Huge Minecraft Desert City Was Built By One Player Over 20 Months

And it still isn’t done! Although Whiteark really is huge — it occupies a 1057 by 824 block area — the most amazing aspect is probably its rich lore. Reading over the description of each landmark or city district, you can slowly put together a history of slow expansion littered with raider attacks, of a city dominated by a classist, plutocratic society.

For example, here’s what the builder, Auksie, has to say about the Palace of the Oases, visible on the top image:

Though Whiteark has been a monarchy for over two thousand years, there has been a palace for only a thousand. Until the original city walls became redundant as the city expanded past them, the palace couldn’t be constructed outside the walls, as it would then be outside of the city’s protection. Two palaces have come and gone since then, the first entirely torn down, the second surviving only in the throne room and kitchen. This current, third palace, may be younger than some of its neighbours, but its imposing mark on the landscape is undeniable.

And then there’s the detail present in the city’s buildings themselves. Keeping with the Palace, even though it’s marked as “needs editing and furnishing,” it looks like this on the inside:

Wow.

Whiteark was started up by Auksie and their brothers as a co-operative village project in October 2012. After their brothers abandoned the project, Auksie carried on alone, slowly building Whiteark into the sprawling city it is today — and will likely continue to do so for quite some time.

The official Minecraft Forum thread of Whiteark sees some irregular, small updates: most recently two days ago, when Auksie revealed, among others, an improved version of the city port:

Unfortunately, there is no world download available as of yet, but once the city is complete, there will be. And Auksie even plans to, with some help, turn Whiteark into an RPG adventure map complete with its own quests. But that’s still a ways off. Until then, all we can do is watch the thread for any updates, and look at some gorgeous screenshots:

Whiteark: a vast desert city, and long-term solo project [Minecraft Forum]