Mechanicaljack: Mechanicaljack here, with an interview with HiddenWorm. I found Hiddenworm's work in Minecraft on the /r/Minecraft sub forum of reddit. I really enjoyed his tutorials and got in contact with him to arrange a meeting. Why don't you introduce yourself?
HiddenWorm: Hi, I'm HiddenWorm, a 17 year old Minecraft player from Holland.
Mechanicaljack: And how long have you been playing Minecraft?
HiddenWorm: I've been playing the game since March 2011.
Mechanicaljack: Do you have a favorite play style, for instance creative or survival, or adventure maps, or competitive?
HiddenWorm: I've always really been into building, so when creative came into Vanilla (1.8 beta?), I switched from survival to that. I've been playing on multiplayer almost exclusively since January 2012.
Mechanicaljack: I haven't enjoyed single player as much as multiplayer in a long time myself. Have you used mods at all?
HiddenWorm: I actually had my first experience with mods (besides flymod) 2 weeks ago at a friend's house. I'm not quite sure which mods were enabled exactly, but it involved a lot of industrial buildings and automated things. Other than mods, I recommend playing flatcore if you want a more interesting time playing SP.
Mechanicaljack: Sounds like a FeedTheBeast or Tekkit modpack. Those can be fun, but also overwhelming in all the new content. Flatcore, so a flatworlds map? On hardcore mode?
HiddenWorm: Yes, hardcore mode on a superflat world. You can get a lot of supplies from trading and blacksmiths.
Mechanicaljack: Wow, I'd never considered trying that. Sounds like a real challenge! Do you have any texture packs you like to use, or are you a default kind of player?
HiddenWorm: I have a slightly modified version of default that I made myself.
Mechanicaljack: Oh cool!
HiddenWorm: It makes some blocks look a little bit better, but not so much better that buildings look ugly without the texture pack.
Mechanicaljack: Ah, so it's an aesthetics change to suit the building style?
HiddenWorm: Yes, it makes smooth sandstone and double slab blocks into coloured versions of the stone brick texture.
Mechanicaljack: Sounds interesting! So what brought me to contact you was your reddit post titled "A Guide to Stronger and Better Looking Fortifications." What brought you to create that post?
HiddenWorm: I had a very basic design for the merlons and the murder holes, and when I saw a post of a castle wall on /r/Minecraft, I noticed most castles in Minecraft have room for improvement when it comes to fortifications, both in historical accuracy and in actual use as fortifications.
Mechanicaljack: I've noticed similar, which is what made your post stand out to me. From there I found the follow up you did with the title "I Taught You How to Fortify Your Walls, Now let's lay a siege!" In both, you get into descriptions about what you're showing, and reference historical examples, like why a catapult isn't just a catapult. I take it fortifications and sieges really interest you?
HiddenWorm: Well, when I was young I thought knights were super cool, most of the knowledge I have about the fortifications I learned when I was around 10. I actually think renaissance architecture is cooler than medieval architecture, but I've already built a lot of that. I constantly switch to different building styles and now I’m in a medieval phase, I guess.
Mechanicaljack: I took a quick look at some of your other tutorials that I'll have to go back to in the future, like the gothic rose window, so I know what you mean. Where do you get your inspiration? I guess I'm asking, what are your sources?
HiddenWorm: I have two main sources. The first one is a book that summarizes almost everything there is to learn about architecture between Mesopotamia and the 1970s. Sadly, it is only available in German and in Dutch, as far as I know. It's called Atlas zur Baukunst or Atlas van de Bouwkunst, so if it was translated into English, it is probably titled 'Atlas of Architecture'.
When I want to build something, I learn about the building style from this book, and then research similar builds that exist in real life. For this I use Planetware.com, it has a very wide variety of maps and pictures of tourist attractions.
Mechanicaljack: That's an amazing amount of effort and work to put into your building, but it looks like it pays off, given the screenshots you've posted.
HiddenWorm: Thank you! Mind you, I only post my best builds, but in general the best builds are the builds that I put most of my time researching for.
Mechanicaljack: Do you have any tutorials planned for the future?
HiddenWorm: Yes, I'm currently working on a tutorial about monasteries, where I will also touch on the differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. After that's done, I might expand the two posts I made about fortifications into a full guide on castles.
Mechanicaljack: Awesome! Well, to wrap this up, is there anything you'd like to see added to or changed about Minecraft?
HiddenWorm: Having stairs not reset from their corner shape when you remove adjacent stairs would be really nice. Also, vertical half slabs would allow for a lot of extra variety in details such as windows.
Mechanicaljack: I think you and I are on the same page with those two changes. Thanks so much for dropping by for the interview!
HiddenWorm: Thank you for having me!
You can find HiddenWorm's tutorials on Reddit, and Imgur in the following places:
http://hiddenworm.imgur.com/
http://www.reddit.com/user/HiddenWorm
Give him a look-see, maybe learn something, and spread some upvote-love.
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