User blog:Ffets/Building Roads

This blog will be dealing with roads in general and how to transfer them into minecraft. Let me begin with a quote: "Roads go ever ever on,  Over rock and under tree,  By caves where never sun has shone,  By streams that never find the sea;  Over snow by winter sown,  And through the merry flowers of June,  Over grass and over stone,  And under mountains in the moon. "

- Travelling song from "The Hobbit", chapter 19

You can listen to a very appealing version of that song here on youtube (played by The Starlit Jewel, sung by Ernest Kinsolving and Kristoph Klover) and also watch a lot of examples for roads.

In the "Lord Of The Rings", when leaving the Shire, Frodo tells the other hobbits Bilbo's thoughts on "The Road":

"'"He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step onto the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'".''"

http://www.theamericanroadtripcompany.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/New-England-Autumn-road-101-670x447.jpg http://miriadna.com/desctopwalls/images/max/The-narrow-road.jpg http://f0.pepst.com/c/0A27F8/5191/ssc3/home/015/ariful20/album/wood_walking_path.jpg_480_480_0_64000_0_1_0.jpg

My attitude is a bit different: For me the roads are a big net. Everything is connected with everything else. As soon as you step in front of your door, you are balancing that net and can reach everything you can imagine. You are "on the road again" and I like that feeling.

Theory of roads
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/49564892.jpg

The idea of roads is as old as mankind. When you think for example of the songlines of native Australians, where people memorize the landmarks and natural phenomena in a song which is sung, as they travel along the countryside. This is the concept of a virtual road, which is not built in the real world, but exists in the minds and the songs of people nonetheless.

When this mere idea of a road is followed frequently by several people, it will show up as a path in reality, because the landscape will wear out more on the path than besides of it. Now, to make travelling easier, people start to remove obstacles, cut branches of trees, fill in holes, building small footbridges and so on. At last, when traffic grows, roads get paved, enlarged in width, big bridges and tunnels are built to make traffic easier and quicker.

What purpose does this serve? In the stone age, travelling was a necessity, and is still essential for todays nomads. You had to move out of the cold in winter and out of the heat in summer. You had to follow the game you were chasing and reach points to trade in the right moment. You had to find water and food for the people and the early domesticated animals.

http://tourism.kardzhali.org/en/pic/dcbbe31d77e67f5f5bfd96ce17485330.jpg

In medieval times, roads were important for the traders. Towns on a road, on rivers and at the sea shore grew big and wealthy through trade. It was also important to quickly move your troops from place to place and for craftsman to find new work to be done. Here is a tutorial, how to build a medieval road in minecraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrMkbAH1_BA

Nowadays, as we've got planes and the railway as alternatives, perhaps roads are no longer that important as before. You don't need a road to send an E-Mail instead of a riding messenger or make a video conference instead of actually traveling somewhere. You can transfer money via bank accounts instead of dragging chests of gold somewhere.

To be continued ....