This is Mikey’s Minecraft mission report. We finally got the video to work and Mikey was able to talk without coughing too much. He’s congested in the video and a few times it’s obvious he’s holding back a cough, but I think that’s part of the charm. He doesn’t agree. Too bad! I’m thrilled I have a video with his little boy voice before it changes, and it’s congested to boot! Too cute.
A few tips from Mikey for those who want to do a project in Minecraft:
- Always work in creative mode! Those holes you see at the end of the video are from creepers who exploded when I wasn’t in creative mode. I had to refill as many holes as possible. My mom was not happy.
- Build with what you have. It doesn’t need to be the resource used. My mission is made of iron and bricks, but the real mission is adobe and clay.
- Start with the biggest part, and lay down all your square stuff first. For example, I first started building from right to left, and working on the diagonal cemetery almost killed me. Then I started all over again and built the friar’s quarters and courtyards and attached the cemetery at the end.
- No matter how your mission looks, it should be your best work. Even if some parts don’t look that great it’s still good if you tried your hardest.
- Write a script and read it during your video. You think you will remember everything you have to say, but trust me you will forget important parts. If your mom and dad are good at Minecraft, it would really help if they flew Steve around the property while you read your script. My mom and dad are not good at Minecraft, so first I did a video showing the property and then I talked over it.
- Build your land on super-flat mode, otherwise it will be hard to build in the mountains and stuff.
- DON’T SPAWN PETS OR ANIMALS! I love dogs and cats, but they went crazy! I had cats and dogs all over the place and I had to chase them out of the mission before I could start filming. My mom was not happy. AGAIN.
- Speaking of animals, I lost all my cows, pigs, and sheep! I don’t know what happened, I thought a double row of fencing would be enough to keep them inside. I guess not, because I had farm animals all over the place and eating the flowers in my courtyard. Spawn your farm animals right before you start your video!!
- If you are trying to do a farm or something put water in between each row of plants. They will disappear if you don’t!
- Pick a project with lots of pictures!!! Especially pictures from above!!! There was a blueprint of San Miguel in one of my books from the library, but I could have used more of the property.
- THIS PROJECT WILL TAKE A LOT OF WORK!!!! It’s a lot of fun, and you get to play video games for school, but it’s still homework and playing Minecraft for fun is way more fun that playing Minecraft for homework!!!
Adorable!
Love the tips Mikey! You did a great job!
Oh, I do love to learn the history of missions. Tell Mikey thank you–I learned so much and really enjoyed the tour of Mission San Miguel Arcangel . . .
Everything about this is pretty dang impressive! Great work Mikey!
And the tips are very practical, useful, and of course – adorable :)
So much wisdom in this that can be applied to life. This being the wisest of all:
No matter how your mission looks, it should be your best work. Even if some parts don�t look that great it�s still good if you tried your hardest.
(That and making sure you pick parents who are good at Minecraft.) :)
I know this was a lot of work (for the whole family!) and kudos to you, Jules, for letting him run with this idea. I can guarantee he learned more about the Missions doing something he was excited about rather than a shoe box diorama. Those tips are fantastic!
All right, I have to ask…….What the heck is Minecraft? I thought it was some game you played on your phone, but now that I think about it, that’s Mine Sweep. My work computer blocks out his video. After reading his pointers, this seems more complicated than taking care of my real life baby, animals and home. Being a working mom’s got nothing on this kid! How have you not lost your ever loving mind over this?!
This. Is. Brilliant.
Thank you, Mikey!
As someone with a passing knowledge of Minecraft, his lessons learned instructions are smart, insightful and really useful to other kids who might want to use Minecraft to do a homework video.
Minecraft is an incredible game. It’s fun, it’s constructive, it requires planning skills, it’s a creative game… I’m really in favour of it for people of all ages! I’m a bit juvenile so when I play with friends, I have a tendency to chase sheep and cows, plant flowers and splash around in ponds. I’m not doing much, but I have TREMENDOUS fun and I’m still playing with friends. Eventually I’ll start building things, instead of trying to chase cows into the houses, temples and caves my friends have built!
That was excellent! I learned a lot about both missions & Minecraft. I love how the tips are both technical & philosophical.
jules! had to pass this along to you: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/181551428702489575/ (it has nothing to do with this post. it’s about libraries!!)
My husband and I both loved the video and I loved loved Mikey’s comments about his parents not knowing Minecraft and how his mom was not happy with starting over. Ha ha. Nice job, Mikey!
Wow! What a fantastic job that you all did! That must have taken Hours!! And you even put in some Star Trek type moving text at the end to top it all. I think you have done really well, shall have to show my son what you have done (or is that tempting Fate, otherwise I can see something like that on the school project list if he tells his teachers, don’t think that I would be able to cope with all the Computer Technicalities, at all!)
Well Done all.
(btw, have you got a dog? Sure I heard some barking near the beginning of the video, lol!)
Wow. That’s all I can say.
Mikey’s tips are just too fantastic! I love that you have not only the final product, but his thoughts on it to reflect back on. :)
Absolutely amazing!!. It must have taken you a while to build everything. Your narrative was very well done and you should be proud of the work that you did. Excellent job. Good tips for future Minecraft builders.