Minecraft’s procedurally generated worlds are truly impressive, especially after the Caves & Cliffs update, but as a player, you can make them even better. That’s why terraforming projects are incredibly popular, as you can tear down every block in the world and create something new. Whether for purely natural projects, further developments, or simply to beautify your world, you can do anything you want. However, terraforming isn’t easy and often takes days, weeks, or months to complete. Proper planning is crucial to avoid losing track midway and to achieve a great result in the end.
Definition and Importance of Terraforming
Terraforming describes the process of altering a landscape. This term is not exclusive to Minecraft but is also used in real life. For example, it’s used in space exploration to make other planets more like Earth (Latin “terra”).
In Minecraft, this means working with natural resources to shape landscapes as you wish. You can enhance specific areas or completely demolish and rebuild them. Your creativity knows no bounds here!
Geographical Basics and Essential Tools for Minecraft Terraforming
First, it’s important to have an idea of what you want your world to look like. You should find images that match your desired landscape and use them as templates or inspiration. Of course, you can also use your own photos! Pay attention to aspects like climate zones, elevation differences, and other geographical features. You can also create complete fantasy worlds, but these should be coherent and logically structured in terms of landscapes.
If you’re building in survival mode, you need to have the right tools at hand. Therefore, large-scale projects are more suitable for later when you have access to all these resources.
Shovel and Pickaxe: To remove natural resources. Both tools should have the maximum enchantments “Efficiency” and “Unbreaking.” “Mending” is also useful!
Beacon: Use a beacon to quickly mine many resources. (Building a Minecraft Beacon: All Effects & Materials Explained!)
Scaffolding: Use bamboo scaffolding to reach difficult areas.
Ghast: The new friendly Ghast can be helpful in such projects as it can serve as a flying platform to build high mountains.
Terraforming is also possible in creative mode, or you can use mods to make it easier. WorldEdit and Axiom are just two examples of mods that are perfect for this! These are especially worthwhile for large and time-consuming projects. Minecraft itself also offers some commands for copying, deleting, or replacing blocks.
Detailed Guide to Terraforming in Minecraft
Before you start terraforming, you should have a vision of your end goal and find a suitable location. The better the Minecraft terrain already fits your idea, the less work you’ll have to do. Use a map tool or go on expeditions to find the right spot and bring your project to life. For our tutorial, we’ll show you how we integrated a waterfall into a mountain.
1. Start with Scaffolding and Rough Plans
First, you should set rough guidelines for where exactly you want to add or remove shapes. Create a kind of scaffold by marking the largest contours with easily recognizable blocks. This will guide you later and give you an idea of the scale of the terraforming. If you need to remove a lot of resources, now is the time to do so.
Depending on your vision, this first step can look very different. However, it’s essential that you can clearly recognize the general shape of your project. It’s like drawing a sketch for what you want to build later.
2. Plan Points of Interest
At the same time, think about interesting locations. If you plan to build a village later, mark where exactly buildings will go and how they will integrate into the landscape. Also, mark natural elements like rivers, custom trees, or artificial ponds.
You can always make changes later, but it’s important to consider the direction you want to go in. Paths and trails are also a great way to organically plan your landscapes.
3. Calculate Distances
Terraforming can take a long time, especially if your ideas are large-scale. A massive mountain doesn’t build itself, so you should break it down into smaller steps. Once you have the scaffolding, you can assess the scale. Is it too small or too large? How long does it take to walk from one end to the other?
As in real life, nature can be extremely varied. Try to align all the features of your new landscape so that nothing feels out of place in the end.
4. Fill the Land
Now comes the most time-consuming step, as you need to fill in all your ideas, scaffolds, and rough shapes. This can take a long time, and you’ll need a lot of materials. Make sure you have a way to gather dirt, stone, and other resources beforehand. Large projects require thousands of blocks, which takes a lot of time.
5. Detail Work
Especially in Minecraft, it’s beneficial to work with full blocks first and focus on details later. As the guide suggests, we work from large to small or simple to complex. You should first get a good feel for the landscape itself before diving into detail work.
Once the rough terraforming is complete, you can start with decoration. Use different blocks to add texture. Large areas can be broken up this way. Use natural blocks to give it the final touch.
Conclusion
With terraforming, you can shape your Minecraft world as you please. You have plenty of blocks at your disposal to bring your ideas to life. It may take some time, but in the end, it’s always worth creating your own landscapes. You can rent your own Minecraft server with us and take on such a project together with your friends! The more people work on it, the faster it goes.
