Worldsdesigner
Minecraft offers players endless options for creative builds.
Among the many choices is the creation of realistic and large forests.
However, the actual creation can seem like a daunting task. Where do you even start when building an entire forest? Fear not, there are two different approaches we will discuss:
Building trees by hand or using software to create them.
Let us take a look at the two and explore which software to use in the different cases.
Building trees by hand in Minecraft is a lot of work when looking to copy the complicated structures of a real tree.
This allows for precise builds, enabling you to create trees with specific shapes, sizes, and details.
The trees you build also do not need to be realistic, let your imagination run wild.
Some of the best minecraft maps use hand-crafted trees that look exceptional.
Whats the catch?
Creating trees by hand takes a lot of time. Not to forget the focus on small details to get it looking right. You need to consider things such as tree trunk width, branch placement, leaf density, and overall look to achieve a realistic result.
This method allows for unique designs, creating trees that reflect your building-style and that fit the surrounding build perfectly.
However, this can be tedious, especially when you are building a big area. (The more trees you are building, the worse it gets) You also need to think about your block choices and how they fit into the environment.
This all means constructing each tree requires a lot of skill and a significant amount of time to make it look good. If you are just starting out this makes things a lot harder. This makes it more suitable for smaller-scale projects or a few special areas on your map.
However, you may want to try this out yourself just to train your building skills. It requires an eye for details to build great looking trees but its a nice challenge to try out - How realistic can you build a tree?
The next option when looking for efficiency while building is simply copying your trees a lot.
This can speed you up a lot. But it comes with the drawback that one may be able to recognize that trees have been copied.
For this you can use tools like Worldedit, VoxelSniper or Axiom.
By using these tools, you can rapidly populate large areas with trees that are built by hand and have a high quality. This process greatly reduces the time required compared to full manual building, making it ideal for creating big forest areas with medium quality or filling the world quickly. Just make sure you do this in areas where players are not looking too closely at the trees or the illusion will break.
If you want more trees to place in you map you may consider using a treepack. Treepacks are collections of trees that you can download and just place in you world with the softwaretools. For a detailed guide on how to use treepacks specifically in worldsdesigner, you might want to look at this guide.
There is more speed to be gained still. This is the second major option you may consider when you need lots of trees.
Using a tool that builds the trees for you, you can create thousands of different trees before placing them. Some programs simulate natural growth patterns, resulting in varied tree shapes and sizes which adds a touch of realism to the landscape.
Very importantly, these tools often integrate seamlessly with the game. This makes them a user-friendly experience for you to enhance your worlds in an easy manner.
The process for creating trees with such tools is entirely different compared to building trees. That is because you are not placing blocks but creating the pattern that tells the computer how to place them. This is a lot more complicated but once you have desgined the tree, the computer can build hundreds or thousands of them. That is exactly where such technology shines. Getting to the first tree takes longer but all trees after that take no additional time.
These characteristics make tree-generation especially suited for builds that need lots of trees that look similar while also not being an option to build the trees because it takes too long.
The choice between handcrafted or generated trees depends on your goals, skills and scale of your project.
For creators who value perfect quality, custom design and have enough time to spare, handcrafting trees might be a good choice. (And maybe later using them as a treepack in later projects)
If you are focusing on very large worlds or you are looking for efficiency, you may prefer the ease and speed offered by tools like worldedit, Axiom or Worldsdesigners tree-feature. This allows you to quickly create entire worlds without needing to spend time on every single block.