For those of us who are participating, welcome to Art Fight! Hooray! HOWEVER, many of us are not participating, whether it's because we're too burnt out, or AF doesn't accept the type of art we make, or AF just isn't for us.

The theme of this event is to make non-Art Fight gift art. Art that will win you absolutely zero points. It can be as shitty as you need it to be. Arrange an art trade, if you want! (I can't mediate this for you)

Gift art can be for someone who isn't in IHA; I would just prefer you tell them that you're doing it for an event, so they don't think you're doing it totally unprompted.

Expected end date is July 15. (I know this is not when AF ends but I expect this event to slow down pretty fast and I want to have a new one by then)

Reminder
Don't forget to post outgoing links to reblog or share your art, if you have any! I have also slacked on this because I get too excited to share with friends first, but this should be ideally the last place you post your image, so that people can boost it. If you only plan on posting here then keep doing that.

Optional Mini Challenges:

• Make something you couldn't post on AF, or wouldn't want to

• Make something for someone who is not participating in AF this year
  

I have a whole writeup I've been doing. But I have some ~Exciting~ news to post first that made me want to start this thread sooner, so consider this post...

RESERVED

I haven't been able to go to Goodwill in weeks and I am MISSING IT. I wanted to go this week so I could get some storage bins for the move but, um, gestures at wildfires

Show me stuff you've found! And maybe it'll motivate me to go through my photo collection too.

Here's a big one I've been wondering for a while!

Multiple users have either tried to make map art themselves, or talked about projects they've wanted to do, but it doesn't really go anywhere. To this day I'm the only one who's made a full map-sized piece of art, and it was so tedious it killed my enthusiasm for the game, and it now takes up a 128x128 chunk of the ocean. Saul.

1) Image-to-Map Plugin
Like ImageOnMap (though, I just realized this one hasn't been updated in a while, and I can't find anything equivalent for 1.20, so that might be a dead-end anyway)

PROS:

• People can upload whatever they want without telling me (I hate this, personally, but I understand it would be a pro for users)
• Nobody has to wait for me to get around to it

CONS:

• Instant gratification has its problems (I don't like that ImageOnMap gives free maps to the player)
• Feels un-Minecrafty
• Could clutter up the server (item frames aren't cheap to render)
• Gives me another thing to have to moderate, and you know I won't remember to

2) Requests Queue
They submit the picture, I map-itize it with something like MapartCraft and upload it

PROS:

• I can individually review pictures
• Keeps a sense of Minecraft-y-ness (I could ask for people to submit blank maps first)

CONS:

• I will do it at my own pace
• Can't surprise me on stream with weird shit

3) Keep making map art by hand
And continue letting things take forever.

PROS:

• Texture pack paintings stay special
• Bragging rights?

CONS:

• Waste of resources
• Waste of time

I know the forum has polls, but we don't have enough users here yet for that to be fair, I think. So just reply here or in the Discord and I'll try my best to tally everything up and pick what I think is the most fair.

IF 1 OR 2 ARE PICKED, the next major texture pack update will make the texture pack paintings high-resolution. I think that at least is a fair balance!

The area I live in has been at 220+ air quality for two days now; that's Purple for "Very Unhealthy".

• 0 to 50: Good - Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
  
• 51 to 100: Moderate - Air quality is acceptable. However, there may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
  
• 101 to 150: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups - Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected.
  
• 151 to 200:  Unhealthy - Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
  
• 201 to 300: Very Unhealthy - The risk of health effects is increased for everyone.
  
• 301 and higher: Hazardous - Health warning of emergency conditions; everyone is more likely to be affected.
  

I stepped outside today (in retrospect, dumb, but I wanted my interlibrary loan and the Volcano Burrito. Dumb.) and instantly went back inside to grab the N95s. I haven't been exposed to much smoke in my life that wasn't cooking-related. It smelled like the entire parking lot was an ashtray.

Lucas claimed at one point to see ash particulates. I might have seen the same but I can't tell the difference between that or regular old pollen. BTW, I have to imagine this is like, the worst possible time for allergy sufferers.

I had to haul my wheelchair out of the trunk today because Paula was too sick. The physical exertion left me gasping and I thought I was gonna pass out.

Nightmarish situation. And people are saying this will probably become a new annual event.

This goes hand-in-hand with the Reddit issues, but I figured I'd make this its own thread, since it keeps coming up.

Actually, what prompted me to start this thread was THIS bold move from YouTube:

I don't think I've seen them pull something quite this evil before.

I've written about YouTube already here. I have been watching YouTube less and less - it's hard not to when you become painfully aware of the blood it's powered on - but I genuinely don't know if blocking it would be possible for me.

I don't have the anti-adblocker popup(?) yet. People are saying it's easy enough to bypass. I still think it bodes poorly.

This is gonna be a long one, so apologies in advance for the WAVE of images. I'll be going by order of area mostly, but I'll jump around a bit especially near the end when it comes to really small stuff like farms. Honestly I've only made a handful of things at time of writing, but I still took too many pictures, so. lol. There's gonna be a lot of individual posts making up this main post.

Most of my time in the server has been spent tinkering in a small corner off the side of Nariko, right next to the rainbow village (gay commune?) so it only seems appropriate to start there.
My most recent building is probably? one of the first things you'll notice if you'll go there, so let's start with that.

The Hive. I'm really happy with this design, even if there isn't a crazy amount of stuff happening here. I've found that the best way to come up with ideas is to scribble down ideas until something hits, and then build it up in a creative world no there's no limits, then use Litematica to help move it to the survival server. Honestly completely forgot there was already a bee character that a nonzero amount of this server is dedicated to when making this, but I'm sure she doesn't mind. Probably. Be sure to say hello to Legally Distinct Normal Queen Bee before you leave. (x:-1475 z:0)

A bit diagonally across from the Hive, you'll probably also notice the Panda Playground. I'll be the first to admit that there isn't much of a playground here, but part of the problem is thinking of things that pandas would enjoy and can actually be interacted with by the pandas to some degree and actually looks like anything at all due to block size. The new introduction of cherry blossoms gives me hope that I can at least pretty up the place a bit, and the pink wood definitely has more of a toy vibe. I'll have to see about that...  (x:-1455 z:-50)

In addition, you may or may not have noticed the huge looming ominous dark red castle on the horizon. I made that too :)

The Nether Castle is probably my favorite original building project, so I will be putting a looot of images here. It's not too complicated, but it's my first substantial mc build that I did completely on my own. The biggest disappointment with this castle, however, is that I built it specifically to house 1-2 ghasts, and I could not get a single one in here no matter how hard I tried. That's why it's still a bit janky and ugly; it's still technically a wip as I still cling to that dream. (Should've built it somewhere where the nether portal inside links to a biome where ghasts actually spawn. Ah well.) At least there are a few zombie piglins and magma cubes enjoying the space anyways. (x:-1370 z:-75)

Currently working on the second level of the quarry. You can access it by going to the quarry under the bank (the hole underneath the stairs) and then going to the water elevator behind the one you just dropped through.

I've been picking at this thing for... I don't even wanna think about it. But this is my project, the one I go back to whenever I don't have anything else to do, and I'm gonna finish it so that I can finally do other shit on the server!

The bottom level of the quarry is the exact same size, but it feels like it went by a lot faster, even though there was obviously a lot more deepslate. I don't get it. Maybe because Paula was playing too?

AND THEN FROM THERE...
I was thinking about using the space for some idle farms. Specifically would like to add some of the more.. Minecraft-looking ones you can't really throw a nice facade on.

The Highway itself

The Nether transit system is probably the largest and most extensive project on the server. It spans hundreds of blocks and connects most of the major locations, making it fast to get to any location via boat. It's also a bit of a maze at this point.

Map

One of the most common concerns I've received is that the Nether is very difficult to navigate. Unfortunately, even as the person who made it, I've come to agree.

Here's my current draft of a map:

It... needs some work. But I've never made anything like this before and I want to get anything published since I have a track record of just hoarding projects like this.

(There are a few portals made by users that I've chosen not to include on this map. I chose to prioritize "canon" locations.)

Next up, I figured I could see about how I'd want to work it into the server.

Formula

I'll make some sort of building diagram at some point, but it's really not that hard to figure out from looking at the existing structure and copying that.

1. The bottom-most layer is 2 ice blocks surrounded on both sides by 2 nether bricks (so 2 nether brick, 2 ice, 2 nether brick). I use packed ice, which is not the fastest, but it's cheaper, and we don't exactly have the beefiest server.
   
2. Then the railway is a 9-block pattern, of 1 redstone block after 8 nether bricks.
   
3. The andesite loop on the walls (really just there to give any feeling of time progression) corresponds to the redstone block.
   
4. I used to use iron bars for the "windows" since they're easier to walk on, but they're way too expensive. Just use nether brick fence.
   
5. Put buttons on top of the ice so that mobs won't spawn.
   

Lore summary
I will publish the larger synopsis, hopefully soon - but in short: your character was the survivor of a shipwreck, and washed up on a beach. After living on Shaumo Coast for a bit, you moved east and found Nariko, an established residence run (and inhabited solely) by the generous but creepy The Mayor, with pre-built vacant houses ready for you. And then what? You decide...!

How to join

1. Subscribe to our Patreon for any amount of money
   
2. Contact brilokuloj (me!) with your Minecraft username, preferably through email, so that I may whitelist you. Then, wait for me to do so.
   
3. Now open Minecraft (must be Java edition)
   
4. Click "Multiplayer"
   
5. Click "Add Server" in the bottom-right
   
6. In Server Name, type "Eggcraft" (an optional label, but helpful if you plan on connecting to other servers)
   
7. In Server Address, enter "54.39.169.101:25588" (the numbers after the colon are NOT optional)
   
8. Click "Done"
   
9. Click on "Eggcraft"
   
10. Click "Join Server"
    
11. Explode
    

Readme
I also recommend reading this Google Doc (sorry, I'll get it hosted independently when I can), which contains some interesting coordinates, as well as info on our custom texture pack.

Rules
(ban-worthy offenses)

1. Standard rules apply: don't talk about your dick and don't be a dick.
   
2. This is still an anarchy server, even though it's the world's softest one. If you are banned, or leave the Patreon or Discord, your buildings are liable to be taken down and your valuables redistributed so that others can use them.
   

Etiquette
(you probably won't get banned, but it'd be nice to follow - think of these as lore rules)

1. Can't really stop you, but I would *appreciate* it if you didn't build in Nariko (the current spawn area).
   
2. Related: I mean, yeah, try not to build too close to other people's stuff or in obviously WIP areas. But land ownership is not a thing here. I will not settle territory disputes. Talk it out like adults.
   
3. IDGAF what you do about Nether Portals anymore. I have trains