Rounder than a circle: optical effects in interface design

Due to its cubic nature, Minecraft does not allow the use of circles, smooth angles, smooth broken lines and curves, but this obstacle can be overcome. Some players have not learned how to make curves and circles so realistically that from a distance a copy of the Golden Gate Bridge looks like the real thing. In this article, we'll show you how to imitate smooth lines and angles, as well as some techniques and ideas that will help you create arches, angles and circles like a pro.

A diagonal line is not a straight line from top to bottom, but it is not a curve either. It seems to connect two opposite corners of a rectangle. A diagonal of cubes is obtained if each subsequent block is placed one higher and to the side. Diagonal lines can be made steeper or shallower by adding blocks at the top or sides.

To make the diagonal steeper, for each block you place on the side, add 2-3 or more blocks on top. A flat diagonal is created in exactly the opposite way. Place several blocks side by side, then place a block above and to the side and place a few more next to it - 2-3 or more, depending on your needs. Throughout the line, maintain the selected ratio, such as 3:1 or 1:3.

Very often, especially when building curves, it is necessary to place blocks diagonally, without their sides touching.

To make a diagonal where the blocks touch on the same edge, you must first install the first block. Next, place one or two temporary blocks on the desired side, and then place the next diagonal block where it should be. After this, destroy the temporary blocks. If you are playing in Survival mode, use easily accessible land blocks as temporary ones.

For diagonals where the blocks only touch at one corner: do as the previous tip says, but add another temporary block to the side.

Smooth lines

While the diagonal maintains the ratio of blocks along its entire length, it is variable in the curve. The ratio can change slowly, the curve will bend smoothly and quickly - in the latter case it acquires sharp bends.

To make a curve, reduce the number of blocks you placed horizontally (or vertically) on each step. (A curve can have multiple equal, non-curved steps, and still maintain the general appearance of a curved line in Minecraft.)

Circles

The easiest way to make a circle in Minecraft is to use a template and exactly copy the number and location of the blocks. You can find many patterns of circles, domes and spheres if you search online for “How to make a circle, dome, sphere in Minecraft”. But there are some easy ways to build a great circle yourself. First decide how big it should be, that is, determine the diameter. Diameter is the length of a segment that runs from one side of a circle to the other through its center. Half the diameter is the radius, that is, the cuts going from the center of the circle to its edge. The easiest way is to create a circle with one block in the center, which means the diameter value will always be odd.

Then make a cross, two lines of which will be the diameters of the future circle.

At each of the 4 ends of the diameters, create identical lines. The length should be 5 blocks for a circle with a diameter of 9-17 blocks, 7 for a circle with a diameter of 19-41 blocks, 9 for a circle with a diameter of 43-49 blocks.

Once you have created these lines, start making a curve in one part of the circle. It should be symmetrical, so it is worth placing new lines, shorter ones, at both ends of the previous lines. Continue decreasing additional lines until they meet in the center. Experiment to make the quarter circle curve look symmetrical.

Once you've created a curve in one quarter of the circle, copy it exactly for the other three parts.

Use this pattern to create a circle of any size. You can make them small, but the larger they are, the better and smoother they look. A circle with a diameter of less than 7 blocks looks more like a square.

Arches

Arches can be used to create stunning bridges, grand entrances, building details. According to your wishes, you can make a semicircular, wide or narrow and even pointed arch. To maintain the arched appearance of your building, you need to maintain the curvature of the line. To do this, each next line of blocks must be the same or shorter than the previous one. If you want to bend the lines. In the other direction, then each next line should be the same or longer than the previous one.

Spheres

Just like for circles, there are templates on the Internet for creating spheres. You can make a sphere yourself, but it is more difficult than making a circle. In Minecraft, one way to create a sphere (or ellipsoid) is to build a series of circles on top of each other. In the middle of the sphere there will be a circle with the largest diameter. As you move, the diameter of the circles will decrease, although several circles of the same diameter may appear in the center. The trick is that you are not building a stack of circles in which the diameter of the next one is reduced by 1 block.

You need to choose the dimensions to create a curve that gives the impression of a shrinking sphere.

To make it easier to build the sphere, you can create an internal frame similar to what we did for the circle. To the two lines of the diameter of the circle, another one is added, adding volume. Then you need to make three circles that will intersect at the end points of the diameters. Using these circles as a basis, you need to make decreasing circles towards the tops of the sphere. It is more convenient to build from a horizontal circle up and down.

The sphere can be used to create objects floating in the air, such as spaceships and giant balloons. Quite often in construction, a hemisphere is used to create domes of large towers, churches, mosques, etc. buildings

Ellipses and ellipsoids

Ellipses are flattened circles. They can be made either by combining two arches, or by using a central cross, in which one line will be shorter. As with arches, you need to make sure that each half is identical to the other. Ellipses are used to create ellipsoids - elongated spheres. Balloons of aircraft, stadiums, etc. have an elliptical shape.

Even newbies to Minecraft know that everything in our game is square. Be it objects, characters, views. And we are happy with this, but sometimes there is a need to build something round in shape. It doesn't matter what size. Sometimes you want to place something similar in your minecraft world. What about a dome or a sphere? It sounds very tempting, especially if you imagine how great it could look. What about sizes? This is actually more than real. But how can we create something like this? With what tools?

You should know that there are actually many ways to do this. And today we will try to shed light on this topic for both creative and not so creative people :) In this article, let's look at some of the simplest and most common ones.

We draw on our own

Let's start with the fact that a sphere, or, in other words, a dome, can be drawn by hand. Yes, quite a long time and as it may seem difficult at first glance. But it's worth a try. So, let's start by searching on your computer for any simple image editing program (in other words, if you have Windows of any version installed, then this is Paint, or if you want, download other very similar programs like: Paintbrush and Gimp - fortunately, they both have free license). So, install and open. Select the Create a new document tab and click.

We have a blank sheet of paper in front of us, ready to create a sphere :) We look at the toolbar, there is definitely a circle there (the icon also depicts it). Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and drag until the size suits you. Here you need to note the following: this circle that is in front of you is, in principle, the same size as it will be in the game. What we mean here is pixel matching. Do you want a large sphere, for example 30x30? Then we make a circle with a size of 31 by 31 pixels. That's all, the dimensions are quite simple here.

Next, go to the program settings and increase the scale of the canvas. In Paint you don’t need to go into settings for this. As soon as we increase it, we look: in principle, one pixel is one block. And here everything becomes clear. Next, we transfer the scheme directly to minecraft.

Ready-made schemes

Did you know that such people exist? If you are still too lazy to bother with drawing and choosing the right size, look for ready-made diagrams on the Internet. There are quite a large number of them.

Generators

So, finally we come to the second method. It is clear that everything is easy with circles, but what to do with spheres and domes? For this purpose, there are entire generators for the game Minecraft on the Internet. Next, let's see what they are and what they can give in the end.

Let the first be a well-known generator program called mineConics. Let's download and watch. The interface is simple, a beginner can understand it. We look at the panel on the left and draw an object in the same way as in Paint. However, it soon becomes clear that it will not be possible to make a sphere here.

But the next tool - Neil’s Voxel Sphere is quite capable of making a circle. You can also try. In addition, it is available directly online, so you don’t have to litter your computer with various programs. Next up is Minecraft Structure Planner. And from the name it is clear that it was made for our game. There is a huge selection of functions, I don’t want to create them. However, it already needs to be downloaded.

Well, the last thing worth noting is the new online generator “Plotz” and it is made exclusively for spheres, domes and so-called observatories. Try it, it’s a little complicated, but tailored to these actions.

Choose what you like. And good luck to you!

How to make a ball in Minecraft?

Fans and players know very well that in this game everything is built using squares, rectangles - in general, blocks. But what if this whole square epic gets boring and you want to create round objects? There are several ways to do this. So, let's figure out how to make a ball in Minecraft.

The first method is Paint

This method cannot be called the simplest and fastest. In this case, we do the following:

1. Open the Paint program on your computer.
2. Select a tool and draw an ordinary circle of the size you need.
3. Let's zoom in. We will see a diagram of a circle, which is built using squares (actually these are pixels, but this is not so important to us, because squares are all that we have in the game, and it is with their help that we will build the circle).
4. We transfer the resulting diagram into the game in manual mode, that is, we build a figure based on a picture from Paint.
5. To reduce your work, you can use ready-made schemes.

The second method is a special command

For this method, we need to write a special command on the command line.

1. We write the command “hsphere” without quotes.
2. Separated by a space, write the ID of the block from which we make the dome.
3. We put another space and indicate the radius of our dome.
4. Press ENTER.

The third method is the Shape Generator

There are also special sphere generator programs for creating spheres and domes in Minecraft. We then transfer the scheme into the game manually using a block diagram.

1. mineConics is a simple online program for generating circles and ellipses in the game. In the upper right corner we see the command “add circle” and “add ellipse”, which, respectively, means adding a circle or ellipse. Click, mark the center and radius of your circle and draw it on the field. This program can also generate a rectangle or line. You cannot draw a sphere in this program.

Today we will talk about how to make an even circle in Minecraft and whether it is possible. In the virtual world of this game, all objects are square. However, a circle in Minecraft can be useful for the construction of various elements. For example, it could be a dome or a sphere. Next, we will discuss how to obtain such an element.

Drawing by yourself

Let's start with the fact that there are several options for solving the question of how to build a circle in Minecraft. Next we will describe the most accessible and common ones. You can draw the figure we need yourself. Getting a circle in Minecraft using this method is quite difficult. Moreover, it will take time. However, this option is worth trying.

We will need any application to create images. The easiest way is to use Paint. You can also download free programs Gimp or Paintbrush. In the selected graphic editor, draw a circle of the required size. Once placed in the game world, a geometric figure will lose one pixel in size. To preview what a circle will look like in the virtual world, just increase the image size. One pixel of the image will ultimately be equal to a block in the game. You can also download ready-made diagrams of geometric shapes so as not to draw them yourself.

Generators

Let's move on to the next solution to the question of how to get a circle in Minecraft. If such figures are needed in large quantities, you can use a special sphere generator. There are several of them. Let's talk about the most interesting ones. The first one was called mineConics. It has a very simple interface. In the drop-down menu on the left, set the size, and then draw.

However, this tool does not allow you to make a sphere. Therefore, let's consider another generator. It's called Neil's Voxel Sphere and allows you to create a sphere. The next tool worth paying attention to is Minecraft Structure Planner. It has many features related to planning a building. However, this development must be downloaded first. The Plotz online generator also deserves attention. It is designed specifically for working with spheres, domes and observatories.

additional information

We have already discussed how to create a circle in Minecraft. However, the use of such a figure has its own characteristics. Note that to obtain the result we need, you can also use plugins. To do this, the server must have WorldEdit. This feature is available for multi-user mode. If you are playing a single player game, the SinglePlayerCommands parameter will do. If these conditions are met, we enter a special command. It looks like this: “//sphere block radius”.

As a result, we obtain a non-hollow sphere with a given radius. Next we use the following command: “//hsphere block radius”. This will create a hollow sphere. The mcedit map editor will also help us achieve results. It allows you to make various changes to the virtual world surrounding our character. It also allows you to make various changes. Beginners should also know that the command responsible for the circles in the MinecraftStructurePlanner generator is called HemisphericalDome.