Minecraft :: Part 76 :: Automatic Sugarcane Farm!

And how's it going everybody?

Welcome back to another episode

of the Minecraft Let's Play.

My name, of course, is System Z

and today we're not going to be doing

that much building.

In fact,

I'm not sure if we're really going to be

doing any building at all.

And screenshot!

I just took a screenshot [laugh] on accident.

Um.

But yeah - we're gonna be doing redstone,

not really much of it,

we're just going to be hooking up

the sugarcane part of the build

which I featured, or explained, last episode.

So let's kind of make a full 180 here

and turn around and let me show you guys

the progress I have made.

Which, I'll be honest, is not that much.

I've kind of added on these side little wings

but I don't know if I'm gonna keep them.

I'm just trying to figure out where

I want to go with this design but

you can see the landscaping

is starting to fill out.

I've filled in the river here,

or the little waterway,

and that's where the waterfall is gonna go.

We're gonna be working in that area today.

Basically just creating a, uh, an

automatic sugarcane farm.

That way fireworks will be pretty easy to make

[laugh] uh, but in terms of building,

not much is gonna happen.

So there's a few things we're gonna have to do

in order to make this work.

So let me fly back here.

The only thing I don't like about

these fireworks is they are so quick.

We're just gonna land here.

And, well, I guess I don't really have to

use that, I'll just fall down here.

We're gonna need sugarcane, of course

a water source here on the side

pistons and observer blocks.

This is the first time I'm using those!

So I've got a lot of crafting to do,

and I think we're just gonna go ahead

and go straight for it.

So without further ado,

let's introduce a new segment...

the crafting montage.

[music]

Alright, I have everything I need

for a successful redstone build.

And I love that you can slowly

see the cabin, like, resolving in the

background. Very atmospheric.

I love it.

I still have to do the landscaping

over here, though, which is, you know

a bummer. I really wanna get to it, but I wanna

livestream it. I just - I haven't had

the time. So let's go ahead

and grab this sugarcane here,

which is EXTREMELY loud.

But there we go.

We've got 20 out of that,

which is all perfect, fine, and dandy.

Alright, so I've got the basic

set of tools that we need to do this.

We have the observers,

the pistons,

the hoppers,

the chests,

and the redstone - of course.

Now this is a very, very easy redstone build.

So please do not judge me.

Do not judge me at all.

And there is a plane passing by in the background.

So if you hear that... that's what it is [laugh].

Uh, but this is probably not gonna take

that long at all,

now that I think about it.

Uh, it's gonna be a very, very easy build

if you ask me.

But anyways - let's just get straight

into it. Enough babbling!

I have a problem with that.

I've noticed that, and a few of you

have called me out on it.

I have a problem with babbling on [laugh]

and just not getting to the point!

So let's try and hurry this up.

So the idea here...

I'm gonna use stone as an example.

So let's say you have sugarcane there, right?

And the blocks we're doing this on are

these 3, plus that one,

and then these 3.

But these sides?

They're not gonna be sugarcane.

That's just pathways over into it.

But anyways, let's close this.

Not for any reason, but just...

just because I wanna close it [laugh].

Uh, we're gonna have sugarcane here

and then we're gonna have a line of stone.

So let's go ahead and place all of this

just all the way across.

I think 'til about... there.

And then we are going to have pistons

right here.

And then an observer block there.

And the idea... is that

whenever the sugarcane grows up to 3

the observer block will activate the piston,

the piston will then break the sugarcane,

launch it forward at this wall,

which is why I put this wall here.

A lot of people may have assumed that this

was just for design purposes

but no no no! This was

for functionality.

Because without this wall, the sugarcane

would go flying into the waterfall

and the hoppers would never retrieve them.

So, anyways, without further ado

let's go ahead and get started here.

Uh, we're gonna just place the pistons first.

Very easy part [laugh].

Uh, and I'm already over here, so why not?

So we've got them all laid out.

And like I said, this is gonna be

almost too easy.

It's an extremely easy farm.

VERY easy.

Very efficient, though.

Uh but we're just gonna start by doing that.

And the observer blocks are pretty cool.

They just go... that way. So.

Whichever way you need the update,

you just need to be facing that way,

and place it down.

So, basically, if I were to place a block here

it's not gonna do anything.

But if I did on the other side... it would.

So, I have a good way of showing that off

here in just a second.

So, we're gonna place all those.

And, uh, then we're going to get this

redstone and just place it down on here.

This redstone's gonna allow these pistons

to activate, because it's powering

this block, which is then

powering the pistons.

Most of you are like... duh.

This is extremely easy [laughter].

But some of you may not.

So I'm explaining it.

Plus! I like looking like I know stuff.

Uh, but alright. So let's give this a try.

If this face sees a block -

that's the way you've gotta remember it -

if the face sees a block, then it updates.

That's how it works.

So as you can kinda see, is,

the moment a sugarcane block hits that,

is the moment it's gonna update it.

So the piston will automatically break up

the sugarcane.

So, before I get on to placing the water,

I'm gonna go ahead and place the hoppers,

just because it's a lot easier.

I just need to find the center,

so we're gonna do it about here.

And I'm gonna all the way 'til about there.

We're gonna place the chest right out

there, and then just have the hoppers all

kind of pointing in towards that.

Now, I don't have sugarcane right here,

obviously, like I said, but I'm sure

sugarcane is bound to fall over here

so we're just gonna place it there anyways.

And as I'm doing this, I'm realizing just

how fast this is, and like how easy this is.

This is definitely not an entire

episode's worth [laughter].

So I'm so sorry if today's episode

is very short.

Uh, I didn't plan anything else, though

so that's sad.

But yeah! So now we have the sugarcane

er, not sugarcane, we have the, uh

blocks placed. So if I just start throwing

some sugarcane in, that'll all go to the chest.

Which, as you guys know, that's how

hoppers work, of course.

Let's go ahead and walk around...

or... do that.

And, uh, I guess we're not in flying mode

so I can't quite fly out of that situation.

And, by the way, this is not complete.

This is landscaping templates [laughter].

I'm just trying to get an idea of where

we're gonna take the mountain.

But let's go ahead and check the chest.

There it is!

We've also got some cobblestone.

So I need 7 sugarcane, just to kinda

get this thing started

so we're gonna grab that.

Uh, but I'm gonna go ahead and get started

on placing the water.

Just because I need to practice

a little bit, to see exactly how we're

gonna need it.

Because

If I place a water source here, it might

still make the sugarcane go forward.

So I've just got a little bit of tampering

to do, uh, to see how it's gonna work.

But anyways, I'll go ahead and do that,

and then I'll catch you guys in

just a minute.

That is lookin' pretty good, now that

we've got a waterfall there.

I actually really like the way that looks.

It just needs a little bit more leaves

I think. Just like, a little bit, just to

balance the area off. But.

Maybe we could put like plants hanging

down from up here.

Like right there, or something.

I don't know.

We'll find out something to do with that area.

But anyways, the water has been placed.

Now what I ended up doing is...

- oh, I wonder if we could go straight

through the window... we can't, oh!

Well, there we go.

I cheated a little bit, though.

I used a firework [laugh].

And almost died, at that!

But, uh, anyways, let's go ahead and

drop down here.

What I did, you guys saw,

I put a source block...

here.

But I also ended up putting one right

next to it - although it's kinda not visible.

You see the water's running.

You might very barely, like, can't even

really see it, but you can kinda tell

the water's running right there.

Basically, I did that, to where there

was two sources, that way... whenever

the sugarcane were to fall here

it wouldn't just automatically start

falling and flowing off into the water.

Now that may not fix it.

That may work, it may not.

I know I'm bound to lose a few sugarcane

to the waterfall eventually.

But that's fine. This is gonna be

automatic - I'm not really worried about

losing any.

But anyways, let's go ahead and place

these down.

And, what' I'm gonna do, just for

example's sake, is... break my knees.

Just like that [laugh].

We're gonna come up here and

take a peek at it. We're gonna climb all

the way up here and, uh, and basically

just look down here.

I'm gonna turn the tick speed up.

Just for this example.

Just to see it work.

Now, yes this is gonna give me sugarcane

that grows a lot faster.

But this is just for example.

And now, this is like forever anyways,

and I'll be getting infinite amounts of

sugarcane. It's kinda cheating already [laughter].

But what I'm gonna do is just turn it up

using this command, so...

gamerule randomtickspeed 300

Just for example.

So let's go ahead and do that.

And you'll see, it might get loud.

I might need to do 3000, actually,

'cause this isn't going that fast,

now that I think about it.

Is it even able to gro- ohp! There it goes.

Okay, so as soon as you start to see 'em

hitting the third, then it'll automa- yup!

There it goes. You can see, so

one of them hit the third position

so all of 'em are getting hit.

And then they fall down there

and you can see there's a sugarcane

on the side.

I'll just have to put some hoppers there

but, you can see they all fall down on

the hoppers.

Let's crank this up to 3000

and you'll see it goin' like crazy.

So that way they're always fallin' down.

And if we come over here and take a

peek, you'll see that none of it is really

- and now I'm in water mode [laughter].

Or swimming mode -

none of 'em are falling down here.

And you can barely see it when you

kind of go off into the distance, you can

very, very slightly see it. Like, if you're

zoomed in. You can kinda see them falling.

Well, not really in this case.

Maybe it's not working 'cause we're

so far away. But. That's what I like

about it, is that it's not that visible.

So, it's always gonna be running,

we're always gonna have sugarcane growing,

and always just, you know, be

working for us.

And by the way, if you didn't know,

randomtickspeed is naturally set to 3.

So, if you ever change that, you can

always just set it back to 3 for the default.

Which, I forget to do sometimes.

Which you guys pointed out, last episode,

grass was growing like CRAZY.

So, sorry about that, I just

forgot to change it.

Um, but anyways, yeah

so let's see what that generated

just for example's sake.

So you can see, because of that,

- and yes it was set to go really quickly -

I got 62 here. So you can see

it's always gonna be filling this up.

And we can use that to make paper

for fireworks.

So that's gonna be fantastic.

Now sugarcane isn't that important

but, um, yeah, I just wanted to add it.

Because why not? Right?

I mean you could fill this up with

just water, if you like, but why not

make it a little bit functional?

Um, but yeah, so I've got a few of

these hoppers to add. Actually,

you know what? Why not just go

ahead and do it, 'cause I did it on

that side.

So, we're gonna break this block,

hopefully not die 'cause we're under water.

Um. Probably won't, there we go.

And I'm just gonna, apparently, throw

all these extra sugarcanes...

Actually I'm probably just gonna throw all

those away, since technically I cheated by

changing the, uh, tick speed. But yeah.

So just like that we have a functional

sugarcane farm. Not really that much

redstone involved, I'll admit. Yeah, none

at all, in fact, I mean... maybe just a line of it.

Uh, but! Still cool, nonetheless.

So if you wanna use that design, you can.

Uh, but anyways, I am finished a lot earlier

than I thought I'd be. so I'm gonna see

what else I can do for the remainder of

the episode. And, uh, I'll see you guys

whenever I've discovered that [laughter].

Alright, time is definitely not a problem

at the moment, we are not really that far

along in the episode, and we haven't

really done that much. So! What we're

gonna do, is do a little landscaping.

I'm gonna teach you guys how to do that.

We're gonna pretty much work on this area.

I just started coming up with an idea

about how I'd like to incorporate this

lower area with the cabin. And I started

thinking... it'd be really cool if we use

this area as kind of like a, uh, a campfire area.

A place to just maybe fish and just chill

and relax. Kind of like a backyard. Almost.

Or at least one part of a backyard.

And I just I really like the idea of having

higher level land and then just, a little

cliff and a pathway going up

to meet this area.

So we're not gonna do all of it or

anything like that, because

I don't have [laughter] that much time.

But I am gonna show you guys just with

this section of land here, about here

to here, and then I'm gonna show you

guys kinda exactly how I do this.

And like, how you can create your own

custom landscapes.

So, the first thing we're gonna do is just

grab some stone here, and kinda

manipulate the land.

It's somewhat like this.

In the last episode, you guys saw,

I ended it off with a solid surface and

we started this episode with this.

So it's definitely a lot better looking [laughter].

Uh, so basically the first thing you're

gonna want to do is just carve the land.

Like... simply carve it.

And keep in mind there's gonna be a

pathway around here, so truth be told,

we can tear down some of it.

And the way I'd like it to kinda curve out

is to kinda come out and in like that.

But again, I'm not working on this area

on this side.

I'm doing all of this.

So, we're just gonna kinda carve the land.

And, uh, I have it about 3 blocks thickness

so that we are able to carve it.

Uh. Now this takes a lot of stone, but usually

you get it back, because you are kind of

- what's the word -

sculpting! In a way.

So, uh, yeah, that's basically it.

Just carve the land out, and kinda get a,

like, get a flow going.

It's... it's really about just placing

random blocks, truth be told.

There's really no strategy to it.

It's just about getting comfortable

with, uh, you know, building in a

certain way, and all that kinda stuff.

And just kind of getting a shape that

you'd like to keep.

There is no real way to teach how to

landscape, because it is just random. [laughter]

So, I'm just kind of breaking and placing.

You can kinda see this is already starting

to smooth out.

But that's actually not something I want,

so what I'm gonna do is... kind of bring

this area up a bit more.

And kind of scratch everything I just did

up here.

Just because I'd like it to be a bit more

sharp than just round.

So we're just gonna do that, and then

it's gonna kind start to fall into place

once we start placing dirt.

But I think this is a good enough

shape for now.

So, the next thing you're gonna want to do,

once you've kind of developed the shape

- actually, let's break down that -

uh, once you've developed the shape,

you're gonna want to grab some dirt.

And then, obviously grass and whatnot.

So, let's grab the, uh, grass, and what

you're gonna do

- and this is something GoodTimesWithScar

always actually does - is, uh, kind of make an

overhang out of the dirt and the grass on

the top, and just mix it in.

So, kinda do this.

And like, lower it in some cases, and

just kinda play with it.

It's a very, very weird process, but once

you master it, you can make any landscape

you want.

So we're just gonna kinda do that.

And in some places I'm gonna mix it

into the land, and just kind of, you know,

get a flow going. [laughter]

That seems to be the, uh, catchphrase of the, uh, day.

We're just gonna do about that.

And then you know, you can, uh,

raise it up and lower it and do all that

kind of stuff.

Let's see about where we're at.

Yeah. So you'll notice some of these areas

are like, you know, specifically hanging over.

That's exactly what we want.

And you also kinda want to make it so that

some of them are a little bit deeper

than just one.

So just kinda doing all that kind of stuff.

And I'm gonna actually make an overhang

out of that - maybe bring it down one though.

Just to kinda get it going.

And it looks very, very rough right now.

But don't worry, it's gonna look a lot better

once we start placing the grass.

But, let's find a way up here.

And then just simply start placing grass.

Like, it's seriously that simple.

You're just gonna place it on top

of every block.

So, all the dirt that we just placed,

we're just gonna go along and do

that same thing.

And now, we're a little too, you know high up.

So we're just gonna build this land up

eventually, but for now we're just working

on the uh, you know, facade of the whole thing.

So let's kind of give it a one layer, uh, background.

Like a one layer width background.

Just to kind of have some support for it

as we're building it.

So, we've kind of done that.

And what you're gonna do,

is in some places, you know, raise it up

and all that kind of stuff.

And as you kind of expand that way,

you're just gonna raise the land,

do all that kind of stuff.

Uh, and there's different ways to blend it in

once you've done that.

I'm actually gonna bring that one block down

I think.

That way we can kind of have a nice little edge.

So now you can see it's actually starting

to look a lot more like a basic landscape.

And that's exactly what we want -

I'm gonna add that there -

and just kind of blend it, right?

So that's essentially what you're wanting

to start with, and then after that,

all you gotta do is just get, like, cobblestone

and just kind of like, break it in. [laugh]

And make it look like the whole cliff

is like a rubble.

So, basically doing texturing, and all

that kind of stuff.

You can really get a very cool effect out of it.

Uh, and then once you add in the things

like ferns, and tall grass, it starts

to look AMAZING.

So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and kind of

retexture everything.

We're gonna use andesite

and cobblestone for that.

Uh, but I'm gonna kinda get this all done

and I'll show you guys the somewhat

end product.

Alright, so I've just picked up some ferns.

That's about the last thing we really have to do.

Uh, but there is some stuff that I forgot

that I'm gonna go ahead and show you guys

before we end off the episode.

So let's fly straight through here -

there we go -

that was pretty cool! [laugh]

But yeah, so it's looking very, uh,

overgrown at the moment,

which I do not like.

And I want to kinda redo some of it.

But, I just wanted to show you guys

a few things that I, like, kinda forgot to show.

Let's just get rid of that.

So one of the biggest things is that

to really make it look messy, but like,

still a cliff.

And you'll see the main different between

this and this.

This is very flat, and the reason why is

because it doesn't have the

half slabs and the stairs.

As well as, like, rubble. The texturing.

So it just, kinda looks like a standard,

you know, clean, uh, not gonna fall down

anytime soon, you know, not man-made landscape.

And that's fine, but this, in my opinion,

just looks better.

It fits the area, and it actually makes you

feel like you're a part of something,

something someone built.

So basically using the stairs to kind of

crack the stone really helps, in my opinion.

And then, of course, adding leaves is

always a good thing.

Uhm, but then you're just gonna want to

get some of the ferns and just kind of

place them along the place.

Just, you know, like normal, natural growth.

That way it looks like it's, you know,

being taken care of.

And like, it's active, and

just a cool little place.

And obviously tall grass is something you

want to add as well,

I just don't have any of that.

Let's go and grab some of this, since all of this

is eventually going to be covered anyways.

Uh, but the biggest thing I forgot to show -

after I place some of these down,

I'll kind of give you guys the idea -

so let's go over here and grab

some of this course dirt.

So you'll notice right off the bat:

one of the things about this landscape

that's not really that great

is that the dirt kind of makes it look

too similar amongst the [inaudible].

It doesn't look natural.

If you add in some texturing to the dirt

with course dirt, it actually does a very

good job at fixing that.

So you'll kind of see, I'm like splashing it around.

So on these parts where there's one and

another one right beside each other,

you can totally make that look a lot better

just by placing in some course dirt.

And then another thing is like,

on the top -

let me kinda go up there, using

our little stair system here, and just

hopefully not break our legs jumping over -

if we kind of start to replace

some of the grass as well,

kind of like what we were doing

in the mesa biome,

then it also kinda blends it all together well.

Uh, and plus this is kinda the style of the entire area.

You know, uh, what's it called?

Podzel, that's right.

And then the course dirt's kinda

splashed around everywhere.

So if you do that, it'll look pretty good.

Uh, but just kinda blend that together,

and then you will have a pretty cool

looking landscape!

And then combine trees with that?

And you're all set and ready to go [laugh].

So what I'm gonna do is give you guys one final view

of the landscape we created.

Now this is extremely rough,

but this gives you an idea.

And some of you are gonna say,

"oh that's too messy"

"it's not really that good looking"

Uh, you know what, there's one

thing I do wanna add.

Let's add a rock, like right here.

Well. No, let's tuck it into the corner.

I'm gonna put a rock, just, right here

into the ground.

I think that could look pretty cool.

So we're just gonna do that.

Break that away.

And then do... that.

Nope! That!

Nope. C'mon.

There we go [laugh].

So doing those is something I learned

from GoodTimesWithScar as well.

Doing that really helps dress up the area

and blend it all together and bring it

down to the ground.

And just make it look whole.

But yeah, some of you are gonna say

"this looks ugly" [laugh]

And it does right now,

but once I kinda add some trees

and make the land look a little bit

better up there, it'll look a lot better.

But this just gives you an idea

of, uh, what you can do with custom landscaping.

And how to do it.

So let's kinda, get a good view

from a little far away -

and not, you know, die in the process -

yeah, so once that's kind of all carried out

and the landscaping is better,

and there's custom trees,

that'll look a lot better,

because it'll blend with that.

In my opinion it'll just work.

But it looks very rough right now.

But it's just a tutorial, so [laugh]

don't worry about that.

Anyways guys, that's really gonna do it for today.

I don't really have much time to do anything else.

Uh, I hope you guys have enjoyed this episode.

If you have, make sure you leave a thumbs up,

and let me know your thoughts on my

landscaping abilities.

Maybe good, maybe bad, I don't know?

I just want some feedback [laugh].

Anyways guys, thank you so much for watching.

I will see you in the next one.

My name has been SystemZ,

you guys have an awesome.

Thanks for watching!