I read that 'squids are particularly likely to spawn in deeper waters'. I've got to go check where I found that, I could have sworn it was on someone's twitter.

I have yet to see a single squid--I really want to have some in a tank. Some people on the forum are saying they don't despawn automatically (just like slimes) so if I can find one I will definitely be finding some way to bring it back to my base. It will be just like the ending of Free Willy, only in reverse. ;)

Sheep can now spawn naturally with black, grey or light grey wool. White sheep seem to be much more common, but finding a black sheep is much easier than finding a squid (I've seen several black sheep but not a single squid).

Yeah, that's another option. I'm loving the look of sandstone. I never really bothered building with sand before because of its significant downsides, but this new stuff is great (especially since my base on my current world is located in a desert). Unfortunately the wiki's Block Resistance list hasn't been updated yet so it's not clear whether this stuff is as strong as cobblestone and the like.

Ah, that makes much more sense. I was thinking it was another oddity of the water physics (as if there aren't enough of those already--my favourite being the corner seepage I used to make the elevator on the GOG server; it's powered by water but no water is actually visible).

A squid in a tank...now that is brilliant.

I'm currently trying to build a more unique base. I'm attempting to build a massive tree, with my base inside, on top of, and around the tree. I'm having difficulty making it look organic the way I'm doing it. I'm currently using a pixel-circle diameter chart to make the trunk, and it looks more like an enormous brown pipe. I have no idea what would be better, except maybe building it bit by bit, by hand, instead of measuring it out? Any suggestions?

I know, but I can't find enough of them to satisfy my need for black wool. :/

You should be here, there are plenty of black sheep in my extended family.

I'll have whales and anything else if he ever adds such things, PETA or no PETA. ;)

One possibility for the tree would be to make the trunk a lot thinner (maybe even as little as 4x4 rounded off) with most of the structure being built into the leaves (like the proportions of the [url=http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/File:Screentree2.PNG]really huge trees[/url] that sometimes spawn, only four times the size or whatever but keeping the same rough proportions).

As for the leaves, go slay a bunch of skeletons for their bones. When broken down to bone meal you can apply this to saplings to make them grow instantly; if necessary, cut out any leaves or wood you don't want and do it againuntil you get the desired result. Leaves count as empty space for sapling growth, so you can place them as close as you like and build little dirt pedestals and such until you get a leafy canopy.

Leaf blocks won't decay as long as they are connected to a log block, either directly or by touching a leaf block. Placed logs work the same as natural ones. Coating the interior of the tree with logs (and then putting another layer of the actual wall material over that, if desired) would be an easy way of making the insides however you like without worrying too much about the outside dying off.

EDIT: also note that there are [url=http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/File:Woodtypes.png]multiple log textures[/url] now, based on the biome the tree grew in, so you could even try a type of trunk that doesn't normally grow in that area.

Hey, thanks! I didn't know that about leaves not decaying! I'm trying to make my building a bit classier, I usually just build a cube out of rock, put a few windows in it, dig for a while, and get bored. Definitely not top tier Minecraft stuff.

That definitely sounds workable! :D

On a side note, it sounds like you play this a lot ;D

For my residence, I'm building a regular, boring ol' castle. But I'm planning to fill the hills all around with pixel art. Which means I need about four hundred billion black wool. And I can't seem to come across much of that blue gem ore, either.

I should probably be doing NES sprites, rather than SNES ones. They get frickin' huge!

Castles don't HAVE to be boring. I literally built cubes of rock with wood floors, a few windows, and storage. People on Youtube have been most inspirational, some of them get blooming creative!

Wow I never checked that block resistance chart before I always assumed diamond blocks would just be much higher then everything else (excluding obsidian of course).

Re: Missing squid

I made eight boats, and set out looking for squid. I searched for three days, and in total found two colonies of 3-4 squid each. So there is no bug with squid not spawning (at least in my world), but it seems they are few and far between.
Another problem is that if they are more than 3-4 blocks under sea level, you can't see them.

Oh, and on the way home from my expedition I was blown to pieces by a creeper, losing all the ink I had collected. :/
On the positive side, I did find an awesome looking site. Must see if I can find my way back to it.

I built a tiny hut, fenced it in, and then dug a pit to the center of the earth. Now I'm driving tunnels off to the side of it, and I'm finally finding some of this ore everyone's been talking about :p

Including redstone. LOTS of redstone. Any tips on finding gold? I have 3/4 pieces I need for my watch.

I also have a tiny reed farm and a tiny wheat farm inside my fence. I'm pretty self sufficient right now, I'm storing up ore for tools, armor, and weaponry, then I'm going to start building my tree-house-fort-evilgeniuslair in earnest!

Which ore?

Redstone seems to be pretty common towards the bottom. I have no tips on finding gold, but I seem to come across it pretty regularly when searching for that there blue ore. Of which I still found a total of two pieces. :/

Edit:
I'm building a road.

So after saying I'd never seen a squid I suddenly come across four of the things floundering in a natural pool in my main mine cart tunnel. They can't swim up, nor can you hook them with the rod, but I'd read you could make them float up by punching them. I did so, building layers under them as they jumped to raise them up to a suitable level to wash downstream to a hastily-made aquarium. It turns out they don't have many hearts. None of them survived. :( If I'd built the aquarium in the floor instead of the wall they would have had enough health to survive going that far. :(

Now I have to wait to see whether they will randomly spawn there again or maybe even in the aquarium. It's that or haul some in from the ocean hundreds of blocks away. :(

On the plus side it seems they really don't despawn. I trapped one in the ocean for testing purposes, and even after returning to my home far away, travelling into the Nether and eventually coming back days later it was still there swimming around happily. So once you can get one where you want it you're all set. Just don't kill it like I did. :(

Kill it and take the ink, I say.