#hytale creative

[cozy-voxels]

Island Village progress: 68% done

I only have about seven planned structures left to do, but that's then followed by a LOT of landscaping and pathing. So "done" here is about the current list of structures, not actual completion, whatever that might be. Plus, I expect when I get to what I think is "done" now, I'll have additional ideas -- like making a pathway to the nearest temple.

Having said all that, now seems like a good time to take and share some overview photos. For background, here's what the island looked like to start with and this post outlines my original planning.

This overhead shot was taken before I completed the outside market, the potter's shop and the potion seller. All following screenshots capture where things are as of today (including those three builds I just mentioned).

[cozy-voxels]

Potion seller

Slightly off the beaten path from the outdoor market is this funky cave where a potion maker sells their wares. I built this using an existing bit of the landscape, which you can see in these "before" screenshots.

As you might expect with someone who deals with magical goods, there's more than meets the eye in this cave, as an entrance is tucked away behind the bookshelves.

Heading down these intriguingly lit stairs, first you find a doorway leading to a small library.

Further down the stairs, there's magical and alchemical workbenches and a variety of treasures tucked away into niches in the wall -- some glowing, some pulsating. 😱

Near the stairway, there's also a ladder, which goes up to a hidden sleeping loft.

This space has a totally different palette than much of the rest of the village and I also didn't restrict myself to some of the more common materials and items -- I figured the potion seller would have access to all sorts of fun goodies.

[cozy-voxels]

Village market

After the well, one of the first things I planned on adding to the village was a small market of carts and tents. I was really excited to see the model of the wagon, but evidently no items (or very specific items) can be placed on it, so it ended up not being used in my market.

These views of the market start from the rear staircase of the bakery and then move through the stalls and tents.

First up is a farmer's tent of fruit and veg.

There's a stall selling fresh flowers.

A kebab stand.

A mushroom seller.

A poultry stand. Originally, this was going to be a seed seller, but you cannot place seed packets in the vanilla game.

And, finally, a large tent selling home goods.

Just around the corner from the end of the market, something intriguing glows. My next post will share detailed views of the potion seller's cave. ✨🧙🏻

[cozy-voxels]

Potter and kiln

A potter's shop has now been added to the village.

I really like how jumbled the inside of the shop is.

The rear entrance takes you to a staircase 'round the back that leads to a kiln.

And the side of the building has a ladder that takes you up to a rooftop balcony.

[cozy-voxels]

Island Village progress: 30% done

My original plans have included 21 buildings/structures and, as I'm now almost a third of the way complete, I thought I'd add in a village overview with a bit of before and after.

The first photo is the island with only the miner's lodge complete and pathways outlined. The second is what things look like currently.

[cozy-voxels]

Village well

This well was the first thing I mapped out in the village. From it, I then planned the pathways/streets and, only after those were in place, did I start to consider and place outlines for the village's buildings.

From my original plan, I ended up moving this well over slightly to accommodate the cafe's awning -- which made me quite glad I hadn't gotten into actually laying out the path or any landscaping.

I really like the tight clustering of these various buildings -- I see a lot of minecraft builds that are pretty grand, and this feels pretty cozy instead. I like the idea of residents in the cafe chatting up those who come to use the well -- which wouldn't feel the same if the well was in a plaza that had 8-10 more blocks around it.

Having said that, one thing I don't like is having to do anything with water. Lessons learned from making the well:

water and stairs act weirdly when combined

don't put your rope and bucket in your well until you have water sorted

actual water cubes in creative mode are fussier than you'd expect (but maybe this is because my well already had some water in it when I tried to use them)

pouring water into the centermost space in the well wasn't possible; I had to add an additional block and pour against that

[cozy-voxels]

Furniture maker

Near the center of town, there's a furniture maker with a small workshop.

Inside the shop, there's a workbench, a custom counter (because it's the furniture maker, y'know), and a variety of pre-made wares available to buy. In the back of the shop, there's a staircase that leads up to the second floor...

...where you find a small bit of living space and a balcony.

I originally did this building in lightwood, but found I wasn't loving the options for decorating with lightwood (like what doors, windows, and trapdoors look good with it, specifically among the materials I'm limiting myself to). So I got to experiment with the select and replace tool in creative mode. 🤯 It was really satisfying to pretty much swap most of the building materials in like 4-5 rounds of replace commands. Only staircase pieces that were combined with other staircase pieces didn't respect the command, so it was a huge time saver.

Even with this change, I'm still not totally pleased with the shape of this building, so I may come back and revisit it.

[cozy-voxels]

Village cafe

Next door to the bakery is a cafe with outdoor seating.

There's also a passthrough window and/or counter, and I like to imagine the frame to the left of the door has the day's menu.

Inside is primarily the kitchen, plus a counter for serving customers. Herbs hang from the rafters.

Around the back of the cafe, there's a second entrance that leads to a small living space. As much as possible, I'm trying to make dual-use spaces, imagining that shopkeepers also have living quarters in the same building.