Category: Special Events

05Nov

Extra Life 2020

Posted in challenge map, extra life, Some Awesome, Special Events | Leave a comment

Do you believe Extra Life is here already?! That’s right friends, this Saturday, November 7th at 9:00am EST through Sunday, November 8th at 9:00am EST join our Minecraft group in our annual 24 hour challenge map. This year we put a twist on one of the group’s favorite Skyblock challenges with a brand new custom Nether Skyblock!

First, lets take a minute to talk about this charity event and why we do it. In 2015 our Minecraft group lost a treasured friend, Jackson_Wilson to his long time battle with Ewing Sarcoma which is a rare form of cancer that mostly affects children between the ages of 10 to 20. Jackson was one of those people who always made you feel welcome. He started many group efforts to help out his fellow neighbors including “Helping Hands” where players donated materials or time to help other players with their builds. As a history lover, he started our first server history museum back on Main to catalog all the events and game nights we had done in our early days. He also loved the autumn season and Halloween so I believe we all tend to think of him more around this time of year. For those of you who did not have the pleasure of knowing him just know that he would have gone above and beyond to make you feel at home. He will always be missed. We play in honor of him and his memory.

Now let’s get into the challenge. If you’ve never played before, Skyblock is a challenge map where you spawn on a small floating island with very limited resources. You’ll have a list of challenges to complete including surviving, expanding your island, crafting, and collecting. You can play solo or in teams of three, and while having more players can have it’s advantages it also means more resources required so it works itself out in terms of fairness. This is such a fun challenge that everyone seems to enjoy, and over the years we’ve tweaked the map to be bigger and better! We’re excited to be one of the first Nether Skyblock maps (that we could find) and hope you are too! Check out some of the islands you’ll have access too below. This definitely isn’t our average skyblock!

Upon arrival of the server you will enter the nether portal to take you to the team blocks where you will teleport to your island. These command blocks are a one way trip, and as usual, keep inventory will be off so be careful! In fact, here are the game rules so that there are no surprises:

  • mobGriefing = true
  • Difficulty = normal
  • Firespread = true
  • PVP = disabled
  • keepInventory = false *Be careful when you die!

While every island does have limited resources, they possess every thing you need to complete the challenges below. However, sometimes you fall and lose precious items that you need to continue. It wouldn’t be much fun to lose the game fifteen minutes into it (we’ve had it happen before) so we’ve got you covered. Your very own special Extra Life villager will be standing by ready to trade Life Crystals for anything you might need or want. However, these precious Life Crystals can only be obtained through donations made to our SAMC team member on the Some Awesome Extra Life Team. For every dollar you donate you will earn one Life Crystal to trade with the villager. Before you ask, yes, if you donated $20 to the team for the AquaNu flash drive you will also receive 20 Life Crystals on the challenge map.

One of the challenges of building in the nether is the lack of water, and if you’ve ever played skyblock before then you know water is essential to creating a cobblestone generator. Leave it to our awesome admins BBC and Moo to figure out a solution. With a little blue ice, a piece of soul soil, and flowing lava you can make basalt which works fine as a building material. Unfortunately you can’t make tools out of it so your EL Villager will trade basalt for blackstone on a 1:1 ratio. Don’t worry though, you will be able to craft basic tools until you’ve made it over to your villager.

One other thing to note, you can NOT break blue ice with a standard pick. There is one other blue ice block available on one of the nearby islands,  but should you break both of those you will need to purchase additional ice blocks from the villager with Life Crystals so if you decide to move your generator at any point, be sure of it’s placement! To help everyone out we’ve gone ahead and made a starter generator for you on your island.

A survival map in the nether comes with its own challenges, but that didn’t stop us from adding a ton more. Let’s go over the list:

First, let’s get the DON’Ts out of the way

  • No nether portals
  • Do not build below level Y175
  • No Withers (they’ll be disabled so don’t waste time trying 😉 )
  • No trading with other teams
  • Do not bridge to a neighboring team’s island

Phew, okay now that that’s out of the way let’s get to the fun stuff…

Challenges

Nether Homesteading Challenge (14 points possible)
House

  • A living room
  • A kitchen
  • A respawn anchor
  • A loom
  • Per team member: a work room that includes a crafting table, a brewing stand, and a furnace each.

Farm

  • at least 8 wheat plants.
  • at least 8 pumpkin vines
  • at least 8 watermelon vines
  • at least 8 beet plants
  • at least 8 berry plants
  • at least 4 brown and 4 red mushrooms
  • at least 8 planted netherwart
  • at least 4 chorus trees
  • at least 4 oak trees

Nether Farming Challenge: (21 points possible)

  • Crimson fungi: 64
  • Warped fungi: 64
  • Crimson roots: 64
  • Warped roots: 64
  • Crimson Stems: 64
  • Warped Stems: 64
  • Twisting vines: 64
  • Weeping vines: 64
  • Nether sprouts: 64
  • Netherwart blocks: 64
  • Warped wart blocks: 64
  • Shroom Light: 64
  • Wheat: 64
  • Pumpkin: 64
  • Melon: 64
  • Beets: 64
  • Sweet Berries: 64
  • Chorus fruits: 64
  • Oak saplings: 64
  • Cooked Pork Chops: 64
  • Leather: 64

Nether Woods Challenge (28 points possible)

  • Crimson Stem: 32
  • Stripped Crimson Stem: 32
  • Crimson Planks: 32
  • Crimson Hyphae: 32
  • Stripped Crimson Hyphae: 32
  • Crimson Slab: 32
  • Crimson Pressure Plate: 32
  • Crimson Fence: 32
  • Crimson Trapped Door: 32 
  • Crimson Gate: 32
  • Crimson Stairs: 32
  • Crimson Button: 32
  • Crimson Door: 32
  • Crimson Sign: 32
  • Warped Stem: 32
  • Stripped Warped Stem: 32
  • Warped Planks: 32
  • Warped Hyphae: 32
  • Stripped Warped Hyphae: 32
  • Warped Slab: 32
  • Warped Pressure Plate: 32
  • Warped Fence: 32
  • Warped Trapped Door: 32
  • Warped Gate: 32
  • Warped Stairs: 32
  • Warped Button: 32
  • Warped Door: 32
  • Warped Sign: 32

Nether Blocks challenge (23 points possible)

  • Basalt blocks: 64
  • Polished basalt: 64
  • Bone blocks: 64
  • Blackstone Slabs: 64
  • Blackstone Stairs: 40
  • Blackstone Wall: 60
  • Polished Blackstone: 64
  • Polished Blackstone Bricks: 64
  • Polished Blackstone Slabs: 64
  • Polished Blackstone Stairs: 40
  • Polished Blackstone Wall: 60
  • Nether Bricks: 8
  • Red Nether Bricks: 8
  • Cracked Nether Bricks: 8
  • Chiseled Nether Bricks : 8
  • Nether Brick Fence: 8
  • Nether Brick Slab: 8
  • Red Nether Brick slab: 8
  • Nether Brick stairs: 8
  • Red Nether Brick stairs: 8 
  • Nether Brick Wall: 8
  • Red Nether brick wall: 8 
  • Magma blocks: 32

Build Challenge (5 points possible)

  • Overworld Mob Farm (be sure to research how to do these efficiently without water)
  • Hoglin Farm
  • Zombie Piglin Farm
  • Enderman Farm
  • Magma Cube Farm

Note: The above mob farms can be as simple as a platform for the mobs to spawn on and place for the player to kill them

Crafting challenge (16 points possible)

  • 1 Chain 
  • 1 Warped fungus on a stick
  • 1 Soul campfire 
  • 1 Soul torch 
  • 1 Target
  • 1 Netherite block 
  • 1 Respawn anchor (this is listed above also but you only need one per team)
  • 1 set of blackstone tools (sword, pickaxe, axe, shovel, hoe per team member)
  • 1 set of netherite tools (sword, pickaxe, axe, shovel, hoe)
  • 1 set of gold armor (hat, shirt, pants, shoes)
  • 1 set of netherite armor (hat, shirt, pants, shoes)
  • 1 Bow per team member
  • 64 Arrows per team member
  • 1 Shears
  • 1 Jukebox
  • 1 Flint and steel

Piglin trading challenge (17 points possible)

  • 1 Iron nugget 
  • 1 Water bottle
  • 1 Potion of fire resistance
  • 1 Splash potion of fire resistance
  • 1 Iron boots with soul speed  
  • 1 Blackstone
  • 1 Gravel
  • 1 Spectral arrow
  • 1 Nether bricks
  • 1 Soul sand
  • 1 Leather
  • 1 Fire charge
  • 1 Crying obsidian
  • 1 Obsidian
  • 1 Quartz
  • 1 String
  • 1 Ender pearl

Special items VILLAGER PURCHASE ONLY (2 points possible)

  • Pigstep music disc
  • Snout Banner

Download Checklist Here

Yes this is for charity, but it’s also a challenge! So as usual there will be prizes for our winners.

Prizes: (rewards will be divided evenly between members if on teams)
1st: 90 levels of XP on NetherNu, 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com, and a $30 Amazon Gift Card
2nd: 90 levels of XP on NetherNu, and 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com
3rd: 90 levels of XP on NetherNu

***All participants will earn a Life Crystal “trophy”, Pigstep Music Disc, and Snout Banner on NetherNu

This map is sure to be a lot of fun so be sure to sign up below so we can get you preregistered. Remember, teams are allowed 3 members only.

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29Oct

Extra Life 2019

Posted in Competitions, extra life, Special Events | 1 Comment

We’re a little late to the party this year, but that’s right friends, we ARE in fact participating in Extra Life 2019! We promise a full day of fun with a brand new custom challenge map, but first…let us tell you what Extra Life is, and why we do this.

Extra Life is a 24 hour charity event that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network, a network that raises funds for treatments, research and education for 170 children’s hospitals throughout the US and Canada. As parents you know there is nothing more frightening than your child being in the hospital, it’s comforting to know that there are charities like this working hard to help our kids.

We suffered our own loss as a group in 2015 when we lost our dear friend Jackson Wilson to Ewing Sarcoma, which is a rare form of cancer that mostly affects children between the ages of 10 to 20. As a part of our gaming community, Jackson was a big advocate for community projects. He was always one of the first people to welcome a new player and help get them started. He set up “Helping Hands” to aid other players if they needed help terraforming their land or collecting materials. He loved history and began working on a project to chronicle the server and group history. He adored Halloween and was naturally know as the Pumpkin King.  When Jackson informed us that he was sick. he told us that playing on the server during treatments helped get him through some of the hard times. He knew he had friends  from all over who were rooting for him, and doing whatever they could to keep him company while he was undergoing treatments. We celebrated Jackson when he was in remission, and realized that even though it was mainly through a computer screen we had this wonderful community to share our lives with, and how lucky we were to have each other. Unfortunately the cancer came back and took Jackson from us. His presence is ever felt on any new map we start, with the Event Museum he started on Main, the Jackson_Wilson Memorial Library we built on NuNu in his honor, and the Jackson_Wilson Memorial Highway on AquaNu. He was a beloved member of the community and a true friend. We won’t forget him, and we dedicate our participation in Extra Life to him.

For Extra Life 2019 we bring you another custom challenge map built by our dedicated and talented admins. Skyblock is always a fan favorite, and we love doing it, so we’re bringing it back…with a twist! Villagers and Pillagers! We couldn’t leave out one of my personal favorites in combat updates. The addition of Pillagers and the new villager trading system offers a whole new list of challenges and excitement that should keep you busy for at LEAST 24 hours! Welcome to Villager Skyblock (it’s not our most clever name, but if you follow our streams then you know October has been kicking our butts! We’re a bit brain fried)

Game Rules:

  • mobGriefing = true
  • Difficulty = normal
  • Pvp = disabled
  • keepInventory = false *Be careful when you die!

How it works:


When you log on you will be at the spawn island. There will be no reason to come back to this island as trading is not permitted. Teams of one to three members will be assigned to their own island before the event starts. Once on the map, go to the hut and you can either visit your Extra Life Villager, or spawn straight to your island. All command blocks are team specific so you will not be able to visit other players’ islands.

Extra Life Villager:


As mentioned before, each island has it’s very own villager. This villager is very special as he will not be accepting your stack of cobblestone. Instead he only accepts a very special “Life Crystal” that can only be obtained through experience OR (this is the best part) in the spirit of the charity we are doing this all for, by donating to the Some Awesome Minecraft’s Extra Life donation page! For every $1 dollar donation you pledge you will receive 1 precious Life Crystal to trade with your villager. Did you lose your bucket? Step on a seedling? Your tree didn’t drop a sapling? Dug up all your grass? Your villager has them and more, but they won’t be cheap. The Some Awesome team is trying to raise $1,000 this year and every dollar you donate to the group donation page goes straight towards the team goal, and 100% of that goes to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. There can not be a better way to turn a day of fun and a few bucks into a good cause.
Note: If you already donated to your own page, or to a fellow team member, we will honor those and give you Life Crystals for those donations. However, any donations made on game day MUST be made to the Some Awesome Minecraft donation page.

Challenges:

 

Villagers: 1 of each, 1 point for every level
Novice +1   Apprentice +2   Journeyman +3   Expert +4   Master +5
Armorer
Butcher
Cartographer
Cleric
Farmer
Fisherman
Fletcher
Leatherworker
Librarian
Mason
Shepherd
Toolsmith
Weaponsmith
(Note: you may have more than one of each kind, but only one of each will be counted)

Villager Items Challenge:
1 Enchanted Helmet OR 1 Enchanted Chestplate per team member
1 Globe Banner Pattern per team member
1 Bottle of Enchanting per team member
1 Golden Carrot OR 1 glistering melon slice per team member
1 of Any Tipped Arrow per team member
1 leather horse armor OR 1 dyed leather cap per team member
1 Name Tag per team member
1 Block any color terracotta per team member
1 Block any color glazed terracotta per team member
1 Quartz Pillar OR 1 Quartz Block per team member
1 Enchanted Diamond Pickaxe per team member
1 Enchanted Diamond Sword per team member

Village Challenge:
1 house per villager type (total 13 houses)
*Must contain: roof, door, bed, jobsite block
Bell
Well
1 Player house
*Must contain: living room, kitchen, and one bedroom/bed for every player on your team
A bridge to your Pillager outpost at least 3 blocks wide

Build Challenge:
Cobblestone generator
Mob box
Wheat farm
Carrot farm
Potato farm
Beet farm
Pumpkin farm
Melon farm
Cocoa bean farm
Sugar cane farm
Bamboo farm
Sweet Berry farm
Chorus Fruit farm
Nether wart farm

Farming Challenge:
Melon slices: 64
Pumpkin: 64
Sugarcane: 64
Wheat: 64
Carrot: 64
Potato: 64
Beets: 64
Cocoa Beans: 64
Cactus: 64
Chorus Fruit: 64
Cookies : 64
Mushrooms: 32 brown, 32 red
Bamboo: 64
Sweet Berries: 64
Nether wart: 64

Food Challenge:
Cook 32 baked potatoes
Cook 32 chicken
Cook 32 steak
Cook 32 pork
Cook 32 mutton
Cook 32 rabbit
Cook 32 fish (total)
Make 32 bread
Make 16 Dried Kelp Blocks
Make 10 mushroom stew
Make 10 beetroot soup
Make 5 Rabbit Stew
Make 5 pumpkin pie
Make 1 cake per team member
(Yes, you may trade with villagers to obtain these items)

Wood Challenge:
32 Acacia wood, 32 Acacia logs, 32 stripped Acacia logs 32 Acacia planks
32 Birch wood, 32 Birch logs, 32 stripped Birch logs 32 Birch planks
32 Dark Oak wood, 32 Dark Oak logs, 32 stripped Dark Oak logs 32 Dark Oak planks
32 Jungle wood, 32 Jungle logs, 32 stripped Jungle wood logs 32 Jungle planks
32 Oak wood, 32 Oak logs, 32 stripped Oak logs 32 Oak planks
32 Spruce wood, 32 Spruce logs, 32 stripped Spruce logs 32 Spruce planks

Animal Challenge:
3 cows
3 pigs
3 chickens
3 sheep
3 llamas
3 turtles
3 rabbits
Collect 32 leather
Collect 32 feathers
Collect 16 eggs
Collect 16 scutes
Collect 16 rabbit hides
Collect 32 wool of at least 3 different colors (96 wool total)
Collect 1 rabbit foot
Tame 1 cat (per team member)

Crafting Challenge:
Craft a white bed (per team member)
Craft 64 torches
Craft 1 Crafting table
Craft 1 Campfire
Craft 1 Furnace
Craft 1 Blast Furnace
Craft 1 Smoker
Craft 1 Barrel
Craft 1 Cartography Table
Craft 1 Fletching Table
Craft 1 Grindstone
Craft 1 Lectern
Craft 1 Smithing Table
Craft 1 Stonecutter
Craft 1 Loom
Craft 1 Composter
Craft 1 Brewing Stand
Craft 1 Cauldron
Craft 16 jack’o’lanterns
Craft 16 paintings
Craft 16 item frames
Craft 16 bookcases (you may use them in your build)
Craft 32 lanterns
Craft 32 purpur blocks
Craft 16 purpur stairs
Craft 16 purpur slabs
Craft 16 purpur pillars
Craft 16 purpur stairs
Craft 60 scaffolding
Craft 24 flower pots
Craft 1 turtle shell helmet (per team member)

Mob Challenge:
64 spider eyes
64 string
64 rotten flesh
64 bones
64 arrows
64 gun powder
32 redstone dust
16 ender pearls
16 glowstone dust
16 phantom membranes
5 iron ingots
Collect or craft a bow (fully repaired)
Collect or craft a crossbow (fully repaired)
3 records
1 totem of undying (per team member)
1 Saddle (per team member)
Collect 1 Pillager banner (per team member)
Collect 1 Enchanted book (per team member)
Collect 1 lead (per team member)

Potion Challenge:
3 potions night vision
3 potions invisibility
3 potions fire resistance
3 potions swiftness
3 potions slowness
3 potions turtle master
3 potions water breathing
3 potions instant health
3 potions water breathing
3 potions healing
3 potions harming
3 potions poison
3 potions strength
3 potions weakness
3 potions feather falling

Redstone Challenge:
16 redstone torches
4 dispensers
4 redstone repeaters
4 pistons

Fireworks Challenge:
32 fireworks total
*4 must be star shaped
*4 must be burst shape
*4 must crackle

Extra Challenge:
5 snow golems (remember to protect them from the elements)
5 iron golems
1 Traveling merchant

Bonus Challenge:
Tame a fox

Yes this is for charity, but it’s also a challenge! So there will be prizes for our winners.

Prizes: (rewards will be divided evenly between members of their team)
1st: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu, 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com, and a $30 Amazon Gift Card
2nd: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu, and 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com
3rd: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu

all participants get $2000 SAMCoin on top of what they get from donations

HOW TO JOIN THE CHALLENGE:
Add your team name and members to the post in our Facebook Group  Remember there is a maximum of 3 players allowed per team. If you do not have a full team and another member would like to play but we are out of space, we may ask that they join yours.
If you are on a solo mission you may say no to additional members.

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05Aug

I Made a Mini Me

Posted in Special Events | 1 Comment

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

Have you been noticing the disappointing lack of me on the server? I know I have, but soon you will go without no longer! Say hello to Servbot 9000, the all-purpose digital companion that does many things, including:

  • Allows you to breathe underwater
  • Gives you night vision below Y-Level 55
  • Increases your luck with mob drops
  • Runs your own personal lottery (every 10 minutes there’s a chance to win 100 SAMCoin)
  • Comforts you with his classic and debonair good looks

AND SO MUCH MORE!*

You can expect to see this handsome devil in the next couple of weeks. Save those SAMCoins!

SAMCITY IS LIVE AND RENDERING

We finally have a decent system working for the SAMCity map which is being rendered over on the alt server using Dynmap. However it requires manual intervention on my part to get your property in the queue so let me know whether you want your claim rendered by messaging me or posting in the Facebook group. You can click here to check out the map from spawn center. We’ll be adding more waypoints and additional features as time goes on to effect better navigation for the new players.

We don’t have a final process outlined yet to address a map tile update timeline but we will keep you apprised of that once we’ve figured it out.

1.14.4 UPDATE IS TONIGHT

After the stream tonight we will be updating AquaNu to 1.14.4 which means the server will be down for a short bit while we do this. FlightPlus will also be turned on, but since it has logout and portal bugs, we will be reducing the interval and cost of the flight tiers, so if you run into a glitch it isn’t so bad. Please take some time once this is complete to check your properties for bugs. While we have tested fairly extensively over on the alt server, we cannot guarantee a 100% bug free experience once applied.

QUICK NOTES:

Even quicker this time since it didn’t take me 3 weeks to post again!

  • Points are in over on SomeAwesome.com
  • We finally have subscriber badges for the Twitch channel
  • Command(s) of the Week are /workbench and /enderchest

 

* Literally nothing other than what is listed

13Jul

Steam Run & Mid-Month Updates

Posted in Competitions, Game Nights, Special Events | Leave a comment

Get Ready for the Summer Steam Run

The poll has been taken and it looks as if next weekend is the best time for everyone, so we’re making the formal announcement now that Saturday, July 20th at 3pm and Monday, July 22nd at 9:30pm (aka Minecraft Monday stream time) are the days that will be available to choose from.

Like the previous Steam Run back in January, entrants may choose one of the two days to sign up for, using the form at the end of this article. Patreon patrons on the Awesome Tier may participate on both days of the event, so there is no need to submit the form if you are on the Awesome Tier, just show up, however you should know that superpickaxe will not be enabled for this event.

The play area will be smaller this time around, and we won’t be going as bonkers as last time with the special block/item density (I’ve finally learned how to use proper percentages for replacing stone). However as per usual, you can expect to find plenty of goodies, including 60 hidden Steam keys in each run. These keys will be placed in books, that are then placed in chests, so keep an eye out for these. If you don’t know how to redeem a Steam key in order to get a game from it, check out the video below.

If you’d like to sign up for either day of the Steam Run, use the form at the end of this article to do so. Any questions, feel free to ask in the Facebook group.

New Kitz in the Serverus Shack

Now that we’ve all settled into 1.14, I’ve taken it upon myself to add some new thingies to the Serverus Shack. If you’ve got some SAMCoin burning a hole in your pocket, head on down to the shack (located right outside the command tower) and right-click on a sign to get yourself a little something.

I’ve removed all the super bows except for one, which is obviously the one that everyone likes using ?

Normally I don’t reveal what the kitz are except for hints in the name of the kitz themselves but this week I feel like being a bit more transparent so here they are:

  • Clipz – $1000 SAMCoin: Unbreakable Shears of Death (unbreakable, sharpness 5, can only be purchased once)
  • Flyz – $1000 SAMCoin: Elytra (can only be purchased once a day)
  • Swimz – $500 SAMCoin: Turtle Helmet (can only be purchased once a day)
  • Ballz – $50 SAMCoin: Gets you one Fireball (right-click to throw, don’t use it in close quarters)
  • TPz – $1000 SAMCoin: The Void Bow (shoot it and you will teleport to where the arrow lands)
  • Catz – $500 SAMCoin: 2 cat spawn eggs (can only be purchased once a day)
  • Pandaz – $500 SAMCoin: 2 panda spawn eggs (can only be purchased once)
  • Foxez – $500 SAMCoin: 2 fox spawn eggs (can only be purchased once)

Quick Notes

Here’s some stuff you may or may not care about. That’s why it’s at the end of the article!

  • SA points are in since Thursday, convert to SAMCoin, use Command Zone or grab some games!
  • We’ll be showing off how to use the Secret Beta goodies on Monday’s stream so if you’re confused by them, tune in!
  • Command of the Week starting on server restart Sunday night is SmoothSleep.
  • I have ethernet back in my office so no more frame drops or spotty voices. YAY!

Steam Run Sign Up Form

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02Nov

Extra Life 2018 Challenge

Posted in Competitions, extra life, Special Events | Leave a comment

Welcome to Extra Life 2018! We’ve got a brand new challenge map for you, courtesy of admin dancingn27 *applause*

But first, let me tell you why we do this…

What is Extra Life?
Extra Life is a 24 hour gaming charity event that raises money for the children’s hospitals within the Children’s Miracle Network. We will be playing in dedication of our dear friend Jackson_Wilson whom we lost back in 2015 after his battle with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that mostly affects children between the ages of 10 to 20. Jackson was an amazing friend to everyone on the server. He was always so helpful to everyone, and very welcoming to new players. He often organized group projects that had to do with reusing and recycling in-game materials, and helping others. He was also our group historian, and had been in the process of chronicling our group’s history before he became too ill to continue.

Losing Jackson was very hard on us as a group. It was our first experience with the loss of one of our players turned friend, and proved just how close a group of internet friends can become despite the distance between us. Jackson’s presence can still be felt even on our newest map, AquaNu where the Jackson Memorial Highway runs through the nether network. Little things like that continue to keep his spirit alive and with us. We remember him the most this time of year as autumn was his favorite season, and Halloween the holiday he loved best of all. We’re proud to dedicate this year’s event to him by donating to the hospital he spoke so highly of while receiving treatment.

2018 Challenge Map: Waterworld

After stripping the planet bare of valuable resources and the melting of the polar ice caps, most of the globe is underwater. Some humans have survived, and even fewer still have adapted to the ocean by creating their own land.  You have been granted a plot of the ocean and a bit of land to start. Can you survive? Welcome to WaterWorld!

How it works:
You will spawn at the Command center where you will have access to your plot. You must follow the following rules and complete the following tasks to conquer WaterWorld.

Game rules in effect are the following:

  • mobGriefing = false
  • Difficulty = normal
  • Pvp = disabled
  • keepInventory = false *Be careful when you die!

Teams:
There are only 20 personal plots in the complex. Each plot can hold a team of 1-3 players. If all 20 plots are occupied and we still have people wanting to join the challenge we may ask teams that have not reached the 3 person maximum to offer a spot to any additional challengers. This way everyone gets a chance to play and contribute.

From your command block at the command center you will spawn on an unlit island that contains exactly one stack of grass/dirt.  You will find no more dirt or grass available in your plot so be careful!

The only CB you will find in your plot will give you access to your own personal Extra Life villager.  No other player will be able to access your plot or your villager hut. Anything within your plot is free game for you until you hit bedrock. You will not be able to access any blocks outside of your plot.
Do not climb over or through side walls to other player plots. Doing so will result in immediate disqualification.

Throughout your designated plot, there will be hidden chests filled with items you will need to fulfill your requirements. You will not be able to find items anywhere else on the map. There are no additional ores or stones hidden beneath the sand so use your precious few resources wisely.
Hint: they are NOT underground below the water table.

 

Did you know that you can create air bubbles using signs?

Extra Life Vendor:
As mentioned above, each plot of land has it’s very own villager. This villager is special indeed as he will not be accepting your stack of cobblestone. Instead he only accepts a very special “Life Crystal” that can only be obtained through experience OR (this is the best part) in the spirit of the charity we are doing this all for, by donating to the Some Awesome Minecraft’s Extra Life donation page! For every $1 dollar donation you pledge you will receive 1 precious Life Crystal to trade with your villager. Did you lose your bucket? Step on a seedling? Your tree didn’t drop a sapling? Dug up all your grass? Your villager has them and more, but they won’t be cheap. The Some Awesome team is trying to raise $1,000 this year and every dollar you donate to the group donation page goes straight towards the team goal, and 100% of that goes to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. There can not be a better way to turn a day of fun and a few bucks into a good cause.

Challenge Goals:
The challenge goals are broken up into building challenges, and an extra credit challenge.

  • Building Challenge
    • A house with the following requirements. Your house must include a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and one bedroom per team member.  Each bedroom must have ONE bed.
    • Cobblestone Generator
    • Mob Box or Mob Dropper. No automated collection of ANY KIND.
    • An above ground aquarium with at least 6 fish
  • Farms/Crops Collection. No automated farms of ANY KIND.
      • Melons: Collect 64 Melon Slices
      • Pumpkin: Collect 64 pumpkins
      • Sugarcane: Collect 64 Sugarcanes
      • Wheat: Collect 64 Wheat
      • Carrot: Collect 64 Carrots
      • Potato: Collect 64 potatoes
      • Beets: Collect 64 Beets
      • Cocoa Beans: Collect 64 Cocoa Beans
      • Netherwart: Collect 64 Netherwart
      • Cactus: Collect 64 Cactus
      • Chorus Fruit: Collect 64 Chorus Fruit
      • Mushrooms: Collect 16 of the two different kinds
    • Food
      • Make 32 bread
      • Make 10 mushroom stew
      • Make 1 cake
      • Make 32 baked potatoes
      • Cook 32 chicken
      • Cook 32 steak
      • Cook 32 fish
      • Make 16 Dried Kelp Blocks
    • Wood:
      • Collect 64 of each wood type: Birch, Spruce, Jungle, Acacia, Dark Oak and Oak
    • Animals/Animal Drop:  (*Notice* Animals are limited to 2 of each type in your plot unless you are actively breeding them for food or resources.  When you log off the challenge map be sure to keep your numbers to 2 of each type. That doesn’t mean you can have 2 sheep of each color. 2 sheep.)
      • Have 2 Cows
      • Have 2 Chickens
      • Have 2 Pigs
      • Have 2 Sheep (of one color)
      • Have 2 Llamas
      • Have 2 Turtles
      • Have 2 Rabbits
      • Collect 32 leather
      • Collect 32 feathers
      • Collect 16 eggs
      • Collect 16 wool in EACH of the following colors: white, black, gray, light gray, lime, red, yellow, pink, magenta,  green, blue, and orange.
      • Collect 16 scutes
      • Collect 16 Rabbit hides
      • Collect 1 Rabbit foot
    • Crafting
      • Craft a white bed – (*Notice* If you have multiple people in your group each must have their own bed)
        Note: players are given a red bed to start. This bed does not count towards the challenge 
      • Craft 32 torches
      • Craft a furnace
      • Craft a crafting table
      • Craft 16 jack ‘o’ lanterns
      • Craft 16 paintings
      • Craft 16 stone buttons
      • Craft 64 stone bricks
      • Craft 64 stone slabs
      • Craft 16 stone pressure plates
      • Craft 16 signs
      • Craft 32 ladders
      • Craft 32 fences
      • Craft 16 fence gates
      • Craft 16 wooden pressure plates
      • Craft 16 trap doors
      • Craft 16 levers
      • Craft 16 bookcases
      • Craft 4 leads
      • Craft 32 glass
      • Craft 32 glass panes
      • Craft 8 of EACH stained glass in the following colors: white, black, gray, light gray, lime, red, yellow, pink, magenta,  green, blue, and orange.
      • Craft 32 purpur blocks
      • Craft 16 purpur stairs
      • Craft 16 purpur slabs
      • Craft 16 purpur pillars
    • Mob Collection/Challenge:
      • Collect 32 spider eyes
      • Collect 32 string
      • Collect 16 ender pearls
      • Collect 32 rotten flesh
      • Collect 5 iron ingots
      • Collect 32 bones
      • Collect 64 arrows
      • Collect 32 gun powder
      • Collect 32 glowstone dust
      • Collect a bow
      • Collect 32 redstone dust
      • Collect 16 phantom membranes
    • Potion Brewing: You have access to materials to make extended, thick, and splash potions. Any version of the following potions will count.
      • Brew 3 potions of speed
      • Brew 3 potions of instant health
      • Brew 3 potions of water breathing
      • Brew 3 potions of night vision
      • Brew 3 potions of poison
      • Brew 3 potions of weakness
      • Brew 3 potions of harming
      • Brew 3 potions of slowness
    • Redstone/Machinery:
      • 16 redstone torches
      • 4 dispensers
      • 4 redstone repeaters
      • 4 pistons
    • Fireworks Collection: Total of 32 Fireworks with a minimum of 8 different types (different colors, fade colors, shapes, and effects; will create different types)
      • At least 4 fireworks in a star shape
      • At least 4 fireworks in a burst shape
      • ‘At least 4 fireworks that crackle
    • Have a house containing 5 Snow Golems
    • Capture 1 zombie villager and cure him. (DO NOT cure more than 1 villager on your personal plot.)
    • BONUS CHALLENGE:
      • Acquire 3 Sponges and a Trident

REWARDS: (rewards will be divided evenly between members of their team)
1st: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu, 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com, and a $30 Amazon Gift Card
2nd: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu, and 30,000 points on SomeAwesome.com
3rd: 90 levels of XP on AquaNu

all participants get $2000 SAMCoin on top of what they get from donations

HOW TO JOIN THE CHALLENGE:
We have a poll up in our Facebook Group where you can add your desired Team Name. Have the members of your team vote on that poll item as your team members. We will do the rest. Remember there is a maximum of 3 players allowed per team. If you do not have a full team and another member would like to play but we are out of space, we may ask that they join yours.
If you are on a solo mission you may say no to additional members.

29Aug

New Economy Features + The Serverus Shack

Posted in Some Awesome, Special Events | Leave a comment

The community market is in the pipeline for upcoming projects, so it was important to us that we really think it through and try to avoid cutting corners on the most efficient way to handle stores, trading and currency. On top of this, I was actively looking for a way to evolve Command of the Week into something fresh, while simultaneously searching for a way to tie SomeAwesome.com into the group as well. As luck would have it, the simplest answer revealed itself to be the one with the most potential.

I’ve always dabbled with the idea that one day we would use a proper economy plugin on our server, and considering we are all enjoying the possibilities surrounding 1.13, I figured what the heck, let’s do this. Ergo, we turned on the Essentials Eco settings and put together a plan for how we could make this work. So far, I think it looks promising.

We did a Twitch stream the other night and I explain much of what we’re doing, along with a helpful demonstration, in that recording. But it’s two hours long so I understand if you don’t want to watch it. I did skip straight to the part where we explain it though, so if that interests you, find it below. If not, feel free to skip past and keep reading.

How Does It Work?

The “money” itself is fairly arbitrary. It’s not an item in-game, you don’t store it in your inventory, it’s basically just a number that you can see by using the /balance command.

Everybody starts with money, whether you’re new or have been playing with us for a while. There will be plenty of ways to earn additional currency (I have no idea what we should call these denominations yet) and I will outline those below. Once we start up the market, players will also be allowed to charge currency for items they are selling, but this is not mandatory. You will be free to just trade for items instead if that suits you better. Admin shops will most likely all use the currency though.

On Nunu, we used the XP bottles for the mall shops, and while I was fairly happy with this from a technical standpoint, it was just too easy to game this, and it inadvertently encouraged people to spend an overabundance of time at XP grinders. I’ve never personally been a fan of those things, although I have no intention of banning them or anything so don’t worry, but implementing a real currency has the positive side-effect (to me anyway) of reducing players’ reliance on these mob spawners, so it’s just one more reason to put it into play.

We’ve found a lot of cool ways to hook this into different facets of the server and community so let’s just jump right into it.

Behold, The Serverus Shack

I needed a place to showcase what we could do with the new system, so my lovely wife built a little hut right outside the Command Tower for me. It made sense to put it right next to the CT since we’ll be adding command blocks soon, making it easy for people to interact with it. It’s on the south side of the tower, right across from the exit.

Inside, you will see a wall with signs. The way that signs tie into all of this is really neat, and it’s what we’ll use eventually inside the market shops too, but for now I’ll just explain how it works within the context of the Serverus Shack.

You will notice that the signs start with [Enchant] and this is followed by an item ID, for example diamond_pickaxe, and this is followed by an enchant ID, a colon, and a number. The number is the level of the enchant, although 3 of the 4 enchants provided here only have one level. The last line of the sign is a cost, i.e. the amount of currency you will need.

To use these signs, hold the specified item in your hand, and right-click the sign. If you have enough currency in your balance, the item will be enchanted and the currency will be removed from your balance. Pretty simple.

Right now we are featuring the following enchants, all for $1000:

  • Mending – Diamond Pickaxe
  • Silk Touch – Diamond Pickaxe
  • Sharpness V – Diamond Sword
  • Infinity – Bow

We will rotate enchants on a weekly basis, so if these are not to your liking, let me know in the group which ones you’d like to see and I’ll take it into consideration.

The /repair Alternative

So you know by now that my uninventive alternative to /repair is…well…it’s /repair. But with the economy plugin, I can now stop having to hear the incessant griping about it going away 😉 and I achieve this by making each use of /repair cost $100. Now it’s up to you, the players, to decide how badly you need the command. Stay in the green by participating in one of the activities below to top yourself off with enough repairs to fix the Satellite of Love and you’ll never have to put your favorite sentient weapon in the rainy day box again.

We’ll be adding more commands as time goes on, but for now you can also take advantage of /heal for $50 a pop as well. Try as you might, I’m not taking suggestions for the roadmap on additions to this option any time in the near future.

To keep it as fair as possible, we will still definitely have weeks when /repair is free, but for now I want to attempt this take on things for a while. Luckily you have plenty of ways you can earn currency, and we’re rolling over ideas for more, so don’t feel like you’re getting left out here. The general rule of thumb here is: the more you participate, the more opportunities you will have. So let’s review how you can maximize your chances.

Show Me The $$$

Currently we have FOUR ways to acquire points with more lined up for at least September.

1. Event Participation / Holidays

Kind of a twofer here coming this weekend. We have Labor Day AND the Ender Dragon Fight. Get double bonus bucks for September 3rd – $2000 for participating in this event. And of course we have more upcoming soon.

We’ll also be giving books during the holidays now that can be redeemed for points. Make sure to the visit the community Holiday Area every time we have a major holiday and you’ll be swimming in silk touch picks in no time 🙂

2. Return of the Lottery

The lottery returns and it’s so nice we do it twice! Now we will run lottery for both xp and currency, once per day for each at random (but separate) times. The amount will be variable too so you never know what you’re going to get! The more you’re on, the more likely you are to win. You make your own odds on this one.

3. Extra Life: November 3rd, 2018

If you haven’t signed up for the Extra Life team yet, here’s your incentive to do so. Last time we did our Extra Life Challenge Map, participants could earn “Life Crystals” for each dollar they donated to the SAMC Team Member. These crystals could be used to purchase items during the challenge to assist them with their progress. Same thing happening this year.

Now you might be saying “Hey Chris doesn’t that give them an advantage?” and the answer would be yes. But it’s for charity so I don’t care 😉 Plus it helps people out of a bind if they lose their tools and can’t continue, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I considered doing the same thing with the currency, but I want to encourage raising money for charity first and foremost, and not all of you will want to compete, so this year you’ll get $100 currency for each dollar you raise overall for the team as a whole towards our grand total. Raise $100 for your personal goal, your balance goes up by $10k. That easy.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SIGN UP FOR OUR EXTRA LIFE TEAM

4. Review Steam Games on SomeAwesome.com

Yes, it’s time for another episode of I Will Find A Way To Get You To Sign Up For This Site and that means we now have cross-site functionality across SomeAwesome.com

It’s nothing fancy, at least in concept. It was an interesting feature to develop, code-wise, and I’ve got more to add to it soon enough. In a nutshell, you can convert the points you earn on SomeAwesome.com into currency on a 1-to-1 basis. You pick the amount you want to convert, and that’s how much gets sent to you on the server.

Side note: You need to be on the server for this to work

Basically, If you’re interested at all in reviewing video games and getting free Steam games for your trouble (or using your points for currency) then sign up for an account and shoot me over any questions you might have.

I’ll have an article up soon over on that site on how to access and use the converter.

This Article is Too Long

I know, I tend to do that, but hey, it’s an article full of good news, so it’s not all bad.

We want to make sure we are giving people a fair shake when it comes to the currency system. At the same time, we know it’s a good way to incentivize people to participate in things too, so yeah, I’m aware it’s a balancing act. We think it’s a good trade-off at the moment, but we do want to hear your thoughts. I can’t guarantee we will implement every idea, but we will be more than happy to field questions and consider concerns. Deal?

To make sure you read this to the end, if you comment with a picture of cheese in the thread where I posted this I will add $1000 to your balance. 😛