Seed & Map: moonburn

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• ++ Advanced ++
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn and Version

Spawn: 6.93.0
Version: XBL 1.1.1 (equiv Beta 1.7.3)

Seed Score MH 6.8 DW 5.9 C 7.4 W 3.8 SP 3.9 VR 4.2 AF 4.7     36.7

Etymology

Uncle Fester -- a character from the fictional world of the Addams Family -- used to take pleasure in "moonbathing" to keep his milquetoast complexion looking its palest. Conceivably, because the moon does reflect rays of UVB, you could get a "moonburn" if you stayed out there long enough. Of course it could take days, but we're talking science here.

My Review

If for no other reason, the underwater zombie spawn is worth checking this one out. The one thing holding this seed back from being a premium seed is the lack of wood. It's so inconvenient, I just can't let it slide. Beyond that, you're going to find huge, flat stretches of sand speckled here and there -- perfect for someone looking to set up a waterfront condo or anti-creeper, Normandy-style beachhead. The north end of the map has many interesting formations, some of which are featured in the photographs you see here. All in all, a good challenge.

Dangerous Drops

• [-156.84.-367] dig down for large dead drop cave
• [203.59.383] pitfall cave inside of hidi-hole
• [235.73.-123] medium pitfall cave

Overhangs and Land Bridges

• [296.65.338] small land bridge
• [139.75.-334] small overhang with hidi-hole
• [119.81.-307] large land bridge
• [-91.71.-358] small land bridge hiding a deep cave with coal
• [-310.80.-361] small overhang

Items of Interest

• [127.71.-209] large floater
• [-2.82.-356] medium squat spire
• [-381.65.-45] medium sugar, small gravel
• [-326.68.283] grassland, small gravel
• [-362.79.325] stalagmite cave
• [360.74.312] medium cliff dive event
• [339.65.212] large cave complex with iron
• [335.65.137] underwater zombie spawn
• [359.67.52] small clay
• [300.65.-80] large sugar
• [353.63.-139] hidi-hole with river
• [380.67.-229] medium cave complex
• [247.68.-305] exposed stone with iron
• [235.69.-292] hidi-hole with coal
• [155.67.46] suspicious hole
• [-108.65.136] sandbar

Images

This large land bridge appears to drip rock from it's midway point. In the background, you can see that this is the entrance to a complex of unusual rock formations. Feel free to have a look around, but don't turn your back on the shadows for too long. You'll regret it. At right... don't go in there.

Seed: toomanycamels

Special Achievements

• Abyssal! Higher than 8 out of 10 in deep water.

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• ++ Advanced ++
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

50.66.5

Seed Score MH 4.2 DW 8.1 C 0.0 W 3.2 SP 2.8 VR 1.8 AF 4.3     24.4

Etymology

Little known fact: in Australia, populations of introduced dromedaries -- which have no natural enemies or diseases to help control their numbers -- have exploded and actually threaten to destroy the natural ecosystem of Australia. Their numbers are now in the multiple millions and capture or hunting are the only chance that Australia has to preserve it's ecosystem. So, if you're in the Outback and you see a pack of wild camels... shoot 'em (humanely, of course).

My Review

Well, this seed showed me something that I had never seen before: a level with not a single cave. I traipsed across over half the map and found not one single cave. Not one. I'm sure it has them, but they're obviously kept in a secret vaulted location guarded by seven zombie spawns. Sadly, I had no choice but to award this seed a "0". If you find a cave, however, post the coords in below and I'll consider changing my rating.

Items of Interest

• [71.68.51] collapsing sand
• [148.65.141] zombie sounds
• [247.65.112] pumpkins
• [175.57.-173] small flat beach with a zombie spawn; chests contain gunpowder, a saddle, red stone, and cocoa beans

Images

I was really excited when I found this hole in the ground because I thought I had finally found a cave. Turns out, it was only a stupid spider spawner with stupid beans and stupid saddles. Oh well. The search goes on...

Can't Miss: The Epic Cave of Fire

Shoutout

Firstly, I want to say, "Whasup!" to my buddy GVdaMan for spending almost two hours with me searching this massive cave complex trying to piece together just what the hell we were looking at. The first time I saw it, I just jotted down the coordinates for the writeup. Today, we went back and made our home down there and kicked ass searching as many branch caves as we could until one of us died by falling into a lava hole and the other one did the same while picking up the first guy's diamonds. I'm not going to tell you which of us was the second idiot.

Location

• Seed: tomorrowonfire
• Location: -190.66.-316 for gravel peninsula
• Location: -167.12.-304 for Epic Cave of Fire

Supplies

• X3 stone pickaxes
• workbench
• wood X8
• at least 25 torches
• a bed
• at least 40 mud/sand

How to Get There

So, here's how to get there. Sadly, when you spawn, you're probably going to be on the opposite end of the map. Start walking -- it's worth the trip. You're heading for the first set of coordinates (see "Location" above). When you get there, you're going to see a large sandy island in the water and a peninsula of gravel. If you dig in the middle of the peninsula, it will collapse. Retreat so you don't fall to your death. You'll see a newly found cave with a waterfall.

Assuming you're well supplied, jump down into the waterfall and ride it to the bottom. That will save you from dying or digging 25+ levels down. At the foot of the falls, you'll see a narrow path heading away from the waterfall. Four blocks from the waterfall, if your back was to the waterfall, start digging a single path to the left headed downward in a stair-step pattern until you get to Y=12. Then turn to the right and dig STRAIGHT -- not DOWN -- slowly until you find the Epic Cave of Fire

You're going to be astounded, but before you even consider heading into the Epic Cave of Fire -- save your game!

The Main Event

The Epic Cave of Fire features a massive lava lake that stretches in all directions -- even under the visible stone into undiscovered caverns. It appears to only be two or three big lakes, but in reality they are all connected. The central point and landmark is the obsidian waterfall. From here, you can branch out by using your mud/sand/gravel/cobblestone to build paths on which you can walk.

You'll have to carefully build a series of sky bridges in order to navigate down here; there is very little natural floorspace. You'll want a chest and to deploy your bed so that at least one of you spawns back at the cave in the event of death.

There are caves crisscrossing above the lake and stretching way back up into the stone and mud above you. These caves also contain flowing lava, so be careful where you swing your pickaxe.

Warnings

• Don't stand directly in the obsidian waterfall -- the current will sweep you into the lava.
• Don't dig straight upward at any time because there are lava falls everywhere and you have no idea which ones are connected to lava on the upper levels.
• Don't forget to set your torches on the right so you can follow them back out.
• Put your map in a chest so you can guide your friends back in if they fall in the lava.

Your Rewards

• Lava Falls (5)
• Offshoot Caves to Explore (no less than 13)
• Gold (3 veins)
• Red Stone (7 veins)
• Coal (countless)
• Iron (30-40 veins)
• Blue Stone (3 veins)
• Diamonds (we found 3)
• Obsidian (60-100, manipulate the waterfalls for more)
• Zombie Spawner (one: inside cave above lake of fire; thanks GV!)

Seed & Map: meltingice

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• ++ Expert ++
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

-2.67.2

Seed Score MH 5.5 DW 4.8 C 3.2 W 6.2 SP 6.2 VR 2.9 AF 3.3     32.1

My Review

I actually first took a look at this board a week ago but I wanted to wait until I had the full map before I posted it. This board was awesome because there was a zombie spawn within inches of where I spawned. It was a perfectly formed square in the sand and the elevated pieces were the chests and the LSD pig. It doesn't get any easier than that. Unfortunately, that was the end of the pleasure ride, as this level is a tough one that I would reserve for expert players who want a challenge.

Items of Interest

• [13.69.21] perfect square zombie spawn
• [21.66.103] gravel
• [72.69.177] red flower patch and gravel
• [58.72.259] sound of zombies
• [337.73.-198] pumpkins
• [345.69.132] hidden cave
• [191.67.186] large clay
• [-148.67.-9] collapsing sand
• [-165.65.137] lots of sheep

Images

Well would you look at that? What strange phenomenon would create such a perfectly formed cube? Is it the work of volcanoes... or the devil?

Seed: 28boru

Rating

• ++ Beginner ++
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

0.67.15

Seed Score MH 3.2 DW 2.5 C 4.1 W 3.9 SP 6.3 VR 3.2 AF 4.1     27.3

My Review

This is a great map for beginners, even though resources and wood are hard to come by. The key is, the spawn point has everything you need to get started: wood, coal, iron, hidi. Plus, I found a zombie spawn which I think is a cool bonus to have on a beginner level.

Items of Interest

• [18.68.196] zombie sound, large exposed stone and gravel quarry
• [-10.67.201] iron
• [-87.73.298] zombie spawn

Images

I like to refer to hills like this as half-and-halfs. It's always interesting when the desert appears to creep across the land. This also gives you a good indication of how the trees are clumped together into tiny, tightly-packed forests.

Seed: blowyourtop

Rating

• Beginner
• ++ Intermediate ++
• Advanced
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

58.75.17

Seed Score MH 3.3 DW 5.2 C 3.7 W 1.9 SP 4.9 VR 2.8 AF 4.4     26.2

My Review

This is a seed I would recommend to groups of friends who are looking to play together and start a village or a massive castle. There are large areas of flat land that are just waiting for construction. Beyond that, wood is incredibly sparse, though the few trees that exist are conveniently placed near hidi-holes. The northeast corner of the map is all ice, so I would head south and west if I were you. The big attraction that kept this seed out of the dog house is the underwater spider spawn that I found. It takes twenty to thirty minutes to a) kill the spiders and b) get the water out of the pit (bring 64x2 sand), but it's worth it.

Items of Interest

• [164.64.-119] sugar and iron
• [186.67.-101] small cave with mushrooms
• [244.72.-33] medium cave complex
• [245.65.-16] iron and coal
• [304.65.68] sugar and good flatland for village
• [325.67.299] medium clay and squid
• [183.58.328] collapsing sand around an underwater spider spawn; bucket, gunpowder, and lots and lots of string.

Images

You're going to see a lot of these flat expanses as you travel around this map. These are great places for parties looking to set up towns.

Seed & Map: claynation

Special Achievements

• Premium! This seed has scored higher than 40 out of 70 in the overall score.

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• ++ Advanced ++
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

-93.66.-26

Seed Score MH 6.2 DW 6.8 C 7.5 W 7.2 SP 3.3 VR 4.8 AF 5.2     41.0

My Review

Apparently, according to my sister there is a quasi-famous pop group called Clay Nation that I've never heard of and don't care about. This seed has nothing to do with them. I attempted to create a large quantity of clay using this seed name and guess what... it worked! There is clay all over this level -- especially on Clay Island -- but there's more. There is plenty of sugar on this level for all you librarians out there. In addition, the south island is basically an empty shell that's hiding a massive cave complex. So be careful where you dig, because it can all end really badly. Without question, this map should be reserved for advanced users.

Can't Miss

So, I field questions all the time about my fascination with deep water. Not many people share it, but I for one am thrilled when I fall deep below the surface and uncover some cave or zombie spawn. Well, here's an example of deep water exploration (even though it's not that deep).

At -364.65.153, if you look off the southwest corner of the island, you will find a gaping hole in the ocean floor behind which sits glowing lava. If you swim down, you'll find a lava pit with a waterfall flowing into it. I can't swear that this isn't a glitch, so I hope it's there when you get there, but even if it isn't, dig in this spot and you'll find it. However, take caution: the entire floor is lava so you have to do some fancy swimming if you want to get in there without dying.

Items of Interest

Warning: the following list contains coordinates and descriptions of the majority of resources and other features in this seed. If you prefer to discover these things on your own, skip ahead to the final paragraph.

• [-124.66.-42] clay, coal, and a spire
• [-169.69.-39] overhang and a spire
• [-178.82.34] shortcut cave with sandstone stalagmites and coal
• [-171.70.51] pitfall
• [-7.65.83] flat sand for town
• [149.65.-74] flat beach
• [265.69.-98] yellow flower patch and a lone wolf
• [279.65.-94] two sugar patches
• [304.66.-208] sugar
• [344.65.-322] medium flatland for town
• [361.65.-373] overhang and coal
• [307.65.-406] medium sugar
• [170.65.-327] two sugar patches
• [69.67.-335] massive "clay island"
• [-145.65.-310] hidi-hole and the sound of an underground waterfall somewhere behind the walls
• [-208.68.-291] hidi-hole on a gravel-ringed island
• [-231.66.-313] ZOMBIE SPAWN underneath the waterfalls includes redstone, gunpowder, two buckets, and a saddle
• [-282.65.-105] medium clay
• [-219.71.-143] land bridge
• [-400.63.112] deep cave
• [-364.65.112] exposed lava pit under the surface of the water
• [-379.65.344] clay
• [-174.75.341] deep cave, shortcut, and dead fall
• [-186.73.354] pumpkins
• [-123.66.199] shortcut cave
• [-23.73.322] deep cave, bring water buckets, two lava falls
• [-10.62.307] Indiana Jones style pitfall with deep cave
• [13.68.305] gargantuan cave complex
• [96.73.327] pitfall
• [107.65.378] medium gravel
• [193.67.396] large clay
• [335.64.390] dead drop
• [318.74.260] hidi-hole
• [314.74.230] small cave
• [254.65.234] sugar
• [242.65.215] coal hole, deep cave
• [292.72.174] red flower patch
• [388.69.113] hidi-hole and coal

Images

I found this mountain bursting through the top of the forest canopy just near my spawn. At right illustrating the can't miss section is a photograph of the underwater lava pit that I found. Hooray for deep water exploration. Finally, the lower right shows two magnificent spires jutting up out of the sandy valley.

Seed & Map: 27w98

Rating

• Beginner
• ++ Intermediate ++
• Advanced
• Expert
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

-23.65.-64

Seed Score MH 5.9 DW 4.0 C 4.2 W 6.8 SP 3.8 VR 4.6 AF 5.0     34.3

My Review

This is a nice seed with some good clay and flowers. For those of you who are lazy, there are two patches of flat land that could host your cities/castles/wild-west style tumbleweed town. There are pitfalls in several places around the map, so watch your step and always carry a pickaxe. Most interesting was the zombie spawn, which was part of a perfectly-formed, natural zombie farm. Cool stuff.

Items of Interest

Warning: the following list contains coordinates and descriptions of the majority of resources and other features in this seed. If you prefer to discover these things on your own, skip ahead to the final paragraph.

• [-12.65.-5] medium clay
• [-203.68.223] pitfall deep cave
• [-220.64.161] coal cave
• [-206.72.133] shortcut cave
• [-200.70.123] hidi-hole and coal
• [-217.65.-118] massive yellow flower patch
• [-188.71.-214] large pumpkin patch
• [-340.73.-333] shortcut cave
• [-375.70.-322] floater, overhang, and waterfall
• [-340.67.-22] sugar, gravel, and yellow flower patch
• [-340.70.9] hidi-hole
• [-348.65.158] clay
• [-362.65.279] large clay deposit
• [-241.68.364] Swine Fest 2012
• [-47.65.362] large clay
• [28.65.391] zombie spawn (premade farm) with redstone and cocoa beans
• [44.66.386] crazy gravel pit with deep cave
• [70.65.372] waterfall and overhang
• [57.66.297] flat land for town
• [86.72.348] overhang and coal
• [178.83.325] overhang, deep basin, and a dead drop
• [251.68.301] large gravel
• [360.65.336] flat town area
• [308.73.84] cool open air hidi
• [316.71.-84] red flower patch
• [319.67.-170] basin, sand, and a medium-sized high floater (so big you can see it on map)
• [343.71.-205] mushroom patch
• [340.72.-366] yellow flower patch
• [199.79.-331] forest
• [179.77.-331] medium coal and gravel
• [-65.71.-322] pitfall
• [-68.71.-301] pitfall

Images

This was an interesting and quite deep cave system in the middle of this gravel pit. In the background, you can also make out a waterfall pouring through the trees and a little nook that could easily be turned into a hidi-hole. You can find these things at 44.66.386.

Seed: w922g

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• Expert
• ++ Suicidal Expert ++

Spawn Coordinates

-25.70.0

Seed Score MH 7.2 DW 0.8 C 3.3 W 1.6 SP 2.2 VR 4.8 AF 6.1     26.0

My Review

You only want a piece of this board if you're looking for trouble. To say that trees are sparse is an understatement. The most interesting thing about this level is how the rocks spring up out of the sand like cacti. Speaking of which, if you like dying things green, then you'd love this level because otherwise it's just you and the sound of sand being crunched under your feet... for HOURS!

Items of Interest

• [-25.70.0] hidden cave
• [-104.79.-62] another hidden cave
• [-122.75.-37] zombie cave with waterfall
• [-172.66.-154] a massive hidi-hole
• [-165.67.-173] coal cave
• [-143.76.-184] waterfall

Images

Looks like a massive cave in the side of the mountain, doesn't it? Wrong! Don't even bother climbing up there -- it's just a divot in this sandtrap.

Seed: -921351614

Special Achievements

• Rolling! Higher than 8 out of 10 in hills and mountains.

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• ++ Expert ++
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

8.66.-19

Seed Score MH 8.2 DW 3.7 C 3.1 W 5.1 SP 4.1 VR 4.8 AF 6.9     35.9

My Review

Mostly, this seed consists of a main set of mountains surrounded by sand and low plains. The mountain is quite a climb and gives you a great view of the rest of the board. There's a lot of coal visible just walking around. I ended my trek at the edge of a massive desert as night was falling. I could see glowing in the distance which might have been some more lava.

Items of Interest

• [57.73.38] a hidi-hole
• [90.89.64] the sound of zombies behind a coal deposit
• [46.93.112] a coal crater
• [-147.76.306] a lava pit
• [-184.73.328] the start of a massive desert

Image Coordinates

I found this really interesting overhang (and his little floater friend) chillin on the east end of the map. At right, the misty mountains in the background are landmarks that you can see from all over the board.

Seed: bufferthiscarola

Rating

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced
• ++ Expert ++
• Suicidal Expert

Spawn Coordinates

11.70.-18

Seed Score MH 4.1 DW 4.8 C 0.4 W 3.7 SP 5.1 VR 3.2 AF 5.8     27.1

My Review

By the time we named this level, we were really running out of words. However, in practice this turned out to be a really nice level. Very scenic, it was a pleasure to walk around in. Lots of peninsulas and gravel. I rated this as expert because there is little wood and even less other readily accessible resources. This one can be a real challenge.

Items of Interest

• [-116.65.-41] a coal deposit
• [-382.60.13] a neat little hidi-hole
• [-347.65.11] a shortcut cave with lots of coal
• [-231.58.209] a confirmed skeleton spawn; very tricky because of all the arrows. You have to dig down about five or six spaces to break through.

Image Coordinates

A four-corners view of the terrain. In the image at right, you'll see cliffs and flatland on opposite sides of a river that cuts through the level.