Hey, I'm back. Still working on making my way through VFII. Finally completed Area 3 of the Overworld, and, yes, I have been playing off and on since the map was released. Like I said, sometimes, it takes me forever to finish a map. So far, I'm having an absolute wonderful time with the map.
Regarding the earlier topics of conversation, I know I'm a bit tardy to the party but here we go:
Politics - well, I'm Canadian so up here we don't get very passionate about our government. Most people could care less though the trend toward an increasingly conservative government that is pretty much just a shill for America is starting to wake some people up. But, like most things Canadian, it should still take about another four or five years before we actually do anything about it. Personally, I'm much more interested in world politics and geopolitics in general than most people I know.
Religion - For the purposes of light conversation I'll keep this one mostly to myself. Let's just say my views on the subject are far from positive.
Medicine - Whoa, some heavy and deep stuff from some people so far. I could write pages on this one. Before I went to school for business I originally went to university for biochemistry. Though I changed majors after three years (it took a while for me to get my degree), I applied the knowledge from the biochem to my business stuff and now one of my specialties happens to be biotechnology (includes the pharmaceutical industry). In fact, that's what my marketing job revolves around and before that, I worked in operations management for the medical industry. Granted, my views are, again, strictly Canadian in bias and we don't have quite the same system when it comes to things like HMO's and whatnot but I could tell you a few stories. Or not. Legally speaking.
Music - Very eclectic to say the least. Though if I had to name off a few bands to sum up my socio-cultural upbringing and my preferred style of music then here it goes in no particular order: Nirvana, Foo FIghters, Pearl Jam (#1 favorite), Tool, Nine Inch Nails (#2 favorite), Beastie Boys, Ramones, The Pixies, The Who, Queens of the Stone Age, Smashing Pumpkins, CCR, Oasis, Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Monster Magnet, Propellerheads, White Zombie/Rob Zombie, and about a hundred other bands/artists.
Minecraft - wish I had more free time and fewer health issues. That is all.
Omitting diamonds would just be another way of disabling the creation of Enderp chests. Blazes (blaze powder for ender eyes) would probably be the more popular choice.
Those chests man, way too OP for a CTM map. Put one chest at the monument and take one with you, collect loot, wool, records and what have you then, put them in a Enderp chest. Now die all you want, the goods are waiting safe and sound back at the monument. Super cheaty. I certainly wouldn't play a map that way but, it could be done.
Idk, I haven't really looked at the new snapshot stuff yet. I'm usually pretty turned off by what Mojang is doing lately. I just ignore it until they start fixing all the major issues with lighting, smp etc. Build a good foundation then build on top of it nah mean?
I didn't even think about not using blazes. That's definitely one way. Leaving out diamonds just so players can't harvest obsidian is a little harsh. Of course, leaving out blaze rods and powder also penalizes brewing so that's tricky as well. I think the best option may just be to put in a new rule for players not to use them; sure they can break the rule but if they want to cheat they may as well break the other rules also, such as using records from mob drops. Cheaters gonna cheat. Like I said, ender chests are great for players but they suck for map-makers.
I agree that the mojang team's priorities seem. . . . . skewed. Putting aside the fact that they're gunning ahead with new features before cleaning up existing key code, the features themselves also seem a tad random. Some make sense as added utility to the core gameplay such as writing books, the new dispenser features, improved AI, and new desert structures. These additions enhance existing mechanics and gameplay. On the other hand, adding a brand new ore, while neat, is the sort of thing that should have been hashed out prior to 1.0 being released as it adds a completely new dimension to the maps and can cause all sorts of hassle. If they want to implement a currency and trade mechanic as an enhanced feature they could choose a preexisting ore for the job, maybe, oh I dunno, gold perhaps. It's not like it was ever used as an actual monetary standard or anything. This way, the trade system could enhance two existing objects - villagers and gold, the latter of which needs something else to make it more useful. Instead, we now have two ores that have limited utility instead of one with an increased range of functionality.
Apologies for the tangent. On topic, I finally got the first record (I see what you did there - I strongly suspected you would be basing your themes around the record names). Just started exploring Area 2 and all I have to say is. . . WOW.
The archipelago is quite lovely but as I sailed beyond to the crater, my jaw literally dropped. I just stared with my mouth open for at least a minute I figure. Just wow. Well done. I can't wait to get inside that mother ship. But first, I'm off to explore the monument to Mr. Foot's former friend.
Never heard of Sole before. Very interesting. In Minecraft news, the new 1.3 snapshot is insane. Some very interesting possibilities for future maps:
A brand new ore -Emerald - which can be used as currency to trade with villagers. This is pretty awesome and could really add to the whole adventure map feel.
The Ender Chest - the ability to finally teleport items between different chests. This will really help save on travel times when looting CTM dungeons. Finally. The only downside is that once you get a few in your inventory (though they're not cheap to make) it could really decrease the risk of trying to transport the disks/wool back to the monument. Pros for the player, but potential cons for the map-maker.
Dispensers can now dispense flowing water and lava at the push of a button/plate. I see new trap applications already forming without the need for clunky pistons.
VF3 will have some very interesting new features available to it. You know, once you're ready to release it in 2 weeks.
I honestly enjoy a slower playstyle the first time through...not just saying that. There's definitely a time and a place for speedruns in my book, but I enjoy carefully wandering through CTM maps the first time around and building aesthetic bases etc. Just my personal preference. But regardless, great work to those that have already finished it! Very speedy
You and I both. I'm all about lighting places up and doing the full exploration thing. Granted, it sometimes takes me forever to complete a map but I don't mind.
Welp, in my haste to fix the JBM and re-upload the save last night I forgot to update the version number of the map. Instead of version 1.1 it is still reads 1.0 in the save file. The mysteriously missing redstone dust has been replaced along with a few embarrassing missperlingz on signs and maps.
In other news: I'm updating an old SkyBlock style survival map I made about 5 or 6 months ago. I mostly just want to see how many 12 year-olds think I got the idea from SethBling's SkyGrid filter. Should be available in 2 weeks. I'm also trying to come up with PVP version.
I've had an idea for another mini-map brewing since I started constructing VFII. Think I've mentioned it before but, it will be a suburban alien invasion map. I'm thinking "Backyard Blues" for a title. Probably available in about 2 weeks.
I'm also experimenting with the idea of a "No Magic" mini-map where all the geeky/nerdy stuff they've added since 1.8 is unavailable. Be ready in 2 weeks.
I haven't even begun to conceptualize VFIII but, as soon as I do, it'll be out in 2 weeks.
I'm looking forward to all of these just to see what you cook up. No rush, obviously, as I figure it will probably take me "2 weeks" to finish VF2 anyway.
Sweet lord. I've only wrapped up area 1 and I've already put in 8 hours. Granted, everyone has different play styles and my style usually means I take twice as long to beat a map than the average. Still, that's insanely fast. Well done.
Hey three_two, I asked this a few pages back when you released the teaser pictures but I'm pretty sure this got lost in the multitude of comments since. So I'll post it again.
"Three_two, those pictures are absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping in fact. I can't wait to see this in its entirety. I must ask, with your staggering level of artistic talent and understanding of map design, have you ever considered a career in game design. I could easily imagine your concept art combined with your level design plus the support of a development team could produce some pretty impressive AAA titles."
Whew, I've been chipping away at VF2 now for almost four hours. I still haven't claimed the first record. This has to be the most difficult map I have ever played. Three_two, if your goal was to completely obliterate my self-esteem and destroy all shreds of self-worth that I possess, well, congratulations for you have succeeded. I was hoping to marathon this one but it seems I need to take a break for at least a couple of hours so that I don't snap my computer in half.
Don't take that the wrong way though. I enjoy the difficulty and the map is fun to explore. That's what keeps me motivated in the face of all the horrible mobs (this new AI is going to take me some time to get used to) - the breathtaking level design.
Guise! I want to respond to all your posts but, there is a mosquito in my house that is just destroying my bald head! I need ointment! When do these things fulfill their bloodlust???? Ahhhh
Ugh, I hate mosquitoes. Unfortunately, they love me. I feel your pain. Good luck with that.
Haha, warning to those on hardcore - it seems so nice at the start (well compared to VF1) but it does scale up the difficulty, a lot =)
You and I had completely different experiences at the start, good sir. I blame it on Minecraft hating me and spawning an inappropriate amount of enemies right off the bat, but I've always had that problem. I never catch a break. How long did it take you to beat it anyway?
My thoughts so far for three_two:
I see you set the weather on the various chunks. Good call. Very atmospheric. I'm also really enjoying the story so far; I appreciate the effort toward good grammar.
Regarding Area 1:
The Blackest Bog: This place is terrifying and I don't mean because of the mobs. It has a genuine atmosphere of terror around it. Well done sir.
And beyond that . . .
The Valley of Rolsa
. . . so that's what the new height increase is good for. Most excellent and quite staggering.
Ok, I see this is more than living up to it's extreme difficulty, in a good way. Bravo. I would like to say "good luck" to anyone attempting this in hardcore (redstone_fanatic). You'll need it.
Without spoiling anything I would like to comment on the starting area: three_two, why are you angry? What did I ever do to you? I love the color palette but starting with an overcast sky is a bit much - I can only punch so many mobs to death before I start to lose my mind.
Kudos on the old school gamer feel of the "mission notes". It's a nice touch.
Well the start of the map is probably the hardest part. Actually, who am I kidding, the entire map was hard lol. I just remember how much I raged at the beginning. Limited supplies. Trying to bridge to those floating islands and getting shot down by skeletons constantly and falling into the void. That's one thing I hope is different on VF II. I hope the areas are more accessible, because after a while I got tired of having to bridge over to every new area.
Yep, I hear ya. The starting island is by far the most frustrating part. The swarms of mobs coupled with their new tracking system makes the starting island feel less like an intro and more like a test of mental fortitude. It borders on abuse. Good times though.
Also, three_two, those pictures are absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping in fact. I can't wait to see this in its entirety. I must ask, with your staggering level of artistic talent and understanding of map design, have you ever considered a career in game design. I could easily imagine your concept art combined with your level design plus the support of a development team could produce some pretty impressive AAA titles.
So I've started my second round of sick leave from work this week (yay) and I figured I would kick it off by playing some VF 1 while waiting for numero 2 to be released. I finally sucked it up and updated to 1.2.5 and installed the lights out mod. Now, I've watched playthroughs of VF1 and the developer's commentary. So, I thought to myself, I should be able to handle this with only mild difficulty. . .
. . . damn the new AI all to hell. The combination of VF1's difficulty combined with the new AI is the perfect storm of hate. I've been playing video games since I was 4 (twenty-four years to date) and in that time I have never ragequit a game. . . until today. The new mobs can die in a f-ing fire.
Thanks to everyone for all the well wishing. It is slightly strange that so many have had intestinal problems in this thread. At least I don't need to worry about a camera, unless you count the scope that will be going through an incision in my abdomen come surgery time. No cameras were needed since my intestine made it's desire to free itself from my body pretty clear. Too bad for it that my pesky muscle and skin tissue got in the way. Ah, incarcerated hernia, how I love you.
Didn't mean to scare you three_two, though I can imagine how being uninsured can make someone uneasy when they hear about this weirdly contagious G-I trend going on. Rest assured that being insured doesn't necessarily give the rest of us an advantage. I mean, sure I have insurance and access to Public Health Care here in the "Great Socialist North", but the downside is that half the doctors are incompetent (all the good ones move to places with Private HC for better pay) and it takes months to get anything done. I had my hernia diagnosed on April 24 and several days later I was told the surgeon would be able to see me on June 13 and that's just because I'm lucky enough to be a priority patient. Where I live, people unlucky enough to be in pain but not considered a priority can wait up to a year-and-a-half for treatment. I wish we had Private Health Care.
Here's to hoping everyone feels better as soon as they can.
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Regarding the earlier topics of conversation, I know I'm a bit tardy to the party but here we go:
Politics - well, I'm Canadian so up here we don't get very passionate about our government. Most people could care less though the trend toward an increasingly conservative government that is pretty much just a shill for America is starting to wake some people up. But, like most things Canadian, it should still take about another four or five years before we actually do anything about it. Personally, I'm much more interested in world politics and geopolitics in general than most people I know.
Religion - For the purposes of light conversation I'll keep this one mostly to myself. Let's just say my views on the subject are far from positive.
Medicine - Whoa, some heavy and deep stuff from some people so far. I could write pages on this one. Before I went to school for business I originally went to university for biochemistry. Though I changed majors after three years (it took a while for me to get my degree), I applied the knowledge from the biochem to my business stuff and now one of my specialties happens to be biotechnology (includes the pharmaceutical industry). In fact, that's what my marketing job revolves around and before that, I worked in operations management for the medical industry. Granted, my views are, again, strictly Canadian in bias and we don't have quite the same system when it comes to things like HMO's and whatnot but I could tell you a few stories. Or not. Legally speaking.
Music - Very eclectic to say the least. Though if I had to name off a few bands to sum up my socio-cultural upbringing and my preferred style of music then here it goes in no particular order: Nirvana, Foo FIghters, Pearl Jam (#1 favorite), Tool, Nine Inch Nails (#2 favorite), Beastie Boys, Ramones, The Pixies, The Who, Queens of the Stone Age, Smashing Pumpkins, CCR, Oasis, Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Monster Magnet, Propellerheads, White Zombie/Rob Zombie, and about a hundred other bands/artists.
Minecraft - wish I had more free time and fewer health issues. That is all.
1
I didn't even think about not using blazes. That's definitely one way. Leaving out diamonds just so players can't harvest obsidian is a little harsh. Of course, leaving out blaze rods and powder also penalizes brewing so that's tricky as well. I think the best option may just be to put in a new rule for players not to use them; sure they can break the rule but if they want to cheat they may as well break the other rules also, such as using records from mob drops. Cheaters gonna cheat. Like I said, ender chests are great for players but they suck for map-makers.
I agree that the mojang team's priorities seem. . . . . skewed. Putting aside the fact that they're gunning ahead with new features before cleaning up existing key code, the features themselves also seem a tad random. Some make sense as added utility to the core gameplay such as writing books, the new dispenser features, improved AI, and new desert structures. These additions enhance existing mechanics and gameplay. On the other hand, adding a brand new ore, while neat, is the sort of thing that should have been hashed out prior to 1.0 being released as it adds a completely new dimension to the maps and can cause all sorts of hassle. If they want to implement a currency and trade mechanic as an enhanced feature they could choose a preexisting ore for the job, maybe, oh I dunno, gold perhaps. It's not like it was ever used as an actual monetary standard or anything. This way, the trade system could enhance two existing objects - villagers and gold, the latter of which needs something else to make it more useful. Instead, we now have two ores that have limited utility instead of one with an increased range of functionality.
Apologies for the tangent. On topic, I finally got the first record (I see what you did there - I strongly suspected you would be basing your themes around the record names). Just started exploring Area 2 and all I have to say is. . . WOW.
0
- A brand new ore -Emerald - which can be used as currency to trade with villagers. This is pretty awesome and could really add to the whole adventure map feel.
- The Ender Chest - the ability to finally teleport items between different chests. This will really help save on travel times when looting CTM dungeons. Finally. The only downside is that once you get a few in your inventory (though they're not cheap to make) it could really decrease the risk of trying to transport the disks/wool back to the monument. Pros for the player, but potential cons for the map-maker.
- Dispensers can now dispense flowing water and lava at the push of a button/plate. I see new trap applications already forming without the need for clunky pistons.
VF3 will have some very interesting new features available to it. You know, once you're ready to release it in 2 weeks.0
0
You and I both. I'm all about lighting places up and doing the full exploration thing. Granted, it sometimes takes me forever to complete a map but I don't mind.
I'm looking forward to all of these just to see what you cook up. No rush, obviously, as I figure it will probably take me "2 weeks" to finish VF2 anyway.
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"Three_two, those pictures are absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping in fact. I can't wait to see this in its entirety. I must ask, with your staggering level of artistic talent and understanding of map design, have you ever considered a career in game design. I could easily imagine your concept art combined with your level design plus the support of a development team could produce some pretty impressive AAA titles."
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Don't take that the wrong way though. I enjoy the difficulty and the map is fun to explore. That's what keeps me motivated in the face of all the horrible mobs (this new AI is going to take me some time to get used to) - the breathtaking level design.
Cheers,
TBK
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Ugh, I hate mosquitoes. Unfortunately, they love me. I feel your pain. Good luck with that.
0
You and I had completely different experiences at the start, good sir. I blame it on Minecraft hating me and spawning an inappropriate amount of enemies right off the bat, but I've always had that problem. I never catch a break. How long did it take you to beat it anyway?
My thoughts so far for three_two:
I see you set the weather on the various chunks. Good call. Very atmospheric. I'm also really enjoying the story so far; I appreciate the effort toward good grammar.
Regarding Area 1:
And beyond that . . .
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Oh good, there's still time to edit my post:
Without spoiling anything I would like to comment on the starting area: three_two, why are you angry? What did I ever do to you? I love the color palette but starting with an overcast sky is a bit much - I can only punch so many mobs to death before I start to lose my mind.
Kudos on the old school gamer feel of the "mission notes". It's a nice touch.
Cheers,
TBK
0
Yep, I hear ya. The starting island is by far the most frustrating part. The swarms of mobs coupled with their new tracking system makes the starting island feel less like an intro and more like a test of mental fortitude. It borders on abuse. Good times though.
Also, three_two, those pictures are absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping in fact. I can't wait to see this in its entirety. I must ask, with your staggering level of artistic talent and understanding of map design, have you ever considered a career in game design. I could easily imagine your concept art combined with your level design plus the support of a development team could produce some pretty impressive AAA titles.
1
So I've started my second round of sick leave from work this week (yay) and I figured I would kick it off by playing some VF 1 while waiting for numero 2 to be released. I finally sucked it up and updated to 1.2.5 and installed the lights out mod. Now, I've watched playthroughs of VF1 and the developer's commentary. So, I thought to myself, I should be able to handle this with only mild difficulty. . .
. . . damn the new AI all to hell. The combination of VF1's difficulty combined with the new AI is the perfect storm of hate. I've been playing video games since I was 4 (twenty-four years to date) and in that time I have never ragequit a game. . . until today. The new mobs can die in a f-ing fire.
That is all. Thank you.
2
Didn't mean to scare you three_two, though I can imagine how being uninsured can make someone uneasy when they hear about this weirdly contagious G-I trend going on.
Here's to hoping everyone feels better as soon as they can.