:01 Everything I've already said applies here too.
07:04 The only difference is when you're mixing in the texture,
07:06 you want to do it in a gradient.
07:08 If you don't know what that is,
07:09 then pretty much it's when you go from one color to another,
07:13 but there's a gradual change,
07:14 sort of like you're adding in a smooth transition.
07:17 Just an example, you can go from white concrete powder
07:20 to calcite, diorite, and the site stone,
07:23 cobblestone, tuff, deep slate, and then cobbled deep slate.
07:27 You can kind of see how we're slightly changing color
07:30 or shade here.
07:31 Now I want to talk about
07:32 how you can take your single shaped house
07:35 and turn it into something that is much better looking.
07:38 I think the best way to describe this
07:39 is that it's like you're adding extensions onto your house.
07:43 So instead of just having four walls and a roof,
07:46 you can add some other sections
07:47 off to the side of the house, round the back,
07:50 coming out of the roof,
07:51 or even a tower connected to the build.
07:54 In my opinion, a build like this
07:56 looks quite a bit more interesting and complex
07:58 than something like this.
08:00 When you're designing a build of this nature,
08:03 I find it's easier to start with one part of the build
08:06 and gradually add on the other extensions,
08:08 as we're calling them,
08:10 until you get to a point that you're happy with.
08:12 Sometimes it may mean taking a step back
08:14 and looking at what parts of the build
08:16 feel like it's missing something.
08:18 The next tip is getting a good mix of looks and function.
08:22 You want to try and strike a good balance
08:24 between those two in your buildings,
08:26 especially if you're gonna be living inside of it.
08:29 So depending on your play style,
08:31 you may fall either side of that spectrum.
08:33 Perhaps when building,
08:34 you just want your house to look pretty,
08:36 so all the functionality kind of goes out the window,
08:39 which may make living in there kind of difficult.
08:42 On the other hand, you may prioritize to function
08:45 and then lose out in the looks department.
08:48 Let's say you're building your survival base.
08:50 Of course, you want to have everything
08:51 you need to survive inside of it.
08:53 That's very important.
08:55 But there's no harm in adding some things
08:57 that are purely there for aesthetic purposes
08:59 and do nothing of use.
09:01 It's just so that it looks nice.
09:03 Another way you can mix looks with function
09:05 is hiding any ugly farms or machines
09:08 with something that looks a lot nicer.
09:10 For example, in my survival world, I made a super smelter.
09:14 It would have looked pretty terrible
09:16 if I had just built this on the surface and left it there.
09:19 So instead I hid it far underground
09:21 and on top I made a steampunk inspired foundry.
09:25 I even connected the cooked materials to a water stream
09:28 so I can see all of the items
09:30 shoot up through the build and into storage.
09:33 If you've been playing in your world long enough,
09:35 there's a good chance you have lots of builds
09:37 dotted all around.
09:38 Something you can do to make them look a little bit nicer
09:41 is bring some sort of cohesion to your world
09:44 and connect them all together.
09:46 The main way you can do this
09:47 is by adding pathways around your world
09:49 leading from build to build.
09:51 This just helps bring everything together
09:53 and makes your builds feel more like one big build
09:56 as opposed to lots of little ones.
09:58 Even if something you've built is really far away,
10:01 it can be quite enjoyable to build a long dirt road
10:04 that you can walk to and from on.
10:06 You can also use the idea of terraforming and landscaping
10:09 to achieve this connection.
10:11 Having all of your builds be surrounded
10:13 by similar custom terrain
10:14 certainly makes it feel like one and the same.
10:17 The final tip I want to tell you guys is detail your builds.
10:21 This is a really important aspect of building
10:24 that can take your house from looking a little bland
10:27 and boring to super interesting and elaborate.
10:30 Now I could talk forever
10:31 about all of the different types of detailing
10:34 you can add to your builds.
10:35 So instead of making this video go on
10:37 for much longer than it needs to,
10:39 all I'm going to do is get some footage
10:41 of the details in my builds from my other worlds
10:44 and show them to you like I have been here.
10:47 Hopefully most of them are fairly self-explanatory
10:50 so you can understand what it is that I've built
10:52 and get some ideas that way.
10:54 I think it's best to add in all of the details
10:56 as a final step for your build.
10:58 So once you've gotten the main build in place,
11:00 you go around and add in all of the little bits of detail
11:03 that just ties everything together.
11:05 So there we go, everybody.
11:06 Those are 10 ways to improve your Minecraft building.
11:10 I really hope this video has helped you out,
11:12 but if you feel like you could use some more pointers,
11:14 then you can check out my 100 building tips and tricks video
11:18 that hopefully should be on the screen now.
11:20 It covers quite a lot more than this video does,
11:22 10 times the amount actually.
11:25 Now, one thing I quickly want to mention
11:27 is that everything I've said in this video isn't necessary.
11:31 You don't have to incorporate these tips
11:33 into your play style to make your builds good.
11:36 Every Minecraft build is good
11:37 so long the person making it thinks so.
11:40 All what I've said in this video
11:42 and will continue to say in my other videos
11:44 are simply just tips.
11:47 As long as you're having fun and enjoying building,
11:49 that's all that really matters.
11:51 But thank you ever so much for watching this video.
11:54 I hope you enjoyed and I will see you next time.
11:57 Bye for now.