I noticed the same things, CJ (it feels wrong to call you clueless LOL) but it does smooth out. My suggestion is don't try to secure the brick road, just run on it. And same goes for the other area you mentioned.
Someday, I need to learn how to do the "spoiler" thing in these posts. LOL
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I wander through CTM maps, getting lost, fighting monsters, and somehow accomplishing things. I'm never too sure how, but I do. Come join me, pets!
CJ is fine! That's how most of my MC buddies call me.
In order to use spoiler, just click on the red circle with white exclamation mark in post editor form. Screenshot below.
As for my feedback on the map
Of course I wasn't trying to light up everything around the brick road. That would be a mindless waste of torches. But with little food, no arrows and armor that I'd much rather to preserve, running back and forth was slightly irritating even though not challenging. It felt like I had to sacrifice resources in order to transfer other resources. Which in a sense defeats the whole purpose.
For example, I do get the giant 'honeypot' on top of 'safe house' at intersection one. That was intended to pose some sort of a challenge. Sprinting on a bridge for the sole purpose of transporting items - probably wasn't. So, if it's not there for the challenge, then why is it there? Hopefully I explained my point well enough.
All of that being said, in the grand scheme of things this is meaningless. I am not worried, knowing that Doo will not leave us without gear and sufficient supply of necessities. Just wanted to point out that in my opinion the start is not exactly beginners oriented.
These are really good maps including finding m night shyamalan i really liked that one! But i have one problem and that is that card games are coming back.....
These are really good maps including finding m night shyamalan i really liked that one! But i have one problem and that is that card games are coming back.....
I'm currently playing the map, enjoying it quite a bit so far. I'll make a detailed review (like this one) when I complete it.
I'm currently at the first intersection, just finished Bittervine and am in the process of building some grinders there, an xp/arrow/bone grinder for the three skeleton spawners in close proximity to each other, a blaze grinder and a grinder for those zombies that drop looting swords and emeralds. After that I'll tackle the arachnid place.
I'm currently playing the map, enjoying it quite a bit so far. I'll make a detailed review (like this one) when I complete it.
I'm currently at the first intersection, just finished Bittervine and am in the process of building some grinders there, an xp/arrow/bone grinder for the three skeleton spawners in close proximity to each other, a blaze grinder and a grinder for those zombies that drop looting swords and emeralds. After that I'll tackle the arachnid place.
Thanks! I'm looking forward to the review. I don't think you'll need to make any grinders after the first intersection of the map because it is quite short. I'm glad you noticed that the skelly spawners were for a grinder though. I thought your review of inferno mines was very, very good and would've been helpful to Vechs.
Just finished the arachnid area and got to intersection 2. The areas there look interesting and all seem to have a special mob (two custom and one wither skeleton?) so I look forward to exploring those. I'll save my commentary for the areas I've already finished for when I've completed the entire map, but rest assured that you're not going to get off without critique - although I'm enjoying the map there are some gripes I had in certain parts. This is a good thing though, since it means that you can improve your map before you release it as the complete version!
Just finished the arachnid area and got to intersection 2. The areas there look interesting and all seem to have a special mob (two custom and one wither skeleton?) so I look forward to exploring those. I'll save my commentary for the areas I've already finished for when I've completed the entire map, but rest assured that you're not going to get off without critique - although I'm enjoying the map there are some gripes I had in certain parts. This is a good thing though, since it means that you can improve your map before you release it as the complete version!
I finished the map! I only died once (open the spoiler to see where exactly) which is about on par for a ctm map that's supposed to be easy.
Anyway, for my review I'll be looking at each of the seperate areas and finally at the map as a whole. To keep track of the good and the bad more easily I'm going to be dividing the grade for each section into several parts:
Visuals: This is purely how the area looks and feels. Nothing gameplay related here, this is just about the atmosphere of the area.
Gameplay: This is also about the area design, but, contrary to Visuals, this is about the functional aspect of the area. Here I'll look at how the area plays, how well the different obstacles work and how all of the parts come together to form a nicely playable level (or how they fail to).
Challenge: This part is about how difficult the area is. More specifically, this part looks at the area's difficulty in relation to other areas nearby and at how different sections of the area scale in difficulty.
Notes: This section may be empty and is not graded. This is where I'll note things like bugs, annoyances and suggestions to fix some of these things.
Anyway, on to the review!
Clifftop Forge
Visuals: 8
The start of a map is always important to dragging the player in and convincing him to play all the way through, and you did a great job at that here through visuals alone. Even though you seem to start off in a peaceful environment it becomes clear the second you look down that this is not the case - and thus the map begins. It's not just the impression at the beginning that does it though, the rest of the area looks great too. It was a good move to insert some of those patches of grass all the way down to the bottom - that made sure that the feeling you had all the way at the top doesn't disappear. The different platforms were a nice touch too, each one different from the last. The only problem I had with this area is the cave on the side with the mossy cobblestone - it didn't fit in with the rest of the area in terms of aesthetics. Some extra patches of grass in there might've helped, but I can't say for sure. Anyway, that's just a minor complaint, overall the area looks great. Gameplay: 9
I love that gold nugget. Seriously. It's so satisfying to knock mobs off the edge with that thing, it's amazing. It's the perfect item you could've given the player for this area. I ended up regularly using it up until halfway through intersection #2. The indoor areas and the mossy cobble cave on the side also provided some nice variation. I did fall for the trap by the way, but luckily the delay you put on it was very merciful so I escaped without even taking any damage. Still a shame about the potions though. Challenge: 7
I thought it was a bit easy, to be honest. But then again, I have played several CTM maps before so I already know what I'm doing, and this map IS meant for beginners. Some of the spawners seemed to be too easy to take out as well, many of them never got to spawn their mobs. You may want to consider setting the countdown timer to the next spawn to 0 when you place them - that way the interval between spawns won't change but they'll instantly spawn a mob as soon as you get near them, ensuring that you'll at least have to fight the mob once before you can disable the spawner. This is not necessary for all of the spawners (in fact, I'd advise against doing that) but some of them, especially the custom ones, may benefit from this. Overall the area was challenging enough though, what with the narrow walkways. Notes: None
Supernatural Underpass
Visuals: 8
Similar to the Forge, this area looks gorgeous. The high ceiling is probably most of what does the trick, this area almost feels like it's outside. It's fairly peaceful due to the elevated walkway, which helps to create this peaceful atmosphere that I quite liked. I would've loved to see Intersection #1 on this location instead of where it is, on a brick platform somewhat higher above the grass. Oh well, can't have everything I suppose. Gameplay: 8
Again there's plenty of stuff to choose for the player - this is one of the most important things in good level/game design, to give the player plenty of choices, be it in ways to tackle a problem or in paths to choose. Here the player may choose to farm the trees, take on the house on the side of the path or just explore the area a bit more in-depth. Even though the combat here is low, there's still plenty to see and do so the player won't get bored while going through here. Challenge: 7
Even though there is not much combat here the combat that is here sure does count. The custom mob is suitably difficult to get past, the house on the side is not easy to tackle either and the mobs that start swarming onto the walkway when you get to the final part of the area make it so that you can't relax here. Notes: None
Ragequit Monument
Visuals: 5
Wow, it's a large ****off cave with pillars! Eh. I'm not sure why you felt that the victory monument needed this area up front before you reach it, to be honest. It makes the monument itself, which is in the style of the preceding area, look out of place because of the large stone cave leading up to it, which is a shame since the monument looks nice in of itself. The cave really added nothing visually, and unfortunately it makes up the brunt of the area. Which leads me to my next point: Gameplay: 6
Although the challenge was on-par with what we've encountered so far, there is really no reason to make the combat this repetetive here. You're basically fighting random mobs in a large cave for half an hour before you get to the monument for no reason. You already have the Underpass as an intermediary area before we can snuggle up inside the monument area, so why bother adding this? Well, at least there was some loot for the effort and the player hasn't fought large groups of enemies like this before, so I'll give it a pass in terms of gameplay. Challenge: 6
This area is a bit too difficult for the player at this point. Skeletons in a large cave are too much of a threat when you don't have an ample supply of arrows yet, and it shows here. This area shouldn't take long to get through since it's only the introduction to the monument, but this place was difficult to get through even when I was making the sortcut from intersection #2. It isn't the spawners either, this cave just spawns too many mobs, particularly skeletons, to handle properly. Notes: Add some honeypots around here perhaps? Or better yet, get rid of this place, redesign it or shorten it significantly. It's bland in all three areas and is on the edge of being more frustrating than fun.
Intersection #1
Visuals: 7
The inside of the intersection building looks nice, albeit a tad linear - some curves or rooms on the side might've helped in that regard. Also, the building looks butt-ugly from the outside. It's basically a stone cube. Ugh. The view around it makes up for that though, especially the dark grassy area way down below. The ores are a nice touch as well. Speaking of ores, the shortcut to the monument is very nice as well, it looks like a more compact version of the intersection cavern. Gameplay: 6
I've never been a fan of going down a linear path while beating up mobs unless they're really tough mobs that require me to do something extra (see Zistonian Battlecry from Vechs' Inferno Mines) and this is no exception. I get that this area is supposed to be easy since it leads up to the intersection, but why did you not apply that logic to the area between the Underpass and the Monument? Either way, I would've liked to be able to look around this place a bit more, as it is it's just three rooms and one large room linearly connected to each other, which is just plain boring. Really, just add a couple of rooms on the side, above and/or below to explore and this 6 will become an 8. Challenge: 6
Even though this was supposed to be easy this low grade is mostly because the three zombie spawners at the end failed to spawn anything because the area around them was aready mostly too light for any zombies to spawn. Notes: More rooms. Do it. Also, the railway to the Monument is not lit up, so mobs can spawn on there. This may or may not be intended, but I thought I'd mention it here anyway.
Bittervine Ruins
Visuals: 9
The fact that I initially planned to build three grinders here should tell you enough about my love for this area. Everything here fits perfectly and it even sticks to the theme from before the intersection. The castly is nicely dramatically positioned in that large, open area, the vines give this area a great touch of wilderness over the Underpass's well-kempt garden feel and the interior of the castle reflects this state of neglect with the scattered blocks. Great job. Gameplay: 10
I loved going below the path to risk my neck for some nice loot, I loved fighting the custom zombies, I loved seeing emeralds pop out of them, I loved using their own swords against them, I loved taking on the blazes, I loved it I loved it I loved it. My only issue with this place would be that random junk strewn around makes it somewhat awkward to maneuver around the blazes to dodge their fireballs, but if that's the biggest complaint I can think of you might as well ignore it. Oh, and the iron at the end was probably the best reward you could've put there to top off this area. Challenge: 9
This was so much fun to tackle with the gear from before intersection #1, especially the castle. Everything here kept me on my toes and I loved every second of it. The difficulty spike from this place compared to pre Intersection #1 felt fair and satisfying. Notes: Yes, all of this, in my face, blblblblblbl
Sanctuary of Arthropods
Visuals: 7
The walkways and lava pit with cobwebs looked great, but... more large, ****off caves. Wee. At least there's some cobweb and stuff thrown around this time and there area plenty of spots where I got to look at the real scenery, so I'll be lenient with the grade. Gameplay: 7
Well, in spite of the large bland cave we had to do it in the combat here was quite fun. Probably mostly because the cave was narrower so it was a much more managable challenge as opposed to having mobs spawn on your sides when you've just cleared them out due to how wide the cave is. Cutting up the spiders in one hit was satisfying too, but... really? The area is named after spiders, but they're actually no threat at all here? I mean sure, there are many of them due to the spawners, but I never really felt that I'd entered the spiders den where I'd have to take spiders more seriously. Some cave spiders here and there might've helped instead of having them all in that one pit where they can't do anything but rub their heads against the bottom of the floor. Challenge: 7
Somewhat easy, but plenty of random mob spawns and swarms of spiders to keep things interesting. Notes: None
Intersection #2
Visuals: 8
Warning: ****'s going to get real from this point onwards. That's the message this area conveys and it does it well. I also really like that you can see the visual theme of the three new areas already from the intersection. Very nice. Gameplay: Not applicable Challenge: Not applicable Notes: Why not use a teleporter to get from the Sanctuary to here? The minecart road is only used once since you get a shorter route between the intersections once you get there and it's really tedious to sit there for so long.
Grim-root Hollows
Visuals: 8
Again with the vines, but here they invoke a completely different atmosphere, that of an almost jungle-like place. The dirt and soul sand columns and the bushes and random logs help reinfoce that feeling. Its size, too, contributes to this atmosphere. Gameplay: 8
Nicely up to par with what I've come to expect after Bittervine in Intersection #2. It was a bit of a shame that the randomly spawning mobs were still so much of a threat here that the wither skeletons and the leafhead mobs were kinda pushed to the sidelines, while they would've made for great enemies. Challenge: 8
Difficult, but fair, similar to Bittervine. It's nice that the vines here are actually more of an obstacle than a help like they were in Bittervine where I mostly used them to my advantage to draw skeletons into melee range while here they mostly just prevented me from hightailing it out of the danger zone. Notes: Perhaps some honeypots and a lower MaxSpawnDelay on the spawners? I'd really love to see those leafhead mobs take center stage here, they look cool and are fun to fight so they deserve it.
Happy fun time!
Visuals: 6
I can tolerate the huge ****off cave much better if there's a huge lake in there, but the castle didn't really look significantly different from the one in Bittervine. What gives? There's no need for a castle in the middle of a huge underground lake surrounded by ores to look only marginally different from the one in a dilapidated underground garden. A bit of a shame, really. Gameplay: 7
The funbox was fun to take on. Okay, it was a lot of fun, but I'm stil upset that the two fleecy boxes were this close to each other. It didn't really feel like I had to put in significant extra effort to get the other one, although the charged creepers scared me to death - I was afraid that a skeleton would shoot one causing it to blow a huge hole in the wall. It's also a bit of a shame that you gave us the diamond straight away, it would've felt like more of a reward if it was buried underneath the castle so we could only reach it once we'd already gotten the fleecy box, like, in a small, well-lit mine of sorts below the castle and the lake. Challenge: 8
A solitary funbox, some cave spider spawners, some zombie spawners downstairs and the charged creepers made this place challenging enough, to be sure. Notes: Let us work for the diamonds, dammit!
Black Fort Asylum
Visuals: 6
Oh boy, another huge ****off cave, but this time with some obsidian! And the pillars are made of quartz this time instead of stone bricks! And the castle at the end had nether brick rims this time! Eh. I feel like this area would've worked better if it was just the building and the building was much larger since we haven't really seen a full indoors area yet. It would also have helped if it felt more like an asylum, although the cells without buttons on the inside were a nice touch. Gameplay: 6
The funbox, the dense spawners and the shortness of the area made it so that I at least didn't tire of hacking away at mobs until I was done with the area. That's really the most I can say, there was not much interesting going on here. Challenge: 6
The custom mobs were barely more threatening than the randomly spawned monsters, the bottom wool was insultingly easy to get and the creeper spawners between the cave and the castle didn't even trigger before I destroyed them. Eh. Notes: None
Crypt of the Ghost Forest
Visuals: 8
Scratch what I said about the Grim-root Hollows - this is the place that feels like a jungle. The view when you get halfway through is cool too, and somehow you managed to make the buildings fit in perfectly with the dense jungle-y cavern. Gameplay: 8
Because of the density of the foliage you're always in for a surprise and the constant stream of mobs from the unexplored lower levels of the tower kept me on my toes as well. Claustrophobically good, though I don't get why you made us fall down into the water to get to the smaller building. Challenge: 7
The density of the foliage also meant that there were much less mobs, though the tower made up for that by providing a constant stream of the buggers. It was kinda disappointing how easy the wool in the smaller building was to get though. Notes: None
Intersection #3
Visuals: 7
It looks fine and the color scheme fits with the area leading up to it but it lacks the "oomph" that Intersection #2 had. Gameplay: Not applicable Challenge: Not applicable Notes: None
Ash-Lake Mines
Visuals: 7
More caves, though with more interesting textures this time, and an area layout overall too remeniscent of the Sanctuary of Arthropods. I liked the bouncing lava blobs, but I'd suggest making them bounce above the walkways so that the player gets to see them more clearly. Gameplay: 7
I really liked the parkour-like area, it made for a cool challenge without being too gimmicky where a single skeleton would screw you over since there was enough light that not many mobs could spawn at all. The rest of the area had the basic "wide cave" problem I've mentioned before though, so I'm kinda torn about this area. Challenge: 7
The custom mobs were nice and challenging and somehow the large masses of random mobs are much more fun to fight now that we have diamonds to work with. It was decent, but nothing spectacular. I did die my one death on the map here though - I stupidly tried to rush out with the wool and a skeleton knocked me off into the lava. Goodbye, sweet gear, I'll never forget you ;_; Notes: None
The Bellowing Mountain
Visuals: 8
The start looks okay I guess, but the volcano man. Amazing. Gameplay: 5
The blazes were too easy to take out, the first wool was way too easy to obtain, the sides of the volcano were practically mob-free (even the charged creepers didn't spawn, and a good thing they didn't too since blasting me off a mountain that high would've just killed me and since it's so hard to defend yourself properly there it'd hardly have been fair), the inside of the volcano was a death trap (you gave us ender pearls, but they don't reach and laddering or using water is almost undoable due to the large amounts of blaze spawners and the cave curving inwards as you get higher). Ugh. And I had such high hopes for this place too when I saw the volcano. Challenge: 6
Well, at least the inside of the volcano was dangerous. Notes: None
Cave of the Black Crystals
Visuals: 7
Another large, ****off cave, but at least there's more stuff than just the cave here this time, like structures, the spiralling part and the sound of mysterious fireworks as you enter that part of the area. Gameplay: 8
This is the part where the large, ****off cave structure actually works, mostly because of the spawners and funboxes strewn around. I had great fun taking this place on, even though the second half was disappointing compared to the first half. Challenge: 8
Even if you have enchanted diamond gear you can't rest easy here lest you be overwhelmed with mobs and litter the area with explosion craters. This definitely lived up to my expectations for the final wool area, even though the second half of the area was kinda weak in comparison to the first, as I mentioned above. Notes: None
Overall
Visuals: 7.3 Gameplay: 7.3 Challenge: 7.1 Notes: Overall this was a nice, short introduction to CTM-style maps. Is it perfect? Is it great? No, but it has the seeds of greatness in there sticking out from the solid to mediocre baseline. This is a great map if you're new to the CTM genre but it might be boring for veterans who expect a higher level of difficulty and quality a la Super Hostile. Overall it is a solid map, the only things that really need changing in my opinion are the gamplay in the Bellowing Mountain and the visuals in the cave before the Monument. The rest of my comments are basically suggestions, since it's all fine as it is, so do what you want with those.
Another suggestion that applies to the whole map is this: Add more lore. This map is meant to have some sort of story behind it, things like the Work Clothes sets you find several times and the entire concept of the Asylum suggest as much, so why not run with that? Give the custom mobs custom names, give their drops custom names and descriptions. It requires no gameplay revisions of your map but it adds a level of depth that your players will appreciate - an iron chestplate with Thorns II and Fire Protection II means nothing until you read that it's the armor of the Forest Protector, a race of creatures that became one with the forest so as to better defend it against the humans disturbing the peace in their underground jungle paradise in their hungry search for ores. It feels radically different fighting those armored zombies from the spawners in the Forge if they're named Undead Worker. You see what I mean? Try to play with that a little bit. You don't need written books with pages of lore that nobody'll read, just seep the lore into everything from the area design (which you've already done for a large part) to the mobs you fight to the items you use to fight them. I think it'll go a long way to get people immersed in your map.
EDIT: I just realized I typed a review of 8-9 pages for a minecraft map. Wow.
I finished the map! I only died once (open the spoiler to see where exactly) which is about on par for a ctm map that's supposed to be easy.
Anyway, for my review I'll be looking at each of the seperate areas and finally at the map as a whole. To keep track of the good and the bad more easily I'm going to be dividing the grade for each section into several parts:
Visuals: This is purely how the area looks and feels. Nothing gameplay related here, this is just about the atmosphere of the area.
Gameplay: This is also about the area design, but, contrary to Visuals, this is about the functional aspect of the area. Here I'll look at how the area plays, how well the different obstacles work and how all of the parts come together to form a nicely playable level (or how they fail to).
Challenge: This part is about how difficult the area is. More specifically, this part looks at the area's difficulty in relation to other areas nearby and at how different sections of the area scale in difficulty.
Notes: This section may be empty and is not graded. This is where I'll note things like bugs, annoyances and suggestions to fix some of these things.
Anyway, on to the review!
Clifftop Forge
Visuals: 8
The start of a map is always important to dragging the player in and convincing him to play all the way through, and you did a great job at that here through visuals alone. Even though you seem to start off in a peaceful environment it becomes clear the second you look down that this is not the case - and thus the map begins. It's not just the impression at the beginning that does it though, the rest of the area looks great too. It was a good move to insert some of those patches of grass all the way down to the bottom - that made sure that the feeling you had all the way at the top doesn't disappear. The different platforms were a nice touch too, each one different from the last. The only problem I had with this area is the cave on the side with the mossy cobblestone - it didn't fit in with the rest of the area in terms of aesthetics. Some extra patches of grass in there might've helped, but I can't say for sure. Anyway, that's just a minor complaint, overall the area looks great. Gameplay: 9
I love that gold nugget. Seriously. It's so satisfying to knock mobs off the edge with that thing, it's amazing. It's the perfect item you could've given the player for this area. I ended up regularly using it up until halfway through intersection #2. The indoor areas and the mossy cobble cave on the side also provided some nice variation. I did fall for the trap by the way, but luckily the delay you put on it was very merciful so I escaped without even taking any damage. Still a shame about the potions though. Challenge: 7
I thought it was a bit easy, to be honest. But then again, I have played several CTM maps before so I already know what I'm doing, and this map IS meant for beginners. Some of the spawners seemed to be too easy to take out as well, many of them never got to spawn their mobs. You may want to consider setting the countdown timer to the next spawn to 0 when you place them - that way the interval between spawns won't change but they'll instantly spawn a mob as soon as you get near them, ensuring that you'll at least have to fight the mob once before you can disable the spawner. This is not necessary for all of the spawners (in fact, I'd advise against doing that) but some of them, especially the custom ones, may benefit from this. Overall the area was challenging enough though, what with the narrow walkways. Notes: None
Supernatural Underpass
Visuals: 8
Similar to the Forge, this area looks gorgeous. The high ceiling is probably most of what does the trick, this area almost feels like it's outside. It's fairly peaceful due to the elevated walkway, which helps to create this peaceful atmosphere that I quite liked. I would've loved to see Intersection #1 on this location instead of where it is, on a brick platform somewhat higher above the grass. Oh well, can't have everything I suppose. Gameplay: 8
Again there's plenty of stuff to choose for the player - this is one of the most important things in good level/game design, to give the player plenty of choices, be it in ways to tackle a problem or in paths to choose. Here the player may choose to farm the trees, take on the house on the side of the path or just explore the area a bit more in-depth. Even though the combat here is low, there's still plenty to see and do so the player won't get bored while going through here. Challenge: 7
Even though there is not much combat here the combat that is here sure does count. The custom mob is suitably difficult to get past, the house on the side is not easy to tackle either and the mobs that start swarming onto the walkway when you get to the final part of the area make it so that you can't relax here. Notes: None
Ragequit Monument
Visuals: 5
Wow, it's a large ****off cave with pillars! Eh. I'm not sure why you felt that the victory monument needed this area up front before you reach it, to be honest. It makes the monument itself, which is in the style of the preceding area, look out of place because of the large stone cave leading up to it, which is a shame since the monument looks nice in of itself. The cave really added nothing visually, and unfortunately it makes up the brunt of the area. Which leads me to my next point: Gameplay: 6
Although the challenge was on-par with what we've encountered so far, there is really no reason to make the combat this repetetive here. You're basically fighting random mobs in a large cave for half an hour before you get to the monument for no reason. You already have the Underpass as an intermediary area before we can snuggle up inside the monument area, so why bother adding this? Well, at least there was some loot for the effort and the player hasn't fought large groups of enemies like this before, so I'll give it a pass in terms of gameplay. Challenge: 6
This area is a bit too difficult for the player at this point. Skeletons in a large cave are too much of a threat when you don't have an ample supply of arrows yet, and it shows here. This area shouldn't take long to get through since it's only the introduction to the monument, but this place was difficult to get through even when I was making the sortcut from intersection #2. It isn't the spawners either, this cave just spawns too many mobs, particularly skeletons, to handle properly. Notes: Add some honeypots around here perhaps? Or better yet, get rid of this place, redesign it or shorten it significantly. It's bland in all three areas and is on the edge of being more frustrating than fun.
Intersection #1
Visuals: 7
The inside of the intersection building looks nice, albeit a tad linear - some curves or rooms on the side might've helped in that regard. Also, the building looks butt-ugly from the outside. It's basically a stone cube. Ugh. The view around it makes up for that though, especially the dark grassy area way down below. The ores are a nice touch as well. Speaking of ores, the shortcut to the monument is very nice as well, it looks like a more compact version of the intersection cavern. Gameplay: 6
I've never been a fan of going down a linear path while beating up mobs unless they're really tough mobs that require me to do something extra (see Zistonian Battlecry from Vechs' Inferno Mines) and this is no exception. I get that this area is supposed to be easy since it leads up to the intersection, but why did you not apply that logic to the area between the Underpass and the Monument? Either way, I would've liked to be able to look around this place a bit more, as it is it's just three rooms and one large room linearly connected to each other, which is just plain boring. Really, just add a couple of rooms on the side, above and/or below to explore and this 6 will become an 8. Challenge: 6
Even though this was supposed to be easy this low grade is mostly because the three zombie spawners at the end failed to spawn anything because the area around them was aready mostly too light for any zombies to spawn. Notes: More rooms. Do it. Also, the railway to the Monument is not lit up, so mobs can spawn on there. This may or may not be intended, but I thought I'd mention it here anyway.
Bittervine Ruins
Visuals: 9
The fact that I initially planned to build three grinders here should tell you enough about my love for this area. Everything here fits perfectly and it even sticks to the theme from before the intersection. The castly is nicely dramatically positioned in that large, open area, the vines give this area a great touch of wilderness over the Underpass's well-kempt garden feel and the interior of the castle reflects this state of neglect with the scattered blocks. Great job. Gameplay: 10
I loved going below the path to risk my neck for some nice loot, I loved fighting the custom zombies, I loved seeing emeralds pop out of them, I loved using their own swords against them, I loved taking on the blazes, I loved it I loved it I loved it. My only issue with this place would be that random junk strewn around makes it somewhat awkward to maneuver around the blazes to dodge their fireballs, but if that's the biggest complaint I can think of you might as well ignore it. Oh, and the iron at the end was probably the best reward you could've put there to top off this area. Challenge: 9
This was so much fun to tackle with the gear from before intersection #1, especially the castle. Everything here kept me on my toes and I loved every second of it. The difficulty spike from this place compared to pre Intersection #1 felt fair and satisfying. Notes: Yes, all of this, in my face, blblblblblbl
Sanctuary of Arthropods
Visuals: 7
The walkways and lava pit with cobwebs looked great, but... more large, ****off caves. Wee. At least there's some cobweb and stuff thrown around this time and there area plenty of spots where I got to look at the real scenery, so I'll be lenient with the grade. Gameplay: 7
Well, in spite of the large bland cave we had to do it in the combat here was quite fun. Probably mostly because the cave was narrower so it was a much more managable challenge as opposed to having mobs spawn on your sides when you've just cleared them out due to how wide the cave is. Cutting up the spiders in one hit was satisfying too, but... really? The area is named after spiders, but they're actually no threat at all here? I mean sure, there are many of them due to the spawners, but I never really felt that I'd entered the spiders den where I'd have to take spiders more seriously. Some cave spiders here and there might've helped instead of having them all in that one pit where they can't do anything but rub their heads against the bottom of the floor. Challenge: 7
Somewhat easy, but plenty of random mob spawns and swarms of spiders to keep things interesting. Notes: None
Intersection #2
Visuals: 8
Warning: ****'s going to get real from this point onwards. That's the message this area conveys and it does it well. I also really like that you can see the visual theme of the three new areas already from the intersection. Very nice. Gameplay: Not applicable Challenge: Not applicable Notes: Why not use a teleporter to get from the Sanctuary to here? The minecart road is only used once since you get a shorter route between the intersections once you get there and it's really tedious to sit there for so long.
Grim-root Hollows
Visuals: 8
Again with the vines, but here they invoke a completely different atmosphere, that of an almost jungle-like place. The dirt and soul sand columns and the bushes and random logs help reinfoce that feeling. Its size, too, contributes to this atmosphere. Gameplay: 8
Nicely up to par with what I've come to expect after Bittervine in Intersection #2. It was a bit of a shame that the randomly spawning mobs were still so much of a threat here that the wither skeletons and the leafhead mobs were kinda pushed to the sidelines, while they would've made for great enemies. Challenge: 8
Difficult, but fair, similar to Bittervine. It's nice that the vines here are actually more of an obstacle than a help like they were in Bittervine where I mostly used them to my advantage to draw skeletons into melee range while here they mostly just prevented me from hightailing it out of the danger zone. Notes: Perhaps some honeypots and a lower MaxSpawnDelay on the spawners? I'd really love to see those leafhead mobs take center stage here, they look cool and are fun to fight so they deserve it.
Happy fun time!
Visuals: 6
I can tolerate the huge ****off cave much better if there's a huge lake in there, but the castle didn't really look significantly different from the one in Bittervine. What gives? There's no need for a castle in the middle of a huge underground lake surrounded by ores to look only marginally different from the one in a dilapidated underground garden. A bit of a shame, really. Gameplay: 7
The funbox was fun to take on. Okay, it was a lot of fun, but I'm stil upset that the two fleecy boxes were this close to each other. It didn't really feel like I had to put in significant extra effort to get the other one, although the charged creepers scared me to death - I was afraid that a skeleton would shoot one causing it to blow a huge hole in the wall. It's also a bit of a shame that you gave us the diamond straight away, it would've felt like more of a reward if it was buried underneath the castle so we could only reach it once we'd already gotten the fleecy box, like, in a small, well-lit mine of sorts below the castle and the lake. Challenge: 8
A solitary funbox, some cave spider spawners, some zombie spawners downstairs and the charged creepers made this place challenging enough, to be sure. Notes: Let us work for the diamonds, dammit!
Black Fort Asylum
Visuals: 6
Oh boy, another huge ****off cave, but this time with some obsidian! And the pillars are made of quartz this time instead of stone bricks! And the castle at the end had nether brick rims this time! Eh. I feel like this area would've worked better if it was just the building and the building was much larger since we haven't really seen a full indoors area yet. It would also have helped if it felt more like an asylum, although the cells without buttons on the inside were a nice touch. Gameplay: 6
The funbox, the dense spawners and the shortness of the area made it so that I at least didn't tire of hacking away at mobs until I was done with the area. That's really the most I can say, there was not much interesting going on here. Challenge: 6
The custom mobs were barely more threatening than the randomly spawned monsters, the bottom wool was insultingly easy to get and the creeper spawners between the cave and the castle didn't even trigger before I destroyed them. Eh. Notes: None
Crypt of the Ghost Forest
Visuals: 8
Scratch what I said about the Grim-root Hollows - this is the place that feels like a jungle. The view when you get halfway through is cool too, and somehow you managed to make the buildings fit in perfectly with the dense jungle-y cavern. Gameplay: 8
Because of the density of the foliage you're always in for a surprise and the constant stream of mobs from the unexplored lower levels of the tower kept me on my toes as well. Claustrophobically good, though I don't get why you made us fall down into the water to get to the smaller building. Challenge: 7
The density of the foliage also meant that there were much less mobs, though the tower made up for that by providing a constant stream of the buggers. It was kinda disappointing how easy the wool in the smaller building was to get though. Notes: None
Intersection #3
Visuals: 7
It looks fine and the color scheme fits with the area leading up to it but it lacks the "oomph" that Intersection #2 had. Gameplay: Not applicable Challenge: Not applicable Notes: None
Ash-Lake Mines
Visuals: 7
More caves, though with more interesting textures this time, and an area layout overall too remeniscent of the Sanctuary of Arthropods. I liked the bouncing lava blobs, but I'd suggest making them bounce above the walkways so that the player gets to see them more clearly. Gameplay: 7
I really liked the parkour-like area, it made for a cool challenge without being too gimmicky where a single skeleton would screw you over since there was enough light that not many mobs could spawn at all. The rest of the area had the basic "wide cave" problem I've mentioned before though, so I'm kinda torn about this area. Challenge: 7
The custom mobs were nice and challenging and somehow the large masses of random mobs are much more fun to fight now that we have diamonds to work with. It was decent, but nothing spectacular. I did die my one death on the map here though - I stupidly tried to rush out with the wool and a skeleton knocked me off into the lava. Goodbye, sweet gear, I'll never forget you ;_; Notes: None
The Bellowing Mountain
Visuals: 8
The start looks okay I guess, but the volcano man. Amazing. Gameplay: 5
The blazes were too easy to take out, the first wool was way too easy to obtain, the sides of the volcano were practically mob-free (even the charged creepers didn't spawn, and a good thing they didn't too since blasting me off a mountain that high would've just killed me and since it's so hard to defend yourself properly there it'd hardly have been fair), the inside of the volcano was a death trap (you gave us ender pearls, but they don't reach and laddering or using water is almost undoable due to the large amounts of blaze spawners and the cave curving inwards as you get higher). Ugh. And I had such high hopes for this place too when I saw the volcano. This is the one area in the map that has a score below 6, which means that it is the one area that, in my opinion, needs to be changed before the final version is released. Challenge: 6
Well, at least the inside of the volcano was dangerous. Notes: None
Cave of the Black Crystals
Visuals: 7
Another large, ****off cave, but at least there's more stuff than just the cave here this time, like structures, the spiralling part and the sound of mysterious fireworks as you enter that part of the area. Gameplay: 8
This is the part where the large, ****off cave structure actually works, mostly because of the spawners and funboxes strewn around. I had great fun taking this place on, even though the second half was disappointing compared to the first half. Challenge: 8
Even if you have enchanted diamond gear you can't rest easy here lest you be overwhelmed with mobs and litter the area with explosion craters. This definitely lived up to my expectations for the final wool area, even though the second half of the area was kinda weak in comparison to the first, as I mentioned above. Notes: None
Overall
Visuals: 7.3 Gameplay: 7.3 Challenge: 7.1 Notes: Overall this was a nice, short introduction to CTM-style maps. Is it perfect? Is it great? No, but it has the seeds of greatness in there sticking out from the solid to mediocre baseline. This is a great map if you're new to the CTM genre but it might be boring for veterans who expect a higher level of difficulty and quality a la Super Hostile. Overall it is a solid map, the only things that really need changing in my opinion are the gamplay in the Bellowing Mountain and the visuals in the cave before the Monument. The rest of my comments are basically suggestions, since it's all fine as it is, so do what you want with those.
Another suggestion that applies to the whole map is this: Add more lore. This map is meant to have some sort of story behind it, things like the Work Clothes sets you find several times and the entire concept of the Asylum suggest as much, so why not run with that? Give the custom mobs custom names, give their drops custom names and descriptions. It requires no gameplay revisions of your map but it adds a level of depth that your players will appreciate - an iron chestplate with Thorns II and Fire Protection II means nothing until you read that it's the armor of the Forest Protector, a race of creatures that became one with the forest so as to better defend it against the humans disturbing the peace in their underground jungle paradise in their hungry search for ores. It feels radically different fighting those armored zombies from the spawners in the Forge if they're named Undead Worker. You see what I mean? Try to play with that a little bit. You don't need written books with pages of lore that nobody'll read, just seep the lore into everything from the area design (which you've already done for a large part) to the mobs you fight to the items you use to fight them. I think it'll go a long way to get people immersed in your map.
EDIT: I just realized I typed a review of 8-9 pages for a minecraft map. Wow.
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback on the map, I really appreciate it. Ill definitely try and put this feedback to good use and fix up this map for the full release. Ill also try to use some of your tips in future maps. I think that everything you said was fair and made sense, so thank you for the helpful review.
Someday, I need to learn how to do the "spoiler" thing in these posts. LOL
I wander through CTM maps, getting lost, fighting monsters, and somehow accomplishing things. I'm never too sure how, but I do. Come join me, pets!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1Xey2d-BFWyh6WcPbJeqQ
In order to use spoiler, just click on the red circle with white exclamation mark in post editor form. Screenshot below.
As for my feedback on the map
For example, I do get the giant 'honeypot' on top of 'safe house' at intersection one. That was intended to pose some sort of a challenge. Sprinting on a bridge for the sole purpose of transporting items - probably wasn't. So, if it's not there for the challenge, then why is it there? Hopefully I explained my point well enough.
All of that being said, in the grand scheme of things this is meaningless. I am not worried, knowing that Doo will not leave us without gear and sufficient supply of necessities. Just wanted to point out that in my opinion the start is not exactly beginners oriented.
.
Never translate using Google.
Perhaps that was his/her way to ask Doo how's Ragequit Avenue 3 goin'?
Great Job! Glad you enjoyed it.
Veni, vidi, cecidi
(I came, I saw, I tripped)
Thanks! I'm looking forward to the review. I don't think you'll need to make any grinders after the first intersection of the map because it is quite short. I'm glad you noticed that the skelly spawners were for a grinder though. I thought your review of inferno mines was very, very good and would've been helpful to Vechs.
Thanks!
Veni, vidi, cecidi
(I came, I saw, I tripped)
I wander through CTM maps, getting lost, fighting monsters, and somehow accomplishing things. I'm never too sure how, but I do. Come join me, pets!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1Xey2d-BFWyh6WcPbJeqQ
Thanks for the feedback.
Anyway, for my review I'll be looking at each of the seperate areas and finally at the map as a whole. To keep track of the good and the bad more easily I'm going to be dividing the grade for each section into several parts:
Visuals: This is purely how the area looks and feels. Nothing gameplay related here, this is just about the atmosphere of the area.
Gameplay: This is also about the area design, but, contrary to Visuals, this is about the functional aspect of the area. Here I'll look at how the area plays, how well the different obstacles work and how all of the parts come together to form a nicely playable level (or how they fail to).
Challenge: This part is about how difficult the area is. More specifically, this part looks at the area's difficulty in relation to other areas nearby and at how different sections of the area scale in difficulty.
Notes: This section may be empty and is not graded. This is where I'll note things like bugs, annoyances and suggestions to fix some of these things.
Anyway, on to the review!
The start of a map is always important to dragging the player in and convincing him to play all the way through, and you did a great job at that here through visuals alone. Even though you seem to start off in a peaceful environment it becomes clear the second you look down that this is not the case - and thus the map begins. It's not just the impression at the beginning that does it though, the rest of the area looks great too. It was a good move to insert some of those patches of grass all the way down to the bottom - that made sure that the feeling you had all the way at the top doesn't disappear. The different platforms were a nice touch too, each one different from the last. The only problem I had with this area is the cave on the side with the mossy cobblestone - it didn't fit in with the rest of the area in terms of aesthetics. Some extra patches of grass in there might've helped, but I can't say for sure. Anyway, that's just a minor complaint, overall the area looks great.
Gameplay: 9
I love that gold nugget. Seriously. It's so satisfying to knock mobs off the edge with that thing, it's amazing. It's the perfect item you could've given the player for this area. I ended up regularly using it up until halfway through intersection #2. The indoor areas and the mossy cobble cave on the side also provided some nice variation. I did fall for the trap by the way, but luckily the delay you put on it was very merciful so I escaped without even taking any damage. Still a shame about the potions though.
Challenge: 7
I thought it was a bit easy, to be honest. But then again, I have played several CTM maps before so I already know what I'm doing, and this map IS meant for beginners. Some of the spawners seemed to be too easy to take out as well, many of them never got to spawn their mobs. You may want to consider setting the countdown timer to the next spawn to 0 when you place them - that way the interval between spawns won't change but they'll instantly spawn a mob as soon as you get near them, ensuring that you'll at least have to fight the mob once before you can disable the spawner. This is not necessary for all of the spawners (in fact, I'd advise against doing that) but some of them, especially the custom ones, may benefit from this. Overall the area was challenging enough though, what with the narrow walkways.
Notes: None
Supernatural Underpass
Similar to the Forge, this area looks gorgeous. The high ceiling is probably most of what does the trick, this area almost feels like it's outside. It's fairly peaceful due to the elevated walkway, which helps to create this peaceful atmosphere that I quite liked. I would've loved to see Intersection #1 on this location instead of where it is, on a brick platform somewhat higher above the grass. Oh well, can't have everything I suppose.
Gameplay: 8
Again there's plenty of stuff to choose for the player - this is one of the most important things in good level/game design, to give the player plenty of choices, be it in ways to tackle a problem or in paths to choose. Here the player may choose to farm the trees, take on the house on the side of the path or just explore the area a bit more in-depth. Even though the combat here is low, there's still plenty to see and do so the player won't get bored while going through here.
Challenge: 7
Even though there is not much combat here the combat that is here sure does count. The custom mob is suitably difficult to get past, the house on the side is not easy to tackle either and the mobs that start swarming onto the walkway when you get to the final part of the area make it so that you can't relax here.
Notes: None
Ragequit Monument
Wow, it's a large ****off cave with pillars! Eh. I'm not sure why you felt that the victory monument needed this area up front before you reach it, to be honest. It makes the monument itself, which is in the style of the preceding area, look out of place because of the large stone cave leading up to it, which is a shame since the monument looks nice in of itself. The cave really added nothing visually, and unfortunately it makes up the brunt of the area. Which leads me to my next point:
Gameplay: 6
Although the challenge was on-par with what we've encountered so far, there is really no reason to make the combat this repetetive here. You're basically fighting random mobs in a large cave for half an hour before you get to the monument for no reason. You already have the Underpass as an intermediary area before we can snuggle up inside the monument area, so why bother adding this? Well, at least there was some loot for the effort and the player hasn't fought large groups of enemies like this before, so I'll give it a pass in terms of gameplay.
Challenge: 6
This area is a bit too difficult for the player at this point. Skeletons in a large cave are too much of a threat when you don't have an ample supply of arrows yet, and it shows here. This area shouldn't take long to get through since it's only the introduction to the monument, but this place was difficult to get through even when I was making the sortcut from intersection #2. It isn't the spawners either, this cave just spawns too many mobs, particularly skeletons, to handle properly.
Notes: Add some honeypots around here perhaps? Or better yet, get rid of this place, redesign it or shorten it significantly. It's bland in all three areas and is on the edge of being more frustrating than fun.
Intersection #1
The inside of the intersection building looks nice, albeit a tad linear - some curves or rooms on the side might've helped in that regard. Also, the building looks butt-ugly from the outside. It's basically a stone cube. Ugh. The view around it makes up for that though, especially the dark grassy area way down below. The ores are a nice touch as well. Speaking of ores, the shortcut to the monument is very nice as well, it looks like a more compact version of the intersection cavern.
Gameplay: 6
I've never been a fan of going down a linear path while beating up mobs unless they're really tough mobs that require me to do something extra (see Zistonian Battlecry from Vechs' Inferno Mines) and this is no exception. I get that this area is supposed to be easy since it leads up to the intersection, but why did you not apply that logic to the area between the Underpass and the Monument? Either way, I would've liked to be able to look around this place a bit more, as it is it's just three rooms and one large room linearly connected to each other, which is just plain boring. Really, just add a couple of rooms on the side, above and/or below to explore and this 6 will become an 8.
Challenge: 6
Even though this was supposed to be easy this low grade is mostly because the three zombie spawners at the end failed to spawn anything because the area around them was aready mostly too light for any zombies to spawn.
Notes: More rooms. Do it. Also, the railway to the Monument is not lit up, so mobs can spawn on there. This may or may not be intended, but I thought I'd mention it here anyway.
Bittervine Ruins
The fact that I initially planned to build three grinders here should tell you enough about my love for this area. Everything here fits perfectly and it even sticks to the theme from before the intersection. The castly is nicely dramatically positioned in that large, open area, the vines give this area a great touch of wilderness over the Underpass's well-kempt garden feel and the interior of the castle reflects this state of neglect with the scattered blocks. Great job.
Gameplay: 10
I loved going below the path to risk my neck for some nice loot, I loved fighting the custom zombies, I loved seeing emeralds pop out of them, I loved using their own swords against them, I loved taking on the blazes, I loved it I loved it I loved it. My only issue with this place would be that random junk strewn around makes it somewhat awkward to maneuver around the blazes to dodge their fireballs, but if that's the biggest complaint I can think of you might as well ignore it. Oh, and the iron at the end was probably the best reward you could've put there to top off this area.
Challenge: 9
This was so much fun to tackle with the gear from before intersection #1, especially the castle. Everything here kept me on my toes and I loved every second of it. The difficulty spike from this place compared to pre Intersection #1 felt fair and satisfying.
Notes: Yes, all of this, in my face, blblblblblbl
Sanctuary of Arthropods
The walkways and lava pit with cobwebs looked great, but... more large, ****off caves. Wee. At least there's some cobweb and stuff thrown around this time and there area plenty of spots where I got to look at the real scenery, so I'll be lenient with the grade.
Gameplay: 7
Well, in spite of the large bland cave we had to do it in the combat here was quite fun. Probably mostly because the cave was narrower so it was a much more managable challenge as opposed to having mobs spawn on your sides when you've just cleared them out due to how wide the cave is. Cutting up the spiders in one hit was satisfying too, but... really? The area is named after spiders, but they're actually no threat at all here? I mean sure, there are many of them due to the spawners, but I never really felt that I'd entered the spiders den where I'd have to take spiders more seriously. Some cave spiders here and there might've helped instead of having them all in that one pit where they can't do anything but rub their heads against the bottom of the floor.
Challenge: 7
Somewhat easy, but plenty of random mob spawns and swarms of spiders to keep things interesting.
Notes: None
Intersection #2
Warning: ****'s going to get real from this point onwards. That's the message this area conveys and it does it well. I also really like that you can see the visual theme of the three new areas already from the intersection. Very nice.
Gameplay: Not applicable
Challenge: Not applicable
Notes: Why not use a teleporter to get from the Sanctuary to here? The minecart road is only used once since you get a shorter route between the intersections once you get there and it's really tedious to sit there for so long.
Grim-root Hollows
Again with the vines, but here they invoke a completely different atmosphere, that of an almost jungle-like place. The dirt and soul sand columns and the bushes and random logs help reinfoce that feeling. Its size, too, contributes to this atmosphere.
Gameplay: 8
Nicely up to par with what I've come to expect after Bittervine in Intersection #2. It was a bit of a shame that the randomly spawning mobs were still so much of a threat here that the wither skeletons and the leafhead mobs were kinda pushed to the sidelines, while they would've made for great enemies.
Challenge: 8
Difficult, but fair, similar to Bittervine. It's nice that the vines here are actually more of an obstacle than a help like they were in Bittervine where I mostly used them to my advantage to draw skeletons into melee range while here they mostly just prevented me from hightailing it out of the danger zone.
Notes: Perhaps some honeypots and a lower MaxSpawnDelay on the spawners? I'd really love to see those leafhead mobs take center stage here, they look cool and are fun to fight so they deserve it.
Happy fun time!
I can tolerate the huge ****off cave much better if there's a huge lake in there, but the castle didn't really look significantly different from the one in Bittervine. What gives? There's no need for a castle in the middle of a huge underground lake surrounded by ores to look only marginally different from the one in a dilapidated underground garden. A bit of a shame, really.
Gameplay: 7
The funbox was fun to take on. Okay, it was a lot of fun, but I'm stil upset that the two fleecy boxes were this close to each other. It didn't really feel like I had to put in significant extra effort to get the other one, although the charged creepers scared me to death - I was afraid that a skeleton would shoot one causing it to blow a huge hole in the wall. It's also a bit of a shame that you gave us the diamond straight away, it would've felt like more of a reward if it was buried underneath the castle so we could only reach it once we'd already gotten the fleecy box, like, in a small, well-lit mine of sorts below the castle and the lake.
Challenge: 8
A solitary funbox, some cave spider spawners, some zombie spawners downstairs and the charged creepers made this place challenging enough, to be sure.
Notes: Let us work for the diamonds, dammit!
Black Fort Asylum
Oh boy, another huge ****off cave, but this time with some obsidian! And the pillars are made of quartz this time instead of stone bricks! And the castle at the end had nether brick rims this time! Eh. I feel like this area would've worked better if it was just the building and the building was much larger since we haven't really seen a full indoors area yet. It would also have helped if it felt more like an asylum, although the cells without buttons on the inside were a nice touch.
Gameplay: 6
The funbox, the dense spawners and the shortness of the area made it so that I at least didn't tire of hacking away at mobs until I was done with the area. That's really the most I can say, there was not much interesting going on here.
Challenge: 6
The custom mobs were barely more threatening than the randomly spawned monsters, the bottom wool was insultingly easy to get and the creeper spawners between the cave and the castle didn't even trigger before I destroyed them. Eh.
Notes: None
Crypt of the Ghost Forest
Scratch what I said about the Grim-root Hollows - this is the place that feels like a jungle. The view when you get halfway through is cool too, and somehow you managed to make the buildings fit in perfectly with the dense jungle-y cavern.
Gameplay: 8
Because of the density of the foliage you're always in for a surprise and the constant stream of mobs from the unexplored lower levels of the tower kept me on my toes as well. Claustrophobically good, though I don't get why you made us fall down into the water to get to the smaller building.
Challenge: 7
The density of the foliage also meant that there were much less mobs, though the tower made up for that by providing a constant stream of the buggers. It was kinda disappointing how easy the wool in the smaller building was to get though.
Notes: None
Intersection #3
It looks fine and the color scheme fits with the area leading up to it but it lacks the "oomph" that Intersection #2 had.
Gameplay: Not applicable
Challenge: Not applicable
Notes: None
Ash-Lake Mines
More caves, though with more interesting textures this time, and an area layout overall too remeniscent of the Sanctuary of Arthropods. I liked the bouncing lava blobs, but I'd suggest making them bounce above the walkways so that the player gets to see them more clearly.
Gameplay: 7
I really liked the parkour-like area, it made for a cool challenge without being too gimmicky where a single skeleton would screw you over since there was enough light that not many mobs could spawn at all. The rest of the area had the basic "wide cave" problem I've mentioned before though, so I'm kinda torn about this area.
Challenge: 7
The custom mobs were nice and challenging and somehow the large masses of random mobs are much more fun to fight now that we have diamonds to work with. It was decent, but nothing spectacular. I did die my one death on the map here though - I stupidly tried to rush out with the wool and a skeleton knocked me off into the lava. Goodbye, sweet gear, I'll never forget you ;_;
Notes: None
The Bellowing Mountain
The start looks okay I guess, but the volcano man. Amazing.
Gameplay: 5
The blazes were too easy to take out, the first wool was way too easy to obtain, the sides of the volcano were practically mob-free (even the charged creepers didn't spawn, and a good thing they didn't too since blasting me off a mountain that high would've just killed me and since it's so hard to defend yourself properly there it'd hardly have been fair), the inside of the volcano was a death trap (you gave us ender pearls, but they don't reach and laddering or using water is almost undoable due to the large amounts of blaze spawners and the cave curving inwards as you get higher). Ugh. And I had such high hopes for this place too when I saw the volcano.
Challenge: 6
Well, at least the inside of the volcano was dangerous.
Notes: None
Cave of the Black Crystals
Another large, ****off cave, but at least there's more stuff than just the cave here this time, like structures, the spiralling part and the sound of mysterious fireworks as you enter that part of the area.
Gameplay: 8
This is the part where the large, ****off cave structure actually works, mostly because of the spawners and funboxes strewn around. I had great fun taking this place on, even though the second half was disappointing compared to the first half.
Challenge: 8
Even if you have enchanted diamond gear you can't rest easy here lest you be overwhelmed with mobs and litter the area with explosion craters. This definitely lived up to my expectations for the final wool area, even though the second half of the area was kinda weak in comparison to the first, as I mentioned above.
Notes: None
Overall
Gameplay: 7.3
Challenge: 7.1
Notes: Overall this was a nice, short introduction to CTM-style maps. Is it perfect? Is it great? No, but it has the seeds of greatness in there sticking out from the solid to mediocre baseline. This is a great map if you're new to the CTM genre but it might be boring for veterans who expect a higher level of difficulty and quality a la Super Hostile. Overall it is a solid map, the only things that really need changing in my opinion are the gamplay in the Bellowing Mountain and the visuals in the cave before the Monument. The rest of my comments are basically suggestions, since it's all fine as it is, so do what you want with those.
Another suggestion that applies to the whole map is this: Add more lore. This map is meant to have some sort of story behind it, things like the Work Clothes sets you find several times and the entire concept of the Asylum suggest as much, so why not run with that? Give the custom mobs custom names, give their drops custom names and descriptions. It requires no gameplay revisions of your map but it adds a level of depth that your players will appreciate - an iron chestplate with Thorns II and Fire Protection II means nothing until you read that it's the armor of the Forest Protector, a race of creatures that became one with the forest so as to better defend it against the humans disturbing the peace in their underground jungle paradise in their hungry search for ores. It feels radically different fighting those armored zombies from the spawners in the Forge if they're named Undead Worker. You see what I mean? Try to play with that a little bit. You don't need written books with pages of lore that nobody'll read, just seep the lore into everything from the area design (which you've already done for a large part) to the mobs you fight to the items you use to fight them. I think it'll go a long way to get people immersed in your map.
EDIT: I just realized I typed a review of 8-9 pages for a minecraft map. Wow.
Veni, vidi, cecidi
(I came, I saw, I tripped)
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback on the map, I really appreciate it. Ill definitely try and put this feedback to good use and fix up this map for the full release. Ill also try to use some of your tips in future maps. I think that everything you said was fair and made sense, so thank you for the helpful review.
Watch me play CTM Maps at: twitch.tv/thectmaniac