"You think your map is done, but your map is never done..."
Recently Cubi finished playing my map and I have a few questions.
How do you guys look at "The Last Area" of your map? Because I took it as "This is the last dungeon so it should be very difficult" and it ended up causing Cubi around 30 deaths even though it's a relatively small area. Should I make it easier?
One thing to keep in mind with something like this is that it's very opinion based. In my opinion, the last area of a map should be the most difficult area in a map, however that doesn't mean it needs to be a dramatic spike in difficulty compared to the area prior to it. While spikes in difficulty if used in moderation can give the player a good challenge, if the spike causes the player to die exceedingly more than they had been in prior areas than something could be wrong. And example of this would be the player possibly dying once or twice every few areas and then dying ten times in one area. A situation like that can cause a lot of frustration and is never something you should be aiming to do.
Also is I have a more theoretical question for someone more experienced. How exactly is difficulty and enjoyment bound together in maps? Sometimes, even though most of the map is very balanced and fair and not very punishing (in the end, the map uses keepInventory), I feel like the difficulty is too much and it makes some people not enjoy the map. Am I doing something wrong or should I make two versions of the map?
This one is a bit trickier of a question to answer as each person could have a different answer to what type of difficulty they enjoy. The question becomes, what difficulty are you looking to create with this map? Most often while I'm playing CTMs, the difficulty I prefer is that the map provides a challenge while providing enough tools to be able to make mistakes and still be able to complete it. So long as I don't feel cheated or don't feel like I'm ill equipped for the situation than death isn't as bothersome. That said, if you feel the difficulty is too much for players to enjoy, it could be just a matter of finding out what aspect(s) they don't enjoy and making adjustments to those in order to create a more enjoyable experience.
Remember, as the map maker you're not there to create a frustrating experience, you're there to create a challenging and enjoyable experience. It's a game wits, you're trying to throw them challenges that they can combat and trying to think one step ahead of them as to what they might do and combat them.
As for KeepInventory, this is just a design choice for the map, most often times you'll not see it in a map because it does allow the player to play more risky without any real risk of loss.
And one more question. How do you deal with with FPS drops caused by too many tile entities in a small area? I tried to prune any excessive tile entities (eg. compressing chests or using wider area spawners instead of multiple regular ones) but it's still too much.
If I remember correctly the use of a lot of Wide Area Spawners can cause lag, I'm not sure if this is still the case or if it's been fixed. As for the lag it's hard to know what it is without looking at it as there's a variety of issues that could cause it.
If I remember correctly the use of a lot of Wide Area Spawners can cause lag, I'm not sure if this is still the case or if it's been fixed. As for the lag it's hard to know what it is without looking at it as there's a variety of issues that could cause it.
I believe a WAS checks every single block in its player detection radius once every tick. So the larger the detection radius X large amount of WASpawners = lag. Best to keep the WAspawners to a minimum and instead adjust spawn rates, max entities and so on.
I'll just take advantage of this to make you one question, ¿How did you make those spiral-like patterns with the leaves? You made them with MCEdit or by hand?
If you think of dungeons like Boss Fights. The final dungeon is not the final boss fight: but it's the bonus boss-fight that comes after the main story and is designed with one goal in mind: push your limits and curb-stomp even those who found the rest easy. A player should not be able to get the final objective unless they are the best of the best and it essentially makes 100% completing the map feel like a true victory of personal strength. Don't worry about making it too easy/hard. People who've invested the time to get all the rest of the objectives will probaby have some lee-way in them at this point
Well, my maps revolve around the buildup to the "final boss" battle which is the black wool. The series is called "Execution" because everything is prepping you for the final area which is meant as a grand and elegant way of killing the player by any means necessary. It is sort of like the Final Exam at the end of the year and the first 8 wool are quizzes while the last 7 (excluding the black wool) are tests. The Red wool (being the 7th "test") would be the hardest of the normal tests. Finally, gather the skills gained from all of the "quizzes" and "tests" and put them to use in the final exam, the black wool, the "Execution".
But the traditionally (meaning Vexian) significant wool are as follow:
White Wool - Easiest Wool
Brown Wool - The Cheese/Troll Wool
Red Wool - The Combat-Based Wool, the Finale
Black Wool - The Most Difficult to Obtain Wool, the Grand Finale
I'll just take advantage of this to make you one question, ¿How did you make those spiral-like patterns with the leaves? You made them with MCEdit or by hand?
If I were to associate that structure with a person, I imagined a chubby, short, and slow person when I see that. I guess probably slim up those towers, or if you were going for the look that I mentioned, leave it the way it is.
@Vicabo
The color and the terrain itself looks good! What kind of structures would you place there and what is the context of the area? Since I'm interested of what will you make out of it
It's mostly good, but the block variation is excessive in the first 3 screenshots. The first too are OK, but the third one actually hurts my eyes. Stone Bricks and Stone Slabs generally don't work well unless it's in a pattern.
@Draco_Rogue
This looks so nice! What wool is it?
@Sylf_
1. Ya I'm not sure why I said that, I went back and looked at it and it's quite clear that was on purpose.
2. That colour pallete is so nice! Can't wait for your map! Only thing I can suggest is add more ambient lighting.
What a quiet and pristine library. I seriously doubt anyone would disturb my reading here!
Also: BROWN. Looks really nice. Especially like Draco_Rogue (can't wait to attack that.) Fun_Guy (Linear Branching? Sign me up.) and VICABO (Big areas? Potentially lots to explore, hunker down, and loot? I'm game.)
Anyway, I'm planning on starting a stream at 1. Here's a Strawpoll to vote on a map to watch me go through, after I play some minimap. Hope to see you there.
I started working on another mini map a few days ago, I just want some feedback and suggestions about what I have made of the map at this point. The planned layout of the map (subject to change) is below this:
Leyend:
Aesthetically done
In progress
Planned
Not Started
--------------------------
Spawn Area/White Wool: Decaying Empire
Intersection One: Veil Of Fire
Orange Wool: Garden Of Oblivion
Magenta Wool: Sanctuary Of The Ancients
Light Blue Wool: ???
Intersection Two: ???
Light Blue Wool: ???
Yellow Wool:???
Lime Wool: ???
Monument
Here is a screenshot of one of the areas. I was going to publish more than one picture but my internet is derping right now.
One thing to keep in mind with something like this is that it's very opinion based. In my opinion, the last area of a map should be the most difficult area in a map, however that doesn't mean it needs to be a dramatic spike in difficulty compared to the area prior to it. While spikes in difficulty if used in moderation can give the player a good challenge, if the spike causes the player to die exceedingly more than they had been in prior areas than something could be wrong. And example of this would be the player possibly dying once or twice every few areas and then dying ten times in one area. A situation like that can cause a lot of frustration and is never something you should be aiming to do.
This one is a bit trickier of a question to answer as each person could have a different answer to what type of difficulty they enjoy. The question becomes, what difficulty are you looking to create with this map? Most often while I'm playing CTMs, the difficulty I prefer is that the map provides a challenge while providing enough tools to be able to make mistakes and still be able to complete it. So long as I don't feel cheated or don't feel like I'm ill equipped for the situation than death isn't as bothersome. That said, if you feel the difficulty is too much for players to enjoy, it could be just a matter of finding out what aspect(s) they don't enjoy and making adjustments to those in order to create a more enjoyable experience.
Remember, as the map maker you're not there to create a frustrating experience, you're there to create a challenging and enjoyable experience. It's a game wits, you're trying to throw them challenges that they can combat and trying to think one step ahead of them as to what they might do and combat them.
As for KeepInventory, this is just a design choice for the map, most often times you'll not see it in a map because it does allow the player to play more risky without any real risk of loss.
If I remember correctly the use of a lot of Wide Area Spawners can cause lag, I'm not sure if this is still the case or if it's been fixed. As for the lag it's hard to know what it is without looking at it as there's a variety of issues that could cause it.
Special thanks to Axl Rosie for the sig.
I believe a WAS checks every single block in its player detection radius once every tick. So the larger the detection radius X large amount of WASpawners = lag. Best to keep the WAspawners to a minimum and instead adjust spawn rates, max entities and so on.
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Curse PremiumThere's Archangel Rising that I posted a few months ago.
Pretend that I'm not advertising. :3
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding/maps/1554519-chimarian-memories-ctm-series-archangel-rising-is
Did no one see my screenshot? :C
I did, but just had nothing to say about it.
I'll just take advantage of this to make you one question, ¿How did you make those spiral-like patterns with the leaves? You made them with MCEdit or by hand?
Well, my maps revolve around the buildup to the "final boss" battle which is the black wool. The series is called "Execution" because everything is prepping you for the final area which is meant as a grand and elegant way of killing the player by any means necessary. It is sort of like the Final Exam at the end of the year and the first 8 wool are quizzes while the last 7 (excluding the black wool) are tests. The Red wool (being the 7th "test") would be the hardest of the normal tests. Finally, gather the skills gained from all of the "quizzes" and "tests" and put them to use in the final exam, the black wool, the "Execution".
But the traditionally (meaning Vexian) significant wool are as follow:
White Wool - Easiest Wool
Brown Wool - The Cheese/Troll Wool
Red Wool - The Combat-Based Wool, the Finale
Black Wool - The Most Difficult to Obtain Wool, the Grand Finale
Let me know if I missed any.
By hand just because I like to do it that way
Looks good, but the brushstrokes are really obvious
here is some progress on my CTM Map Catastrophic Caverns!
@TechAnimation's Castle
If I were to associate that structure with a person, I imagined a chubby, short, and slow person when I see that. I guess probably slim up those towers, or if you were going for the look that I mentioned, leave it the way it is.
@Vicabo
The color and the terrain itself looks good! What kind of structures would you place there and what is the context of the area? Since I'm interested of what will you make out of it
My journey is coming to a close
It is a structure so the shape is a cyllinder if that's what you're getting at
Also new area:
H
Hyyypeee
Looks so good! Can't wait!
@ViCABO
I really like the shape of the terrain
@Fun_Guy_34
It's mostly good, but the block variation is excessive in the first 3 screenshots. The first too are OK, but the third one actually hurts my eyes. Stone Bricks and Stone Slabs generally don't work well unless it's in a pattern.
@Draco_Rogue
This looks so nice! What wool is it?
@Sylf_
1. Ya I'm not sure why I said that, I went back and looked at it and it's quite clear that was on purpose.
2. That colour pallete is so nice! Can't wait for your map! Only thing I can suggest is add more ambient lighting.
Yaaa actually doing ctm things!
What a quiet and pristine library. I seriously doubt anyone would disturb my reading here!
Also: BROWN. Looks really nice. Especially like Draco_Rogue (can't wait to attack that.) Fun_Guy (Linear Branching? Sign me up.) and VICABO (Big areas? Potentially lots to explore, hunker down, and loot? I'm game.)
Anyway, I'm planning on starting a stream at 1. Here's a Strawpoll to vote on a map to watch me go through, after I play some minimap. Hope to see you there.
Edit: Wait a minute.....something's off: http://strawpoll.me/4382781
Okay, I'll start at 2:30.
If you like what you see, follow me on Twitter to know when I stream:
https://twitter.com/Aurabolt1
Heeeeeey.
I started working on another mini map a few days ago, I just want some feedback and suggestions about what I have made of the map at this point. The planned layout of the map (subject to change) is below this:
Leyend:
--------------------------
Here is a screenshot of one of the areas. I was going to publish more than one picture but my internet is derping right now.
The Sanctuary Of The Ancients
Black wool. After that, a little testing needed and it'll be out
[WIP AREA]
Update: Here is what the castle from earlier looks like in the nether (lava and other structures to be added later).