Sebastian Sobr-Sosnowski, 16, recreating his town Kaitaia on Minecraft.
Sebastian Sobr-Sosnowski is determined to put his town Kaitāia on the map.
The Minecraft map that is.
Sebastian, 16, has been hard at work recreating his hometown on the popular game Minecraft, as part of the Build the Earth (BTE) project.
BTE aims to recreate the whole Earth in Minecraft on a 1:1 scale and has about 160 000 members building various towns, cities and countries across the globe.
Born and raised in Kaitāia, Sebastian said he wanted to create something that showed his love for his hometown.
“I want to showcase my town and have people see it. I also want to put Kaitāia on the map and also inspire people.”
He said he will include as much of the town as he can and include nearby farmlands as well.
“I am the only one building in Northland. There are others around New Zealand, like in Dunedin and Christchurch, but I am the only one in Northland.
“People have been really helpful. They have sent me pictures of houses and other buildings.”
He said he uses images, Google and co-ordinates to help incorporate accurate information.
“So far, I have done the Warehouse, Pak’nSave, Commerce Street and some neighbourhoods. The Warehouse and Pak’nSave didn’t take that long,” he said.
BTE public relations manager Jacob Sherman said the project started in March 2020.
“No large cities have been fully built yet. The closest thing would be some small villages, mostly in Europe. It is often underestimated how much work building actually takes, in order to ensure accuracy and just in terms of the sheer number of buildings a city has.”
He said NZ has about 15 builders and Sebastian “is the only one working in Northland, unfortunately”.
”I am personally not very involved with the build team which he is a part of, BTE Oceania, and he has not really posted any of his progress to the main BTE server.
“But I have glanced over some of his progress, and he seems to be doing a pretty decent job and working relatively quickly compared to many builders.”
At the current rate, Sherman said BTE would take hundreds or even thousands of years to complete, as they don’t have a lot of builders when compared to what they need to construct.
“As such, there is not really a plan for what happens when it is completed, as we are such a long way off it is almost unfathomable.
“However, this does not make the project any less valuable - it is a place where people relive and recreate their own memories, as well as meet other participants from around the world and build genuine social networks which often branch into real life.”
Sebastian’s mother Tania Sobr-Sosnowski is supporting her son’s project and often drives him around to get data and images, when Google data is not available or outdated, to complete the town.
“Sebastian firstly was involved in the gaming aspect of Minecraft, which was cool as it was good to be able to connect with his friends online and have fun.
“When he started creating buildings from real life, I was quite amazed at his patience, attention to detail and seeing his skills develop.
“He is determined to create the whole of Kaitāia and that is okay with me, because he has other hobbies as well, so everything in moderation.”