Nether Transport Network
From Dogcraft Wiki
| Nether Transport Network | |
|---|---|
| Survival 5 | |
The current design of the NTN hub, as seen on the Labrador world. | |
| Project | |
| Type | Transport |
| World(s) | Survival 5 |
| Leader(s) |  colliecolie ,  GG553 |
| Contributors |  AwesomeTom21,  HatterSkye,  Mika_Panda,  TrainerMoon |
For the guide on how to connect to the network, see Guide:Nether Transport Network.
The Nether Transport Network (NTN) is a community-led public transport service that runs on the Survival Multiplayer worlds of the Dogcraft Server. The system is comprised of a network of tunnels in the Nether, utilising the mechanics of using boats on ice blocks which allows for very fast movement. This is coupled with another mechanic, being that every block traveled in the nether is counted for eight in the Overworld, meaning the network allows for travel over many blocks quickly. The NTN was formed during the first Survival world and has existed in every subsequent world, with the project being led by management of the Survival Railway Network organisation.
Survival 5
Management
On the 3rd of March, 2022, TrainerMoon would announce the new additions to the NTN leadership team consisting of colliecolie for Labrador, GG553 for Akita, 
PerskyPuff for Shepherd, and 
strawberrysham for Corgi. The original NTN management team of Survival 5 was also the first majority transgender management team of any Dogcraft Transportation network, with an 80% trans group.
On the 31st of December, 2022, colliecolie and GG553 would become joint Project Leaders, with TrainerMoon becoming a manager on Corgi, and with new additions of Mika_Panda managing Labrador, HatterSkye on Akita, and AwesomeTom21 on Shepherd. This change in leadership also saw colliecolie and GG553 as the first female and agender leaders of any Dogcraft Transportation network. This also means that these two are the first AFAB (assigned female at birth) leaders of any transport network on the server.
Planning
After the announcement of Survival 5, TrainerMoon quickly announced public creative build sessions to work on the spawn and new tunnel designs. The new tunnel designs were created to address the issues with Survival 4's NTN, now including color coordinated tunnels, taller tunnels, lighter colors, and a more aesthetic viewing experience all while maintaining ease of access. The main hubs were designed in creative in the months leading up to Survival 5. The main hubs were designed to be much more grand, open, and brighter than before. The hubs feature information on the Network, information on player settlements in each direction, as well as a public piglin bartering area, access to the outdoors of the nether, a rest area for relaxation and respawn anchor needs, as well as the famous, gorgeous, and talented pig statue on each world named Joel, Gilbert, Wilbur, and most famously Wilm.
The main hub's Cyberdog cog logo designs featured on every world have a different pride flag's color pallete to reflect the identities of the world managers at that time, with Akita featuring the Agender pride flag, Shepherd featuring the Genderqueer pride flag, Labrador featuring the Bisexual pride flag, and Corgi featuring the transgender pride flag. This design was made to reflect the diversity of the managers, being the first fully queer Dogcraft transportation network management team. This design was also created with the intention of showing new players that Dogcraft and the NTN itself was a safe haven for LGBT+ players.
The Survival 5 NTN was also intentionally designed to be accessible to colorblind players, with directional banners stating which direction you were going. These banners were designed to be high contrast so all players would be able to benefit from them. AwesomeTom21 and 
starr274 assisted in this process with information on high-contrast visability, different forms of colorblindness, and how to make it accessible to all players as well.
Before Survival 5 even started, TrainerMoon had the idea of hosting NTN work sessions on designing the hubs in creative. This happened again once in the beginning of the world to work on digging out the start of the tunnels and the main hubs. But, after a seemingly one-off dig session in the first month of the new server, colliecolie had an epiphany whilst working on the NTN to host the same type of session - but on a weekly basis. This idea blossomed into the weekly NTN work sessions on Friday nights hosted in discord.
History
Survival 1
| Nether Transport Network | |
|---|---|
| Survival 1 | |
NTN Hub gathering during ice track development, August 2016 | |
| Project | |
| Type | Transport |
| World(s) | Survival 1 |
| Leader(s) |  _edo (former) → darparniox |
The idea for a nether based transport system was thought of by _edo, alongside his conceptualisation of what would become the SRN rail network. After successful implementation of the railway concept, attention was turned to its nether counterpart.
The first NTN Hub was built in early August 2016. It was accessible via the nether portal in a prominent plaza area of Spawn. The hub was reasonably straightforward, the main stylistic feature being the mini-diorama of the greater overworld spawn area on the central floor, based on the overhead Dynmap view.
The initial ice track design featured a dual lane system, split with iron bars, and a platform above the packed ice to prevent Zombie Pigmen from spawning in the way of travellers. Stations were interspersed along the track, providing access to the nether, ender chests, and overworld portals. Junction stations were numerous and provided access to perpendicular tracks. Both were standardised.
NTN building took priority through the August - October period and this is when the bulk of the network was created. Many NTN stations were built, most around their SRN equivalents but with a handful at other locations such as the Dogcraft Space Association build. It was apparent that junctions would be needed during this time - many SRN stations were far enough from the ice track. Hot air balloons high up in the air were constructed at some SRN station sites in order to improve the strength of connection between portals and to allow for easy elytra take-off spots during a time before rocket-boosted flight.
The NTN was not as well known or used as the SRN. The main cause of this the counter-intuitive location of the NTN hub portal. The building housing this portal had been standing for many months before the NTN Hub was constructed, and was part of the aforementioned 'utilities' plaza, next an enchanting facility and newbie gear build among others. The portal here was recognised by most the as the server nether portal, so was used for the NTN. However, the layout of the building was unnecessarily convoluted. _edo, in line with his other concepts, believed that the building should be changed so that portal was more prominent. The builder of the building disagreed, and the portal stayed in the same difficult to access location. Another factor was some confusion as to the correct method to use the ice tracks. The mechanics of the network were not widely known, and the spawn-proofing platform limited vision. The result was that some practice was required to use the NTN to its full extent.
Survival 2
| Nether Transport Network | |
|---|---|
| Survival 2 | |
The Survival 2 NTN hub | |
| Project | |
| Type | Transport |
| World(s) | Survival 2 |
| Leader(s) | darparniox |
The NTN made a similar return in Survival 2. In this world, a server nether hub was built in creative prior to its opening, at Spawn, with a preliminary link to Spawn Station. However, the hub was built at a much lower level than the previous NTN, and did not have any amenities for boat launch. Therefore, the decision was made to construct the NTN Hub at a separate location, and link it with Grand Central Station as oppose to its Spawn equivalent. The arrangement left a rather awkward situation when entering the NTN from Spawn. It wasn't until January 2018, four months after the start of the world, that it this was fixed. Players would first need to enter the server nether hub before locating a fake end portal that would teleport them up to the NTN.
In the meanwhile, during the previous October and November considerable early progress had been made and stations began to pop up in December. The NTN Hub was outfitted with a complex boat storage system, holding many shulker boxes of boats at a time and sending them to be used. The station design was altered slightly and slow down pads, to solve a long-known issue of players struggled to 'hit the cactus' in their boat to enter the station.
A long discussed in-game NTN Map was designed and completed by _edo in March. The map was spread throughout NTN Stations and was sold for a modest fee in the Hub. Feedback on the map was positive and helped greatly with navigating the network.
The NTN experienced unseen exponential growth in the month of June. A pet project of 
marbou9's to extend the East track to near the world border and his private island was completed on the 12th. By chance, 
Broga_ (then Brogaman) was directed to the endpoint of the Northern track to dig after asking for a place to mine for Netherrack on the 15th. After extensive digging, Broga began to build the additional ice track infrastructure and enlisted the help of many other players to complete the task of finishing NTN North and South ice tracks to the world border, with major contributors including 
briggsmech, darparniox and 
Snowflake_Elsa. Observing this sensation, 
Mrs_Diss, who had previously completed a sizeable section of the Western track to her MicroMesa, continued the march onward by extending this track, also to the world border. By the 20th, all four tracks and five new stations had been completed in the space of eight days, over tripling the size of the network.
An additional 2x2 combined in-game NTN and SRN network map was created on the 15th of July, designed by 
misterblue28 and was a team-construction project organised by 
William278. The map was hung alongside the original one in NTN stops as well as in the counterpart SRN stations.
Further expansion on NTN from this point was limited to a handful of new stations, until the closure of the Survival 2 world on October 20th 2018.
Survival 3
| Nether Transport Network | |
|---|---|
| Survival 3 | |
The Survival 3 NTN hub | |
| Project | |
| Type | Transport |
| World(s) | Survival 3 |
| Leader(s) | darparniox |
NTN construction for Survival 3 began before world launch, as part of the Spawn building project. The NTN Hub was given more aesthetic attention than usual with a design by marbou9, and the very beginnings of new ice tracks were in place when the new world launched. This was a very welcome occurrence, given the awkward nature of previous NTN Hub locations, and led to a major increase in the awareness and use of the NTN.
The NTN tunnels were re-designed for the world in accordance with feedback gathered of the course of the two previous iterations. A field trip to the Iskall85 server was conducted by prominent NTN players and many aspects of the nether tunnel design there were incorporated. The new tunnel was wider, lacked a lane system, and removed the need for the restrictive spawn-proofing platform by replacing packed ice with non-spawnable regular ice and careful lighting to prevent melting. The result was a tunnel with much more freedom and vision for the traveler with limited downside, whilst allowing much more accessibility to non-station connections (later coined 'side-doors'). Improved vision allowed for distance markers in overworld blocks to be added to the ceiling of tunnels, a useful guide for players.
Work on expanding the NTN began very early into the new world, an effort again headed by Broga_. With a large collection of helpers, he had completed all four NTN tunnels to the world border by the 11th of November, less than a month after the opening of the world. New side-doors began to pop up around the network, to great effect. However, efforts to build stations had been confused after mixed feelings about a new design created in November. A second re-design was made much later in March 2019 by darparniox. This was more discreet than previous examples, reflecting a new lower emphasis on SRN connections and toward player bases and towns as well being more customisable aesthetically. Later, in May, an 'approved stop' design was created after demand for a door for more significant locations outside of full stations.
With probable world border expansion for the 1.14 update looming, 
SJONES1997 began to extend NTN North past the border and toward the future border, with a 1000 block section completed in May. Broga_ and company once again performed significant tunnel construction, completing each track to the same distance through June.
The even more ambitious 'window-box' project was devised by Broga_ following the rush of players brought by the SRN and NTN base tour video in early July. The window-box consisted of a loop track of ice following the 1.13 world border, adding in four new world corner stations and forming a window box shape with the existing cardinal tracks. The original border stations by this time resembled 'mini-hubs', with three tracks departing from them. The project was completed on the 9ᵗʰ of August after many hours of work from many players.
From this point on onward, the NTN was considered 'complete', and the only new activity was the construction of new stations, stops, and side-doors. Unfortunately, the planned border increase only took effect with the server update to 1.15 on the 20th of March 2020, and could only be opened from then, around a week before the closure of the world. Overall the Survival 3 NTN was clearly the most used and recognised, which can be predominantly attributed to the improved design and portal location.
Distance marker and CKC side-door, unique to Survival 3's NTN
The approved stop for Chronia
Survival 4
| Nether Transport Network | |
|---|---|
| Survival 4 | |
Husky's NTN Hub after the 1.16 Nether Update | |
| Project | |
| Type | Transport |
| World(s) | Survival 4 |
| Leader(s) | Broga_  dmgdog (former) → TrainerMoon |
The beginning of Survival 4 started in 1.15, nearing the release of Nether Update 1.16, so the NTN started out as a temporary design waiting for the reset of the nether. Upon the reset, the NTN team lead by Broga_ and dmgdog would go on to dig and build a network built with normal and red netherbrick for the dual purpose of highlighting the update of the nether and repurposing the netherrack mined during the dig. The tunnels featured a new arched roof, making the tunnels taller.
There would be a change in leadership during Survival 4 from Broga_ and dmgdog to add TrainerMoon as an officer, with Broga_ and dmgdog both stepping down later on in Survival 4. NTN Officers were aided by the Junior Officers, consisting of 
SJONES97, 
mrkalaspuff, 
StenLluk, 
Lakosius colliecolie, and GG553. Junior Officers helped with everyday NTN work and maintenance.
The minihubs and corner hubs featured new 1.16 blocks, such as crimson and warped wood, soul flames, and strider enclosures. In September 2021, the first NTN Tower Build Contest was held to create homes for the minihubs and corner hubs' portals on the overworld side. TrainerMoon and the Events Team gave players the chance to create a tower - although some participants chose to build boats instead - that was no bigger than 25x25 blocks in size, and 50 blocks tall. Many designs were created, ranging from a stack of teacups to an asteroid's crumbled remains.
In March 2021, the NTN team hosted the first NTN Tunnel Building Competition. Players were tasked with connecting their portals to the completed tunnel network, and to create a design that reflected not only their creativity, but the base on the other side. The winner of the Best Player Tunnel was 
TheGoldenBudgie, with a snowy cabin ice pathway to their ski resort base, with the Best Community Tunnel going to 
SplittingAdams and the greater Confederation of Desert Islands or CODI area of Husky North, connecting many player bases and having access to two SRN branch line stations, Gates and Witchead. NTN Officer Broga's Pick went to 
ThatRoger1, who created a seemingly treacherous pathway over a faux basalt delta leading to a nether base. Winners were featured on the CDNN March 2021 episode with a tour of each tunnel and 
OldManLP85 doing an interview with ThatRoger1.
The temporary design of the NTN hubs before the 1.16 Nether Update.
The design of the NTN Tunnel after the 1.16 update.
Example of player stops displayed in the main hubs on both worlds.
A section of NTN in the West tunnel, featuring the city stop for Gaia.
| ||||||||||||||
