Hello and welcome back.  As we enter the month of February, the competition is really picking up.  We've hit another milestone this week; for the first time in the history of WiR, I'm giving out a whopping 26 medals.  That is due mostly to the fact that there were so many fantastic projects uploaded in the past seven days (especially in the map, mega-build, terraforming, and hub categories).

Consequently, there are a lot of stellar projects that normally would've gotten gold medals had the week not been so amped up.  To all of you out there who put in the hard work and came up short, I say to you: your timing is terrible!  You couldn't have picked a worse week to upload your project.  That's life, I guess.  :P

So, without further ado, please sit back, relax, and enjoy the best projects PMC has to offer.  And don't forget that you can check out the video version of WiR, available on the Week in Review - Video Archive.  Please enjoy.

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Starting off this incomparable week, the best map is Slimm & Co, created by the equally incomparable MrBatou.



Upon first glance, you might ask yourself what the hell is happening here.  Well, here’s what I think is happening here.  This map represents the last remnants of a hyper-industrialized society, whose economy is driven by extracting radioactive plasma from the core of the earth.  Over the years, this corporate venture has caused the planet’s water supply to acidify, which has subsequently triggered a runaway greenhouse effect.



Consequently, the planet’s oceans have been converted into pools of radioactive sludge, with most of the continents having been decimated by the nuclear war which proliferated due to the rising cost of fission cells.  The dwindling earthly populace gathered on island chains in the pacific, hoping to ride out the fallout, but didn’t count on the hazardous nuclear tidal waves, which drowned 99% of mankind in mutagenic waste.



Now all that remains is this atomic mining facility, where a group of survivors has taken refuge.  Their last ditch effort to save humanity is to drill into the core of the earth, and detonate some nuclear warheads, thereby splitting the planet in half and siphoning the nuclear fluids into space.  What?  I never said this group of survivors was smart.



And all of this wondrous mayhem started back in 2016, when Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States.  Don’t believe me?  Try it.  Roll the dice.  I dare you.  I double dog dare you.  See what happens.  :)



But, on a more serious note, this map is thematic as hell.  It’s visually stunning, to be honest.  Every structure here serves an identifiable purpose, and it’s all compactly condensed into a relatively small space.



Be it the smoldering steam chutes, mechanized cranes, bubbling nuclear cesspits, or the gigantic free-standing drill, everything in this map is meticulously designed in an incredible way.  It’s a lot to digest, and it’s beautifully set on top of a backdrop of toxic waste and some barren landscaping.



I feel like I’m almost required to say something here.  Maps like this should not be taken for granted.  Something like this requires vision, but moreover, it requires a lot of hard work.  True intricacy requires someone to abandon the comfort of symmetry and the convenience of MCedit.  There are no repeated segments here.  There are no shortcuts.  It is hard to do this.



But most of your probably know that because, as we’re all well aware, this is way cooler than anything most people are capable of.  I could never do something like this.  It’s simply beyond me.  But it’s not beyond MrBatou who, time and time again, has pushed the enveloped and broadened the horizons here on PMC.  And this won’t be the last time you hear about him.  He’s relatively new to PMC, so expect more from him.

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I’m totally going to break the rules this week.  Never before have I featured a mega-build quite like this one.  Most of the time, I talk about rich details and complex motifs.  As it turns out, the best mega-build of the week is a minimalist masterpiece called American Fork High School, created by whiffdog.



There’s nothing complex here.  For most builders, this is feasible.  It’s not incredibly difficult to visualize this in your head and then apply it to the game.  The thing that is difficult, however, is finding the hours in the day to actually pull it off.



To be sure, this is not hard to build, but it does take a long long time to build it.  Whiffdog spent a scary amount of his personal time to bring this juggernaut to life.  And this style isn’t necessarily different from any of his previous builds.  It’s just more of it.



Everybody knows what a high school looks like.  They all, more or less, look something like this.  There’s not a whole lot of creativity exercised by architects who build high schools.  They’re like prisons, except you don’t have to commit a crime to attend one.  No, seriously, I’m going to go off tangent right here and now.  Schools look EXACTLY like prisons.  Haven’t you ever noticed that?  It’s scary.  Why would they make it look like that?  Are they sending subliminal messages to us?  I don’t want to go to prison!  STOP IT!  :(



God damn, I needed to get that off my chest.  But ignoring the classic high-school design, this is some impressive work.  This school has it all: parking lots, football/baseball fields, tennis courts, gymnasiums, a cafeteria, and of course classrooms.  It’s a perfect representation of a high school.



And credit to whiffdog, who time and time again is unafraid to use a minimalist style to bring stuff like this to light.  People on this site are obsessed with stairs and slabs.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  But every once in a while, I like seeing something straightforward that looks unequivocally realistic.

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Alright, I’m just going to flat-out say it.  This was the best week for terraforming in the history of Week in Review.  The best.  No doubt.  And leading a maximally impressive list of terrains is a landscape titled Azuma no Niwa - Garden of the East, created by ibuildpixels.



This is absolutely, without question, the best terrain of the year so far.  And that’s not a surprise considering the long list of people who helped out with this one.  Seriously, take some time to read the ‘Additional Credit’ list below.  Gabersid, Rastammole, and Aerios all working on the same map?!?  That’s like the Justice League of landscapers.  How could it not be the best ever?



It just goes to show, sometimes teamwork is the key.  In this case, it was the key to creating one of the most beautiful terrains I’ve ever seen.  And this isn’t even, at least in my opinion, a multi-biome terrain.  It’s more of a singular idea, with a level of unparalleled detail the likes of which I’ve never seen.



Garden of the East is an incredibly rich island terrain, filled with tons of intricacies.  It’s an absolutely perplexing Minecraft experience.  Instead of just giving us a cliche collection of biomes, this team of experts gives us a single, complex biome with a lot of character.



Everywhere you look there are streams, tiered pools of water, mountainous spires, waterfalls, and some of the best texturing I’ve seen in ages.  And I haven’t even mentioned the gorgeous active volcano in the center.



This is terraforming that refuses to blend into the background.  This is terraforming that wows the viewer in the same way an epic organic figure would.  You don’t see that very often.  Terrains like this stand alone.  They don’t require a castle to intrigue the viewer.  The map, by itself, provides all the intrigue the viewer needs.



And, hell, I haven’t even mentioned the complementary organic work yet.  Yes, as if the raw terraforming wasn’t impressive enough, ibuildpixels decided to saturate the entire map in colorful trees of all shapes and sizes, lily-pads, floating logs, cattails, and a living ecosystem of plant-life.



Simply put, this is the complete package.  This is a complete statement of terraforming.  There can be no doubt: this map is perfect, and it was made that way through hard work, talent, and sheer genius.  And believe me when I say that it beat terrains that easily could’ve gotten a gold medal on any other week in the year.

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The best organic work of the week is easily the craziest thing I’ve seen in months.  It’s bananas.  In fact, it’s so weird, I’m dreading writing about it.  Not because I don’t know what to say, but rather because I don’t even know what the hell I’m looking at.  That build is The Great Colossus Battle, created by Divici.



Divici, by the way, has obtained a medal three weeks in a row, and therefore is the first person in the history of WiR to legitimately receive the Dynasty Badge.  That’s a statement of consistency, if nothing else.



This is, um, a battle of two . . . things.  Yes, ‘things’ is the best I’ve got.  I’m sorry, I don’t know what this is.  I can’t process it.  I don’t know if that was Divici’s intention, but if it was, all I have to say is Mission Accomplished.



It looks like two mutant, alien monstrosities have met on some barren wasteland planet, and they have decided that they really hate each other’s guts.  Subsequently, they’ve gotten into an epic battle of the ages.  Who will win?  Will it be the obscure, centipede-esque monster with the frayed, spiky tentacles?  Or will it be the unidentifiable, feathered demigod from another dimension?  Can either of them even be killed?  Are they wasting their time?  All of these questions will never be answered.  You will go to the grave wondering how all this culminates.



But I’ll tell you what I know.  This is some really impressive organic work.  There are a lot of ethereal shapes and forms, and while I can’t tell what any of them are really supposed to be, I can tell which obscure monster they belong to.  That’s a start, I guess.



Maybe this is Divici’s attempt to confuse us.  Maybe this is an exercise in perception; a test to see how vague something can be before the community rejects it in a fiery, confused anger.  I’m confused, I’ll tell you that.  But I’m not quite ready to reject it.  It’s still cool enough to satiate me, even though I have no idea what it is.

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Ok, I’m excited to get back to reality after reviewing that insane frenzy.  Let’s talk about land structures.  The best land structure of the week is Solastio Villa, created by DragonAss98.  That’s an interesting name.  If you’ve never been near a dragon’s rear end before, I can tell you that it makes 9/11 look like the teacups at Disney World.  It’s quite horrific.



This is a nice, expensive-looking house, sitting amongst some beautiful rolling hillsides and a scenic river.  They say location is important when picking out property, so it stands to reason that this is some top tier real estate.



Let me start by saying that I love the roadways and paths that DragonAss98 was able to create here.  It was a smart use of materials, and they suit the architecture very well.  I also like the bridge that extends (and this is important) diagonally across the river.  It’s very difficult to do that with the level of success seen here.



But the true star of this build is the architecture and the exterior decor.  The pool area is simple but beautiful, and the seating areas are sublime.  The exterior appearance is very inviting.



As far as the architecture goes, this is about as good as it gets.  DragonAss98 doesn’t cling to the old crutch we call symmetry.  The design of this abode couldn’t be more novel.  It’s actually one of the most beautiful, small-scale layouts I’ve ever seen.

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Who here wants to talk about the Hindenburg?  Yes, there’s nothing quite like that classic tale of human stupidity gone horribly awry.  ‘Let’s fill a blimp with explosive gas and throw a party in the sky!  What could possibly go wrong?’  Well, they found out the answer to that question the hard way.  Luckily for me, the best air structure of the week happens to be Hindenburg DLZ-129, created by AlexCH27_.  What a coincidence!



First of all, before the PC police go up in arms, yes, this blimp has a Nazi flag draped on its side.  Let me explain why you shouldn’t be offended by this, historical accuracy aside.  What’s more PC than burning a Nazi flag 200 feet above the ground?  :D



Yes, the Hindenburg is kind of the aerial equivalent to the Titanic.  Everybody knows that the voyage ends in horrifying calamity, which makes it all the more iconic.  Which is why it’s great to see something like this recreated in Minecraft.



AlexCH27_ did a phenomenal job recreating this colossal blimp, while nailing all of the dimensions, exterior details, and engines.  But the true star of this build is the interior work.



The whole interior is filled with clever decor, and impressive material combinations.  It’s one thing to recreate something like this in Minecraft, but another thing entirely to make it an interactive experience. And, hey, if you want to take that interactive experience to the next level, just bring along some flint and steel.  ;)

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The best water structure of the week is Unity Class Frigate, created by tillwill.  Tillwill has always been on the forefront of all kinds of military ships here on PMC.



This ship is relatively minimalistic on the exterior, and makes great use of iron bars, iron trapdoors, cobwebs, and slabs to accurately recreate the deck.  Hell, there’s even a helicopter sitting on the back.



But, as with most of tillwill’s work, the best and most notable aspect of this ship is the interior work.  Unity Class Frigate is literally stuffed with unique and identifiable rooms.  This cutaway image is a suitable illustration of just how complex and cohesive the interior is.



It’s really impressive to see such dedication to accurately recreate something, both inside and out, with such an adept and creative use of materials.  This is what Minecraft is all about.  It’s about figuring out how to piece together something that looks cool with materials that, most of the time, are difficult to work with.



To be sure, this boat couldn’t be more iconic, and it couldn’t have been assembled with a less likely assortment of blocks.  Somehow, using cobblestone, slabs, and anvils to recreate an engine room just works.  I don’t know why it works; it just does.

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This was, by far, the most competitive week for hubs in the history of Week in Review.  There were so many top-tier hubs this week, that many of them didn’t even qualify.  Leading the pack was a unique hub titled Oriental Fantasy - Diorama, created by RoloFolo.



This is a hub built in the likeness of a diorama display.  It’s a unique and beautiful idea that makes for some great presentation.  And yet, despite being designed as a showpiece, Diorama is still a very functional hub.



The terraforming is simple, and works great as a backdrop.  The architecture has a lot of asian flair, and is impeccably detailed with a profuse amount of stairs and slabs.



But the thing that really elevates this hub to new heights is the small details.  The waterfall and the waterwheel are each peppered with some cobwebs, which give them a more life-like appearance.  A lone wagon, stacked with bales of hay, sits unattended on the upper tier.  And, of course, how can you go wrong with a stray lantern here and there?



This is a project that was made with a whimsical mindset.  Great care was taken, at every stage, to ensure that the final product would have a downright jaw-dropping effect on people.  And that it does.  RoloFolo sealed the deal when he added some translucent cloud coverage, gracefully hanging above the architecture.  That’s the kind of detail that makes something a little bit extra special.

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You don’t often see plots that carry a lot of weight by themselves.  It’s rare to come across one that has an immersive environment, mostly due to the spacial confinements.  However, this week there was a plot that had all of that and a lot more, and it’s called The Collapse - A Post-Apocalyptic Plot, created by TCL135.



I absolutely love this plot.  Let’s start with the terraforming.  For a relatively small space, it’s rare to see terraforming this developed and this captivating.  The rolling, snowy hills hang above a flat cliffside, much like a folded piece of fondant.  The bottom of the map is graced with an icy pond, excellently textured with different materials.



Add to that some snowy evergreens, and you have an environment worthy of the architecture it coexists with.  I don’t know what this building once was, but it is clear that whatever it is, it’s seen better days.  The level of disorder and destruction that TCL135 developed is a sight to behold.



I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for things like this.  I love builds that play on the concept of wear and decay.  This one does so just about as well as you can imagine.  All of the architecture is crumbling, in a glorious array of ruinous destruction.



It’s not easy to make something so damaged so beautiful.  It takes skill, but moreover it takes time.  There was a lot of attention payed to each pillar, each support structure, and each surface to ensure that every square inch received a proportional amount of damage.



The micromanaging of this plot couldn’t be more evident in the detailing added to the base of the structures sitting atop the frozen pond.  The way the ice clings to the sides of the wreckage is an inspired detail that makes this plot all the more realistic and all the more striking.

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When it comes to decor, the key to success is creating a notable and immersive environment.  This is not easy to do in Minecraft, due to the difficulty that comes with the innate materials one has to work with.  It takes a lot of imagination to create interior decor that both makes sense and looks appealing.  This week, I saw a minimalist piece of decor that simply made sense, and that project is Town Watch & Prison/Torture Chamber, created by RuneMinecraft.



This build was made with the Conquest texture pack, which means that you should expect some copious layers of detail.  However, RuneMinecraft does something unexpected.  Instead of saturating the interior with tons of detail, he exercises a lot of restraint.  As a result, this space becomes something very special.



There is a sort of incumbent gradation present here.  The upper floors to this establishment are fairly bright, and marginally elegant.  The sitting area, the barracks, and the jail cells are well lit, and make great use of a lot of rustic wooden materials.



This mood drastically changes when you step down into the lower level.  Suddenly, things become darker.  The prevalent wooden materials are instantly replaced with cracked stone and arching pillars.  Everything becomes less welcoming, and the feeling becomes dreary and hopeless.



But this is only a taste of what’s to come.  As you move deeper and deeper through the dungeon, the floors slowly turn from stone to dirt, and the ominous glow of the fires begins to take hold.



The torture chamber lies at the base of this structure, and it goes without saying that it’s the highlight.  Blood, severed heads, skeletal remains, and shackled prisoners are just some of the terrifying details you’ll find in the dank depths.



I have to say, I think this is my favorite interior work of the year so far.  It’s impressive how well RuneMinecraft transformed the interior of this building with so few materials.  It’s minimalist decor, at its best.  And I suppose Conquest makes it easier to play the minimalist game, but that definitely doesn’t take away from the overall effect this environment has on the viewer.

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Who here wants to soar through the sky and rain hellfire upon innocent civilians?  Well, I think I know of one person who does.  Regardless, the best gadget of the week is Ender dragon disguise, created by TheRedEngineer.



This clever vanilla mod allows players to flutter about as a miniaturized version of the ender dragon.  The mechanics kind of remind me of Arkham City, but make of it what you will.  TheRedEngineer was also kind enough to add a flamethrower mechanic, which allows you to incinerate things.



I love mods like this because it allows you to play Minecraft in a fun and new way.  And in a technical sense, this mod is designed well and it’s a blast to fool around with.  It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as last week’s winner (which, I might point out, was also made by TheRedEngineer), but it more than makes up for that with the fun factor alone.

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I don’t normally care much for PvP maps, but this week I’m going to make an exception.  This PvP map is so well made, and so filled with gorgeous structures and terraforming, that I couldn’t help but choose it.  That map is Skill_PvP V5 Warzone, which was made by crazygamer333.



There are four separate areas here, each with its own unique style.  Crazygamer333 spent a lot of time perfecting the terraforming and complementing it with some striking organic work.  In fact, I’d go so far to say that the terrain and 3D art is WiR material in and of itself.



I won’t talk at length about each individual arena (the images should sum them up better than I probably could), but I will tell you that my favorite is the desert mesa terrain.  The curving, striped mountain sides create a maze-like environment which makes for some very entertaining gameplay.  And the addition of the tepees is an excellent touch that adds an extra bit of flair to the environment.



The other arenas are equally well-made, and have their own unique treats to discover.  You can tell that there was a lot of thought put into each individual section.  It’s nice to see an idea that’s usually one-dimensional reimagined into something that carries more individuality and offers a more memorable experience.

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One of the most difficult aspects of coaster making in Minecraft is the creation of curves.  The innate nature of mine-cart rails presents a difficult challenge when trying to incorporate smooth inclines, declines, and turns.  So it comes as no surprise that the best coaster of the week is one that tackles that obstacle effortlessly, and it’s called Pinewood Valley, created by Gharox.



I know what you’re thinking.  Pinewood Valley sounds like the name of a nursing home.  Yes, it does indeed.  But don’t let that fool you; this coaster is way more fun than a nursing home.  I mean, I would hope so.  A coaster where you slowly roll through a drab room that smells like stale bread and urine would be a pretty awful experience.



But no, Gharox is not a sadist, nor is he in the habit of creating anything as lame as that.  This coaster is a thinly built, winding joy ride that weaves its way through a dense forest region.  Even though the terrain isn’t hand-made, it’s still an effective way to give the viewer something to look at while they’re zooming about.  And that’s important, because speeding through a blank void would be a downer no matter how well-made the track is.



Regardless, this coaster is excellently made, and a lot of fun to ride.  It isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing, but the minimalist support structures are suitable enough to elevate this one above its competition.

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Thank you very much for stopping by!  I hoped you enjoyed the last episode of January, and I'll see you guys again in February.