Two years and 4.5 million blocks: That’s what a 19-year-old art student at the University of Delaware needed to build a massive Minecraft metropolis inspired by New York City – and there’s still building to be done.
As of Oct. 16, the two-year mark of this endeavor, Duncan Parcells has built 96 buildings in Titan City. “And that’s only the beginning,” his YouTube video about the Minecraft city declares.
Related: Minecraft is coming to the big screen courtesy of The Lego Movie producer
Up until now, Parcells has constructed the city on an Xbox 360 because that’s what he had to work with and Minecraft didn’t work properly on his Mac. However, he recently got his productive hands on a PC, which will make it easier to expand Titan City. “The city once finished on Xbox, will be permanently moved to PC and made even larger,” Parcells said on a Reddit thread about his projects.
Parcells spent an average of five hours a week building the city in Minecraft, he told the BBC. “I’ve kept it under wraps, it’s kind of like a second life I don’t talk about but people are starting to find out,” he said.
All the buildings in Titan City have floors, some are furnished, and some have elevators and stairs. Parcells plans on finishing interior work once the Xbox map is finished.
Titan City features two buildings that stand out from the rest: a tribute to the World Trade Center towers, which took him 18 months to finish. “I liked those buildings a lot. Now at least [they’re] part of a skyline again, even if it isn’t technically real,” Parcells said in the Reddit thread about his project.
Related: How to make your own Minecraft server
For those who worry about Parcells’ use of time and energy, he says not to worry because he has a life outside of Titan City. “I spent as much time on this as most game enthusiasts spend on their collection of games. I have a lot of friends and I go outside regularly. I also make music.”
PC and Xbox 360 versions of Titan City are available to download. The Minecraft city has already been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
Microsoft recently purchased Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, for $2.5 billion.