Forgotten Depths

Forgotten depicts a mysterious and morbid undersea scene. Who was this skeleton and why are they wearing a crown? How did that sunken ship come to rest underwater? How is that other ship half boat/half manta ray and – most importantly – how do I get one?

“I tried going for a goofy approach with the manta ray ship,” Ranger Gilan explains. “I thought that the manta ray's flexible, dynamic physique would contrast nicely with a rigid ship.”

It's an inspired design choice for a Minecraft builder still relatively new to the community – this is the first build Ranger Gilan has shared on Planet Minecraft, and even then he had hesitations.

“I've always felt as though my builds lacked something; so I didn't really want to share it. I still feel the same with this Forgotten build but I have to start somewhere.”

Personally, I'm thrilled he did! Ranger Gilan has a great eye for the impact of using several similarly coloured blocks for his designs, rather than sticking to just one colour.

What am I going on about? Look at the sails of the ship in this image:

Ranger Gilan could've just used one colour/block type for the sails and they still would've probably looked good. But instead, he's used three similar-toned blocks. That choice makes the sails look more worn and weathered, as if they've seen a lot of voyages and not seen the insides of nearly enough washing machines.

Plus, Ranger Gilan's cleverly constructed the sails to make it look like they're rippling in the wind, an effect which was apparently “the most difficult part of the build” But the results were well worth it!

The build was inspired by this quote – “A man truly dies when he's forgotten” – which, er, might be the least inspiring quote I've ever read? Like, ever?

But not for Ranger_Gilan – it immediately inspired a morbid tale perfect for his underwater build.

“When I saw this quote,” he explains “I thought it would be cool if I add a skeleton with ships, swords, crowns and stuff like that representing adventure, and all of that [had] sunken to the bottom of the ocean, representing that all of it was forgotten.

“I thought a skeleton on the ocean floor would be a nice symbol to represent someone's life forgotten.”

It's a haunting idea – how many stories have been taken from us by the oceans? No doubt there's all sorts of treasures, wonders and civilisations we've lost to those murky depths, their tales destined to sink and be forgotten with them. What if someday someone drops this website into the ocean and everyone forgets all my amazing writing? :O

Let's move on from such depressing thoughts. After all, Ranger Gilan thinks this build is his “best so far.” But he's not planning on stopping there. He's already got a great idea for his next build, “a city with an elephant carrying it.”

Sounds pretty unforgettable to me!

Renders by Thomasesc and Squity