It's no secret that the Jungle and Desert Pyramids could use some serious redesign. Maybe they were interesting when they were first introduced, but at this point, everyone knows exactly how to approach them, and they're seen only for their loot. My goal is to change this, taking inspiration from a structure that's aged a bit better: The Woodland Mansion.
In short, the Mansion incorporates a bit of randomized arrangement to its rooms- meaning that while you can have some idea of what you're getting into, you never quite know exactly which rooms you'll encounter, or in what order. I think by incorporating a similar modularity into the Dungeon and Desert temples, things could become a lot more interesting.
This project, (Like my much messier procedurally generated arena project), will be made using a structure block system to randomize the generation of the Pyramids using different pre-designed components, including trap rooms, loot rooms, puzzles, etc; with the end result eventually being posted as a world download on Planet Minecraft. (Obviously, if something like this were actually implemented, it wouldn't rely on a structure block system, but I digress.) This is intended as more of a cool showcase than anything else.
The Desert temple is currently complete! (More or less)! It features mining-detection traps, mosaic puzzles, creeper puzzles, and far more explosives than you're porbably comfortable with! You can find the world download on curseforge if you want to check it out (or try your luck) against the thing!
Here's some early screenshots of the Observer Trap- variations on this trap will be found at the top of the Jungle Temple.
---------------------------------
-Contained inside an obsidian casing is a barrel filled with loot. eight dispensers are inset into the ceiling in a diamond pattern, and observers form chains observing the blocks that make up the casing. Breaking any of the observers, or the obsidian blocks surrounding the loot barrel triggers a central circuit, which activates all the observers: Dispensing lava buckets and four tnt into the chamber, and two additional tnt in the ceiling; destroying the circuitry and the loot.
-Breaking the dispensers triggers observers hooked up to them, which also activates the circuit. Each dispenser also has a comparator hooked up to a redstone torch; emptying a dispenser thus deactivates the comparator, activates one of the torches, and triggers the main circuit. (Again, activating the trap.)
-Coming in from the ceiling is also a challenge- in addition to pressure plates hidden inside the circuitry, a pattern of four observers observing the ceiling blocks can also activate the trap. (Which, again, destroys the treasure, and likely kills the invader too.) In addition, the comparator system means that cutting any of the live wires inside also activates the torches, and by extension, the lava and explosives.
---------------------------------------
I had my brother unwillingly playtest this, and he eventually came across a rather Temple of Doomy solution; to trick the comparator system, you have to carefully place another item into each of the dispensers, and then remove the lava and tnt- messing up any of them activates all the remaining dispensers, so you have to do so carefully.
Once the main dispensers are deactivated, you can drill in from the top, remove the last two tnt, and then safely disassemble the circuitry. As far as I can tell, there isn't actually a way to disassemble the observer/obsidian cube without triggering the trap.
These are pretty challenging traps, would be overwhelming for the unprepared, and that's a good thing. These structures are supposed to be dangerous and exploring them should actually feel like an adventure. By the way, that spider trap is savage.
As for another idea, how about a procedurally generated maze? But it would have to be at least partially made out of obsidian, otherwise it wouldn't work.
I approve of these traps. We definitely need a defusing challenge beyond creepers heh.
I also think silverfish traps and trapped chests could see more use outside woodland mansions as traps - perhaps when combined with fire charges and firework rockets out of dispensers, both whittle at damage a little just like the bugs and deal enough knockback to make good hits hard to land.
Discouraging players from drilling through structures is definitely a priority; The Ocean Temple achieves this through Mining Fatigue. For the Desert Temple, I'm trying to make the volatility the biggest threat- some rooms have hidden mines that are relatively harmless on their own, but combined, run the risk of blowing up the whole temple. (As so many of the traps involve explosives, there's always the risk of a chain reaction.)
As for the Jungle Temple, silverfish seem a good idea, considering both the building material, and the abundance of tripwire traps will make disturbing silverfish a considerable threat.
(I'm currently working on some 'Mosaic Traps' for the Desert Temple- found in some of the lower chambers and hallways. These are a variation on the Desert temple's hidden room; they feature patterns made of glazed terracotta and are a bit like mine sweeper; the color of the mosaic shows how many observer mines are directly adjacent. Players could either memorize different patterns, or learn how the patterns work. (Upsetting them without caution runs the risk of both killing the player, and destroying any loot hidden beneath the floor.)
(If you're curious, brown means no adjacent mines, yellow means one, orange two, and red three.)
These are pretty challenging traps, would be overwhelming for the unprepared, and that's a good thing. These structures are supposed to be dangerous and exploring them should actually feel like an adventure. By the way, that spider trap is savage.
As for another idea, how about a procedurally generated maze? But it would have to be at least partially made out of obsidian, otherwise it wouldn't work.
I'd suggest having the entire maze made from at least 3 blocks wide obsidian to make it harder for players to tear apart for their own benefit. This would create a Pacman-esque sort of gameplay, where players had to keep track of where they were going at all times, using a trail of lanterns or torches, as well as watch out for monsters spawning and pursuing them in the labyrinth.
We all know what can happen when mine tunnels are not organized properly and if players don't use signs to label the exits and points of entry.
The same could be done with the underground sections of desert temples and jungle temples.
Additionally it could have pitfall traps that players need to watch out for, some with lava underneath, so
players need to watch out for tripwires that could activate a sticky piston or two that opens up the pitfall.
as you approach the bottom chamber where the loot is hidden, you could have a lava moat system around this chamber, that can only be crossed either by placing solid blocks down to bridge it, using a water bucket, or using a piston activated drawbridge using a lever.
The middle section could have a mob spawner or two that can be turned off with lighting of course, with loot chests inside.
Just to be purely evil, I'm thinking Creepers for the spawner rooms in the Desert Temple. I've been considering using lava for pitfall traps of some sort- (there's no other way to make them a threat otherwise), with the main trouble being that the noise makes it super obvious there's a lava trap nearby. (Thusfar, where I have been using lava, I'm using it with dispensers.)
I've been focusing mainly on the Desert temple, and most of the catacomb rooms and halls are finished- I also got a somewhat more efficient randomizer circuit working to arrange the rooms. Before this, I was using a comparator-dispenser circuit that only had 2 outcomes- meaning every single room needed a combination of multiple circuits to generate properly. This new circuit uses a dispenser and an item sorting system to allow for nine different outcomes in a single 10*10 circuit.
Admittedly, I've been a bit distracted with another similar project, (using procedural generation for a PVP arena), which is much closer to finished. I might have to make a separate thread for it... As for the maze idea, one thought I had was using this method of procedural generation to make a dungeon crawler game- essentially to build Spelunky... in Minecraft, using randomized structure blocks. I definitely want to finish this thing, (and the arena) first, but It's an idea I'll definitely consider in the future.
Here's another screenshot of work in progress: I've just about got the upper layer of rooms working. I've basically been copying and pasting this randomizer machine, and the generation is... more or less functional. I've decided to add the possibility for more rooms on the uppermost layer, though the odds of this should decrease the further one gets from the center.
...And, editing this; the catacomb layer should be fully complete. Bearing in mind that this is just a demo, the catacombs shouldn't be too extensive. Not all temples will have two layers, but some can have quite a lot of chambers if the RNG is lucky.
Lower layers contain much better loot, (including enchanted books, diamonds, etc), but also far more dangerous traps. I don't want to spoil anything at the moment... but suffice to say, I'm having a great deal of fun with the Sculk Sensor...
(And I will be turning off bounding boxes when I'm finished- they're just helpful for reference.)
...And the Desert Temple is (for the most part) fully finished! It still has a couple minor bugs, but for the most part, the thing works pretty well! Rest assured, this ought to be fairly challenging, even if you aren't going in blind.
Includes the following traps/puzzles:
A creeper spawner/treasure room on top of the pyramid which, if active, has a nasty habit of dropping creepers on players from below.
Various Mosaic based puzzles, in which the color of terracotta used indicates which blocks are safe to mine. (I may make these a bit more complex in the future, as they seem pretty easy once you know the gimmick.)
Additional spawner rooms can generate in the temple catacombs.
Halls in the first floor of the catacombs have a small chance of being rigged with tripwires.
First floor loot rooms are protected with explosives- you'll have to be extremely careful about collecting the valuables.
Descents into the second floor, in which an array of tripwires makes the climb down somewhat difficult...
Second floor halls always feature more complex tripwire arrays; and can also include loot chests, (and a Sculk device that detects block-breaking.)
More complex second-floor treasure rooms, protected with tripwires and explosives.
Second floor mural rooms, which contain a lot of glazed terracotta, and little else.
Second floor enchanting rooms- which are relatively safe, so long as you keep your mits off the enchanting table.
Rare second floor altar room, which contains gold, sculk, and crying obsidian. (Along with Sculk based block-breaking detectors for would-be defilers.)
...I've also got a decent idea of what I want to do with the Jungle Temple- though I don't want to reveal anything just yet, I think it's already looking pretty fantastic.
If you want to try out this version, check out the world download on curseforge! I recommend using the latest snapshot, if you want the placefeature functions and sculk related stuff to work properly.
Sorry I haven't posted for awhile- here's a sneak peak of some rooms I've been working on for the Jungle Temple. (I've learned a lot from the last design- such as, 'designing and programming separate rooms for every single different rotation is a nightmare!) I'm having a bit more trouble coming up with clever trap idea, (at least in part because the Desert Temple mostly just involved explosives), but it's coming together!
(Update: spent the greater part of several hours getting all of the room generation things locked into position. Still, it's telling that it only took me several hours instead of multiple days this time. I think I might be learning.)
...And the Jungle Temple is finished! I like how this turned out much better than the Desert Temple- though I'm now realizing the Desert temple looks tiny by comparison. The finished product is now available in curseforge, if you want to give this thing a try.
If I ever do get into modding, (and I've been considering it), I'll definitely hope to overhaul structures- designing these rooms was a blast. Getting the machinery working... not so much- but it's functional, and that's what counts. I'm happy to declare this one complete.
(Also, I even gave the Jungle Temple Jeb doors. I swear, it took me longer to try to figure out how to make a Jeb door, give up, find a decent tutorial online, and then make a Jeb door; then it took to do most of the other command block and coordinate nonsense. Priorities, I guess?)
It's no secret that the Jungle and Desert Pyramids could use some serious redesign. Maybe they were interesting when they were first introduced, but at this point, everyone knows exactly how to approach them, and they're seen only for their loot. My goal is to change this, taking inspiration from a structure that's aged a bit better: The Woodland Mansion.
In short, the Mansion incorporates a bit of randomized arrangement to its rooms- meaning that while you can have some idea of what you're getting into, you never quite know exactly which rooms you'll encounter, or in what order. I think by incorporating a similar modularity into the Dungeon and Desert temples, things could become a lot more interesting.
This project, (Like my much messier procedurally generated arena project), will be made using a structure block system to randomize the generation of the Pyramids using different pre-designed components, including trap rooms, loot rooms, puzzles, etc; with the end result eventually being posted as a world download on Planet Minecraft. (Obviously, if something like this were actually implemented, it wouldn't rely on a structure block system, but I digress.) This is intended as more of a cool showcase than anything else.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Desert temple is currently complete! (More or less)! It features mining-detection traps, mosaic puzzles, creeper puzzles, and far more explosives than you're porbably comfortable with! You can find the world download on curseforge if you want to check it out (or try your luck) against the thing!
The Jungle temple is currently in progress.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
Here's some early screenshots of the Observer Trap- variations on this trap will be found at the top of the Jungle Temple.
---------------------------------
-Contained inside an obsidian casing is a barrel filled with loot. eight dispensers are inset into the ceiling in a diamond pattern, and observers form chains observing the blocks that make up the casing. Breaking any of the observers, or the obsidian blocks surrounding the loot barrel triggers a central circuit, which activates all the observers: Dispensing lava buckets and four tnt into the chamber, and two additional tnt in the ceiling; destroying the circuitry and the loot.
-Breaking the dispensers triggers observers hooked up to them, which also activates the circuit. Each dispenser also has a comparator hooked up to a redstone torch; emptying a dispenser thus deactivates the comparator, activates one of the torches, and triggers the main circuit. (Again, activating the trap.)
-Coming in from the ceiling is also a challenge- in addition to pressure plates hidden inside the circuitry, a pattern of four observers observing the ceiling blocks can also activate the trap. (Which, again, destroys the treasure, and likely kills the invader too.) In addition, the comparator system means that cutting any of the live wires inside also activates the torches, and by extension, the lava and explosives.
---------------------------------------
I had my brother unwillingly playtest this, and he eventually came across a rather Temple of Doomy solution; to trick the comparator system, you have to carefully place another item into each of the dispensers, and then remove the lava and tnt- messing up any of them activates all the remaining dispensers, so you have to do so carefully.
Once the main dispensers are deactivated, you can drill in from the top, remove the last two tnt, and then safely disassemble the circuitry. As far as I can tell, there isn't actually a way to disassemble the observer/obsidian cube without triggering the trap.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
These are pretty challenging traps, would be overwhelming for the unprepared, and that's a good thing. These structures are supposed to be dangerous and exploring them should actually feel like an adventure. By the way, that spider trap is savage.
As for another idea, how about a procedurally generated maze? But it would have to be at least partially made out of obsidian, otherwise it wouldn't work.
I approve of these traps. We definitely need a defusing challenge beyond creepers heh.
I also think silverfish traps and trapped chests could see more use outside woodland mansions as traps - perhaps when combined with fire charges and firework rockets out of dispensers, both whittle at damage a little just like the bugs and deal enough knockback to make good hits hard to land.
Please quote me in your replies as I have notifs off
Yes I have a lot of posts here - my posts are super short
Discouraging players from drilling through structures is definitely a priority; The Ocean Temple achieves this through Mining Fatigue. For the Desert Temple, I'm trying to make the volatility the biggest threat- some rooms have hidden mines that are relatively harmless on their own, but combined, run the risk of blowing up the whole temple. (As so many of the traps involve explosives, there's always the risk of a chain reaction.)
As for the Jungle Temple, silverfish seem a good idea, considering both the building material, and the abundance of tripwire traps will make disturbing silverfish a considerable threat.
(I'm currently working on some 'Mosaic Traps' for the Desert Temple- found in some of the lower chambers and hallways. These are a variation on the Desert temple's hidden room; they feature patterns made of glazed terracotta and are a bit like mine sweeper; the color of the mosaic shows how many observer mines are directly adjacent. Players could either memorize different patterns, or learn how the patterns work. (Upsetting them without caution runs the risk of both killing the player, and destroying any loot hidden beneath the floor.)
(If you're curious, brown means no adjacent mines, yellow means one, orange two, and red three.)
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
I'd suggest having the entire maze made from at least 3 blocks wide obsidian to make it harder for players to tear apart for their own benefit. This would create a Pacman-esque sort of gameplay, where players had to keep track of where they were going at all times, using a trail of lanterns or torches, as well as watch out for monsters spawning and pursuing them in the labyrinth.
We all know what can happen when mine tunnels are not organized properly and if players don't use signs to label the exits and points of entry.
The same could be done with the underground sections of desert temples and jungle temples.
Additionally it could have pitfall traps that players need to watch out for, some with lava underneath, so
players need to watch out for tripwires that could activate a sticky piston or two that opens up the pitfall.
as you approach the bottom chamber where the loot is hidden, you could have a lava moat system around this chamber, that can only be crossed either by placing solid blocks down to bridge it, using a water bucket, or using a piston activated drawbridge using a lever.
The middle section could have a mob spawner or two that can be turned off with lighting of course, with loot chests inside.
Just to be purely evil, I'm thinking Creepers for the spawner rooms in the Desert Temple. I've been considering using lava for pitfall traps of some sort- (there's no other way to make them a threat otherwise), with the main trouble being that the noise makes it super obvious there's a lava trap nearby. (Thusfar, where I have been using lava, I'm using it with dispensers.)
I've been focusing mainly on the Desert temple, and most of the catacomb rooms and halls are finished- I also got a somewhat more efficient randomizer circuit working to arrange the rooms. Before this, I was using a comparator-dispenser circuit that only had 2 outcomes- meaning every single room needed a combination of multiple circuits to generate properly. This new circuit uses a dispenser and an item sorting system to allow for nine different outcomes in a single 10*10 circuit.
Admittedly, I've been a bit distracted with another similar project, (using procedural generation for a PVP arena), which is much closer to finished. I might have to make a separate thread for it... As for the maze idea, one thought I had was using this method of procedural generation to make a dungeon crawler game- essentially to build Spelunky... in Minecraft, using randomized structure blocks. I definitely want to finish this thing, (and the arena) first, but It's an idea I'll definitely consider in the future.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
Here's another screenshot of work in progress: I've just about got the upper layer of rooms working. I've basically been copying and pasting this randomizer machine, and the generation is... more or less functional. I've decided to add the possibility for more rooms on the uppermost layer, though the odds of this should decrease the further one gets from the center.
...And, editing this; the catacomb layer should be fully complete. Bearing in mind that this is just a demo, the catacombs shouldn't be too extensive. Not all temples will have two layers, but some can have quite a lot of chambers if the RNG is lucky.
Lower layers contain much better loot, (including enchanted books, diamonds, etc), but also far more dangerous traps. I don't want to spoil anything at the moment... but suffice to say, I'm having a great deal of fun with the Sculk Sensor...
(And I will be turning off bounding boxes when I'm finished- they're just helpful for reference.)
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
...And the Desert Temple is (for the most part) fully finished! It still has a couple minor bugs, but for the most part, the thing works pretty well! Rest assured, this ought to be fairly challenging, even if you aren't going in blind.
Includes the following traps/puzzles:
...I've also got a decent idea of what I want to do with the Jungle Temple- though I don't want to reveal anything just yet, I think it's already looking pretty fantastic.
If you want to try out this version, check out the world download on curseforge! I recommend using the latest snapshot, if you want the placefeature functions and sculk related stuff to work properly.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
wow...
Please quote me in your replies as I have notifs off
Yes I have a lot of posts here - my posts are super short
Sorry I haven't posted for awhile- here's a sneak peak of some rooms I've been working on for the Jungle Temple. (I've learned a lot from the last design- such as, 'designing and programming separate rooms for every single different rotation is a nightmare!) I'm having a bit more trouble coming up with clever trap idea, (at least in part because the Desert Temple mostly just involved explosives), but it's coming together!
(Update: spent the greater part of several hours getting all of the room generation things locked into position. Still, it's telling that it only took me several hours instead of multiple days this time. I think I might be learning.)
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~
...And the Jungle Temple is finished! I like how this turned out much better than the Desert Temple- though I'm now realizing the Desert temple looks tiny by comparison. The finished product is now available in curseforge, if you want to give this thing a try.
If I ever do get into modding, (and I've been considering it), I'll definitely hope to overhaul structures- designing these rooms was a blast. Getting the machinery working... not so much- but it's functional, and that's what counts. I'm happy to declare this one complete.
(Also, I even gave the Jungle Temple Jeb doors. I swear, it took me longer to try to figure out how to make a Jeb door, give up, find a decent tutorial online, and then make a Jeb door; then it took to do most of the other command block and coordinate nonsense. Priorities, I guess?)
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
---
~ My Portfolio ~ Skindex ~ Test ~ Discs ~