I’m genuinely curious if any other builders have aphantasia and how it affects your building process. How do you handle planning and the grand scheme of your build?
The bigger-picture is something that I struggle a whole lot with and I really feel like it hinders my ability to build on the scale that I would really like to.
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I treat it the same as I would any problem… if it’s a big problem (or build idea), break it down into much smaller, more manageable pieces. Then slowly try and visualise how those smaller pieces interlock, fit together and affect each other.
That and I use MagicaVoxel for big build ideas - definitely helps me with getting an idea of scale and the opportunities where chiselling might come into play within a build.
Building is my new addiction in Boundless! I build freestyle though, so I just start with an idea and go from there.
But I will say I definitely do as @Stretchious says and sometimes need to focus on one area at a time! Otherwise you can get lost in a big build.
I have thought about using this program, but was never sure how to tackle scale. Like do you simply do one block equals one in-game block? Do you happen to have any renders or screenshots of things that you’ve mocked up in Magicavoxel?
I usually try to tackle building this way, but I end up not having the amount of space that I would have liked or end up miscalculating and it kind of becomes a mess sometimes.
Yep, pretty much 1-1 on block sizes. Then just need to remember to save a little room for chiselling in certain places. Often my plans do change very slightly when chiselling in Boundless though
I have one MV file that I am working on at the moment, which will be my long term project on a sovereign world, but it’s not ready to show the full thing yet.
Here’s a very small section of it, which I then had the opportunity to test for scale when I was testing the creative worlds…
MV Render
Creative Test Build
Yeah I have not used the Voxel program, not sure where to get it lol, but I understand what you mean. I have torn down builds because I was off on alignment or something similar. Once that’s happened a couple times you get to the point that you always double check that. At least I do, and always good to have a friend with another set of eyes look at build and helps keep it going the way as planned.
Wow, that’s pretty amazing that you’re able to visualize something like that and put it into MV and then transfer it into game and realize all of the proper chiseling needed on top of that. I’m quite envious 
Absolutely! My friends and guildmates are always very good with feedback 
I’ve used magicavoxel before but when I actually built it in game I changed so much along the way. Now I just freestyle. Usually I just figure out a build style/theme and search a bunch of images on pinterest/google and make albums of stuff I like. Then just incorporate bits and pieces of each pic to make something unique, with some freestyle designs I discover along the way
Yea that was very nice looking on testing. Also had found a nice underwater cave nearby that. I was Nell 
never did anything with the cave except put two forges up to make hammers for someone(before give ability) lol
Haha yeah I found your bat cave under the water nearby - it was purely by luck as I was flying around with plot view on 
Pinterest and Google are very helpful for inspiration. I’ll definitely have to try and utilize those more for building. I’ve even looked at Minecraft builds before and tried to figure out how they might end up translating into Boundless.
Half of the houses on my base are actually inspired by minecraft houses lol. I just made some additions/chisels
I really struggle with making connections between multiple programs. Figuring out how things translate to chiseling is very difficult for me since I can’t actually visualize those things. 
To be honest, on that MV file, I knew that I needed some form of chiselling in places and left bits overlapping for the potential for it to happen. However, I didn’t really know what type of chiselling it was going to be until I had transferred over that blocky template to the Boundless world and then started experimenting with it to see what I liked.
The good part I find in doing it that way, is that I have the scale I need and the rest can be adjusted (and in some cases, readjusted… multiple times) within that initial template.
I do for sure. Some times more than others. I generally start with a rough idea and then just start playing around with block placement. I’ll do an outline with a single layer of blocks and once I get the foundational shape, I just freestyle. It’s super inefficient, but I enjoy zoning out and creating. Lots of breaking misplaced blocks and failed chisels. Building is my favorite part of Boundless and this is why I’m super excited for creative. 
I think I understand the method better now. I find that I tend to get some structure in and then focus too quickly on little details without getting the rest of the structure set up.
I know your plight! I love to chisel and I can’t wait to get started on it sometimes
Building is also my most favorite part of Boundless and I am also very excited for creative worlds. No space limitations! 
Don’t get me wrong though. I love zoning out and mining sometimes or gathering.
