Minecraft Video Game Build-A-Thon WINNERS!

Posted by Kristin on March 5, 2011

Our inaugural Minecraft Build-A-Thon contest has ended, and the results are in! Yes… You’ve tested positive for AWESOME.

Nerdy Show and Minecraft-Skins asked the Minecraftverse to build the coolest video game-themed structures your blocky mind could conceive for a chance to sample from an incredible cache of rare video game memorabilia. The Server of Awesome was ablaze with your creative fire (sometimes literally) and when the smoke had cleared… we were in awe.

Who are the champions of this mighty challenge? What glorious structures competed to become the stuff of Nerdy Show and Minecraft legend? That’s what I am here for gang! To fill you in on each and every one of the exciting entries. To hear myself and the Nerdy Show crew gush over our contestants (ha ha), check out the latest Nerdy Show, Crossover Crisis, but to SEE the wonders that wait within the Server of Awesome… read on!

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First of all, thanks to everyone who entered – job well done! All the entries were stupendous. Perhaps some of our listeners weren’t aware, but the entries were submitted publicly on the Nerdy Show Forums. While you can still check those out I thought it would be cooler to present a tribute to all the amazing entries submitted to our Minecraft Build-A-Thon!

First the winners! Big congratulations goes to these fine and illustrious entries!

FIRST PLACE

Kutsu_Shita: The Legend of Zelda: A Cart Through the Mine!

Aka “The Legend of Zelda Experience” And boy… what an experience! Kutsu made an unbelievable underground full-circle rollercoaster. This entry is an incredible experience from start to finish. You walk in and are immediately immersed in a dungeon. The sprite art is dead-on with just a few minor tweaks. He decided to make Zelda sexier and updated Ganon to his Ocarina form descending from of a pool of lava! Another feature that made this entry stand out was the music. Kutsu replicated the Zelda naming screen music with the new music blocks and it can be heard throughout most of the ride!

Kutsu's complex music circuitry

Very well done Kutsu_Shita, enjoy your well earned loot!

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SECOND PLACE

Kaosubaloo – Torterra

This was IMPRESSIVE! We wouldn’t have expected any less from the mastermind that brought us Mount Creeper. But this epic Pokemon monument is only part of his entry. There’s a secret lurking in the bowels of the beast!

This appears to be a small town inside. I wonder…could it BE!?

Yup, it’s Pallet Town!

This magnificent giant dirt turtle also has a huge tree upon it’s back! It offers a fantastic view. Kaosubaloo also presented his entry in the form of a narrative of one Pokemon trainer’s adventure, check out the commentary here!

A pretty view from the big ass tree!

Congrats Kaosubaloo! And thank you for the giant dirt turtle!

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THIRD PLACE

OmniG-Sage0’s Water Palace from Secret of Mana

From its grand entrance to its murky depths – this rendition of the Water Temple has it all! To get inside this beautiful, watery sanctum you must brave swift currents and have a will of steel.

The Mana Seed platform has a grand glass ceiling above it revealing that the entire structure is underwater. He also added a room behind the seed that houses a sprite of Undine the Water Spirit!

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Deciding on the winners was a tough decision. We received a lot of fantastic mega structures and amazing sprite art, but the complexity of the structures beat out the sprites. However… one sprite entry stuck out above the rest. An epic battle between some badass Pokemon! We couldn’t let this amazing entry go unrewarded so we added a 10th prize to the cache. Nerdy Show is pleased to award an honorable mention for outstanding sprite art to….

Mechsrule1, B1Brigade, shirkbot’s – Pokemon Double Battle!

“Clashing in the world of Minecraft, four pokemon battling it out! Tyranitar vs Nidoking!
Haunter vs Gligar!“- Mechasrule1

Not only is the piece four amazing examples of sprite art, but… are those 3D attacks I see?

YUP!

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Now for the remainder of the entries! When we say that every single one of these was outstanding – we do not lie. Gasp in awe at their magnificent splendor – and recognize these accomplishments in blocky building. Without further adieu here are the rest, in no particular order:

ArcticBanana’s Cave Story Sprites!

These cool sprites have been hanging out by spawn for a while now.

Balrog and Misery!

King! (These days he’s sporting his magenta shirt).

Quote and Curly Brace!

OmniG-Sage0’s C64 Bruce Lee!

This is so accurate it looks like it was ripped right off the screen. An eclectic choice. Well played!

B1Brigade’s Battletoad!

Rash!

Yes, call of the raid! Nerdy Show’s Server of Awesome has Battletoads! Thanks B1brigade!

And as the sun sets Rash protects the Server of Awesome from the Dark Queen’s evil clutches!

Kahalis Presents: Harvest Moon 64!

Kahalis is well known on the server as a builder of supreme structures, and his entry for the contest is awe-inspiring. A magnificent tribute to Harvest Moon 64! This masterpiece includes the farm, the town, the wilderness, the vineyards and more!

Pink wool cherry trees

Kahalis also took a lot more screen shots – you can check them all out here!

Mopkins, Oblivion Gate!

For The Emporer!

This structure is massive! And it actually takes you to Oblivion… kinda…

Arkais, Zelda Dungeon Recreation: Level 1- Eagle!

Arkais has re-imagined level 1 – Eagle from the NES Classic The Legend of Zelda! It’s hard to truly grasp this entry until you’ve experienced it in person – just ask Ark and he’ll let you in. It’s pitch black, filled with monsters and traps and faithfully recreates the entire dungeon in Minecraft form.

To see all the pictures of this dungeon, view them with this handy dandy slide show!

Trent, End of Time!

Trent‘s End of Time from Chrono Trigger is haunting and beautiful. See how perfectly the structure drifts in a sea of darkness.

If you wish to visit this exotic location Trent has made a little map to help you out!

Shirkbot! Trogdor versus Dig Dug!

Shirkbot gave us a fantastic and uncanny battle for his contest entry. In one corner we have… THE BURNINATOR!

and in the other corner… DIG DUG.

I wonder which hero will win this shocking showdown!

Whew! Thanks for these incredible entries gang! All of your hard work and virtual blood and sweat has paid off! Each and every one of these are spectacular. I know I have said it over and over but seriously the Server of Awesome has some of the best darn players on it- incredible people with amazing talent

The Minecraft Build-A-Thon will return… with a new theme and new prizes. Until then… Keep on building!

NEW MAPS!

With the map revision of the 1.3 Beta update, the software we’d been using to capture maps became obsolete… again. So we’ve picked up another new map making tool, based off the one we started with: Cartograph G. The good news is that these maps aren’t as absurdly large as mc map, and our map isn’t so big that it breaks this version of Cartograph. The bad news is that it does break some angles. So what we’ve got for you is a directly overhead map, and an isometric map.

Get ’em HERE.

If you haven’t already gawked at the new maps using Tectonicus then you are really in for a huge treat. These maps are absolutely stupendous, and very Google maps-esque! Check it out!