Minecraft Middle EarthThere are good Minecraft builds, then there are impressive Minecraft builds. Then there are builds so mind-bendingly vast in scope, so ridiculously ambitious, that they actually make me need to lie down.
You might have heard of Minecraft before now, but if you haven’t, it’s basically a collaborative project with the goal to perfectly recreate the “lands, towns, and areas” of the fantasy realm from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The server is staffed by an experienced group who set up and supervise the construction of various areas.
Minecraft Middle EarthThis massive project has been worked on by countless players for around nine years, and it looks as if the majority of it is finally finished. In a recent video uploaded by Node, the gang are given a grand tour by one of the project’s builders that takes in pretty much the entirety of Middle Earth.
When I say all of Middle Earth, I’m really not exaggerating, by the way. The video starts us off in Bilbo’s house, before we go on to see the forests, fields, and houses of the Shire. There are so many incredible details, including Gandalf’s cart of fireworks and the large old tree where Bilbo has his Birthday party.
It doesn’t stop there though. This incredible recreation takes in every major location from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, mostly taking inspiration from the movies (as it was easier to visualise), but a few locations from the books also make it in.
The whistle-stop tour shows us all manner of gorgeous locations, including the stone trolls, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Moria, and Caras Galadhon. That you can actually travel between each with plenty of world and details in between is outstanding.
My favourite detail by far though is the small footprints in the world that actually form the exact path the Fellowship took over the course of the quest to destroy the one ring, meaning you can literally follow in their footsteps from the Shire to Mount Doom.
The team behind Minecraft Middle Earth haven’t completely finished fleshing out the finer details, mind. You can check out the full FAQ right here if you’re interested in signing up and helping out yourself, but be aware that you have to prove yourself on smaller jobs before you’re allowed to jump in on the bigger projects.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.