Not having access to play Minecraft this week, I decided to go back through EVERY POST in this thread to find the date that I reviewed each map, and then check about 100 threads that were pre-2012...
I plotted the number of maps I reviewed per month, and then just for fun added markers for when I published my own maps..
So for some reason you have more time to review maps while making your own maps???!?!
Those first 2011 maps were 99% story and scenery, 1% special effects. And my first reviews, were very basic comments while playing around with various rating scales.
When I got to about June 2011 and started my official list, all the maps from earlier in the year got about the same date.
Oct/Nov 2011 was the lead-up to Grinchmas and Minecon - no time for reviews.
Nov 2012 was the lead-up to The Toybox madness.
Righty-o, so I was browsing about the forums, thinking back on things and keeping in the back of my a mind a modification of the title of Love's labor lost. The modification being, Map maker's labor lost. You see, I have recently released a map after several months (3) of hard labor and it has gotten about as much attention as a particular ant in an anthill. Comparisons aside, it hasn't gotten much attention and I have had to resort to replying to the topic myself in an attempt to hopefully gain the attention of some people who wouldn't mind replying to the main post. Well, the success rate hasn't been very high. Point is, I have come here after looking over other successful map threads and thought, maybe if a review is done, I will see some more action on my thread? Keyword review, conveniently rhyming with you!
How was my introduction? Not to boorish, one hopes. The genre of the map is RTS, or real time strategy if acronyms don't suit your fancy. I have read on the OP that you were looking for some unique adventure maps that need help getting noticed. This isn't exactly browsing the forums so much as checking a reply to the thread, but I thought you would be interested all the same. The RTS bit just implies you'll be having to make some decisions and develop strategies to get through the game.
This map involves the player working on a space ship escorting cargo to a human colony out in deep space. The player must keep track of things and maintain the various ship systems, as well as defending the ship when the time comes. There are a few other elements but that is the basic principle.
I also acknowledge the rating system and how it works. I only hope that it is one you might decide to review. I want to make it known that the map is kind of a work in progress. Think of it in a similar manner to minecraft. It is released, but it will continue to get updates and new content indefinitely. That being said, there are probably bugs I need to iron out still, but I hope that won't get in the way of anything.
If you don't want to review the map, that's fine (after all, it isn't like a live or death issue). Thanks for taking the time to read this.
This is a minigame that doesn't quite fit into any traditional types of map that I review. It's a multiplayer roleplay/puzzle that relies on the honor system. One warden attempts to keep the prisoners in line while they try to escape by hitting a sequence of buttons and pressure plates. Due to the roleplay element, this can be quite humorous - but it's not something that can really be played competitively. Certainly an interesting concept. It's been made popular by SkyDoesMinecraft and friends.
Total Rating: 13
Creativity - 3 (unique idea)
Detail - 3 (the prison itself is fairly straight forward, but plenty of small decorative touches)
Experience - 2 (heavy reliance on roleplay)
Challenge - 2 (It's easier than 'tag' to be honest)
Progression - 3 (I like the series of redstone triggers)
Review Summary
Straight forward adventure. Decent build, nice little decorative touches - good attention to detail. Minibosses / Sidequests. Overall very easy, but solid construction.
Total Rating: 14
Creativity - 2 (average, Hypixel-type map)
Detail - 3 (nice attention to detail)
Experience - 3 (straight forward, touch of flavor)
Challenge - 3 (light parkour and combat)
Progression - 3 (I like the 'notice')
Play Notes
You start in creative mode with stuff in your inventory, in the middle of a cave. Need to get rid of items and /kill
Already at level 5.
I like that the tutorial room shows you the function of gold, diamond, and iron blocks.
No rules. I'm in adventure mode, but I can still break/place certain blocks.
I like the item naming. Laughed at, "Requires Bow" on the arrows.
Nice village.
Sidequest.
Not sure how I'm going to get out of the cave...
Straight forward miniboss
Nice 'return' mechanism. Simple.
Sandpit wasn't really a sideQUEST.
On the path, a few too many zombies. It's not hard, just tedious. Tempted to just run past them.
Short parkour sidequest. I like the look of it. But the reward is something I already have.
Killed the angry miner with my bow outside of aggro range.
I like the small touch of outlining the lava rocks with obsidian.
I like that you 'notice' something during the sidequest
Oh... But I didn't think it was the kids. I wanted to explore that other branch. O well.
I've been waiting to talk about this map since January 18, 2013 (beta 4). It is absolutely packed with challenge, unique visuals, and nefarious ideas. An extremely complex project, with top talent. I was impressed at the FEEL of each area, and yet there's a common lore that ties it together. It would be difficult to call this one anything other than 20/20 if you are a CTM player.
There are certainly some areas with cool effects (the self-mining caves, custom spawners in general), and the use of teleportation, I haven't seen in other CTMs yet.
Greetings! I am looking for voice actors to provide dialog for an upcoming LP.
Please let me know if you are interested in helping me?
You must have a clear microphone and be able to send me 1-2 lines recorded by Monday, May 27 2013.
Email me at : [email protected] and I will reply with your lines. This will be first-come-first-served. Record your lines and email them to me by Monday.
If you want to see what this will look like, check out my last community LP, Deja Vu :
Total Rating: 20!
A brilliant sequel to the first map. This version uses a wide array of creative tricks to make falling to your death more memorable! Including falling upward and 2 horizontal (run/jump) levels. Spectacular visuals. Clever metagame (diamond collecting). Technically and visually superior.
Hello Ron,
Could you please play and review my first minecraft parkour adventure map called "Epic Jump Map v1.1" ?
It'd be awesome to see whether you'd like it or not.
Just click on the banner below
Thank you!
It's been a long time, but I didn't forget your request, and my son finally convinced me to play a parkour map due to his fanboy of Sky. The result...
What can I say about this one? It's a parkour/race map that pays homage to SkyDoesMinecraft, a YouTube celebrity. My son really wanted to try it, and so I agreed. It wasn't long before we were cheating our way through, but I did get the full experience.
It's very creative (from my limited exposure to parkour), and contains many types of jumping, running, and climbing including teleport, potion, and command block effects.
From a detail perspective, I found it rather charming; part natural world, part colorful pathing, some decoration.
From an experience perspective, this author clearly went above and beyond to highlight many of the SkyDoesMinecraft hallmarks. It has loose story with twists and turns, that fits with the parkour.
From a challenge perspective, I actually enjoyed it - yes, I cheated - but it's only because I'm impatient. The majority of the map seemed to be accessible, with really only a few places that were extra hard.
From a progression perspective, I did find it a little long, but it played out through story teases and I was rather impressed with bodil's ability to "loop" the path back and forth in complex knots.
Review Summary
Nice recreation of the Super Mario Galaxy game. A fairly straight forward scavenger hunt, with combat. Three things I would look at regarding progression; 1 - I would have added a few more ender pearls or a warp to "intersection 1" - it seems like you could get stuck and not be able to get back there; 2 - the weapons feel a little underpowered compared to the number of zombies in the first area, but later I think we avoided most of the mobs; 3 - I believe we were able to completely skip most of the ice island by climbing around the mountain. Nice visuals, capturing the SMG feel. Story is loose, but some npc dialog exists. Specifically related to score, I rounded up the Detail to offset where I rounded down on Progression.
I was wondering, do you also do parkour maps? Or just custom adventure maps
If you take a look at my first page, I've played and rated 16 parkour maps. I hope I've done them justice, but honestly I'm just not into (or good at parkour) and I mostly play the ones that have a strong over-arching theme. E.g. a good visual build or story (or both).
So if you're talking about a straight parkour map; not at this time.
Honestly, when I do my daily look at the forums, if I see jumping puzzles in the screenshots, I usually pass them by.
it's the earlier ones I were looking at !
But, while no-one's said yet, I'm thinking my reviews are too strict.
In that case his newer ones are even more lax.
& the only review I've seen by you is on MT Convoy & in that you were roughly 24 times as helpful than critical. If that's how you generally review, don't change
What are you talking about? They are more thorough and more directly related to a consistent scale.
Lax = lazy?
Or are you saying that I rate too highly? You should realize that in 2013 I've been picking maps that I -want- to play, so naturally they may be higher scoring. But I've played several that were crap, and rated them thus.
I guess that rsmalec's style of review is much-more player-targeted, and one like mine would be more useful for the map authors themselves. Hell, I even end up addressing it to them in 2nd-person 90% of the review xD
Rsmalec is IGN. Giving very high rating to everyone ergo a bad system. Don't sugarcoat it by saying it's 'more player-targeted'.
I'd say Fellonius is Metacritic. Not sure about you because I haven't seen any other review by you. I like Fellonius' reviews even though I mostly disagree with them. How does that even work is beyond me.
On a somewhat more-relevant note: sometimes I wonder if reviewers should structure a hub-thread for all [major] reviewers to list either their main reviewing threads, or for their reviews to be shared within...A review-hub, or review-network, as it were. rasmalec, you're likely the most-prominent reviewer here, what would you think of the idea in principle?
YES! I'd like that. It'll be like the CTM central thread kinda thing.
What are you talking about? They are more thorough and more directly related to a consistent scale.
Lax = lazy?
Or are you saying that I rate too highly? You should realize that in 2013 I've been picking maps that I -want- to play, so naturally they may be higher scoring. But I've played several that were crap, and rated them thus.
I guess that rsmalec's style of review is much-more player-targeted, and one like mine would be more useful for the map authors themselves.
My commentary in LP (or in my play notes if I don't video) are map-maker-targeted: what I like, what confused me, what I don't like, comments on what could change. Although I typically do wrap them in something to hopefully entertain the viewer.
But when I write up the short review summary, it actually is more player-focused (I hadn't really realized that until just now).
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Curse PremiumI plotted the number of maps I reviewed per month, and then just for fun added markers for when I published my own maps..
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Curse PremiumThose first 2011 maps were 99% story and scenery, 1% special effects. And my first reviews, were very basic comments while playing around with various rating scales.
When I got to about June 2011 and started my official list, all the maps from earlier in the year got about the same date.
Oct/Nov 2011 was the lead-up to Grinchmas and Minecon - no time for reviews.
Nov 2012 was the lead-up to The Toybox madness.
Righty-o, so I was browsing about the forums, thinking back on things and keeping in the back of my a mind a modification of the title of Love's labor lost. The modification being, Map maker's labor lost. You see, I have recently released a map after several months (3) of hard labor and it has gotten about as much attention as a particular ant in an anthill. Comparisons aside, it hasn't gotten much attention and I have had to resort to replying to the topic myself in an attempt to hopefully gain the attention of some people who wouldn't mind replying to the main post. Well, the success rate hasn't been very high. Point is, I have come here after looking over other successful map threads and thought, maybe if a review is done, I will see some more action on my thread? Keyword review, conveniently rhyming with you!
How was my introduction? Not to boorish, one hopes. The genre of the map is RTS, or real time strategy if acronyms don't suit your fancy. I have read on the OP that you were looking for some unique adventure maps that need help getting noticed. This isn't exactly browsing the forums so much as checking a reply to the thread, but I thought you would be interested all the same. The RTS bit just implies you'll be having to make some decisions and develop strategies to get through the game.
This map involves the player working on a space ship escorting cargo to a human colony out in deep space. The player must keep track of things and maintain the various ship systems, as well as defending the ship when the time comes. There are a few other elements but that is the basic principle.
I also acknowledge the rating system and how it works. I only hope that it is one you might decide to review. I want to make it known that the map is kind of a work in progress. Think of it in a similar manner to minecraft. It is released, but it will continue to get updates and new content indefinitely. That being said, there are probably bugs I need to iron out still, but I hope that won't get in the way of anything.
If you don't want to review the map, that's fine (after all, it isn't like a live or death issue). Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Map thread
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Curse PremiumIt's certainly less clunky that ColdFusionGaming, Fusion, Cold, CFG, etc.
My Minecraft Maps: coldfusionmaps.com
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Curse Premiumhttp://www.planetminecraft.com/project/cops-and-robbers/
This is a minigame that doesn't quite fit into any traditional types of map that I review. It's a multiplayer roleplay/puzzle that relies on the honor system. One warden attempts to keep the prisoners in line while they try to escape by hitting a sequence of buttons and pressure plates. Due to the roleplay element, this can be quite humorous - but it's not something that can really be played competitively. Certainly an interesting concept. It's been made popular by SkyDoesMinecraft and friends.
Total Rating: 13
Creativity - 3 (unique idea)
Detail - 3 (the prison itself is fairly straight forward, but plenty of small decorative touches)
Experience - 2 (heavy reliance on roleplay)
Challenge - 2 (It's easier than 'tag' to be honest)
Progression - 3 (I like the series of redstone triggers)
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Curse Premiumhttp://www.planetminecraft.com/project/save-the-children-comic-relief-map/
Review Summary
Straight forward adventure. Decent build, nice little decorative touches - good attention to detail. Minibosses / Sidequests. Overall very easy, but solid construction.
Total Rating: 14
Creativity - 2 (average, Hypixel-type map)
Detail - 3 (nice attention to detail)
Experience - 3 (straight forward, touch of flavor)
Challenge - 3 (light parkour and combat)
Progression - 3 (I like the 'notice')
Play Notes
You start in creative mode with stuff in your inventory, in the middle of a cave. Need to get rid of items and /kill
Already at level 5.
I like that the tutorial room shows you the function of gold, diamond, and iron blocks.
No rules. I'm in adventure mode, but I can still break/place certain blocks.
I like the item naming. Laughed at, "Requires Bow" on the arrows.
Nice village.
Sidequest.
Not sure how I'm going to get out of the cave...
Straight forward miniboss
Nice 'return' mechanism. Simple.
Sandpit wasn't really a sideQUEST.
On the path, a few too many zombies. It's not hard, just tedious. Tempted to just run past them.
Short parkour sidequest. I like the look of it. But the reward is something I already have.
Killed the angry miner with my bow outside of aggro range.
I like the small touch of outlining the lava rocks with obsidian.
I like that you 'notice' something during the sidequest
Oh... But I didn't think it was the kids. I wanted to explore that other branch. O well.
Happy Red Nose Day
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Curse Premiumhttp://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1717235-pantheon
I've been waiting to talk about this map since January 18, 2013 (beta 4). It is absolutely packed with challenge, unique visuals, and nefarious ideas. An extremely complex project, with top talent. I was impressed at the FEEL of each area, and yet there's a common lore that ties it together. It would be difficult to call this one anything other than 20/20 if you are a CTM player.
There are certainly some areas with cool effects (the self-mining caves, custom spawners in general), and the use of teleportation, I haven't seen in other CTMs yet.
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Curse PremiumI try not to let length be a factor in my rating, unless it feels unbalanced or repetitive.
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Curse PremiumPlease let me know if you are interested in helping me?
You must have a clear microphone and be able to send me 1-2 lines recorded by Monday, May 27 2013.
Email me at : [email protected] and I will reply with your lines. This will be first-come-first-served. Record your lines and email them to me by Monday.
If you want to see what this will look like, check out my last community LP, Deja Vu :
I appreciate your time and consideration
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Curse Premiumhttp://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1813476-Dropper2
Total Rating: 20!
A brilliant sequel to the first map. This version uses a wide array of creative tricks to make falling to your death more memorable! Including falling upward and 2 horizontal (run/jump) levels. Spectacular visuals. Clever metagame (diamond collecting). Technically and visually superior.
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Curse PremiumIt's been a long time, but I didn't forget your request, and my son finally convinced me to play a parkour map due to his fanboy of Sky. The result...
Epic Jump Map: Sky Butter Edition
Total Rating: 19/20
Creativity - 4
Detail - 3 (above averge)
Experience - 4
Challenge - 4
Progression - 4
What can I say about this one? It's a parkour/race map that pays homage to SkyDoesMinecraft, a YouTube celebrity. My son really wanted to try it, and so I agreed. It wasn't long before we were cheating our way through, but I did get the full experience.
It's very creative (from my limited exposure to parkour), and contains many types of jumping, running, and climbing including teleport, potion, and command block effects.
From a detail perspective, I found it rather charming; part natural world, part colorful pathing, some decoration.
From an experience perspective, this author clearly went above and beyond to highlight many of the SkyDoesMinecraft hallmarks. It has loose story with twists and turns, that fits with the parkour.
From a challenge perspective, I actually enjoyed it - yes, I cheated - but it's only because I'm impatient. The majority of the map seemed to be accessible, with really only a few places that were extra hard.
From a progression perspective, I did find it a little long, but it played out through story teases and I was rather impressed with bodil's ability to "loop" the path back and forth in complex knots.
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Curse Premiumhttp://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1279623-Galaxy
LP with Jigarbov!
Total Rating: 15
Creativity - 3 (above average)
Detail - 4 (rounded up)
Experience - 3 (above average)
Challenge - 3 (parkour, combat, scavenger hunt)
Progression - 2 (average)
Review Summary
Nice recreation of the Super Mario Galaxy game. A fairly straight forward scavenger hunt, with combat. Three things I would look at regarding progression; 1 - I would have added a few more ender pearls or a warp to "intersection 1" - it seems like you could get stuck and not be able to get back there; 2 - the weapons feel a little underpowered compared to the number of zombies in the first area, but later I think we avoided most of the mobs; 3 - I believe we were able to completely skip most of the ice island by climbing around the mountain. Nice visuals, capturing the SMG feel. Story is loose, but some npc dialog exists. Specifically related to score, I rounded up the Detail to offset where I rounded down on Progression.
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Curse PremiumIf you take a look at my first page, I've played and rated 16 parkour maps. I hope I've done them justice, but honestly I'm just not into (or good at parkour) and I mostly play the ones that have a strong over-arching theme. E.g. a good visual build or story (or both).
So if you're talking about a straight parkour map; not at this time.
Honestly, when I do my daily look at the forums, if I see jumping puzzles in the screenshots, I usually pass them by.
Rsmalec is EXTREMELY lax in reviewing. A little but too much. His earlier reviews were better IMHO.
The Indian Let's Player. Here's my Minecraft Custom Map LP Thread, my Youtube channel with over 2200 LP videos & my Twitch channel where I stream very often. Also, contact me on Twitter if you're interested
In that case his newer ones are even more lax.
& the only review I've seen by you is on MT Convoy & in that you were roughly 24 times as helpful than critical. If that's how you generally review, don't change
The Indian Let's Player. Here's my Minecraft Custom Map LP Thread, my Youtube channel with over 2200 LP videos & my Twitch channel where I stream very often. Also, contact me on Twitter if you're interested
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Curse PremiumWhat are you talking about? They are more thorough and more directly related to a consistent scale.
Lax = lazy?
Or are you saying that I rate too highly? You should realize that in 2013 I've been picking maps that I -want- to play, so naturally they may be higher scoring. But I've played several that were crap, and rated them thus.
Rsmalec is IGN. Giving very high rating to everyone ergo a bad system. Don't sugarcoat it by saying it's 'more player-targeted'.
I'd say Fellonius is Metacritic. Not sure about you because I haven't seen any other review by you. I like Fellonius' reviews even though I mostly disagree with them. How does that even work is beyond me.
YES! I'd like that. It'll be like the CTM central thread kinda thing.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lax#Adjective
First meaning: lenient.
The Indian Let's Player. Here's my Minecraft Custom Map LP Thread, my Youtube channel with over 2200 LP videos & my Twitch channel where I stream very often. Also, contact me on Twitter if you're interested
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Curse PremiumMy commentary in LP (or in my play notes if I don't video) are map-maker-targeted: what I like, what confused me, what I don't like, comments on what could change. Although I typically do wrap them in something to hopefully entertain the viewer.
But when I write up the short review summary, it actually is more player-focused (I hadn't really realized that until just now).