Some Minecraft Show-Off

I figured I'd show off just a few of my best (well, most showable) creations. I'll try to keep it brief. Really I'm just testing a feature of my blog engine, but why not share Minecraft pics too?

Castle

Here is a fully livable castle. It includes an on/off switch for the moat (I also have a lava moat switch, but that one has problems) and a bar-and-piston gate that opens (3 wide, 2 tall). It has all the amenities to be a home base (farm, animals, workshop, bed, etc.) plus some decorative rooms and plenty of rooms for soldiers. It also has a railroad station. Roads come out both north and south, the south one leading to a village not too far away. The railroad is well over a 1000 meter journey from my coastal mansion to here, then continues to further areas.

Coastal Estate

Here's the aforementioned Coastal Estate, as seen from the top of my lighthouse tower (lava and water flowing down from it). This is my first base, with the cobblestone tower being the most livable and the mansion beside it being mostly for show, including a large dance floor and basement exhibits.

Home in Hardcore

Here's the house, kinda mansion, that I built in the hardcore-mode game I played. I designed this one to be very practical, rather than for show, so I could actually live in the mansion. It has a raised railroad network to head out to my favorite working locations in relative safety, and has several other safety features allowing me to see mobs coming before I go out my door. The cactus also kills mobs rather than letting them accumulate.

Eventually I did die, but that's another story.