It was the summer of 2k24, and after grinding out my thesis film, “the Demolition of Gold Hill Mall,” and graduating college, I was completely burnt out. For 4 months, I couldn’t make myself draw or work; all I could do was learn to skate and play Minecraft with friends who also had nothing better to do than our post-grad summer server. On this page, I will break down the survival Minecraft project I was working on, Diamond Hill Mall, and all the fun details it contained!
For this server I set a couple rules for myself to keep things fun.
- No elytra, Netherite, or mending.
- Every redstone machine must come from my brain, with the
exception of a few simple circuits.
- No litematica or dupers, and keep creative planning to a
minimum.
Being in 1.21, my first goal was to make a flashy tnt powered bamboo farm in the center of where the mall would later be to fuel my smelter and supply my wood. The tnt rain every half hour or so was expensive but it was sure a spectacle!
I spent a while designing my own self-sustaining moss farm which I feel like is still my biggest redstone accomplishment. I like to use moss to frame out my builds because it’s easy to break, and once I had a farm and my bonemeal switch, I had infinite of both!
I used the bonemeal at Stumpy’s, my place to farm trees and to hide misc farms (wheat, cows) and Diamond Hill’s only anchor store. I set up a dropper on top to destroy the leaves, and a bubble elevator l so I could go up and chop the rest of the tree, which was the best redstone solution I was willing to come up with.
I had a friend chasing me once, so instead of fighting back i led him through here and blew him up with the tnt dropper…
Like Abigail, my favorite store is the Hot Topic; just look at that sign! Mob loot from the farm I built on day 1 is pumped across the mall and sorted into shelves. This is actually the second mall i’ve built with a Hot Topic made for mob loot; the first one was for an unreleased server hub during my pro-builder days. I think this turned out much better!
Every trash can on the first floor is fully functional, funneling into the North dumpsters. To accomplish this, a massive basement was dug to have room for all the pipes. All the Enderman litter gets moved into the South dumpsters, because I think it’s fun to see them get filled with actual trash. Thanks to the then new infested potion, every visit has a chance for a rat attack!
Doing an unreasonable amount of research for my thesis film made me want to make Diamond Hill as complete as possible. Every store has an emergency exit that leads to the back hallways, which house unused kiosks, shelving, and the Christmas decorations. They also connect to the main office, security office, and redstone rooms.
What took the longest was the parking lot. Not only did I (with the help of friends) place all that stone, I also had to build soooo many custom trees and unique cars, with no creative planning or litematica.
I had help with the second floor. My best friend’s little brother really wanted to help, so I let him build a bedroom, as well as a pizzeria inspired by a game i’ll leave unmentioned. The second floor has a food court, a bamboo/cactus store, and 2 vacant storefronts.
By the end of the server’s life, I’d accomplished my goal of completing my first (and probably last) mega base. I used to design my bases with room to expand forever, but they never ended up feeling finished. This project helped me realize I wasn’t ready to be done with the world of Gold Hill Mall, which led to the creation of the comic that this site is all about!
Here's a link to the music used on this page,
Wet Hands covered by Shoplifting.
