Hey Robertx32, Mazzeltje and pixelbits, sorry I haven't been on in aaaaaaaaaaaages.. My Mac died on me and I had to get it repaired but the shop I sent it to was really slow with fixing it. Anyway, I'm back on now though! :biggrin.gif:
Ill call you when the server is b and running, we had some difficulties i need to fix.
edit: review is for the early version and will be re-reviewed after full release. Off to a great start.
Review Summary:
The towns and exteriors of buildings are EXTREMELY nice looking, but the decor within the buildings was very inconsistent - some had nice decor, some were strange looking, some were completely empty.
The initial 'tutorial' was a good concept, but then I completely lost the storyline. I have NO IDEA if there's an ending or this is supposed to be a completely open world wander.
The dungeons seemed to be a random repetition of jumping puzzles, mob spawners (sometimes pig spawners), and lever puzzles with no recognizable clue so they had to be brute forced.
I believe only one town had the bank system. Not sure why I thought all the towns would be connected by these bank carts so you could get your goods from anywhere.
This map is RIPE for a good storyline. I hope you guys can find it and weave it in to the beautiful landscape.
Oh - and I'm pretty sure some of this stuff was inspired by WoW locations - which looked really good duplicated into Minecraft.
Mode: Single player
Difficulty: Easy
Texture Pack: default
Mods: none
Before I begin, I want to applaud the map makers on their forum post and the picture files that come with the game. (I had a sneak peek at
them, and thought there were going to be a ton more, but... by the end there are VERY few. Looks like future versions will have more to do) I
appreciate how each one has a unique icon/type.
Cellulite?! LOL!
Might be too many hand-holding signs in the basement.
There's one that says go to the temple, and I'm not sure if the temple is through this piston-wall, or if I'm supposed to go outside.
Going through the piston exit.
More signs. Hm...
I am going to explore the town first before I open this temple. Kinda strange that you made us come through a secret entrance when we could
have just walked around the house.
The little dam is a nice touch - not sure if it has any use.
Found the signs outside our house and NOW it makes sense - this is a "tutorial". That's why there are so many signs!
Ah - and here's the rules and such. Ok. This reminds me of the tutorial from Asheron's Call.
I hope this sample jumping puzzle doesn't mean there will be lots of jumping puzzles.
I like the concept of the bank, store, and building your own house. I probably won't follow those things, so I can get through the whole map
in a timely manner and see everything, but it's good for roleplayers.
Oxland.
I love the view of the town as you approach - the blue and dark wood houses are great. The flag looks like it's rippling in the wind.
But these buildings are almost all completely empty.
The water and dock look nice, but I don't think it's functional or realistic to have a tiny lake with that many docks in the middle of a town,
but not connected to any other water source (e.g. a river or larger lake)
30-60 minutes for the dungeon? Yikes - this is going to be a long map - I think there are supposed to be a lot of dungeons in this map?
This little cave is interesting. The ice/cobweb puzzle is new to me, but slightly annoying.
I'm not sure about some of these true/false questions - I think it might be a slight language issue. e.g. You CAN craft slimeballs into
sticky pistons (but I think you're saying you can't make a slimeball from something else).
I don't see anything else in this town, so I guess it's back to that instance/dungeon.
GOOD GRIEF! 4 creepers, 2 spiders, and 2 zombies came down the first stair after me! The stair was blown to smithereens. I'm going to have
to rebuild it while fighting off waves.
The layout of this place is strange, but also empty except the torches.
Who is leaving the signs?
Ice jumping puzzle. Ack.
Hmm.. that was about.. 15 minutes I believe. Definitely not 30 to 60.
Now I have no idea where to go. Looking back through town, else heading back to starting town.
Took this other crossroad. LONG walk :/
Stoneford.
(Incidentally, I've no idea why I'm journeying around. I have forgotten - am I searching for my mother?)
The interior shape of these buildings is pretty strange, but at least there is some sparse furnishing.
What is that floating thing in the distance?
What are these white domes out back? oh, tents?
I guess I'm supposed to go and check out the floating thing.
Oh! Is that a flying Ziggurat (like Naxxaramas?)
There's a pig spawner under it - was that supposed to be a monster spawner?
Wait... all of these are pig spawners...
Black or white? Password? I have no idea which levers to pull...
Hmm... I went back out to scout around and see if there's something in roughly the same shape as these levers, but not that I can find. Guess
I have to randomly pull them...
I gave up and bashed the door down. Saving the city? Oh - Stoneford.
I guess that was another instance.
So, now I go back to town and take the other path?
Got distracted by seeing Ruins of Ardclaw in the distance.
Ouch - I hate ice jumping now.
Run as fast as I can? Why... there are pig spawners...
Another lever puzzle with no discernable 'clue'
The sewers were so short. That was supposed to be challenging?
Coming out - I see a new town covered in redstone torches (reminds me of christmas lights?), but going back to the path to this sand and
orange wool town.
Don't see any signs with the town's name
I'm glad this town has more decoration in the houses, but I don't really understand some of it. The noteblock on a plank with ladders?
Zil Nars Lair
(entered via well)
Glad to see actual monster spawners
ANOTHER lever password puzzle? :sad.gif:
Speed test is annoying.
Maze.
Interesting - I still don't have a fullo suit of armor, and every time I get some from a chest it's already damaged.
Do I seriously have to wade up this LONG, slow water shaft?
I just now wound the Zil Nars Lair quest instruction - after beating the dungeon
Back in the unnamed town
One of the houses has a painting over the windows - weird.
I threw 3 gold into the water, expecting something to happen (hidden redstone or something). After waiting about a minute, I broke into the
water chute to see what was in there... but it's just nothing. Kinda feels cheap to me.
Another house has a secret entrance behind a painting, but the room is empty?
These fenceposts on top of chests look a little odd. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I've definitely never seen that before.
These buildings have interesting layouts, but I just realized there's no signs or anything to tell me what they are. Whereas the first
village had each building labeled.
Building with a stage is interesting.
Will come back to the 'elra' path - heading to this redstone torch town
(still don't really know what my story is)
What are these colored pyramids? I get the feeling I'm not supposed to be here yet, but I can see it from the ruins. And CLEVER palm trees
at the oasis!
Going to go back to Elra first and remember these for later.
Oh wow - now this place looks AMAZING. The cranes and boat and flags. Huge, gorgeous architecture.
sign, "... will be opened in 1-2 updates." Updates?! Breaking the 4th wall here.
This keep/cathedral is fantastic. I got lost inside.
Ballistae and catapult! Wow.
This is totally modeled off of that Alliance base near Naxxaramas, isn't it?!
Ok - all of the oohing and aahing aside about the exteriors of buildings... what am I doing here? I guess I'm freeing these towns from the
undead by beating dungeons, but I'm not destroying the necropolii or anything like that. There are no signs (for the most part) to guide me
through the story...
Big tree looked good from the road - going back out to check it. More levers.
Spotted this CRAZY looking purple tasseled castle. Same feedback - looks amazing from the outside, but there's no real substance inside.
Went back to the colored pyramids.
Then a few more towns.
Etc...
Then back to my starting town. Wait... is there an end somewhere? Did I finish it?
Creativity: Unique theme. Utilizes Minecraft functions. Use of rules. Clever creations
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Detail: Visual decor/detail. Consistency. Realism and/or appropriate to theme.
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Story: Overall effort and duration. Engaging. Consistent. Character motivation. Dialogue/Narration.
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Difficulty: Puzzles. Mob/risk density and variety. Lighting. Hidden items/challenges.
1 = Impossibly hard, may not be able to see the whole adventure
2 = Too easy
3 = Challenging, even on on peaceful
4 = Challenging, on easy/normal but not impossible
Progression: Pacing of scenes. Pacing of score, gear, loot. Experience builds or arcs.
1 = below average; uneven or no progression
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Haha, thanks rsmalec, altho i hate your rating system :biggrin.gif: Anyway i would love if you would rate our map again when we finish the first continent in a few months, im not sure as i dont have time time these days.
Note: the first continent isnt finished, the story is just started, every continent will have its own story you need to solve. It will probably be like you need to finish certain instanes to unlock the main one. But they would be much harder and better than the others.
Spotted this CRAZY looking purple tasseled castle. Same feedback - looks amazing from the outside, but there's no real substance inside.
Im pro for outside, but sucks at inside, thats my problem and i see you understood it from my map. Thats why i work in a team But I "hired" them too late so they couldnt keep up with what have i built and thats why some houses have no interior.
A little fix, altho grammar is not the best cus im lazy xD
Mode: Single player
Difficulty: Easy
Texture Pack: default but has a reccomnded pack
Mods: peaceful creeper mod
I would like if you could edit the review of my map when i finish the first continent, because i never wanted a review from you until the map was done :/ Anyway this is a nice note for what i have to do in future developing.
Apologies, I thought it was released. The more good maps I see, the higher the bar gets for 'average'. Hopefully you get something useful out of my comments. I look forward to playing again when you add more elements! I feel I should stress that there are some good looking structures. My advice would be to focus on finishing the story and detailing in this first area, before spending a lot of time on a whole other continent.
A note for Robert - We're not making fun of your grammar, but I think it could use re-written to make it more immersive.
Haha. Well to be honest its really hard to correct myself as a lot of times i do mistakes i normally wouldnt, and i cant detect them later which is why i would need someone like you to test my maps before i release them. Its not that my grammar sucks, its just that i dont have enough space there and im usually not that stressed with it.
The mistakes you found are probably there because i listen to a lot of bad grammar here on internet, so i get the wrong teachings.
LoL im sorry for too much signs, in my first map nobody understood the shops so i thought i should explain. I should summarize it..
Oh and the snow is where it shoudlnt be because it changed the biome by a server crash, i didnt notice it and then it was too hard to fix.
Btw what do you mean "it isnt full of ****". do you mean something like: "sorry wrong way, now walk 5 minutes back and try agan" kinds of stuff?
Ill call you when the server is b and running, we had some difficulties i need to fix.
Review Summary:
The towns and exteriors of buildings are EXTREMELY nice looking, but the decor within the buildings was very inconsistent - some had nice decor, some were strange looking, some were completely empty.
The initial 'tutorial' was a good concept, but then I completely lost the storyline. I have NO IDEA if there's an ending or this is supposed to be a completely open world wander.
The dungeons seemed to be a random repetition of jumping puzzles, mob spawners (sometimes pig spawners), and lever puzzles with no recognizable clue so they had to be brute forced.
I believe only one town had the bank system. Not sure why I thought all the towns would be connected by these bank carts so you could get your goods from anywhere.
This map is RIPE for a good storyline. I hope you guys can find it and weave it in to the beautiful landscape.
Oh - and I'm pretty sure some of this stuff was inspired by WoW locations - which looked really good duplicated into Minecraft.
Mode: Single player
Difficulty: Easy
Texture Pack: default
Mods: none
My Total Playtime: 3.5 hours
My Final Score: n/a?
=======================
Map Total Rating (out of 20): 13
Individual Ratings
-----------------------
Creativity: 3
Detail: 2
Story: 1
Difficulty: 4
Progression: 3
=======================
Playthrough Notes
-----------------------
Before I begin, I want to applaud the map makers on their forum post and the picture files that come with the game. (I had a sneak peek at
them, and thought there were going to be a ton more, but... by the end there are VERY few. Looks like future versions will have more to do) I
appreciate how each one has a unique icon/type.
Cellulite?! LOL!
Might be too many hand-holding signs in the basement.
There's one that says go to the temple, and I'm not sure if the temple is through this piston-wall, or if I'm supposed to go outside.
Going through the piston exit.
More signs. Hm...
I am going to explore the town first before I open this temple. Kinda strange that you made us come through a secret entrance when we could
have just walked around the house.
The little dam is a nice touch - not sure if it has any use.
Found the signs outside our house and NOW it makes sense - this is a "tutorial". That's why there are so many signs!
Ah - and here's the rules and such. Ok. This reminds me of the tutorial from Asheron's Call.
I hope this sample jumping puzzle doesn't mean there will be lots of jumping puzzles.
I like the concept of the bank, store, and building your own house. I probably won't follow those things, so I can get through the whole map
in a timely manner and see everything, but it's good for roleplayers.
Oxland.
I love the view of the town as you approach - the blue and dark wood houses are great. The flag looks like it's rippling in the wind.
But these buildings are almost all completely empty.
The water and dock look nice, but I don't think it's functional or realistic to have a tiny lake with that many docks in the middle of a town,
but not connected to any other water source (e.g. a river or larger lake)
30-60 minutes for the dungeon? Yikes - this is going to be a long map - I think there are supposed to be a lot of dungeons in this map?
This little cave is interesting. The ice/cobweb puzzle is new to me, but slightly annoying.
I'm not sure about some of these true/false questions - I think it might be a slight language issue. e.g. You CAN craft slimeballs into
sticky pistons (but I think you're saying you can't make a slimeball from something else).
I don't see anything else in this town, so I guess it's back to that instance/dungeon.
GOOD GRIEF! 4 creepers, 2 spiders, and 2 zombies came down the first stair after me! The stair was blown to smithereens. I'm going to have
to rebuild it while fighting off waves.
The layout of this place is strange, but also empty except the torches.
Who is leaving the signs?
Ice jumping puzzle. Ack.
Hmm.. that was about.. 15 minutes I believe. Definitely not 30 to 60.
Now I have no idea where to go. Looking back through town, else heading back to starting town.
Took this other crossroad. LONG walk :/
Stoneford.
(Incidentally, I've no idea why I'm journeying around. I have forgotten - am I searching for my mother?)
The interior shape of these buildings is pretty strange, but at least there is some sparse furnishing.
What is that floating thing in the distance?
What are these white domes out back? oh, tents?
I guess I'm supposed to go and check out the floating thing.
Oh! Is that a flying Ziggurat (like Naxxaramas?)
There's a pig spawner under it - was that supposed to be a monster spawner?
Wait... all of these are pig spawners...
Black or white? Password? I have no idea which levers to pull...
Hmm... I went back out to scout around and see if there's something in roughly the same shape as these levers, but not that I can find. Guess
I have to randomly pull them...
I gave up and bashed the door down. Saving the city? Oh - Stoneford.
I guess that was another instance.
So, now I go back to town and take the other path?
Got distracted by seeing Ruins of Ardclaw in the distance.
Ouch - I hate ice jumping now.
Run as fast as I can? Why... there are pig spawners...
Another lever puzzle with no discernable 'clue'
The sewers were so short. That was supposed to be challenging?
Coming out - I see a new town covered in redstone torches (reminds me of christmas lights?), but going back to the path to this sand and
orange wool town.
Don't see any signs with the town's name
I'm glad this town has more decoration in the houses, but I don't really understand some of it. The noteblock on a plank with ladders?
Zil Nars Lair
(entered via well)
Glad to see actual monster spawners
ANOTHER lever password puzzle? :sad.gif:
Speed test is annoying.
Maze.
Interesting - I still don't have a fullo suit of armor, and every time I get some from a chest it's already damaged.
Do I seriously have to wade up this LONG, slow water shaft?
I just now wound the Zil Nars Lair quest instruction - after beating the dungeon
Back in the unnamed town
One of the houses has a painting over the windows - weird.
I threw 3 gold into the water, expecting something to happen (hidden redstone or something). After waiting about a minute, I broke into the
water chute to see what was in there... but it's just nothing. Kinda feels cheap to me.
Another house has a secret entrance behind a painting, but the room is empty?
These fenceposts on top of chests look a little odd. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I've definitely never seen that before.
These buildings have interesting layouts, but I just realized there's no signs or anything to tell me what they are. Whereas the first
village had each building labeled.
Building with a stage is interesting.
Will come back to the 'elra' path - heading to this redstone torch town
(still don't really know what my story is)
What are these colored pyramids? I get the feeling I'm not supposed to be here yet, but I can see it from the ruins. And CLEVER palm trees
at the oasis!
Going to go back to Elra first and remember these for later.
Oh wow - now this place looks AMAZING. The cranes and boat and flags. Huge, gorgeous architecture.
sign, "... will be opened in 1-2 updates." Updates?! Breaking the 4th wall here.
This keep/cathedral is fantastic. I got lost inside.
Ballistae and catapult! Wow.
This is totally modeled off of that Alliance base near Naxxaramas, isn't it?!
Ok - all of the oohing and aahing aside about the exteriors of buildings... what am I doing here? I guess I'm freeing these towns from the
undead by beating dungeons, but I'm not destroying the necropolii or anything like that. There are no signs (for the most part) to guide me
through the story...
Big tree looked good from the road - going back out to check it. More levers.
Spotted this CRAZY looking purple tasseled castle. Same feedback - looks amazing from the outside, but there's no real substance inside.
Went back to the colored pyramids.
Then a few more towns.
Etc...
Then back to my starting town. Wait... is there an end somewhere? Did I finish it?
=======================
Rating Definitions
-----------------------
ALL RATINGS ARE SUBJECTIVE!
Creativity: Unique theme. Utilizes Minecraft functions. Use of rules. Clever creations
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Detail: Visual decor/detail. Consistency. Realism and/or appropriate to theme.
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Story: Overall effort and duration. Engaging. Consistent. Character motivation. Dialogue/Narration.
1 = below average
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Difficulty: Puzzles. Mob/risk density and variety. Lighting. Hidden items/challenges.
1 = Impossibly hard, may not be able to see the whole adventure
2 = Too easy
3 = Challenging, even on on peaceful
4 = Challenging, on easy/normal but not impossible
Progression: Pacing of scenes. Pacing of score, gear, loot. Experience builds or arcs.
1 = below average; uneven or no progression
2 = average
3 = above average
4 = astounding!
Follow this link ( http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/260249- ) to see how your map compares to over 85 other maps that I've rated!
Follow this link ( http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/471572- ) for a checklist on testing for common issues in custom adventure maps!
Note: the first continent isnt finished, the story is just started, every continent will have its own story you need to solve. It will probably be like you need to finish certain instanes to unlock the main one. But they would be much harder and better than the others.
Im pro for outside, but sucks at inside, thats my problem and i see you understood it from my map. Thats why i work in a team But I "hired" them too late so they couldnt keep up with what have i built and thats why some houses have no interior.
A little fix, altho grammar is not the best cus im lazy xD
Mode: Single player
Difficulty: Easy
Texture Pack: default but has a reccomnded pack
Mods: peaceful creeper mod
I would like if you could edit the review of my map when i finish the first continent, because i never wanted a review from you until the map was done :/ Anyway this is a nice note for what i have to do in future developing.
I didn't use the mod, that's why I said none.
As soon as we group up.
sure :biggrin.gif:
A note for Robert - We're not making fun of your grammar, but I think it could use re-written to make it more immersive.
Haha. Well to be honest its really hard to correct myself as a lot of times i do mistakes i normally wouldnt, and i cant detect them later which is why i would need someone like you to test my maps before i release them. Its not that my grammar sucks, its just that i dont have enough space there and im usually not that stressed with it.
The mistakes you found are probably there because i listen to a lot of bad grammar here on internet, so i get the wrong teachings.
LoL im sorry for too much signs, in my first map nobody understood the shops so i thought i should explain. I should summarize it..
Oh and the snow is where it shoudlnt be because it changed the biome by a server crash, i didnt notice it and then it was too hard to fix.
Btw what do you mean "it isnt full of ****". do you mean something like: "sorry wrong way, now walk 5 minutes back and try agan" kinds of stuff?