The challenge

This year's Christmas time provided a special challenge for us. The young and lively company INSTINCT3 wanted us to organize a Christmas party in Minecraft for them. Since Corona had prevented the originally planned event, some creatives came up with the surprise idea to join together in Minecraft.

The future corporate office is currently under construction. It was our task to build a virtual office according to the original schemes in Minecraft. In addition, we had to put up a server to make it possible to have a Christmas party there. So far so good. But why do we call it a challenge? Quite simply, we only had one week's time to make it come true.

We have a well-organized team and INSTINCT3 provided us with lots of concrete wishes and all the necessary samples and patterns. So we were finally able to realize the office building and the surroundings in the short time given. We would like to offer you some insights into the creative process now.

The realization

INSTINCT3 made the plant layout, videos, and sample pictures available to us. They were the basis of our working process.

We started directly with the core of the map, the interior of the office. We converted the plant layout to Minecraft and chose a scale of 2:1 to realize everything in full detail. We structured all rooms and labeled them for our own orientation. It was necessary to work very carefully and precisely at this stage. Afterward, we raised the facades around the office. Now it was easier to connect the streets and fix the circumjacent buildings. To make the surroundings true to original, we used Google Maps, Google Earth as well as pictures provided by our friendly clients.

The buildings were implemented in an infinite Minecraft world which can be explored as the players like.

The assembly plan of the office in Minecraft

The building before inserting it into the Vanilla Minecraft world

When we took a first look at the architectural plans allocated by INSTINCT3, we immediately recognized that some of the materials used for the office are not to be found in Minecraft. That's why we decided to make a texture pack. It would help us to design for example the ground or the glass panes of a former department store closer to reality.

To make office life more spirited, we also designed block models in Blockbench. Usually, there are no chairs, desks, softboxes, or PCs in Minecraft. But an office without all these things seemed somehow dull to us. We developed models in a way that players would need no modifications later. The models are activated when the players enter the Minecraft server, automatically downloading the texture pack.

Finally, we put up and configured the server to enable all team members to play together. To make the experience more interesting, we implemented some technics into the map. For instance, there are operating elevators as well as the opportunity to sit down on block models like chairs or sofas. Additionally, we have invented a mechanism that allows the crew to open up the office with a key. And, last but not least, the cute office dog Falco had to be included in the game.