Picking a spot for settlement...

[dchow002]

Howdy all!

Just joined recently. Just had a question on how you guys picked a place to settle. I read the Sevenless' Guide, and it was mentioned to stay away 6-7 squares from the waters. Does that mean the red grid from the Ender Grid Mod?

Also, is it even possible to settle in an area with no one? I figured out my position on the Haven Map, but it seems like every where I look I see buildings or claims. Are those white unloaded areas a safe bet?

Thanks again!

[borka]

Unmapped areas are no safe bet right away...

You might prolly have a better change to find an unovercrowded area in the unmapped far outer grids , on the other hands some areas are mainly crowded with inactive places ...

[xPandoriix]

I wouldn't worry to much. There are a lot of abandoned settlements no matter where you go, same goes with active ones.
You want to be far enough from a body of water so when someone boats by and zooms out, they are not going to see you. You don't want to bring attention to yourself. Another mistake people make is making their home by a cave. People are very curious and most likely will go on your property to check out that cave. Caves are good, but bring unwanted attention. Having too large of a settlement, or too many walls also bring unwated attention. People with good q things tend to wall themselves in too much leaving the rest wondering what he has!

I recommend making a small settlement in an area you like. Walling yourself in with a brickwall as soon as possible. If you are going to use a palisade make sure it is on the inside of your brickwall. Make sure to seal your brickwall corners too! You can always make a well on the inside:) Make sure you have enough room for w.e you need such as a mine, trees, garden etc.!!

Good luck

[Amanda44]

Another mistake people make is making their home by a cave. People are very curious and most likely will go on your property to check out that cave. Caves are good, but bring unwanted attention.

Yes, caves can bring unwanted attention but I wouldn't call it a 'mistake' to settle in or by one, esp since you can only advance so far without metals or without trading for them. To build a minehole is expensive and time consuming and you may find you're unable to mine it once you've built it. A cave is a necessity imo, you only need a small pali to secure it and can always extend your claim at a later date for a farm etc, meanwhile, live and build in the cave whilst mining for the metals for your b/wall.

Very few pali-bashers are going to be interested in your cave, unless you start paving the outside with gold, lol, just b/wall it outside and in asap.

As for water, I know everyone says don't do it but ....... I'm too lazy, so I do, not a main busy waterway system but usually next to a quiet lake or easy walking distance of a river. Once you've got a pali up not everyone boating by is going to stop and plunder and if you choose your location carefully there shouldn't be that many people boating by anyway.

But, yes, the more you look like you have going on the more reason for people to show an interest so don't develop too much before building your b/wall - another advantage of having a cave being you can develop below ground and just have a small farm above. With a good cave position and a river, you can build the pali far enough out to hide the cave from view and once you have your village idol up you can use the xrd system to reach the river.

So, pro's and con's both ways but if you are careful and pay attention to security i'd go for caves and a river eveytime, lol.