Big Leaf Forest is a pretty great map for anyone who wants to CTM but doubts how good they are at the game. It's not an easy map, but it's not exceedingly difficult. 3/5 difficulty? Sounds about right.
Probably spoilers when I continue, so...
Exploring is most definitely rewarded, but in true RenderXR fashion, you can be sure that you won't be a walking wrecking ball halfway through the map. Resources are scarce (if you're a crappy explorer^2), and progression is rewarding. I would have liked a rail kit at the monument - or anywhere - I would have liked some rails, ffs. I'm not wasting my frickin' iron on rails. It's not like I can reclaim the iron from the rails. Give me a rail kit, you miser!
Ahem... Sorry about that outburst.
I initially hated that fire spread was off. I have a pretty good PC. I'm glad that fire spread is off.
Stand on some hilltops and look around a bit. It's very pretty.
There are a couple dungeons you can totally cheese. Cheese them. And also record it and make Render watch. I feel he needs to see people cheesing his dungeons after he made the Red Maze.
Huh, you didn't give us any chests for building...? In the (likely) event that the map isn't updated to include a base-building chest (which might actually just include blocks to make the map easier), then you should pay attention to which blocks you use as utility in dungeons. If it's pretty, then you shouldn't plan to get many of it. Save them.
Traps. Were there like three traps? Step up your game, homie. Thought you were tough.
Oh, in the event that you put your adventure on YT and Render watches, be sure to fling him as much **** as he flings you. Keep in mind - this guy is trying to kill you.
I've been playing other maps waiting for US03, and - maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome - I actually do feel like I'm treated fairly in Untold Stories.
(Also, ETA on Untold Stories 03?)
TL;DR - Big Leaf was fun. I enjoyed playing it as I felt it was well balanced. Saidanmaster didn't hinder my conquest much.
Big Leaf Forest is a pretty great map for anyone who wants to CTM but doubts how good they are at the game. It's not an easy map, but it's not exceedingly difficult. 3/5 difficulty? Sounds about right.
Probably spoilers when I continue, so...
Exploring is most definitely rewarded, but in true RenderXR fashion, you can be sure that you won't be a walking wrecking ball halfway through the map. Resources are scarce (if you're a crappy explorer^2), and progression is rewarding. I would have liked a rail kit at the monument - or anywhere - I would have liked some rails, ffs. I'm not wasting my frickin' iron on rails. It's not like I can reclaim the iron from the rails. Give me a rail kit, you miser!
Ahem... Sorry about that outburst.
I initially hated that fire spread was off. I have a pretty good PC. I'm glad that fire spread is off.
Stand on some hilltops and look around a bit. It's very pretty.
There are a couple dungeons you can totally cheese. Cheese them. And also record it and make Render watch. I feel he needs to see people cheesing his dungeons after he made the Red Maze.
Huh, you didn't give us any chests for building...? In the (likely) event that the map isn't updated to include a base-building chest (which might actually just include blocks to make the map easier), then you should pay attention to which blocks you use as utility in dungeons. If it's pretty, then you shouldn't plan to get many of it. Save them.
Traps. Were there like three traps? Step up your game, homie. Thought you were tough.
Oh, in the event that you put your adventure on YT and Render watches, be sure to fling him as much **** as he flings you. Keep in mind - this guy is trying to kill you.
I've been playing other maps waiting for US03, and - maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome - I actually do feel like I'm treated fairly in Untold Stories.
(Also, ETA on Untold Stories 03?)
TL;DR - Big Leaf was fun. I enjoyed playing it as I felt it was well balanced. Saidanmaster didn't hinder my conquest much.
Thanks for the map, RXR
Nice that you enjoyed it!
Speaking about US03, I am almost done with making the areas, only a few more to go! Then I will proceed to the first beta stage in which I test for bugs and really bad outbalanced areas. After that comes the second beta stage: open beta! I feel that because there are enough people around I will have enough feedback in the long run.
I am hoping to get the map out in at least 2 months, but I'm getting to the end of my semester so things are getting hectic for me and I am not having much free time anymore until it's over. (lord knows I need the time)
Right, I've just completed I5 and entered The End. 1 death at the moment (I went too aggressive in the mine in Islands of Adventure), and up to emerald #39, missing emeralds 35-37. if the missing ones are randomly hidden throughout that snowy forest, just kill me now :/
Seriously though, did you tone up the mixer spawner spawn rate for the ones at the beginning of the area in The End? They're spawning absurdly fast, faster than it felt like with previous ones. It took so much out of my armor taking out the ones around the beginning island. You weren't kidding when you said I6/I7 stuff was a lot harder.
I do like the difficulty of the combat in this map, though. It's definitely harder than most other CTMs in terms of that. Honestly, this map just feels like a 1.8, and improved, version of SH. The older-school aesthetics while relying on good old-fashioned dungeon crawling and lots of spawners. I love it!
That being said, I think you are being a bit too generous with resources at the moment. I currently have a Sharpness IV/Unbreaking III Diamond Sword (I've had it since around the beginning of I5), as well as a Efficiency V/Unbreaking III/Fortune IV Diamond Pickaxe. I also recently managed to upgrade my way to a Power V/Infinity I/Unbreaking II/Flame III/Punch II bow. I have nearly two-double chests full of potions (with the capacity to make any more of any kind), over 20 stacks of experience bottles (after using 8 stacks or so to repair some of my gear), and heavily enchanted iron gear. I have the gold needed for about 3 notch apples, with plenty of gold available to mine, as well as over 4 stacks of iron (without having touched any of the iron in Into Fire or Bigwood Forest). I feel absurdly powerful, and I'm glad that the difficulty of the combat is as such that I'm just not obliterating everything. Still, for those who aren't taking the right approach/who aren't that great at CTMs/die a lot and lose stuff, I feel like this map is going to turn into ROMhack hard for them pretty soon.
BTW, I totally just rushed that part in Battle of Icethorn Mountain with speed/strength/fire resistance potions rather than taking the golem route (thanks for the absurd golden items, by the way. Unbreaking 30 and Efficiency 10? Wow). I came back after, and holy ****, that place is littered with spawners. I pretty much have no hope at all of cleaning that place out unless I want to take ridiculous damage to my armor, and that's after I spammed torches everywhere after a couple of passes with speed up.
I'll try to post some more specific stuff when I finish the map, whenever that is. Great job so far!
Any idea approximately when 'Myriad Caves' will get out of testing?
I wanted to originally release it after my exams. (which finished yesterday) But I was expecting the beta testing to go way faster. As most of my testers aren't far in yet. I'll probably use the next week to fix / add some stuff and give those to the testers for approval and bug hunting (with a net of course, because that obviously makes it easier to find and catch the bugs). After another week I'll probably release it as an open-beta, hopefully that would yield more and quicker growing fruit. I could also send you a tweet when I've settled with a date, if you want.
Hi there, I am really wanting to play your maps because they look so interesting but, as someone who doesn't know how to work with .rar files, if there a way you could upload the maps in zipped files?
Hi there, I am really wanting to play your maps because they look so interesting but, as someone who doesn't know how to work with .rar files, if there a way you could upload the maps in zipped files?
If you can't then I understand^^
Goliath is actually in a zip format. Bigleaf Forest is still a rar file as I never really had to update it. (or the changes that need to be made or not important enough to me.) So you could check Goliath out. I will actually release a new map (hopefully) in a short amount of time.
Will Myriad Caves be for 1.9 or 1.10, or both? I'm hoping it plays in 1.9 when released.
It's designed for 1.9. I believe you could play it in 1.10 if you really want to, as I expect nothing game breaking will happen when you update to 1.10. On top of that the new 1.10 mobs shouldn't spawn and no new blocks are used, so there should be really no difference.
US3 Myriad Caves will be released in an open-beta stage on Sunday the 19th. I have a small list with some last tweaks I have to make. I may even release it on Saturday, but don't quote me on that if it doesn't happen.
Nice. I have added your playlist to the videos section of the main post. It should get you a bit more attention in the long run.
I kinda feel like mapmakers and Youtubers go hand in hand. (It actually goes for every kind of content creator) Somebody lp's a map. the Youtuber shows his fans the map. the map maker will then put the lp on his post/thread/etc. which will send some of his fans to the Youtubers way.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
3/16/2014
Posts:
51
Member Details
I am still really enjoying the map, but encountered the first section I have critical feedback on, so I wanted to share it.
The area transition from Drizzling Grotto to Crystallized and the shortcut back to the Victory Cavern is poorly designed, in my opinion. I already suspected that the long swims through 3D space were going to be for an area transition, but it is very tedious to swim through that area, and the guardians just made it moreso (though I did like the trap with the skeleton spawner). By the time I reached Crystallized, I just wanted a shortcut back home. And the one I got sucked for multiple reasons. First, it forced me to choose whether to trust you and ride a minecart, or not trust you and walk it, or just jump down into the water. But all three choices can kill you. I chose to walk it, and got fired upon by skeletons hiding in the dark walls of the minecart track area; the same might happen to someone riding a cart. And the glassed-over water at the bottom is a very mean trap for the unsuspecting, as I expect that's effectively an inventory-wipe for those who jump, since the chunks are likely to be loaded and it takes a long time to travel back. Finally, at the end of the minecart track, I pressed the button, and the TNT did not all explode. I had to manually detonate some, and during that detonation, as well as when I first hit the button, I almost got killed by TNT. When all was said and done, it still had not exposed the shortcut, but after some more digging, I found it. Now I have to spend some tedious time repairing the bombed out tunnel and adding a minecart track just to gain access to a long rail ride that still may kill me before I reach the next area. It's just a disaster.
I expect you're trying to avoid teleporters. Whether that's for the 'retro' feel or if it's to avoid various Minecraft bugs with teleporters, I think that's a fine design choice. However it does create a travel-time challenge, and so I think you need to be really accommodating. Rather than TNT which may kill the player, may not explode correctly, and leaves a ton of remaining work, I suggest that the button just build the full tunnel along with the railway. Rather than have the minecart track wind through an area with dark ledges where monsters fire at you and jump at you, I suggest having the minecart area be lit, or have smooth walls, or be in a mushroom biome, or something so you're not under attack in a 'shortcut' you must repeatedly traverse. Rather than trap the water pool, leave it untrapped or just remove it altogether. And rather than have so much of the area transition be a tedious swim between Drizzling and Crystallized, have some of it be a safe tunnel walk or another minecart or something (but keep some of the swim/traps; that portion was ok, just too long/slow).
As it stands now, having been very lucky to not die multiple ways after reaching Crystallized, I'm considering just cheating in a teleporter command block, because I loathe everything about this area transition and its unsafe, not-at-all-short "shortcut" to this portion of the map.
Apart from that, I've enjoyed almost everything about the 5 areas of the map I've played so far, except that I found the Cliffs (which I've not yet fully completed) to be getting tedious.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
3/16/2014
Posts:
51
Member Details
One more minor suggestion
In Crystallized, there's a room at the bottom with dark prismarine that is too dark to see. I tunneled all around the outside placing torches on the walls just to see if/what was in the room. A few redstone torches on walls/spawners would make it possible to see that there's anything in the room, without affecting mob spawning much.
Hey!
I like how looks this map but I didn't played it yet, I don't have time for that, but I like to do banners and such things, so I made this:
It's my own style of banners but I can change it if you want (colors, letters, etc.)
I hope you like
(Yeah, its pretty simple... but I lost my edit program and I don't have too much time)
Contact me sending a private message if you want me to help you improving your post with nice titles
Hey dude, just started a Big Leaf Forest series. My channel is in my sig, and here's my buddy's first vid:
I'm also going to use the banner TatoBig made in my sig. Because I'm a fanboy.
edit: someone please tell me how to make the banner clickable and the whole thing not needing scrolling. i'm bad at this.
twitch.tv/warnev3rchanges
Big Leaf Forest is a pretty great map for anyone who wants to CTM but doubts how good they are at the game. It's not an easy map, but it's not exceedingly difficult. 3/5 difficulty? Sounds about right.
Probably spoilers when I continue, so...
Exploring is most definitely rewarded, but in true RenderXR fashion, you can be sure that you won't be a walking wrecking ball halfway through the map. Resources are scarce (if you're a crappy explorer^2), and progression is rewarding. I would have liked a rail kit at the monument - or anywhere - I would have liked some rails, ffs. I'm not wasting my frickin' iron on rails. It's not like I can reclaim the iron from the rails. Give me a rail kit, you miser!
Ahem... Sorry about that outburst.
I initially hated that fire spread was off. I have a pretty good PC. I'm glad that fire spread is off.
Stand on some hilltops and look around a bit. It's very pretty.
There are a couple dungeons you can totally cheese. Cheese them. And also record it and make Render watch. I feel he needs to see people cheesing his dungeons after he made the Red Maze.
Huh, you didn't give us any chests for building...? In the (likely) event that the map isn't updated to include a base-building chest (which might actually just include blocks to make the map easier), then you should pay attention to which blocks you use as utility in dungeons. If it's pretty, then you shouldn't plan to get many of it. Save them.
Traps. Were there like three traps? Step up your game, homie. Thought you were tough.
Oh, in the event that you put your adventure on YT and Render watches, be sure to fling him as much **** as he flings you. Keep in mind - this guy is trying to kill you.
I've been playing other maps waiting for US03, and - maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome - I actually do feel like I'm treated fairly in Untold Stories.
(Also, ETA on Untold Stories 03?)
TL;DR - Big Leaf was fun. I enjoyed playing it as I felt it was well balanced. Saidanmaster didn't hinder my conquest much.
Thanks for the map, RXR
twitch.tv/warnev3rchanges
Nice that you enjoyed it!
Speaking about US03, I am almost done with making the areas, only a few more to go! Then I will proceed to the first beta stage in which I test for bugs and really bad outbalanced areas. After that comes the second beta stage: open beta! I feel that because there are enough people around I will have enough feedback in the long run.
I am hoping to get the map out in at least 2 months, but I'm getting to the end of my semester so things are getting hectic for me and I am not having much free time anymore until it's over. (lord knows I need the time)
I saw Rock play this on his stream last night, so I'm going to give Goliath a whirl. Looks great from what I've seen of it!
-Lux
Just a quick status update and some rambling -
Right, I've just completed I5 and entered The End. 1 death at the moment (I went too aggressive in the mine in Islands of Adventure), and up to emerald #39, missing emeralds 35-37. if the missing ones are randomly hidden throughout that snowy forest, just kill me now :/
Seriously though, did you tone up the mixer spawner spawn rate for the ones at the beginning of the area in The End? They're spawning absurdly fast, faster than it felt like with previous ones. It took so much out of my armor taking out the ones around the beginning island. You weren't kidding when you said I6/I7 stuff was a lot harder.
I do like the difficulty of the combat in this map, though. It's definitely harder than most other CTMs in terms of that. Honestly, this map just feels like a 1.8, and improved, version of SH. The older-school aesthetics while relying on good old-fashioned dungeon crawling and lots of spawners. I love it!
That being said, I think you are being a bit too generous with resources at the moment. I currently have a Sharpness IV/Unbreaking III Diamond Sword (I've had it since around the beginning of I5), as well as a Efficiency V/Unbreaking III/Fortune IV Diamond Pickaxe. I also recently managed to upgrade my way to a Power V/Infinity I/Unbreaking II/Flame III/Punch II bow. I have nearly two-double chests full of potions (with the capacity to make any more of any kind), over 20 stacks of experience bottles (after using 8 stacks or so to repair some of my gear), and heavily enchanted iron gear. I have the gold needed for about 3 notch apples, with plenty of gold available to mine, as well as over 4 stacks of iron (without having touched any of the iron in Into Fire or Bigwood Forest). I feel absurdly powerful, and I'm glad that the difficulty of the combat is as such that I'm just not obliterating everything. Still, for those who aren't taking the right approach/who aren't that great at CTMs/die a lot and lose stuff, I feel like this map is going to turn into ROMhack hard for them pretty soon.
BTW, I totally just rushed that part in Battle of Icethorn Mountain with speed/strength/fire resistance potions rather than taking the golem route (thanks for the absurd golden items, by the way. Unbreaking 30 and Efficiency 10? Wow). I came back after, and holy ****, that place is littered with spawners. I pretty much have no hope at all of cleaning that place out unless I want to take ridiculous damage to my armor, and that's after I spammed torches everywhere after a couple of passes with speed up.
I'll try to post some more specific stuff when I finish the map, whenever that is. Great job so far!
Any idea approximately when 'Myriad Caves' will get out of testing?
I wanted to originally release it after my exams. (which finished yesterday) But I was expecting the beta testing to go way faster. As most of my testers aren't far in yet. I'll probably use the next week to fix / add some stuff and give those to the testers for approval and bug hunting (with a net of course, because that obviously makes it easier to find and catch the bugs). After another week I'll probably release it as an open-beta, hopefully that would yield more and quicker growing fruit. I could also send you a tweet when I've settled with a date, if you want.
Hey render, I speedran your bigleaf map!
Hello CTM Community. <3
Started a series on Untold Stories #1 - Goliath!
Current progress | Episode 19 (as of 14/7/2016)
Playlist | https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS5qSlNlaBMpf6Zf42IslWbjOfPPOm1n2
First episode
My YouTube channel | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIbBMI3OQACmHF5c32awcpA
Hi there, I am really wanting to play your maps because they look so interesting but, as someone who doesn't know how to work with .rar files, if there a way you could upload the maps in zipped files?
If you can't then I understand^^
Goliath is actually in a zip format. Bigleaf Forest is still a rar file as I never really had to update it. (or the changes that need to be made or not important enough to me.) So you could check Goliath out. I will actually release a new map (hopefully) in a short amount of time.
Will Myriad Caves be for 1.9 or 1.10, or both? I'm hoping it plays in 1.9 when released.
It's designed for 1.9. I believe you could play it in 1.10 if you really want to, as I expect nothing game breaking will happen when you update to 1.10. On top of that the new 1.10 mobs shouldn't spawn and no new blocks are used, so there should be really no difference.
US3 Myriad Caves will be released in an open-beta stage on Sunday the 19th. I have a small list with some last tweaks I have to make. I may even release it on Saturday, but don't quote me on that if it doesn't happen.
Oh boy!
How did you make disco chests?!?
Played a bit today: one wool, three emeralds, one death, and explored the monument. Videos will start tomorrow
I m really enjoying the map, have already recorded 12 episodes which will air daily. Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHYAYMSbpcvus8rTdALDZJ5JWnHDERJWt
Nice. I have added your playlist to the videos section of the main post. It should get you a bit more attention in the long run.
I kinda feel like mapmakers and Youtubers go hand in hand. (It actually goes for every kind of content creator) Somebody lp's a map. the Youtuber shows his fans the map. the map maker will then put the lp on his post/thread/etc. which will send some of his fans to the Youtubers way.
I am still really enjoying the map, but encountered the first section I have critical feedback on, so I wanted to share it.
The area transition from Drizzling Grotto to Crystallized and the shortcut back to the Victory Cavern is poorly designed, in my opinion. I already suspected that the long swims through 3D space were going to be for an area transition, but it is very tedious to swim through that area, and the guardians just made it moreso (though I did like the trap with the skeleton spawner). By the time I reached Crystallized, I just wanted a shortcut back home. And the one I got sucked for multiple reasons. First, it forced me to choose whether to trust you and ride a minecart, or not trust you and walk it, or just jump down into the water. But all three choices can kill you. I chose to walk it, and got fired upon by skeletons hiding in the dark walls of the minecart track area; the same might happen to someone riding a cart. And the glassed-over water at the bottom is a very mean trap for the unsuspecting, as I expect that's effectively an inventory-wipe for those who jump, since the chunks are likely to be loaded and it takes a long time to travel back. Finally, at the end of the minecart track, I pressed the button, and the TNT did not all explode. I had to manually detonate some, and during that detonation, as well as when I first hit the button, I almost got killed by TNT. When all was said and done, it still had not exposed the shortcut, but after some more digging, I found it. Now I have to spend some tedious time repairing the bombed out tunnel and adding a minecart track just to gain access to a long rail ride that still may kill me before I reach the next area. It's just a disaster.
I expect you're trying to avoid teleporters. Whether that's for the 'retro' feel or if it's to avoid various Minecraft bugs with teleporters, I think that's a fine design choice. However it does create a travel-time challenge, and so I think you need to be really accommodating. Rather than TNT which may kill the player, may not explode correctly, and leaves a ton of remaining work, I suggest that the button just build the full tunnel along with the railway. Rather than have the minecart track wind through an area with dark ledges where monsters fire at you and jump at you, I suggest having the minecart area be lit, or have smooth walls, or be in a mushroom biome, or something so you're not under attack in a 'shortcut' you must repeatedly traverse. Rather than trap the water pool, leave it untrapped or just remove it altogether. And rather than have so much of the area transition be a tedious swim between Drizzling and Crystallized, have some of it be a safe tunnel walk or another minecart or something (but keep some of the swim/traps; that portion was ok, just too long/slow).
As it stands now, having been very lucky to not die multiple ways after reaching Crystallized, I'm considering just cheating in a teleporter command block, because I loathe everything about this area transition and its unsafe, not-at-all-short "shortcut" to this portion of the map.
Apart from that, I've enjoyed almost everything about the 5 areas of the map I've played so far, except that I found the Cliffs (which I've not yet fully completed) to be getting tedious.
One more minor suggestion
In Crystallized, there's a room at the bottom with dark prismarine that is too dark to see. I tunneled all around the outside placing torches on the walls just to see if/what was in the room. A few redstone torches on walls/spawners would make it possible to see that there's anything in the room, without affecting mob spawning much.