there was text here, but it was stupid text because i derped and did not pay attention to the release times of snapshots. in short, i messed around with /particle and did some cool stuff:
I took some time to look through a bunch of the Syncquential stuff and overall the builds were quite impressive on the Macro level, lots of very unique looking things and symmetry everywhere. However, on the Micro scale, it doesn't look like most of the areas I saw would have had very interesting or fun gameplay to them. It feels very akin to something like Inkstar to me, on the surface of everything it looks really good, great aesthetics, attention to detail, massive builds, but underneath it all it's very shallow gameplay wise and not very fun.
Now I imagine the gameplay aspect of it hadn't been gotten to yet, but personally it feels very much like a Tech Demo of "Look how big and awesome you can make things look! " and big and epic just for the sake of being big and epic. Which really isn't a bad thing, but I'd have seen it being hard to keep things fun and interesting for the player.
Probably going to get lots of hate for this, but it's a valid criticism. Anyone else have any other thoughts about that?
Anyways, I suppose this is rather overdue. I briefly considered trying to finish Syncquential, but just couldn't get back to the mapping level I was at before. So instead of indecisively holding on to this stuff, never to use it, I'm finally putting it up for download so you guys can make something of it.
In the spoiler below are images and notes of what's included.
Syncquential Map
Area List:
INTERSECTION I (Echoblast Island (Self-Inversion)):
Annular Garden (Inversion - Shadelight Garden) (1st Temple)
Hanging Overgrowth
Blue Sky Palace
R.I.N.G. (Resonating Intermittent Nexus Gates)
INTERSECTION II (Scintillating Basin (Gold), VESTIGE Mining Corporation Deep Water Outpost):
Sands of Insanity (Inversion - Broken Mind)
Empire of Dissident
Shores of Cataclysm
Shadows of the Swamp (Irradiated Marsh - Music Disk)
INTERSECTION III (Battleplex Warzone):
Shadows of the Swamp
Gears of Industry (Ember Fields-Iron, Ragesteel Forge)
The Aftermath (Temple)
Swarmheart (Fang/Venom - Music Disk) (Entrance Area - VESTIGE Mining Corporation Complex)
INTERSECTION IV (Spindledepth Mines)
Swarmheart
Archer's Guild (Inversion - Sniper's Roost)
Dragonlight Depthstorm (Temple)
Stonewall Death Maze (Portal to I5) (Inversion - Firewalled)
INTERSECTION V (The End, Containment Cell ZM):
Chaos Corridor (Diamond OR Weapons OR Armor OR Potions)
The Zenithal Army
Mortality Trials
Zero Mercy
Summaries of each area and its intended design:
INTERSECTION I (Echoblast Island)
An floating island mirrored at its base and the inverted area having a different block scheme. The player spawns in at the top of the central mountain, surrounded in the lower sections, outside a ring of trees, by accelerated charged creepers that can only be destroyed by their own detonations.
Annular Garden (Inversion - Shadelight Garden)
Player must navigate down from the upper tiers of the garden to the unlit lower section, containing copious amounts of wheat as an early food source, as well as a wool.
Hanging Overgrowth
An inverted mass of spires covered in vines, providing no walkable ground except for a network of wooden bridges. Skeletons are the prime enemy, spawned in the upper reaches and dropped down the vines.
Blue Sky Palace (Inversion - Red Sun Stronghold)
Tranquil palace floating in the sky, laid out around a central tower. Proceeding to the top of the tower, it can be entered, and traversed to its bottom, where the wool lays. In the inversion the lapis block composition is replaced by netherrack, and many of the palace decorations are repurposed as defensive infrastructure.
R.I.N.G (Resonating Intermittent Nexus Gates)
The teleporter linking I1 to the rest of the map, located at the top of a network of platforms spiraling around a central pillar. Roaming ghosts are the primary threat, and secondarily columns of platforms with beacons providing slowing debuffs.
INTERSECTION II (Scintillating Basin, VESTIGE Mining Corporation Deep Water Outpost):
Two tiers of sandy alcoves cut into the main cavern, populated by pools of water. The mining outpost provides a suitable base from which to explore the intersection and travel to its areas. The basin itself extends ~100 blocks deep, filled with water and guarded against sand/gravel filling through half block coverage on the basin floor. Several hundred blocks of gold ore and gold are embedded into the bottom, minable from initial visit to the area by use of single provided iron pickaxe, allowing the for the assembly of several enchanted gold apples.
Empire of Dissident (The Old Empire)
Subterranean city above lake of lava, positioned at the top of lavafalls, and in cavern wall across the gap. Wool in located in lower cavern above lake. Tertiary cavern below lava is also accessible through ravine with elevator, containing decaying pyramids and illuminated by leaking lava from the lake above.
Shores of Cataclysm
Sandy cliff overlooking an expansive ocean of lava that has tendrils intricately twisting and rising above the sea level. The path along the wall is rigged with explosives and creepers, and gradually slopes downwards to the sea level shore where a fragmented extension of land leads out into the sea to the wool.
Sands of Insanity (Inversion - Broken Mind)
Chaotic but consistent matrix of caverns composed of sand, soul sand, and web. Projected sounds, generated torches, and water extinguishers eliminate any bearing and make exit difficult once the wool is retrieved. Inversion is the inversion of the cavern (land where there's cave, air where there was cave wall) suspended in the air.
Shadows of the Swamp (Irradiated Marsh - Music Disk)
Standard underground swamp. Many zombies, some invisible and slow moving, rise out of the many pools of water. The Irradiated Marsh provides a powerful starvation status effect, preventing sprinting and slowly killing the player if extensive time without food is spent there.
INTERSECTION III (Battleplex Warzone)
Gladiator arena stationed below the intersection. Betting and fighting for loot is possible here. Technological theme, redstone devices play a prominent role in the functioning of the intersection and travel around it.
Gear of Industry (Ember Fields, Ragesteel Forge)
Extensive factory that refines and utilizes ore mined from the Ember Fields nearby. Broken mob farming traps provide the primary challenge, but can be utilized if repaired and not destroyed. The Ember Fields is an extensive and open area, but bedrock roofed to prevent sunlight. The floor of the area mirrors that of floor utilized in the VA area of Mini-map Lightstorm Quarry, with iron instead of diamond, and more prevalent. The border of the area is a drop off of the lava into void. Fort Fengrov is located a ways out into the fields, holding a storehouse of iron in its vaults.
The Aftermath
Run down, modern-day city similar to Mini-map Cinereal. Multiple variants of zombies populate the areas in large quantities, making street travel near impossible. Ramshackle bridges between building serve as the main means of transportation in the inner city.
Swarmheart (Fang/Venom, VESTIGE Mining Corporation Complex)
The mining complex holds much equipment and many ores in storage for use, and borders on a mine entrance to a hive of spiders/silverfish. Design as a whole is akin to Mini-map Sleeping Hive (II). Fang/Venom (from the cancelled map) guard the music disk in an offshoot cavern. The wool is at the center of the hive. Possible spread of hive through use of spawners/snowmen.
INTERSECTION IV (Spindledepth Mines)
A narrow hole leading into the ground, branching off into multiple thinner passageways that likewise continue to branch/shrink. Upon reaching the bottom where the loot is located, water/lava floods into the passageways, turning the final, very thin ones into death traps.
Archer's Guild (Inversion - Sniper's Roost)
A tall castle embedded into the wall of a likewise tall cavern, tiered in steps, each one allowing the archers above to fire down below. Inversion if similar, but with void as the cavern floor and more lethal archers and defense setup, including artillery encampments in the upper keep. Reference Pic
Dragonlight Depthstorm Dragonstone Keep, Scalelight Citadel, Frostflare Depths, Lightstorm Quarry. An amalgamation of all four maps. Upper section of the cavern is frostflare, middle section is dragonstone, lower section is lightstorm, and center is the scalelight citadel structure reworked.
Stonewall Death Maze (Inversion - Firewalled)
Stone maze, grass floor, open sky. Traps and varied sections (e.g. missing floor, mob encampment, etc.) are scattered throughout. The maze loops into itself, with a smaller maze encapsulated within the main walls. Relatively straightforward area to avoid unnecessary exploration. In inversion the walls are replaced with lava, behind which ranged mobs are placed. Similar to Mini-map Devastation Gauntlet.
INTERSECTION (Containment Cell ZM)
Located in 'The End' dimension. Spawn point is in a small cell above void with pathways leading outwards. Mobs/Dispenser traps maintain an outer section around the cell. Falling into the void teleports the player back to the cell.
Chaos Corridor
Bedrock passageway centered around the concept of making basic mobs extremely hazardous solely through area design and manual redstone traps. Along with wool the player is given the option of choosing between a massive supply of diamonds, very powerful weapons, very powerful armor, or very powerful potions.
The Zenithal Army
A massive cavern with the wool atop a plateau in the center. Diamond ore is sparsely distributed around the cavern. A system of mob spawners randomly spawn mobs throughout the cavern. Each mob is entirely unique from all others, meaning each enemy encountered is completely different and thus eliminating logical anticipation.
Mortality Trials
Red Wool Area. Teleporter brings player to wool room immediately, with a full chest of 27 wool, and instructions. Player must then traverse 1 of 26 short but difficult trials with a single wool. At the end of the trial, the player must still be in possession of the wool, and then kill themselves (losing the gear that they used for that trial). Upon successfully completing each trial and dying 26 times with 26 wool, the player may finally bring the 27th piece to the Victory Altar. If the player fails to complete any trial with a wool, they will be unable to obtain the red wool for the altar.
Zero Mercy
Embodiment of the series in one final area that's a castle/battleground cross. Each death in the area makes the area more difficult.
You may encounter a lot of random signs, usually marked 'note' or 'devnote.' These are all just reminders I made to myself for later passes through the map, when I would add mobs/loot/traps. Likewise, filler blocks are employed in areas that would be replaced in MCEdit with blocks that couldn't be placed in-game, such as lava. Lapis ore was also used in conjunction with Zombe's ore finder so that I could keep track of loot chests for later filling (see 'Hanging Overgrowth' in I1).
Now, for a quick rundown on some areas not previously seen…
This is where the player would spawn upon first opening the map. It's located in the save file "Syncquential - Spawn Area." Here you could read the rules, set the type of death counter you wanted, etc. etc. As an added bonus you're in creative mode and can fly, though can't cheat due to the safeguards located below the platform.
My favorite (looking) area, Annular Garden. Pretty self explanatory here. It was the second area I ever conceptualized (after Echoblast), but went through some reworking until it was playable and pretty enough.
Blue Sky Palace. It has some nice architecture, a little blocky for my liking, which was why I was eventually planning on reworking the outer sections. There's an additional dungeon on the roof with a nice view.
One of the more epic views, particularly with a sunset in the back. Hanging Overgrowth was actually made on the fly despite extensive, previous planning to make it something different. It's a pretty interesting area, with no natural floor to stand on, making it rather precarious despite the vines.
Never could get a design down for this one. Really it was just a glorified teleportation station to the next intersection, nothing too special. Possibly would have looked nice with the aesthetic of my experimenting world ("Zero Mercy - Prep. World 2").
Intersection 2 - Scintillating Basin. It's built on the simple idea of diving down ~100 blocks, a task which seems trivial until it's tried. Half blocks and an overhang around the edge prevent any easy sanding/building down to the gold at the bottom. The gold itself is enough for a good number of Super Golden Apples, many of which would definitely be needed by I3.
Sands of Insanity. Very laggy when loading. It's concept was a very surreal environment that was difficult to navigate and be easy to get lost in. Projected noise and torches, as well as extinguishing water would be setup throughout to prevent any easy backtracking. Evil stuff and all.
A real time waster, this one. Even though it only has 1 wool, I ended up building on it until it could easily house 5. Very detailed, with lots to explore. Each house on top of the lavafalls is unique to its location, so they can be fun to look around.
Haven Base, the main base for the player, accessible from any intersection. It includes living space, teleporters, shop, dungeon, Victory Altar, and fireworks display*! The shop and teleporters have a lot of redstone to prevent cheating, but I believe both are wired up if you want to use them. (*not functional)
That covers Syncquential, here's everything else…
(Last picture shows where to access redstone). Sleeping Hive II. I just flat gave up on this one after it failed to function despite everything being correct and tested. It's basically the same as SHI, but just reworked and more complex. Taking the second wool would trigger earthquakes, waking up the hive. Silverfish would destroy the floor, revealing lava, and the initial mining base would also be destroyed and overrun on the sprint back to the VA. Pretty fun, usable, just forego the cinematic.
Merry Christmas (1.5 years late)! I'm not particularly well with the whole 'finishing maps' idea, as seen here. Despite creating the entire map with areas for all 12 wool in two days, populating chests and placing spawners was something that I could never get around to finishing. It's semi-playable, though, only the final areas remain un-finalized, as well as a gimmick at spawn, so you can try it out, if you want.
Also, my testing/preparation world. Here you can find all my loot boxes, custom mobs, and inventions, most intended for Sync. Not a whole lot else to say, though if you want a quick way back to the main platform just jump into the void and you'll get teleported on up.
Zero Mercy - Legacy Included:
1. Syncquential (Spawn point, I1, I2, base)
2. Advent Map 2012 - Sleeping Hive II
3. Advent Map 2012 25/25
4. Zero Mercy Test World
5. Text Files with dev notes on Sync. layout, enemies, books, and rules.
6. Map of Syncquential (one from above)
Feel free to use anything for your own maps, and let me know if you do, I'd love to see what's made of it!
I took some time to look through a bunch of the Syncquential stuff and overall the builds were quite impressive on the Macro level, lots of very unique looking things and symmetry everywhere. However, on the Micro scale, it doesn't look like most of the areas I saw would have had very interesting or fun gameplay to them. It feels very akin to something like Inkstar to me, on the surface of everything it looks really good, great aesthetics, attention to detail, massive builds, but underneath it all it's very shallow gameplay wise and not very fun.
Now I imagine the gameplay aspect of it hadn't been gotten to yet, but personally it feels very much like a Tech Demo of "Look how big and awesome you can make things look! " and big and epic just for the sake of being big and epic. Which really isn't a bad thing, but I'd have seen it being hard to keep things fun and interesting for the player.
Probably going to get lots of hate for this, but it's a valid criticism. Anyone else have any other thoughts about that?
I don't think the map was finished yet, and if you've played any of the other xekaj maps, he usually makes the gameplay better than the aesthetics.
How do you install/use Kamyu's Tools (Custom Spawners, Potion Chests, etc.)?
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TIJGESP- The Inverted Jump Grand Elaborate Shift Paradox To make Caesar ciphers, I use (M=E). CTMs completed: None, I'm bad at these. CTM working on:Uncharted Territory 3
So I've gotten back into map making and stuff, and I've been wondering how to get block variation while using MCEdit. It's been a while since I've used it, and the only option I've seen that could possibly create block variation is the chance option in the replace brush menu, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.
So I've gotten back into map making and stuff, and I've been wondering how to get block variation while using MCEdit. It's been a while since I've used it, and the only option I've seen that could possibly create block variation is the chance option in the replace brush menu, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.
Take a small brus (3x4x3 or so)
Set noise to ~50
Line spacing to 4-6
Hold down left click and jibber yor mouse all over the place.
Done.
Lait it up
I took some time to look through a bunch of the Syncquential stuff and overall the builds were quite impressive on the Macro level, lots of very unique looking things and symmetry everywhere. However, on the Micro scale, it doesn't look like most of the areas I saw would have had very interesting or fun gameplay to them. It feels very akin to something like Inkstar to me, on the surface of everything it looks really good, great aesthetics, attention to detail, massive builds, but underneath it all it's very shallow gameplay wise and not very fun.
Now I imagine the gameplay aspect of it hadn't been gotten to yet, but personally it feels very much like a Tech Demo of "Look how big and awesome you can make things look! " and big and epic just for the sake of being big and epic. Which really isn't a bad thing, but I'd have seen it being hard to keep things fun and interesting for the player.
Probably going to get lots of hate for this, but it's a valid criticism. Anyone else have any other thoughts about that?
If it's any help, I've used two builds from the map in projects, one in Vigilis Oculos, and another in Septum, and I'm hoping I got the gameplay right with both of those. The environments are very conductive to cool gameplay.
So I've gotten back into map making and stuff, and I've been wondering how to get block variation while using MCEdit. It's been a while since I've used it, and the only option I've seen that could possibly create block variation is the chance option in the replace brush menu, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.
What I do for large-scale block variation in MCEdit is explained in this video... Not sure if it's the best method for what you're looking for but it gives you a nice big random customized variation for you to carve an area out of as well as replace blocks for whatever blocks you want to change.
So I've gotten back into map making and stuff, and I've been wondering how to get block variation while using MCEdit. It's been a while since I've used it, and the only option I've seen that could possibly create block variation is the chance option in the replace brush menu, but that doesn't seem to be doing anything.
Well, I hear the "% chance" option in the brush tool works well. I say "I hear" because it doesn't seem to work properly for me; it only affects the outermost layer of the brush. What you could do is replace all the blocks you're trying to add variation to with a block with an ID you're not using, then use SethBling's "random blocks" filter set to only replace blocks with that ID.
...hey, it works for me, okay?
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Mapmaker and LPer of Complete The Monument (CTM) maps.
Creator/owner of the CTM Community Mapping Server - ask about it on the CTM Community thread!
Current projects:
Thanatos - a subterranean semi-open-world urban CTM
Titan's Revolt - a collaborative project run by ProjectCTM; sequel to Pantheon
Pinnacle - a "sketch" mini-CTM intended for newer players (nearing completion!)
*cries*
so amazing
i feel small O_O
that is better that i will probably ever do. wow.
I took some time to look through a bunch of the Syncquential stuff and overall the builds were quite impressive on the Macro level, lots of very unique looking things and symmetry everywhere. However, on the Micro scale, it doesn't look like most of the areas I saw would have had very interesting or fun gameplay to them. It feels very akin to something like Inkstar to me, on the surface of everything it looks really good, great aesthetics, attention to detail, massive builds, but underneath it all it's very shallow gameplay wise and not very fun.
Now I imagine the gameplay aspect of it hadn't been gotten to yet, but personally it feels very much like a Tech Demo of "Look how big and awesome you can make things look!
Probably going to get lots of hate for this, but it's a valid criticism. Anyone else have any other thoughts about that?
Special thanks to Axl Rosie for the sig.
THAT IS JUST... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think the map was finished yet, and if you've played any of the other xekaj maps, he usually makes the gameplay better than the aesthetics.
Keep in mind this was not the finished product.
Also, what is this "command block wipes wool"
Impossible map?
To make Caesar ciphers, I use (M=E).
CTMs completed: None, I'm bad at these.
CTM working on:Uncharted Territory 3
Don't use them. They're outdated and stuff.
i would recommend MCEdit. it does those things and lots more.
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Curse PremiumTake a small brus (3x4x3 or so)
Set noise to ~50
Line spacing to 4-6
Hold down left click and jibber yor mouse all over the place.
Done.
Lait it up
or, what i do:
10x10x10 circular brush, hollow, noise 30-70 (higher noise = more blocks)
rub it all over the thing you want to have variation on.
Pretty sure this command is here for about 3 months now.
I can help after I finish my own.
(which is never)
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Retired StaffIf it's any help, I've used two builds from the map in projects, one in Vigilis Oculos, and another in Septum, and I'm hoping I got the gameplay right with both of those. The environments are very conductive to cool gameplay.
whoops. i hadn't been paying attention to the snapshots very well, i guess.
but then again, i don't pay very good attention to quite a few things.
DEM STREAMS!
What I do for large-scale block variation in MCEdit is explained in this video... Not sure if it's the best method for what you're looking for but it gives you a nice big random customized variation for you to carve an area out of as well as replace blocks for whatever blocks you want to change.
Well, I hear the "% chance" option in the brush tool works well. I say "I hear" because it doesn't seem to work properly for me; it only affects the outermost layer of the brush. What you could do is replace all the blocks you're trying to add variation to with a block with an ID you're not using, then use SethBling's "random blocks" filter set to only replace blocks with that ID.
...hey, it works for me, okay?