A rather large exploration based /indev map set on a series of floating islands. 90% of this was done by hand with the other in the NBTForge map editor. Hopefully nothing Notch updates will break this anytime soon as I wasted WAY too much of my life into this, but it's been a hell of a lot of fun too. Hopefully people will enjoy.
From the readme which is included in the download. There's a lot here, but the Lore section is pretty important.
The Shattered Land
By: James "Jossi" Rossi
High above an unreachable world, a once land bound kingdom rose. Torn violently from the very Earth itself in a violent upheaval the countryside was devastated. There were survivors, but they were few. The small number of survivors, eventually continued to live, making meager living. Soon inevitably they began to die out, and soon the only surviving child became the only surviving man. Tired of a life with the only purpose was to live for life's sake, he sought adventure, and perhaps even death. Pouring through any surviving books and his own written notes of personal accounts he had heard as a child, he set out to find these lost treasures. It was not fortune or fame that drove him, for surely he would die alone and unknown on these cursed floating rocks. However, maybe there could be some peace to be found in being able to finish the tales of this shattered land.
On these gravity defying islands are 27 Legendary items. They are all the items one can craft from iron, gold, and diamond. Can you discover the final hidden secrets this land holds?
Gameplay Notes
You never need to build to reach any of these items. They can all be found without altering the landscape except for a few exceptions which should be apparent. If you are ever required to dig, you will never have to dig through anything other than dirt. Ultimately how you play is up to you, what matters is that you have fun. There is no recommended difficulty. If you don't play on peaceful you will likely need to craft your own equipment just to stay alive. I've supplied some started materials in the workshop under the house. It'll be odd crafting tools for use that you eventually find as "legendary" but it's a necesary slight I suppose. Also be careful for the creepers. They could potentially ruin things if they explode, so play it safe with them as best you can.
Lore
My Grandfather used to spin the wildest of tales when I was a child. He spoke of floating lands (how I laughed at the idea as a child, before the Great Catastrophe), strange magic from foreign lands, and my personal favorite the Crystal Knight. The Crystal Knight was the King's favorite warrior. Adorned with armor that glimmered in the sun, he would enforce the peace and defend the King to the end. Many songs were sung in his praise, and supposedly some still are although their original meaning has been lost on us youngsters. However, for all his honor and bravery he was cast out of the kingdom. He had fallen in love with the King's daughter and had the audacity to pursue the woman without the King's consent. Furious at the slight, the King's wrath unfolded. Banished from the castle and kingdom the shamed knight of strength and courage hid in the woods in shame. The house was long ago burnt, and the forest has reclaimed his house of sadness, but they say the armor is still out there in the dark forest, in the forgotten basement of a destroyed house, as alone as his owner was.
People were always mistrustful of the gravedigger. Naturally the digger danced with death, but soon it seemed he was in fact the lead. After the death of the prettiest girl in the land, the people ended the Digger's reign of death. They buried him with his chosen tools in the loneliest grave.
In the Alchemist's Den he toiled away,
day into night, night into day.
He sought to turn steel into gold.
Sadly it caused his mortgage to fold.
Many treasures are hidden behind the falls of the Weeping Isle. A crazed man thought it would keep the demons away, sadly looters were more likely to prey.
Before the Royal Family came to power generations ago, there was a ruthless despot who ruled the land. His evil acts would all flow to one location, the mass grave of those who rebelled. Countless men, women, and children were punished and their spoiled bodies cast into the earth. In the end, this Dark King was slain by his own people. Buried alive in the pit of his own filth, crown still upon his head. This dark location still bears the scars of his crimes. The horrid pit is said to still smoke, as if the fires beneath were still ablaze.
Old Mr. Jagger was 90 years old.
He mined the hills for all of it's gold.
One day he dug down, and down, and down.
There he remains with his pick and crown.
From the Guide to Miscerian Fauna: The Tunneling Jumping Spider is a species native to the Miscerian countryside. It will build nests into the sides of hills and are often large complex paths many of which lead to dead ends to discourage predators. They are fiercely predatory but only hunt at night. During the day they are surprisingly docile creatures. They hunt for shockingly large prey and there have been accounts of family's of spider's attacking whole herds of sheep. These creatures are to be considered very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. However, they have been highly prized in some circles for their odd habit of taking shiny objects back to their nests. This includes gilded items, and as such many adventurers have lost their lives in search of hidden caches of gold in the deadly nests.
When the aqueducts were built, the King had commissioned them from a brilliant architect, who imagined himself a genius. As the ducts neared completion, emboldened by his hubris, and distasteful of his pay, he sought better payment. Entering the treasury, he took several gilded items. The theft was noticed, and the thief for all his brilliance punished, but not before the completion of the ducts and the items hidden away. Some feel that both acts may have been committed simultaneously.
The axeman thought, "why buy flowers, when you can bring seeds?"
The man was sweet but did not understand a girl's needs.
He was on his way to deliver when a criminal gave a viscous blow,
In his memory, the seeds which he held caused red flowers to grow.
In the darkened cave, it's best to travel at night. The path to your prize the flame shall light.
In the times before written words there was a strange civilization called the Red City. Their technology and weaponry was far in advance of our own. Perhaps in this time of trauma, danger, and uncertainty conditions will allow for some of the ancient secrets to reveal themselves.
Under my house I hid it away,
The sword with which I would save the day.
There it remains, and there it shall stay,
Until I finally get on my way!
There are tales of a miserly farmer whose swimming ability was unmatched throughout the countryside before it was torn to the sky. His prized possessions were his gold Scythe, Shovel, and Axe. Though functionally useless he hid them away from the eyes of all. Only he knows where, and he brought that secret to his grave.
Before the Great Catastrophe there was a vast underground civilization who had managed to tame the wild beasts of the underground. They rarely visited the land above, and always at night. They would enter town silently and barter for what supplies they were unable to construct in their dwellings. Then as if being ripped away from their beloved earth were not enough, fires of molten rock erupted in their ancient home. The peaceful if odd inhabitants have not been seen since, and what little remains of their domain is ravaged by lava and their now disloyal pets. Surely, none of their rumored treasures could remain amidst such chaos.
I tend to forget I have a higher powered computer than most. I get little spikes during the day night changes but nothing really bad. I'm not sure if there is a way to change the theme or not.
The riddles shouldn't be too too difficult, it's just a matter of finding the right locations first really, which due to the map size can be a tad daunting, but I wanted this to feel a bit extended like that. For instance, with the gravedigger riddle all you need to do is find the cemetery. Once there it should be easy to see what the loneliest grave is.
Others are certainly harder to get to, or simply just farther away, but I did try to give the best equipment in the hardest spots. All the riddles usually have 2-3 key words that you need to follow to figure it out.
Download: http://www.filefront.com/15614811/Shattered%20Land.zip
Pictures:
From the readme which is included in the download. There's a lot here, but the Lore section is pretty important.
The Shattered Land
By: James "Jossi" Rossi
High above an unreachable world, a once land bound kingdom rose. Torn violently from the very Earth itself in a violent upheaval the countryside was devastated. There were survivors, but they were few. The small number of survivors, eventually continued to live, making meager living. Soon inevitably they began to die out, and soon the only surviving child became the only surviving man. Tired of a life with the only purpose was to live for life's sake, he sought adventure, and perhaps even death. Pouring through any surviving books and his own written notes of personal accounts he had heard as a child, he set out to find these lost treasures. It was not fortune or fame that drove him, for surely he would die alone and unknown on these cursed floating rocks. However, maybe there could be some peace to be found in being able to finish the tales of this shattered land.
On these gravity defying islands are 27 Legendary items. They are all the items one can craft from iron, gold, and diamond. Can you discover the final hidden secrets this land holds?
Gameplay Notes
You never need to build to reach any of these items. They can all be found without altering the landscape except for a few exceptions which should be apparent. If you are ever required to dig, you will never have to dig through anything other than dirt. Ultimately how you play is up to you, what matters is that you have fun. There is no recommended difficulty. If you don't play on peaceful you will likely need to craft your own equipment just to stay alive. I've supplied some started materials in the workshop under the house. It'll be odd crafting tools for use that you eventually find as "legendary" but it's a necesary slight I suppose. Also be careful for the creepers. They could potentially ruin things if they explode, so play it safe with them as best you can.
Lore
My Grandfather used to spin the wildest of tales when I was a child. He spoke of floating lands (how I laughed at the idea as a child, before the Great Catastrophe), strange magic from foreign lands, and my personal favorite the Crystal Knight. The Crystal Knight was the King's favorite warrior. Adorned with armor that glimmered in the sun, he would enforce the peace and defend the King to the end. Many songs were sung in his praise, and supposedly some still are although their original meaning has been lost on us youngsters. However, for all his honor and bravery he was cast out of the kingdom. He had fallen in love with the King's daughter and had the audacity to pursue the woman without the King's consent. Furious at the slight, the King's wrath unfolded. Banished from the castle and kingdom the shamed knight of strength and courage hid in the woods in shame. The house was long ago burnt, and the forest has reclaimed his house of sadness, but they say the armor is still out there in the dark forest, in the forgotten basement of a destroyed house, as alone as his owner was.
People were always mistrustful of the gravedigger. Naturally the digger danced with death, but soon it seemed he was in fact the lead. After the death of the prettiest girl in the land, the people ended the Digger's reign of death. They buried him with his chosen tools in the loneliest grave.
In the Alchemist's Den he toiled away,
day into night, night into day.
He sought to turn steel into gold.
Sadly it caused his mortgage to fold.
Many treasures are hidden behind the falls of the Weeping Isle. A crazed man thought it would keep the demons away, sadly looters were more likely to prey.
Before the Royal Family came to power generations ago, there was a ruthless despot who ruled the land. His evil acts would all flow to one location, the mass grave of those who rebelled. Countless men, women, and children were punished and their spoiled bodies cast into the earth. In the end, this Dark King was slain by his own people. Buried alive in the pit of his own filth, crown still upon his head. This dark location still bears the scars of his crimes. The horrid pit is said to still smoke, as if the fires beneath were still ablaze.
Old Mr. Jagger was 90 years old.
He mined the hills for all of it's gold.
One day he dug down, and down, and down.
There he remains with his pick and crown.
From the Guide to Miscerian Fauna: The Tunneling Jumping Spider is a species native to the Miscerian countryside. It will build nests into the sides of hills and are often large complex paths many of which lead to dead ends to discourage predators. They are fiercely predatory but only hunt at night. During the day they are surprisingly docile creatures. They hunt for shockingly large prey and there have been accounts of family's of spider's attacking whole herds of sheep. These creatures are to be considered very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. However, they have been highly prized in some circles for their odd habit of taking shiny objects back to their nests. This includes gilded items, and as such many adventurers have lost their lives in search of hidden caches of gold in the deadly nests.
When the aqueducts were built, the King had commissioned them from a brilliant architect, who imagined himself a genius. As the ducts neared completion, emboldened by his hubris, and distasteful of his pay, he sought better payment. Entering the treasury, he took several gilded items. The theft was noticed, and the thief for all his brilliance punished, but not before the completion of the ducts and the items hidden away. Some feel that both acts may have been committed simultaneously.
The axeman thought, "why buy flowers, when you can bring seeds?"
The man was sweet but did not understand a girl's needs.
He was on his way to deliver when a criminal gave a viscous blow,
In his memory, the seeds which he held caused red flowers to grow.
In the darkened cave, it's best to travel at night. The path to your prize the flame shall light.
In the times before written words there was a strange civilization called the Red City. Their technology and weaponry was far in advance of our own. Perhaps in this time of trauma, danger, and uncertainty conditions will allow for some of the ancient secrets to reveal themselves.
Under my house I hid it away,
The sword with which I would save the day.
There it remains, and there it shall stay,
Until I finally get on my way!
There are tales of a miserly farmer whose swimming ability was unmatched throughout the countryside before it was torn to the sky. His prized possessions were his gold Scythe, Shovel, and Axe. Though functionally useless he hid them away from the eyes of all. Only he knows where, and he brought that secret to his grave.
Before the Great Catastrophe there was a vast underground civilization who had managed to tame the wild beasts of the underground. They rarely visited the land above, and always at night. They would enter town silently and barter for what supplies they were unable to construct in their dwellings. Then as if being ripped away from their beloved earth were not enough, fires of molten rock erupted in their ancient home. The peaceful if odd inhabitants have not been seen since, and what little remains of their domain is ravaged by lava and their now disloyal pets. Surely, none of their rumored treasures could remain amidst such chaos.
I'll put up a few shots in a moment.
[edit]
Added a few pictures in.
To an almost unplayable length... I suggest finding a way to change the theme to paradise.
Great map BTW. I love the lava.
Pulsusego, Drill Sergeant 3rd Battalion, Engineer of the RMM. Glory to her!
Others are certainly harder to get to, or simply just farther away, but I did try to give the best equipment in the hardest spots. All the riddles usually have 2-3 key words that you need to follow to figure it out.
(sorry if this is a dumb question)
^The Portal Song!^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Q_koTHB54
^Taste the cake song!^
The cake is NOT a lie!