Sound on RUclips can be difficult. If a video exceeds -14 LUFS and -1.5 dBs as True Peak, then RUclips will compress the audio. It's such a pain. If you can put those parameters into your editing software and maybe bring the sound down a little, even if it's just to limit the TP, it may help. I know it then ends up being a balancing act with not being too quiet, so not straightforward, but that's my guess as to what is happening.
The simple job of labeling the structures really made me notice so many details in the Ancient City that I had never noticed before. It really is a fascinating place! Now.. about those Warden belly rubs!!😊
@@daskalosBCE In a way, playing Minecraft is all about story telling simply by being creative. We can see your story telling technique and we appreciate it very much cos it isn't just you talking to yourself basically, which I'm sure makes it easier for you.
Another thing you might have not notice Is that the structure Is mostly made out of deepslate bricks, but other that there are also some parts made out of dark oak wood implying that they arent part of the original structure Now Guess what Minecraft entity builds stuff in Blue wool, dark oak wood and Is know to destroy/steal stuff? Thats right PILLAGERS So its pretty much guaranteed that Pillagers not only raid villages but also have raided the city you two are currently excavating
14:58 I think you could have safely removed the sculk veins as well, since those just cover blocks as an additive piece--they dont destroy or change blocks from what I understand. I would also hesitate to call the Sculk, "plants," as they seem much more like mycelium. Notice how one action in one spot can effect another area of sculk (re: sensors). Much like many mushrooms, they feed on the decaying matter in the ground--albeit the sculk consume the dead at a much more rapid pace than the vast majority of fungal species
I would point out that the dark oak wood only pops up alongside the light blue carpet. I think pillagers may have made their way into the ancient city, which is why the city is "pillaged"
If you come across disc shards, you can craft a music disc. Listen to it, and it gives some insight into the backstory Theres one theory that the people of older times summoned a wither on the surface, ran underground to escape, built the city and accidentally summoned the warden. When the wither found them again, they ran away again, making the stronghold as a final home from the dangers of the outside world
Gotta love the editing at the start of the video "multiple activations have even been even known to sum... cuts out", like someone cut the rest of the film off to censor it.
If you think about it, it's odd how the city has no houses, so my theory is the houses are made of wood and have rotted away/disappear over time, including the missing parts of a random city wall that seemingly disconnected/out of place. I mean on rare occasion the ancient city can spawn a bathhouse/spa type structure with two small stone shacks (likely changing room) & two small pools in it, this implies the population in this city is big but due to it not being near a river, perhaps in a valley, they need a bathhouse/spa to clean themself daily and you only go to the river during laundry day because it's a hassle.
@@xGOKOPx There is one type that seems to be residential (usually spawn in two/duplicated across opposite side of the city, we don't notice it's a copy of each other when in the dark), but there rest either serve as a temple/ritual reason, decor (like a warden statue lying down), or for defence. So the missing structures rotted away is the most logical conclusion. It's also save to assume the brick residential building likely owned by someone of high status to mark the residential place's importance while the common folk live in more easy to build wooden houses, using material that is readily available instead having to be mined like stones/bricks. Just a deduction based on clues given to us in the ruined city.
I agree with other commenters. The evidence of looting, mainly the scaffolding made of dark oak and blue wool, suggests that the structure was visited before by illagers - this group is known as the only culture to use dark oak(which seems to have a cultural significance - they use it even in areas where this material isn't available)
If you need a taste breaker from all the skulk, you could to a miniseries/single episode about properly handling a desert temple. As they do have suspicious sand that you can brush.
I once tried to restore an ancient city. I made a lot of progress, but I burned out and gave up. One of the most interesting parts to fix was the hallways/roads. Figuring out the block patterns on the inner wall, getting the right blocks in the right spot, making sure the lights were in the right spots...
The part where you analysed the chest was so interesting, really makes you think how archeologists from a world with Minecraft rules would have to take into consideration things like chest items order and what an automatic placement looks like contrasted to a deliberate placement or one where some things were taken out
Looters are horrible people. Archeologists never take stuff from an archeological side. Raiders do. If an archeologist takes something from an archeological side, it's only with permission from the archeological side horst (probably a commite that judges the worth of the found artifact on its historical, financial and anthropological value) and it's probably a low-value item or an artifact several identical exemplars exists of. This gifts aren't something to expect, but a sign of respect for your work and a result of your respect for the work you've done. Specially if it's an more unique item. Most archaeologists will see it as offensive and deeply insulting to get called a looter or to get accused of treating artifacts with disrespect. Archeologists also do not treat artifacts like Pokemon cards. They don't trade them or sell them. Archaeology is a serious business and they take it very serious. Even hobby archeologists take this very serious, so if anyone reading this happen to stumble upon a historical side, please do not take anything if not allowed to by authorized personnel. If it's a unknown historical side, please report it to a local authority. Thanks.
I've heard it theorized that the Illagers have been in the ancient cities, given that there is dark oak, their main resource, in the cities, but the idea that the cities had been looted by them hadn't occured to me. It leads me to think that maybe the illagers stole the item that could light the portal, and quite possibly something that gave them their magic, like some artifact. Sculk works mainly with souls, after all, and what is a vex? A vengeful soul, commanded by the illagers.
It's possible, given the specialized tools scattered across the chests, that the original inhabitants or others were scared off by the Warden and they or another group returned with these tools and techniques developed over time or multiple times to try to reclaim their home. It is clear that all combined efforts failed, regardless of whether each group was the original inhanitants or someone else. Whatever their efforts, the timing of when the Warden appeared and when certain blocks and items were placed becones relevant. Admittedly, this is more like anthropology. Multiple and separate efforts may be the source of the change from gray wool to bluer wool colors, the addition of dark oak wood, and definitely explains the Swift Sneak spellbooks only found here, the hoes specialized in removing sculk objects, and other elements.
About the comment on the Looting, There is always the Illigers who are often described as Raiders and Looters and have a penchant for using Light-Wool and Dark-Oak, A lot of Structures around the City, from Watchtowers to some corridor sections, actually appear to have been repaired using these materials, Compared to the actual natural deepslate material of the city, Implying that they might have come down at one point, Set up shop in watchtowers they built up, Used Dark-Oak Wood to repair pathways to key structures for the duration of their expedition, And used their Will to supplement what already existed. So it might be worth looking into any structures that stick out and have similarities with Illiger building Designs, from their Mansions and Outposts and seeing how those might have crept into the City and overlayed onto existing or destroyed structures... Essentially contaminating the city with their foreign building style.
I feel like the signs of sculk probably mean that at some point alot of things died in the city whether of natural causes, entering the city after its already been taken over or something else.
I can't wait to see how you tackle the Illager structures that were constructed while they were looting the ruins. You can even see that one of the massive pillars was converted into a guard tower using dark oak.
I believe that it's equally possible that the original inhabitants returned a second time to try to reclaim their City, evidenced by other Ancient Cities that have storehouses of not only light blue but cyan wool.
It's widely believed that pillagers looted the Ancient Cities - there are many connections to Woodland Mansions and Ancient Cities that brings people to think pillagers visited the Ancient Cities
@@Mr.scooter-le8yo Read my comment again. I'm suggesting that the chest was FULL, and then was EMPTIED in a hurry (at random, or most valuable things first).
So, I noticed that you asked about what the Skulk had replaced, saying the Deepslate Bricks. However, Skulk can only replace natural blocks. If there was a crafter involved the Skulk would not be able to convert it. So, in the Deep Dark those blocks would have likely been Deepslate as well as Granite, Andesite, and Dorite. If there was a Lush Cave or Dripstone Cave in the area then most of those blocks would have been converted as well. So that potentially means the city was being hewn out of the cave when the Skulk invaded. You might have a structure that wasn't originally finished. Which is kinda cool to think about.
I actually noticed some things about the ancient cities that you brought out that made me think about it more. I've made a few observations so I'll list em: -The small structures with the pillars outside them (Labeled with blue banners): All of these structures follow a similar design, and many of them have chests inside them. The chests contain a variety of loot, from coal to bones to hoes and armor. It makes me think these places were once possibly residential. It can be safely assumed the sculk is not new, and has been around since the city itself has been around, hence all the Warden effigies. With this in mind, these chests with hoes displayed inside them could be what the citizens of this lost civilization used to keep the sculk at bay. The sculk is removed best with hoes, and perhaps people used the hoes frequently to dig up sensors and shriekers as they appeared to prevent the Warden from being summoned. The Warden itself being a feared, but respected, aspect of their society. -In the back of the cities there is what seems like an encampment with light blue and blue wool hoarded around a campfire. This could be the location that people arriving to the cities after their collapse used in their looting efforts to consolidate their plans and rest after moving around the cities. They are usually set up in areas where the sculk is not as prevalent, thus allowing them to move and make noise more freely.
Judging by other things seen in game, the light blue carpet seems to go with the dark oak structures. Both of these seem to have been built on top of the ruins later. Combined with illagers being heavy users of these blocks and the mourner pottery sherd (a sherd with a warden on it) in cold ocean ruins its safe to assume that illagers ventured down there, built temporary encampments, looted stuff, and left to tell the tale of
This project is so fascinating. 🤩Can't wait for the next episode. I have a question please: At the beginning you talked about which blocks the sculk replaced and you suspected that there might have been a deepslate brick in one place. Purely from a Minecraft mechanics perspective, the sculk would only replace naturally generated blocks like deepslate and basalt. But not crafted blocks like deepslate bricks. These structures are ruins. Therefore, some blocks are weathered or otherwise changed, which Minecraft represents through different blocks. Does it matter which Minecraft block was actually there in order to be able to deduce the supposed original block?
I came upon your channel practically by accident... but, man, whan an amazing, interesting aproach! I'm going back to the previous series! This is amazing! You've got a fan here!!!
Matpat from Game theory has given me a good idea on what the Ancient cities were. However this realistic way of going through the city has given much more Imaginative growth of the history of the city. I honestly can't wait to see what you come up with so that i can compare your findings with matpat's.
Rewatching your content, and I was reminded about this: I'm not sure how much you know about Pokemon, but the Cobblemon mod for Minecraft updated semi-recently with their own archaeology update. Most of the 'structures' are natural landmarks that contain Pokemon fossils, but there are a few ruins that might benefit from your take on them, such as the watchtowers and ruined pillars. The mod adds its own sherds, artifacts - like tumblestones for making (traditional) Pokeballs, and crafting materials. You can use tumblestones to make ancient Pokeballs like those seen in Legends: Arceus. For now, the ruins they introduced appear to be based on ruins in Paldea, from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. If you're interested in doing a little research to look for context not yet provided in the mod, Bulbapedia and Serebii are good places to check. Though to be fair, even Gamefreak doesn't seem to have provided us with much info. That being said, this might not really be up your alley, which is totally understandable. I look forward to seeing more, either way!
Looking at the map, there appears to be an inner and outer ring of either road or wall that fades into the areas not excavated, suggesting that the place should sprawl the entirety of the cut-out. In fact, you can see how the encroaching layers in the bottom-right quadrant have essentially snuffed out the remains of all of its structures while the opposite, bottom-left, has had less encroaching loss so still has 11 ruins remaining. It'd be interesting to see what the different areas might've looked like fully way back. I also wonder how far out the original city sprawled because it's clear that so much has been lost and compacted beyond the radius of the main roads that they're hitting right against rock now.
I had a thought while I was exploring an ancient city recently. Some of the structures reminded me of Greek/Roman architecture. One building remnant in particular had a 1 block deep square pool lined with stairs, similar to an ancient Greek bathhouse. I also remember about how some civilizations would have something similar to refrigeration by carving and moving blocks of ice to store them underground to help preserve meat or seeds. Some of the towers could of housed large fires to keep the city lit because of the darkness, and maybe the soul lanterns used to be regular lanterns before the skulk invaded. I am unsure what is truly canon when it comes to Minecraft lore. Pretty sure the civilization used to worship the warden and skulk as an almighty entity like a lot of ancient cultures did. They wanted to establish a city, then build a portal to welcome their deity into the world. Now, whether or not the wool that is part of the structures existed before the people realized how much their deity hated sound, I haven't a clue. Either ways, it was clear they wanted to try to appease the skulk by trying to live as quiet a life as possible. It didn't work as people died, the skulk absorbed their lives, and continued to spread eventually wiping the city out. However, there must have been survivors, as often I stumble into a city via underground tunnels. Likely, they dug their way up and out, the same way looters and myself get in. I agree with the idea that pillagers or looters found their way in then were chased back out. In the city I found there was a pile of wool blocks dyed in shades of light blue and cyan, similar to the carpet on the gray wool blocks, as well as the color of the wool you tend to find in a woodland mansion room; also in a pile. Maybe a coincidence? My thinking is that the pillagers somehow found out about the entity lurking in the dark and a way to try to sneak around it. Also a theory that pillagers could be the descendants of the survivors, and now they are trying to reclaim the treasure from the city their ancestors once lived in. Either way, they have this obsession with wool and statues made of wool. Also why those colors specifically...the colors of their culture and deity in a sense. Doesn't blue hues fade to gray the easiest? Maybe just me.
Will be interesting to look at structures A1 and B7, as well as the aforementioned unique B2. Both A1 and B7 ashare a design seperate from the other structures, and are also notably more isolated from other structures, the only similarly isolated structure being C5, whch may be entirely due to Locus C being the most sparse quadrant.
this is such a massive undertaking and i just want to say im impressed and want to thank you for doing this. im super interested in what the final product will be but the process is just as fascinating
I think an equally valid theory is that the people living there left suddenly (possibly due to the Warden) especially if you posit that the skulk came afterwards and destroyed some of the structure
i always thought the deep dark kinda cool, but i never realized just how creepy and mysterious it is! your intro did such a good job of conveying just how strange and scary it can really be with the educational film reel style!
These videos are so cool. I always noticed the blue carpet in the Ancient Cities, but they kinda match the soul lanterns and soul campfires so I chalked it up to being a pop of color that fits the scheme. Your explanation is way cooler, and it fits so well with the way Minecraft generates chests with random item placement. Really good observations and storytelling there. I can't wait to watch the rest of these!
I know this series just started, and I'm really digging it! But I kinda hope your next series makes use of the Distant Horizons and Tectonic mods for a more realistic sense of scale, I think it'd be really cool to see you build something pretty grand with sightlines like that and properly sized fields/plains/rivers instead of piddly minecraft default geology
This is an exciting project. I love watching the process. I'm also excited to see the analysis and what the fold here in the comments think as well. Thanks for this series!
we have theories about the Illigers being looters but we have seen civilisations collapse and rebuild in a different way (Cahokia/kahokiaki people, the African continent has multiple examples, South Americas, ect), maybe the original inhabitants were proto-illagers? or the illagers and villagers share a common ancestral civilisation that collapsed and the survivors split into multiple civilisations later?
More likely, built later. The dark oak sticks out to me. This is a rare wood, not often found in the mountainous biomes where Ancient Cities are generated. My theory is that it, like the blue wools, are not local, and came from somewhere that might BE local... if that central structure is a gate to an Otherside.
the ‘warden structures’ had Skulk Shriekers down where the warden mob has that glowing core. it would seem like the inhabitants had a connection to the warden, and maybe they intended for the shriekers to be there
The current most accepted theory about the blue wool & also the dark oak wood (which is usually not far from blue carpet when you see it) is that the ancient city was found by the Pillagers who are the only other group we see building with Dark Oak, and in some areas it kind of seems like they were rebuilding or making it easier to traverse, you'll see towers and unfinished/collapsed bridges made of dark oak here and there. I'd say it's safe to assume anything made with blue wool and dark oak is newer. I'd also say it's safe to assume that something discouraged them from finishing the project, since the chests haven't been looted fully and that most of the dark oak structures are decrepit and unfinished; so probably too many complications with the warden made the project more of a loss than a gain.
This has inspired me to fix an ancient city near my spawn. It has some weird chunk errors so I've had a hard time figuring out what to do with the city until now
Amazing and interesting video! 👏 (Really well done honestly) Could you get a real paleontologist to excavate the fossils found in the deserts and swamps? We would be interested.
I was interested by the looting theory coz what i always thought in my mind was a possibility of, lore wise, the inhabitants were aware of the ancient city's growing skulk problem/infection and the new wool in my head was sturggling maintainence as to prevent the skulk spreading over the carpet and with the gray maybe originally beingnblue and fading. The tools in the chests.seem to point towards this too with swift sneak being probably a thing citazens eould crave as to simultaneously not lose productivity and avoid summoning the warden and the hoes for removing skulk. Do you think there is any validity to this theory? I definately can see the looter theory too as what would the avarage player do, mechanically would be to loot the city, losing that context. I dunno tho im not an archaeologist lol.
when i learned about the ice box in the ancient cities, i started making them in my own builds. i hadn't thought to make them before but the introduction of them in setting i think...put forth a lot of implications about the world? That there was a need to properly store food and also that this civilization was advanced enough to take that into consideration. i feel like its one of those small things that says a lot about the implied history of the minecraft world, yknow?
The looters, pillager or otherwise as some people have guessed, seemingly don’t take some of the most valuable items, armor, weapons, tools, enchantment books, and do bottles, perhaps these looters were in a hurry, maybe only taking basic resources like food and water, which might be hard to get underground, or only what they could carry, it suggests that they were in a hurry and not going for riches like most looters, my guess is that pillagers discovered the place, started looting and awoke the warden, forcing them to leave behind most of their valuables and retreat, the blue wool was from later and more careful attempts that still ended in disaster, it’s likely many of the items in these chests despawned after the ones who stole them died
I love this series please keep up the great work I’ve always wondered about archeology and you present it in a way that’s really easy to understand but still sounds super idk smart? Or real either way it’s great
I’m surprised that archeologists can not only restore real world structures but also structures in Minecraft! This video really makes me rethink about the history of the Minecraft world, before ancient city is just a scary and creepy place for me to loot stuffs haha. Also really shocked that the ancient city is actually sophisticatedly designed, when it’s under the ground it just looks like pure chaos 😅
As an archeoligist, you would know how important context clues are.... And Skulk is.... quite contextual. It seems to be a colonial organism with a specialized hivemind, made up of thousands of tiny sub-organisms that act similar to lichen or moss, with added bioluminescent chemical features. It has sub-colonies with specialized functions that alert the rest of the organism to danger or emit sound to provoke alerts. It also converts the life energy of the recently fallen into more cells that instantly latch onto where the body fell, like advanced fungal rot. It also replaces non-organic structure such as solid stone. I'm not an archeologist by any means, but I can put two and two together, and the conclusion is... welp... - Skulk appears where living things died - the city is overgrown by it ... No wonder there are no living decendants. They must have all died in the plague... Given that skulk spreads naturally over time, I'd estimate the original town population to be 28-37 people, provided they didn't have communal housing and didn't sleep 5 people in one house... that'd raise the estimated population to around 60-70
This all sounds great! There is a small issue with this, though. You are assuming that the skulk spread from the death of the original inhabitants. It’s just as likely that the original inhabitants left and the skulk has spread from subsequent explorers.
@@daskalosBCE That... I actually haven't considered. But then again, I didn't consider it because minecraft doesn't have "Other explorers". But since this is a thought experiment based on applying real thought proceses to this scenario, it would be logical to assume that there must be records of people disappearing in the general area that can be linked to the city. But another thing that supports my theory is the state of the city. The fact that there are "no living decendants" (Which I'm taking as background info to make this hypothetical situation work) the size of the city and it's overall state of rather uniform ruin means that it most likely wasn't left empty due to natural causes. Why would people leave? There's no proof of the city experiencing gradual depopulation, so it's reasonable to assume that it was abandoned suddenly. Reminds me of Teotihuacán, actually
The Idea of being looted at some point is actually true. A group of mobs in the game known as Illagers did looted and camped the area before, the evidence being they are known to build with Dark Oak Wood and the Shades of blue for Wool,
OK the layer of fiction is growing on me, the fun vibes of “if Any Austin did Minecraft” are here, I think I was just thrown by there being no actual restoring in episode 1 just acting
Archeological Hypothesis - Chest Design: Look at the chests. Notice anything? They are identical to the chests in the villages and the illager outposts. This chest design, with the wood and metal framing, is clearly a hallmark of villager/illager design. However, expeditions to the Nether and the End have also reported this same chest design there too. Therefore, due to the historical record of chest design, we can infer that either A. The people who built these structures are culturally related, and the practical double hinge metal frame design of the chest has simply survived through the cultural changes B. There were people (Illagers or Villagers most likely) who came after who placed down chests of their own as part of their looting expeditions C. The same design of chests was independently invented due to simple practicality several times. More information required to draw a reasonable conclusion from the archeological record.
The missing spots in the chests could also just be from the chests having been used in the time before Also, based on Game Theory's conjecture and theories, it could possibly be from when the residents fled the city.
Small question, though ypu consider skulk a invasive species in this scenario, what if it was considered more like a rare endemic species? How would that change its removal and would there even be a removal?
May be a stupid question, but would covering the shrielkers in wool in this case considered interfering with the site? Considering this would be done for one's safety.
Well have seing episodes of people going to the ancient city It takes a lot of wool and it's not ideal, you re basically adding more structures to the site.
I really like your style of video. You've got the role-playing and lore-building, but you aren't trying to manufacture hype by claiming this was all done in survival mode or a "100 days hardcore" type challenge, or anything like that. You're taking the audience on a journey without patronizing us, and it's refreshing.
What if the empty slots in the chests weren't from looters but instead from the original inhabitants leaving in a hurry and only taking useful things. The things left behind are things useful in the city, hoes to clear sculk (which is in the chests, so clearly being cleared) and enchanted books and leggings with swift sneak which are useful items to deal with living in a sculk infested city but not useful elsewhere hence being left in the chests. Possibly the sculk invaded and they made the tools to deal with it for a while but ended up being driven out by the warden who kept killing inhabitants as seen by the scale of sculk that has to have spread from the deaths of something...
I just realized something horrible,skulk only spawns where things have died,skulk is lining the walls and corners and is no where near the exit meaning one of two things that they buried their dead next to the walls helping the skulk grow or they were attacked and didn't even get to see the exits to flee
I wonder if, like the skulk, the carpet was a later addition and not part of the original structure? Possibly by those potential looters to make sneaking by the warden easier? Carpet doesn’t seem to hold up well over time so its existence there is odd 🤔
Since it is common for a wool storage structure to appear in other iterations of the Ancient City, it could be that the original inhabitants used this tactic as they returned from elsewhere. Since blue wool and carpet do not naturally occur in the Overworld, my guesses are that they were dyed for greater visibility than earlier attempts on overland sheep or gotten from the hypothesized and still unknown Otherside.
I feel like world edit would be helpful with replacing the sculk and removing the sculk veins. I also wonder if there might be something hidden inside the temple 🤔
Sorry for the audio level issues. I havent changed any settings, so I'm not sure why RUclips does that. Ill play some more with it for next episode.
Sound on RUclips can be difficult. If a video exceeds -14 LUFS and -1.5 dBs as True Peak, then RUclips will compress the audio. It's such a pain. If you can put those parameters into your editing software and maybe bring the sound down a little, even if it's just to limit the TP, it may help. I know it then ends up being a balancing act with not being too quiet, so not straightforward, but that's my guess as to what is happening.
The simple job of labeling the structures really made me notice so many details in the Ancient City that I had never noticed before. It really is a fascinating place! Now.. about those Warden belly rubs!!😊
Can I pet that dawg?!
that structure was or is named “small portal” in the code or something suggesting the center is an inactive portal
@Bodoko maybe those "small portal" structures were shrines
They changed the name to small statues
I enjoy how you explain the archeology techniques to Oda, and therefore explain them to us. Very clever.
hey now, don't give away all my secrets! haha!
@@daskalosBCE
In a way, playing Minecraft is all about story telling simply by being creative.
We can see your story telling technique and we appreciate it very much cos it isn't just you talking to yourself basically, which I'm sure makes it easier for you.
Another thing you might have not notice Is that the structure Is mostly made out of deepslate bricks, but other that there are also some parts made out of dark oak wood implying that they arent part of the original structure
Now Guess what Minecraft entity builds stuff in Blue wool, dark oak wood and Is know to destroy/steal stuff?
Thats right PILLAGERS
So its pretty much guaranteed that Pillagers not only raid villages but also have raided the city you two are currently excavating
*Illagers.
"Pillager" is a profession. Like "viking"
@@luizfellipe3291 to be Fair
I think the Pillagers were still the ones to raid the city because theyre armed and pillage Is litteraly in their name
@@luizfellipe3291Vikingr
Illagers? By Jove I think he may have something.
Considering that they always seem to know exactly where the player.is at all times, I'm not surprised.
14:58 I think you could have safely removed the sculk veins as well, since those just cover blocks as an additive piece--they dont destroy or change blocks from what I understand.
I would also hesitate to call the Sculk, "plants," as they seem much more like mycelium. Notice how one action in one spot can effect another area of sculk (re: sensors). Much like many mushrooms, they feed on the decaying matter in the ground--albeit the sculk consume the dead at a much more rapid pace than the vast majority of fungal species
I've seen people say that the Illigers were the looters, mainly because of the amount of dark oak used in the aforementioned looting.
The ancient builders were actually working together with the illagers and pillagers. Watch Game Theory’s new Minecraft theory
@@CharlieCharleyStuff game theory is hardly the gospel truth. their minecraft stuff especially is kind of flimsy sometimes
also the use of various blue wools is a hint since you can find piles of blue wools in woodland mansions
@@CharlieCharleyStuffThe Ancient City is kind of weird in the ancient builders theory if that's true
@@BryanLu0 with the Wither running around in the overworld uncontrollably, the two groups would’ve had no other choice, but to team up
I would point out that the dark oak wood only pops up alongside the light blue carpet. I think pillagers may have made their way into the ancient city, which is why the city is "pillaged"
or used them at some point that frame in the cet must be used for somehting and it seems to me like the illangers were tyring to figure it out
If you come across disc shards, you can craft a music disc. Listen to it, and it gives some insight into the backstory
Theres one theory that the people of older times summoned a wither on the surface, ran underground to escape, built the city and accidentally summoned the warden. When the wither found them again, they ran away again, making the stronghold as a final home from the dangers of the outside world
That's confusing
Instead of that just show him the sources, then he could make up his mind.
Daskalos trying his hand at analog horror in the beginning lol
It was an instructional video not horror.
@@daskalosBCE I am aware but the old timey feel and the way it cut off right before mentioning the warden fits the genre tropes
@@daskalosBCEeither way, it was a really nice touch
I LOVE the introduction to skulk! "occasionally the shrieker has also been known to summ...."
Gotta love the editing at the start of the video "multiple activations have even been even known to sum... cuts out", like someone cut the rest of the film off to censor it.
If you think about it, it's odd how the city has no houses, so my theory is the houses are made of wood and have rotted away/disappear over time, including the missing parts of a random city wall that seemingly disconnected/out of place. I mean on rare occasion the ancient city can spawn a bathhouse/spa type structure with two small stone shacks (likely changing room) & two small pools in it, this implies the population in this city is big but due to it not being near a river, perhaps in a valley, they need a bathhouse/spa to clean themself daily and you only go to the river during laundry day because it's a hassle.
Are we sure that none of the buildings there are residential though?
@@xGOKOPx There is one type that seems to be residential (usually spawn in two/duplicated across opposite side of the city, we don't notice it's a copy of each other when in the dark), but there rest either serve as a temple/ritual reason, decor (like a warden statue lying down), or for defence. So the missing structures rotted away is the most logical conclusion.
It's also save to assume the brick residential building likely owned by someone of high status to mark the residential place's importance while the common folk live in more easy to build wooden houses, using material that is readily available instead having to be mined like stones/bricks. Just a deduction based on clues given to us in the ruined city.
Imagine how sick finding something like an ancient city in real life would be, a massive city carved out underground
Theres an entire city carved out under istanbul as a series of tunnels are large open rooms around wells
There was also the ancient city of Petra, iirc!
13:40 - So there’s ice over here that doesn’t melt.
- Ok, cool.
😂
Gotta appreciate the dad jokes at every opportunity I get.
Now if only they'd found some sugar down there and said 'aw, sweet'.
I agree with other commenters. The evidence of looting, mainly the scaffolding made of dark oak and blue wool, suggests that the structure was visited before by illagers - this group is known as the only culture to use dark oak(which seems to have a cultural significance - they use it even in areas where this material isn't available)
If you need a taste breaker from all the skulk, you could to a miniseries/single episode about properly handling a desert temple. As they do have suspicious sand that you can brush.
I once tried to restore an ancient city. I made a lot of progress, but I burned out and gave up. One of the most interesting parts to fix was the hallways/roads. Figuring out the block patterns on the inner wall, getting the right blocks in the right spot, making sure the lights were in the right spots...
The part where you analysed the chest was so interesting, really makes you think how archeologists from a world with Minecraft rules would have to take into consideration things like chest items order and what an automatic placement looks like contrasted to a deliberate placement or one where some things were taken out
Looters are horrible people.
Archeologists never take stuff from an archeological side. Raiders do.
If an archeologist takes something from an archeological side, it's only with permission from the archeological side horst (probably a commite that judges the worth of the found artifact on its historical, financial and anthropological value) and it's probably a low-value item or an artifact several identical exemplars exists of.
This gifts aren't something to expect, but a sign of respect for your work and a result of your respect for the work you've done. Specially if it's an more unique item.
Most archaeologists will see it as offensive and deeply insulting to get called a looter or to get accused of treating artifacts with disrespect. Archeologists also do not treat artifacts like Pokemon cards. They don't trade them or sell them. Archaeology is a serious business and they take it very serious.
Even hobby archeologists take this very serious, so if anyone reading this happen to stumble upon a historical side, please do not take anything if not allowed to by authorized personnel. If it's a unknown historical side, please report it to a local authority.
Thanks.
I've heard it theorized that the Illagers have been in the ancient cities, given that there is dark oak, their main resource, in the cities, but the idea that the cities had been looted by them hadn't occured to me. It leads me to think that maybe the illagers stole the item that could light the portal, and quite possibly something that gave them their magic, like some artifact. Sculk works mainly with souls, after all, and what is a vex? A vengeful soul, commanded by the illagers.
It's possible, given the specialized tools scattered across the chests, that the original inhabitants or others were scared off by the Warden and they or another group returned with these tools and techniques developed over time or multiple times to try to reclaim their home.
It is clear that all combined efforts failed, regardless of whether each group was the original inhanitants or someone else. Whatever their efforts, the timing of when the Warden appeared and when certain blocks and items were placed becones relevant. Admittedly, this is more like anthropology.
Multiple and separate efforts may be the source of the change from gray wool to bluer wool colors, the addition of dark oak wood, and definitely explains the Swift Sneak spellbooks only found here, the hoes specialized in removing sculk objects, and other elements.
As someone who has restored an ancient city before, you can use structure blocks to determine what block were before they were corrupted by sculk.
But that’s not really doing archeology is it? :)
Read the question
Before making assumptions
@@AtlasNLTrue, actually. It’s cooler to see him do these the realistic way.
how? I don't think I've heard of that feature until now
@@AgnesBooth-zu7tw wdym? im just offering advice as someone who has done something similar to this.
About the comment on the Looting, There is always the Illigers who are often described as Raiders and Looters and have a penchant for using Light-Wool and Dark-Oak, A lot of Structures around the City, from Watchtowers to some corridor sections, actually appear to have been repaired using these materials, Compared to the actual natural deepslate material of the city, Implying that they might have come down at one point, Set up shop in watchtowers they built up, Used Dark-Oak Wood to repair pathways to key structures for the duration of their expedition, And used their Will to supplement what already existed.
So it might be worth looking into any structures that stick out and have similarities with Illiger building Designs, from their Mansions and Outposts and seeing how those might have crept into the City and overlayed onto existing or destroyed structures... Essentially contaminating the city with their foreign building style.
I feel like the signs of sculk probably mean that at some point alot of things died in the city whether of natural causes, entering the city after its already been taken over or something else.
I am unreasonably excited about this series. Can't wait to see those before and after shots! 😁
You and me both!
I can't wait to see how you tackle the Illager structures that were constructed while they were looting the ruins. You can even see that one of the massive pillars was converted into a guard tower using dark oak.
Oo, the looting is a neat theory
I believe that it's equally possible that the original inhabitants returned a second time to try to reclaim their City, evidenced by other Ancient Cities that have storehouses of not only light blue but cyan wool.
@@Zaximillianthe dark oak likely is from illagers as all those unique wool and wood blocks are found in the woodland mansion.
@@kierianiis Possible, but I'm not willing to call it likely because of other possible sources that are less likely but still possible.
It's widely believed that pillagers looted the Ancient Cities - there are many connections to Woodland Mansions and Ancient Cities that brings people to think pillagers visited the Ancient Cities
I love this new series, and really even though sculk is a totally made up thing but you can still learn about a lot of stuf about real life archeology
Thank you!
The way fairly valuable items are strewn about in the chest might suggest that someone tried to empty it in a hurry!
They said if that was the case then all the items would be on top from left to right and not put randomly which is harder.
@@Mr.scooter-le8yo Read my comment again. I'm suggesting that the chest was FULL, and then was EMPTIED in a hurry (at random, or most valuable things first).
Oh boy next episode dropped!
Indeed!
So, I noticed that you asked about what the Skulk had replaced, saying the Deepslate Bricks. However, Skulk can only replace natural blocks. If there was a crafter involved the Skulk would not be able to convert it. So, in the Deep Dark those blocks would have likely been Deepslate as well as Granite, Andesite, and Dorite. If there was a Lush Cave or Dripstone Cave in the area then most of those blocks would have been converted as well. So that potentially means the city was being hewn out of the cave when the Skulk invaded. You might have a structure that wasn't originally finished. Which is kinda cool to think about.
NOW what we need is for Daskalos' efforts to be passed on to an anthropology expert to see and show how the two disciplines interact.
The small warden structure"
-MatPat "Its a portal!"
-MC Oda "He wants a bellyrub!"
What I’ve just noticed when you were placing the green wool is it’s supposed to be a destroyed temple for the warden
I actually noticed some things about the ancient cities that you brought out that made me think about it more. I've made a few observations so I'll list em:
-The small structures with the pillars outside them (Labeled with blue banners): All of these structures follow a similar design, and many of them have chests inside them. The chests contain a variety of loot, from coal to bones to hoes and armor. It makes me think these places were once possibly residential. It can be safely assumed the sculk is not new, and has been around since the city itself has been around, hence all the Warden effigies. With this in mind, these chests with hoes displayed inside them could be what the citizens of this lost civilization used to keep the sculk at bay. The sculk is removed best with hoes, and perhaps people used the hoes frequently to dig up sensors and shriekers as they appeared to prevent the Warden from being summoned. The Warden itself being a feared, but respected, aspect of their society.
-In the back of the cities there is what seems like an encampment with light blue and blue wool hoarded around a campfire. This could be the location that people arriving to the cities after their collapse used in their looting efforts to consolidate their plans and rest after moving around the cities. They are usually set up in areas where the sculk is not as prevalent, thus allowing them to move and make noise more freely.
Judging by other things seen in game, the light blue carpet seems to go with the dark oak structures. Both of these seem to have been built on top of the ruins later. Combined with illagers being heavy users of these blocks and the mourner pottery sherd (a sherd with a warden on it) in cold ocean ruins its safe to assume that illagers ventured down there, built temporary encampments, looted stuff, and left to tell the tale of
This project is so fascinating. 🤩Can't wait for the next episode.
I have a question please: At the beginning you talked about which blocks the sculk replaced and you suspected that there might have been a deepslate brick in one place. Purely from a Minecraft mechanics perspective, the sculk would only replace naturally generated blocks like deepslate and basalt. But not crafted blocks like deepslate bricks. These structures are ruins. Therefore, some blocks are weathered or otherwise changed, which Minecraft represents through different blocks. Does it matter which Minecraft block was actually there in order to be able to deduce the supposed original block?
I came upon your channel practically by accident... but, man, whan an amazing, interesting aproach! I'm going back to the previous series! This is amazing! You've got a fan here!!!
Glad to have you!
Matpat from Game theory has given me a good idea on what the Ancient cities were. However this realistic way of going through the city has given much more Imaginative growth of the history of the city. I honestly can't wait to see what you come up with so that i can compare your findings with matpat's.
Don't forget two things
This is an actual archeological restoring
And matpat is making a minecraft theory.
@@AgnesBooth-zu7twArcheology is theory crafting, too
Rewatching your content, and I was reminded about this: I'm not sure how much you know about Pokemon, but the Cobblemon mod for Minecraft updated semi-recently with their own archaeology update. Most of the 'structures' are natural landmarks that contain Pokemon fossils, but there are a few ruins that might benefit from your take on them, such as the watchtowers and ruined pillars.
The mod adds its own sherds, artifacts - like tumblestones for making (traditional) Pokeballs, and crafting materials. You can use tumblestones to make ancient Pokeballs like those seen in Legends: Arceus.
For now, the ruins they introduced appear to be based on ruins in Paldea, from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. If you're interested in doing a little research to look for context not yet provided in the mod, Bulbapedia and Serebii are good places to check. Though to be fair, even Gamefreak doesn't seem to have provided us with much info.
That being said, this might not really be up your alley, which is totally understandable. I look forward to seeing more, either way!
Looking at the map, there appears to be an inner and outer ring of either road or wall that fades into the areas not excavated, suggesting that the place should sprawl the entirety of the cut-out. In fact, you can see how the encroaching layers in the bottom-right quadrant have essentially snuffed out the remains of all of its structures while the opposite, bottom-left, has had less encroaching loss so still has 11 ruins remaining.
It'd be interesting to see what the different areas might've looked like fully way back. I also wonder how far out the original city sprawled because it's clear that so much has been lost and compacted beyond the radius of the main roads that they're hitting right against rock now.
I had a thought while I was exploring an ancient city recently. Some of the structures reminded me of Greek/Roman architecture. One building remnant in particular had a 1 block deep square pool lined with stairs, similar to an ancient Greek bathhouse. I also remember about how some civilizations would have something similar to refrigeration by carving and moving blocks of ice to store them underground to help preserve meat or seeds. Some of the towers could of housed large fires to keep the city lit because of the darkness, and maybe the soul lanterns used to be regular lanterns before the skulk invaded. I am unsure what is truly canon when it comes to Minecraft lore. Pretty sure the civilization used to worship the warden and skulk as an almighty entity like a lot of ancient cultures did. They wanted to establish a city, then build a portal to welcome their deity into the world. Now, whether or not the wool that is part of the structures existed before the people realized how much their deity hated sound, I haven't a clue. Either ways, it was clear they wanted to try to appease the skulk by trying to live as quiet a life as possible. It didn't work as people died, the skulk absorbed their lives, and continued to spread eventually wiping the city out. However, there must have been survivors, as often I stumble into a city via underground tunnels. Likely, they dug their way up and out, the same way looters and myself get in. I agree with the idea that pillagers or looters found their way in then were chased back out. In the city I found there was a pile of wool blocks dyed in shades of light blue and cyan, similar to the carpet on the gray wool blocks, as well as the color of the wool you tend to find in a woodland mansion room; also in a pile. Maybe a coincidence? My thinking is that the pillagers somehow found out about the entity lurking in the dark and a way to try to sneak around it. Also a theory that pillagers could be the descendants of the survivors, and now they are trying to reclaim the treasure from the city their ancestors once lived in. Either way, they have this obsession with wool and statues made of wool. Also why those colors specifically...the colors of their culture and deity in a sense. Doesn't blue hues fade to gray the easiest? Maybe just me.
Love the methodical approach that can only come from real experience! I'm very excited to see the next step!
Will be interesting to look at structures A1 and B7, as well as the aforementioned unique B2. Both A1 and B7 ashare a design seperate from the other structures, and are also notably more isolated from other structures, the only similarly isolated structure being C5, whch may be entirely due to Locus C being the most sparse quadrant.
I really like the intro, the old timey feel absolutely sells it.
I haven't got anything insightful to say i just want go give you some algorithm points because this is genuinely amazing
ive learned more about archaeology from you than i ever have in school. this is fascinating!
Came from the trail episodes and was amazed that something that looked on the first look boring started getting more and more interesting.
this is such a massive undertaking and i just want to say im impressed and want to thank you for doing this. im super interested in what the final product will be but the process is just as fascinating
I think an equally valid theory is that the people living there left suddenly (possibly due to the Warden) especially if you posit that the skulk came afterwards and destroyed some of the structure
i always thought the deep dark kinda cool, but i never realized just how creepy and mysterious it is! your intro did such a good job of conveying just how strange and scary it can really be with the educational film reel style!
These videos are so cool. I always noticed the blue carpet in the Ancient Cities, but they kinda match the soul lanterns and soul campfires so I chalked it up to being a pop of color that fits the scheme. Your explanation is way cooler, and it fits so well with the way Minecraft generates chests with random item placement. Really good observations and storytelling there. I can't wait to watch the rest of these!
Thank you again. I love this series. I've learnt so much about how archaeology works watching this.
You should play Outer Wilds
Ive been wanting to, so badly!
I second this, incredible game, would be really cool to see your experience with it
i third this, would be so cool to see how you approach it
Im not sure if theres much to do in it but it would be awesome for you to explain the tricky trials
I know this series just started, and I'm really digging it! But I kinda hope your next series makes use of the Distant Horizons and Tectonic mods for a more realistic sense of scale, I think it'd be really cool to see you build something pretty grand with sightlines like that and properly sized fields/plains/rivers instead of piddly minecraft default geology
Get it - "digging" it? 😎
This is an exciting project. I love watching the process.
I'm also excited to see the analysis and what the fold here in the comments think as well.
Thanks for this series!
we have theories about the Illigers being looters but we have seen civilisations collapse and rebuild in a different way (Cahokia/kahokiaki people, the African continent has multiple examples, South Americas, ect), maybe the original inhabitants were proto-illagers? or the illagers and villagers share a common ancestral civilisation that collapsed and the survivors split into multiple civilisations later?
Too much data.
The wooden structures seem out of place as well. So many stone structures have almost completely broken down but the wooden towers are still standing?
More likely, built later. The dark oak sticks out to me. This is a rare wood, not often found in the mountainous biomes where Ancient Cities are generated. My theory is that it, like the blue wools, are not local, and came from somewhere that might BE local... if that central structure is a gate to an Otherside.
@@Zaximillian I doubt that this other side contains the same species of trees as the overworld does
They are out of place, but represent one thing.
Later adding to the structure.
This was dope. I enjoyed your content. I'm now looking forward to the next installment!
I love this series so much! I enjoy seeing the analysis of what could be existing and what could have happened
Pretty much guarentee that the unique structure is a freezer, and the "Warden head" buildings are altars, meant to represent the main portal.
the ‘warden structures’ had Skulk Shriekers down where the warden mob has that glowing core.
it would seem like the inhabitants had a connection to the warden, and maybe they intended for the shriekers to be there
The current most accepted theory about the blue wool & also the dark oak wood (which is usually not far from blue carpet when you see it) is that the ancient city was found by the Pillagers who are the only other group we see building with Dark Oak, and in some areas it kind of seems like they were rebuilding or making it easier to traverse, you'll see towers and unfinished/collapsed bridges made of dark oak here and there. I'd say it's safe to assume anything made with blue wool and dark oak is newer. I'd also say it's safe to assume that something discouraged them from finishing the project, since the chests haven't been looted fully and that most of the dark oak structures are decrepit and unfinished; so probably too many complications with the warden made the project more of a loss than a gain.
Loved that small educational film at the start, the small details like that are what really make all your videos.
This has inspired me to fix an ancient city near my spawn. It has some weird chunk errors so I've had a hard time figuring out what to do with the city until now
This morning I thought this would be the most interesting thing of the day, little did I know what would go down!
I think the random placement of the items is how chests organize loot in Minecraft.
Amazing and interesting video! 👏 (Really well done honestly)
Could you get a real paleontologist to excavate the fossils found in the deserts and swamps? We would be interested.
3:50 Cooollllll this is the first time, i saw an map out ancient city😮
I was interested by the looting theory coz what i always thought in my mind was a possibility of, lore wise, the inhabitants were aware of the ancient city's growing skulk problem/infection and the new wool in my head was sturggling maintainence as to prevent the skulk spreading over the carpet and with the gray maybe originally beingnblue and fading. The tools in the chests.seem to point towards this too with swift sneak being probably a thing citazens eould crave as to simultaneously not lose productivity and avoid summoning the warden and the hoes for removing skulk. Do you think there is any validity to this theory? I definately can see the looter theory too as what would the avarage player do, mechanically would be to loot the city, losing that context. I dunno tho im not an archaeologist lol.
It could be time to discuss when people have altered a site in the past or current vandalism . Pillager signs in the dark oak builds and blue wool
when i learned about the ice box in the ancient cities, i started making them in my own builds. i hadn't thought to make them before but the introduction of them in setting i think...put forth a lot of implications about the world?
That there was a need to properly store food and also that this civilization was advanced enough to take that into consideration. i feel like its one of those small things that says a lot about the implied history of the minecraft world, yknow?
The blue carpet and dark oak towers are from pillagers that explored it
The looters, pillager or otherwise as some people have guessed, seemingly don’t take some of the most valuable items, armor, weapons, tools, enchantment books, and do bottles, perhaps these looters were in a hurry, maybe only taking basic resources like food and water, which might be hard to get underground, or only what they could carry, it suggests that they were in a hurry and not going for riches like most looters, my guess is that pillagers discovered the place, started looting and awoke the warden, forcing them to leave behind most of their valuables and retreat, the blue wool was from later and more careful attempts that still ended in disaster, it’s likely many of the items in these chests despawned after the ones who stole them died
"Multiple activations re-'
I love this series please keep up the great work I’ve always wondered about archeology and you present it in a way that’s really easy to understand but still sounds super idk smart? Or real either way it’s great
Mystery Flesh Pit National park vibes
I missed these Minecraft rp content
This is actually such a cool idea, I had it myself but I'm not an archeologist, and also I might not have the patience XP
I’m surprised that archeologists can not only restore real world structures but also structures in Minecraft! This video really makes me rethink about the history of the Minecraft world, before ancient city is just a scary and creepy place for me to loot stuffs haha. Also really shocked that the ancient city is actually sophisticatedly designed, when it’s under the ground it just looks like pure chaos 😅
As an archeoligist, you would know how important context clues are.... And Skulk is.... quite contextual. It seems to be a colonial organism with a specialized hivemind, made up of thousands of tiny sub-organisms that act similar to lichen or moss, with added bioluminescent chemical features. It has sub-colonies with specialized functions that alert the rest of the organism to danger or emit sound to provoke alerts. It also converts the life energy of the recently fallen into more cells that instantly latch onto where the body fell, like advanced fungal rot. It also replaces non-organic structure such as solid stone.
I'm not an archeologist by any means, but I can put two and two together, and the conclusion is... welp...
- Skulk appears where living things died
- the city is overgrown by it
... No wonder there are no living decendants. They must have all died in the plague... Given that skulk spreads naturally over time, I'd estimate the original town population to be 28-37 people, provided they didn't have communal housing and didn't sleep 5 people in one house... that'd raise the estimated population to around 60-70
This all sounds great! There is a small issue with this, though. You are assuming that the skulk spread from the death of the original inhabitants. It’s just as likely that the original inhabitants left and the skulk has spread from subsequent explorers.
@@daskalosBCE That... I actually haven't considered. But then again, I didn't consider it because minecraft doesn't have "Other explorers". But since this is a thought experiment based on applying real thought proceses to this scenario, it would be logical to assume that there must be records of people disappearing in the general area that can be linked to the city.
But another thing that supports my theory is the state of the city. The fact that there are "no living decendants" (Which I'm taking as background info to make this hypothetical situation work) the size of the city and it's overall state of rather uniform ruin means that it most likely wasn't left empty due to natural causes. Why would people leave? There's no proof of the city experiencing gradual depopulation, so it's reasonable to assume that it was abandoned suddenly. Reminds me of Teotihuacán, actually
The Idea of being looted at some point is actually true. A group of mobs in the game known as Illagers did looted and camped the area before, the evidence being they are known to build with Dark Oak Wood and the Shades of blue for Wool,
I love the detail work!
You should do a video where you discover, clear, and repurpose one in hardcore.
OK the layer of fiction is growing on me, the fun vibes of “if Any Austin did Minecraft” are here, I think I was just thrown by there being no actual restoring in episode 1 just acting
Archeological Hypothesis - Chest Design:
Look at the chests. Notice anything? They are identical to the chests in the villages and the illager outposts. This chest design, with the wood and metal framing, is clearly a hallmark of villager/illager design. However, expeditions to the Nether and the End have also reported this same chest design there too. Therefore, due to the historical record of chest design, we can infer that either
A. The people who built these structures are culturally related, and the practical double hinge metal frame design of the chest has simply survived through the cultural changes
B. There were people (Illagers or Villagers most likely) who came after who placed down chests of their own as part of their looting expeditions
C. The same design of chests was independently invented due to simple practicality several times.
More information required to draw a reasonable conclusion from the archeological record.
"Plant" Removal. I personally think the sculk is more akin to *flesh*
The missing spots in the chests could also just be from the chests having been used in the time before
Also, based on Game Theory's conjecture and theories, it could possibly be from when the residents fled the city.
One problem with the looter theory is that extremely rare and or expensive items are in the chests that looters would usually take
Small question, though ypu consider skulk a invasive species in this scenario, what if it was considered more like a rare endemic species? How would that change its removal and would there even be a removal?
you could also say the people who did live here took all the good things before they left
no wonder the loot pools are trash lmao
May be a stupid question, but would covering the shrielkers in wool in this case considered interfering with the site? Considering this would be done for one's safety.
Well have seing episodes of people going to the ancient city
It takes a lot of wool and it's not ideal, you re basically adding more structures to the site.
I really like your style of video. You've got the role-playing and lore-building, but you aren't trying to manufacture hype by claiming this was all done in survival mode or a "100 days hardcore" type challenge, or anything like that. You're taking the audience on a journey without patronizing us, and it's refreshing.
What if the empty slots in the chests weren't from looters but instead from the original inhabitants leaving in a hurry and only taking useful things. The things left behind are things useful in the city, hoes to clear sculk (which is in the chests, so clearly being cleared) and enchanted books and leggings with swift sneak which are useful items to deal with living in a sculk infested city but not useful elsewhere hence being left in the chests. Possibly the sculk invaded and they made the tools to deal with it for a while but ended up being driven out by the warden who kept killing inhabitants as seen by the scale of sculk that has to have spread from the deaths of something...
I just realized something horrible,skulk only spawns where things have died,skulk is lining the walls and corners and is no where near the exit meaning one of two things that they buried their dead next to the walls helping the skulk grow or they were attacked and didn't even get to see the exits to flee
I wonder if, like the skulk, the carpet was a later addition and not part of the original structure? Possibly by those potential looters to make sneaking by the warden easier? Carpet doesn’t seem to hold up well over time so its existence there is odd 🤔
Since it is common for a wool storage structure to appear in other iterations of the Ancient City, it could be that the original inhabitants used this tactic as they returned from elsewhere.
Since blue wool and carpet do not naturally occur in the Overworld, my guesses are that they were dyed for greater visibility than earlier attempts on overland sheep or gotten from the hypothesized and still unknown Otherside.
Cannot wait to see another episode 🙌
I feel like world edit would be helpful with replacing the sculk and removing the sculk veins. I also wonder if there might be something hidden inside the temple 🤔
Save for removing the top part for light and mapmaking, I think they're determined to do it by hand.
You should try doing everything you're doing now bit in survival mode