.: BUILDING BLOCKS :. Imperial City Library

With construction underway for a new library in Imperial City, we thought we'd bring you the construction images of the old library along with some final screen shots before it was torn down. Let's get to it!

The original concept of the Imperial City Library was to carve it from an existing mountain. Shapes and sides would be determined by the general shape of the mountain when all of the dirt was stripped off of it. Through this process, building-like structures would start to take shape and construction crews would have to make decisions of what was needed to stay and what to go away.

Once the mountain had been carved into a suitable shape, the exterior walls were then overlaid on top of the existing mountain. This allowed the building to be increased slightly in size and gave an easy surface to attach the exterior skin to.

Once the mountain had it's skin placed on it, demolition crews meticulously removed the mountain beneath using, for the most part, well placed TNT charges. With the mountain rock removed, floors could be added and the interior design work began.  


Three main rooms quickly took shape; the lobby, the library, and the map room. The lobby was a simple open layout with several chairs and tables, tellers to help check out books and a smoothie bar so you could have a snack while reading up on Minecraft Redstoning. The library room was an enormous area consisting of long reading tables and rows of bookshelves. Finally, the most used room was the map room. The centerpiece of this room was the world globe that could be viewed all around. Originally the world map was located in this room, but as more area was being explored and conquered, there began to be too many maps for the room to handle. Eventually the map wall was moved to an undisclosed location far in the snowy biomes of the east where it has remained and grown exponentially.

When demolition was underway, crews decided to save the world globe and it now sits at the top dome of the new library building.

We hope you have enjoyed this look at the rise and fall of the Imperial City Library. Please feel free to comment or to join our Google+ community here or check us out on Pinterest. Thank you for your support and ideas. Until next time, Happy Crafting!

~Talamer

.: SNEAK PEEK :. Imperial City Expansion

New plots of land have opened up for development in the new Temple District and the Holland Hills District.

New Retaining wall allows new plots of land to be leveled for development along Buffalo Bay

The Temple District has a perfect view of Buffalo Bay and Downtown Imperial City. The Perry Hotel exterior has also been completed.

Map showing the ever expanding Imperial City

- CONNECTIONS - Jursammic Park Train Station

Welcome to another edition of Connections where this month we visit the Jursammic Park Train Station.

Located just on the outskirts of Grimshire, the Jursammic Park Train Station stands like a pinnacle above the grassy knolls and open fields that surround it. Originally built to house the rail connection between Imperial City and Jursammic Park, the train station has been expanded, renovated and upgraded several times in its recent past.

The first major upgrade was to the interior layout. With the invention of teleporters, individual kiosks were installed within the station to allow quick access to distant locales and kingdoms. The help desk and lounge were also relocated to a separate wing to allow space for the new teleportation areas.

More renovations followed as the number of teleporter kiosks increased, the map room was added and the Nether Portal was incorporated into the design. Color coordination was also added to differentiate kiosks between the different kingdoms. For example, the red kiosk section is reserved for all international destinations, whereas the grey section is reserved for all Jursammic Park teleporter locations. 

The last major upgrade happened only a few short months ago when the amount of teleporter kiosks overwhelmed the current space allocations. Recognizing this as a problem that would continue to arise, SammyMacman had his construction company, Sam Co., design and renovate the facility to include multiple floors available for more kiosks to be added in the future.

Despite the ease of the teleporter technology, it is important to note that original train connections are still active and are currently in use. Proving that sometimes the journey itself is more important then the speed it takes to get from point A to point B. 

Thank you Crafty Miners for your support of the World of RAAR. We aim to continue to bring to you new lore stories and fantastic builds that hopefully will inspire you in your own creations. Hope you all are having a wonderful summer and until we meet again, Happy Crafting!

Aerial View

Front Entrance

National Park Kiosks

Multi-floored Facility

Train Station Stairwell

- SNEAK PEEK - Imperial City Skyline

The Imperial City skyline is starting to fill up.

- SNEAK PEEK - Silverfisch's Department Store

Silverfisch's Department Store is still under construction by Sam Co.

- SPOTLIGHT - Tri-C Engineering Office

Welcome back all you Crafty Miners to the World of RAAR. This week we Spotlight the newly constructed Tri-C Engineering office located on the third and forth floors of the magnificent Tri-C Tower. So let's get to it.

Tri-C Engineering was originally founded by Talamer after envisioning a city located around the first settlement in the RAAR world. Since that time, Tri-C Engineering has gone on to design and build structural feats within Imperial City such as the Grand Central Train Station, Imperial Plaza, City Hall and the location of its new office, Tri-C Tower.

Reception

Reception

Originally the office was located on the top three floors of Imperial Plaza, however space limitations made it necessary for a larger location. After much design, Tri-C Tower was erected next door to Imperial Plaza and before long the new office was being laid out.

As soon as the elevator doors open, clients and employees are greeted with the reception and waiting area. After passing through the reception area, there is a lunch room and break area for employees to socialize and collaborate with each other. Stairs located next to the lunch room lead to the company administration where Mayor Talamer still maintains an office. The rest of floor three is reserved for the drafting and design group which head up the various construction and engineering projects. The copy room is located adjacent to the design area and provides employees with quick access to company resources and scanners.

Lunch Room

With the final touches being put in place, Tri-C Engineering plans to move its employees next Monday morning, just in time to continue the hectic workload that is still ahead of them.

Drafting Department

We hope you have enjoyed our look at the Tri-C Engineering Office and hope it has given you some ideas for your builds. To see more of these inspiring builds be sure to check out our pinterest page and our YouTube page . Keep up the awesome support and thank you for helping us grow by sharing with your friends and family. Every view, click and comment is greatly appreciated and helps us to bring you more content. Take care and until we meet again, Happy Crafting!

~RAAR News Team

Copy Room

-SNEAK PEEK- RAAR News Building

A new building has started to go up in Imperial City. Speculation has it that it will be the new RAAR News building.

-CONNECTIONS- East Entrance Horse Stables

Hello Crafty Miners and welcome back to the World of RAAR. In this month's Connections post we take a look at the Imperial City East Entrance Horse Stable. This stable actually has quite a bit of history surrounding it so let's take a look.

Originally where now stands a castle-like stable there was once a small mountain. Like much of the Imperial City area, mountains were once the dominant feature. The tunnel through the current stable is the same tunnel that was carved through the rocky mountain surface by Talamer during the Age of Survival, which allowed him to access Buffalo Bay where he was building a road system to connect Imperial City to Roundhead. 

As the Age of Survival closed and the Age of Creative began, Imperial City took on a new shape where the majority of the mountains were carved away into buildings. The small mountain which was to become the stables was first shaped into a castle fortress, then as horses were discovered in the world, the fortress was hollowed out and converted into stables. Redstone gates were also added into the design to allow patrons easy access to their steeds.

Since its completion, Imperial City has tripled in size leaving the East Entrance Horse Stable well used and overcrowded. This has prompted discussion at last month's Imperial City Council meeting on the topic of revamping the outdated stable. Though all of the Councillors agree that the stable overcrowding needs to be addressed, there is a split on whether the course of action should be renovation or  rebuild. Those proposing the rebuild say that the space could be better used and that it could be combined with the issue of the Imperial City Library Project, which also faces demolition due to its inefficient design. For now council has opened the matter up to the public to weigh in and are also awaiting a feasibility study to be completed. 

Thank you for liking and commenting on this post. Please feel free to express your thoughts on the fate of the East Entrance Horse Stable. Should it be renovated or torn down and rebuilt? Let us know and until we meet again, Happy Crafting!

- SPOTLIGHT - Expo Center

Hello Crafty Miners! Welcome back to the World of RAAR and another edition of Spotlight. This week we travel back to Imperial City to visit the Expo Center located in Tri-C Tower. So let's get to it!

Located on the third floor of the Tri -C Tower, the Expo Center was built in anticipation for the release of 1.8. Once released, the new items and features were showcased and displayed in the Expo Center allowing RAAR inhabitants to see all the new items available and play with the new features.

No news has yet been released on when 1.9 might come out, however employees at the Expo Center are eager to pack away Expo 1.8 and begin setup for Expo 1.9. Only time will tell when that might be.

Thanks again for checking out our blog. Please be sure to visit the Welcome Page to learn more about the World of RAAR. Until we meet again, Happy Crafting!

-CONNECTIONS- Southern Galactic Rail Project

Welcome once again to the World of RAAR. This week we launch another new series of posts entitled 'Connections'. This series will feature transportation builds such as bridges, canals, stations and hubs. To kick off this new series we take a look at one of the newest connections in the World of RAAR, the Southern Galactic Rail.

Commissioned by Mayor Talamer of The Imperial Empire, the Southern Galactic Rail first broke ground in late 2014. Starting at the Grand Central Train Station located at the heart of Imperial City, the rail line first starts out underground. Excavation on the tunnel was rapid and within a day construction crews had the subterrainian portion complete. Now at the southern most point of Spawn Island, the track was diverted towards the surface where it was connected with a newly constructed rail bridge leading to Venice, a town located just south of Imperial City.

In Venice, construction has begun on a new train station to connect up with the Southern Galactic line and will be featured in a future post. Phase Two of the rail line started shortly after Phase One was connected to the Venice Train Station. Beginning in Venice, the longest rail bridge in the World of RAAR was started early in December of 2014. Upon completion in mid December that same year, the bridge spanned the entire distance of the vast Galactic Ocean and made landfall in Southlands at the Insane Cliffs.

Upon striking the jagged mountainous region, Phase Three of the project began, which invovled navigating the rail system through the twists and turns of the many jagged peaks and elevated landscapes. This phase of the project has been the slowest to date as the Insane Cliffs are considered a National Preserve causing the path of the rail to be specially mapped through alternate paths.

The next two phases of the Southern Galactic Rail are still in the initial development stages with the planned route heading west to the town of Whistlestop and then to Stoney Mountain National Park. Look for future updates of Phase four and five from our RAAR News team and also in an update post of Connections.

Thanks for checking out our blog and for all the support given by you, our awesome Crafty Miners. Hope you enjoy this new series and are inspired to build, create and share. Until we meet again, Happy Crafting!