A Major Mountain I designed in Minecraft Inspired by Denali


Mount Noraker (named after Foraker) stands as the current tallest mountain in my Minecraft world Sky Pixel, rising 1024 blocks high. I designed it to capture the raw power and isolation I felt in the Alaskan Range near Denali — an area where I filmed scenes for my indie film Harlow.

Denali, to me, has always been more than a mountain. It symbolized the emotional core of Harlow, themes of childhood trauma, mental health, and social isolation. I spent four years filming across the Pacific Northwest coast, where I was born and raised.

from Oregon to Alaska, these those landscapes influenced the way I built Mount Noraker particularly Denali.

I wanted it to feel inhospitable and untamed, like Denali itself felt when I stood at the base of the mountain.

Noraker's base stretches roughly 3,000 blocks north-south and east-west, and it anchors the northern Alyeska Mountains, a desolate region on the far northwestern edge of Jesla Country in my world Sky Pixel. Nearby peaks within this glacial basin include Mount Dełá Ts’ina and Mount Sok’aan. The Ísjarn Dal Ice Fall, a massive valley ice fall, drops to nearly -500B below sea level, with surrounding mountains reaching 512B.

To bring Noraker to life, I pushed Bedrock to its absolute limits — sculpting jagged cliffs, carved glacial basins, and rough alpine ridges with WorldPainter and doing fine detailing in-game. I use high-end shaders such as BSL, Complementary, and Volumetric Fog to enhance the depth, atmosphere, and lighting.

I also have some design landscapes from Worldpainter outlining areas with several labeled glaciers (tł'oh, nakaih, kk'one) leading down toward the Koyukon Basin. Some of these terms were used by the Athabaskan people of Alaska, some images show locations / and peaks/ridges (red X's). As well as glacial drainage valleys (blue lines)

For ultra–high-fidelity renders, I work in professional 3D software where I can implement displacement mapping and subdivision surface modeling — techniques that add micro-detail and realistic surface texture beyond what the game engine can handle, I also use these programs for the hyper-realistic lighting and dramatic skies. These programs include Blender, Cinema 4D, and also I use Chunky, and Mineways to, depending on the shot.

Noraker is inspired off of Denali/Foraker. Not a replica. I took this approach because I wanted to keep my minecraft world Sky Pixel unique.

What are your thoughts?

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