NOTE: This is more of a conceptual framework than an actual challenge. And for all I know, this idea could have already been implemented - in which case I do hope you mention it, since I've been looking for a well-developed challenge along this vein that doesn't have the annoying flaws I'm about to get into. So keep that in mind if you keep reading.
I like challenges, simply because vanilla survival is too easy. It takes little time to make a defendable outpost with areas for renewable resources and a near-infinite supply of food. And the higher difficulties and hardcore don't really make it "harder", per se - instead they just seem to punish you more severely for messing up.
That's why I like to look into challenges such as City Construction and Tree Spirit and so on. But it's hard for me to find a challenge I enjoy because of a few elements that tend to irk me:
Difficult to track restrictions. I see this one a lot - with restrictions like "you can't build this type of tool until you've reached this stage after gathering 400 wood" or whatever. I dislike these intensely. I'd rather each milestone be an actual milestone that makes sense in the realm of the challenge, not just from reaching an arbitrary number of items or something similar. Other things could be "never going to the surface", "never using a diamond tool", etc. These are hard to remember at times.
Minimum building material use for structures. You know - "you must build this structure using at least 100 wood and 50 stone." Things like that stifle creativity for me because they restrict the means of going about making the needed structure.That kind of thing should be elastic for the player, where they can build as elaborately or as simply as they wish.
Lack of progression. Progression is not a necessary element by any means, but it's one I usually can't go without - having a challenge where the goal is simply to build a huge civilization with no restrictions on how to go about it leave me unsure of how to proceed. Basically, I look for "unlockables" along the way that make sense and are easy to track, thus the previous two points.
Those are the only three I can think of off the top of my head, but they tend to get in the way a lot when I look for challenges involving building, which are my favored kind.
So after that bit of whining - if you want to call it that - here's the kind of idea I'd want to play in, and have experimented a bit with - I've just not nailed down a specific ruleset yet. Thus the "it's just an idea and I'd like to hear if you've seen it before" part above.
========== Core Concepts ==========
1) All use of a 3x3 crafting table must be for a specific purpose, tied to a specific building or entity.
I like this idea because it's very easy to track. Anything that can be made in 2x2 is fair game - but if you want to use a crafting table, it needs to be tied to a structure. A few examples:
A Kitchen for crafting food and food ingredients, with furnaces.
An Armory for crafting armor and weaponry.
A Tool Manufacturing Plant for tools not used exclusively as weapons.
A Forge for crafting and smelting anything ore-related, with furnaces.
And so on. The idea being if you want to make something in the 3x3, go to the structure or entity that makes the most sense for it - and if you don't have one, build one! This does make starting off a bit slow, since you'll need to make structures for toolmaking and whatnot, but that can help in actually developing a village or outpost of some kind that isn't just a tiny room that you cram all your items in.
2) Other buildings for common game elements.
Simply put, things like a Storage building for all your chests, a Farm for your growing needs, a Bunker for your bed/spawn, A Cartographer room for maps/compasses/clocks, and so on. More or less up to the player whether or not they incorporate these.
3) Virtual Villagers
If one wanted to put more life into their growing outpost/village, they could incorporate villagers - either by spawning/breeding Testificates or making virtual representations of them to man the buildings. For example, being unable to use the Blacksmithing structure without a blacksmith on duty. This can be further added to by requiring food production - such as 6 wheat = 2 bread per villager, in plots, to accomodate feeding them over time. Again, that's optional, but a good way to further flesh out a civilization and make its construction last longer.
4) Themes
This is probably the most important part. Since what I listed above is a fairly loose system, it could have a multitude of potential themes, which can guide how a player builds their structures. The most obvious is a medieval type theme, but there are others - perhaps sci-fi, building on a new planet by making a colony or even a space station over the land instead of on it. Or perhaps a Command & Conquer feel, with a Construction building for making other structures, a Barracks for sleeping in, A Weapons Factory for armaments, and so on. Or even a Western theme, building in a desert and trying to make structures that fit the idea of an old Western town.
==========
Anyway, that's enough of me rambling.
Do you have any thoughts? Know of any good challenges that meet something similar to this? All I did here was throw out a bunch of thoughts and ideas, but I'd be happy to hear feedback on it.
Plugins can certainly accomplish a lot, that's true. For the most part I tend to stay on singleplayer though, since my time playing Minecraft can be sporadic, which doesn't work too well for servers.
That's why I focused a lot on a progress mechanic that didn't require third-party restrictions or complicated tracking methods in my particular case.
==================================================
I like challenges, simply because vanilla survival is too easy. It takes little time to make a defendable outpost with areas for renewable resources and a near-infinite supply of food. And the higher difficulties and hardcore don't really make it "harder", per se - instead they just seem to punish you more severely for messing up.
That's why I like to look into challenges such as City Construction and Tree Spirit and so on. But it's hard for me to find a challenge I enjoy because of a few elements that tend to irk me:
Difficult to track restrictions. I see this one a lot - with restrictions like "you can't build this type of tool until you've reached this stage after gathering 400 wood" or whatever. I dislike these intensely. I'd rather each milestone be an actual milestone that makes sense in the realm of the challenge, not just from reaching an arbitrary number of items or something similar. Other things could be "never going to the surface", "never using a diamond tool", etc. These are hard to remember at times.
Minimum building material use for structures. You know - "you must build this structure using at least 100 wood and 50 stone." Things like that stifle creativity for me because they restrict the means of going about making the needed structure.That kind of thing should be elastic for the player, where they can build as elaborately or as simply as they wish.
Lack of progression. Progression is not a necessary element by any means, but it's one I usually can't go without - having a challenge where the goal is simply to build a huge civilization with no restrictions on how to go about it leave me unsure of how to proceed. Basically, I look for "unlockables" along the way that make sense and are easy to track, thus the previous two points.
Those are the only three I can think of off the top of my head, but they tend to get in the way a lot when I look for challenges involving building, which are my favored kind.
So after that bit of whining - if you want to call it that - here's the kind of idea I'd want to play in, and have experimented a bit with - I've just not nailed down a specific ruleset yet. Thus the "it's just an idea and I'd like to hear if you've seen it before" part above.
==========
Core Concepts
==========
1) All use of a 3x3 crafting table must be for a specific purpose, tied to a specific building or entity.
I like this idea because it's very easy to track. Anything that can be made in 2x2 is fair game - but if you want to use a crafting table, it needs to be tied to a structure. A few examples:
A Kitchen for crafting food and food ingredients, with furnaces.
An Armory for crafting armor and weaponry.
A Tool Manufacturing Plant for tools not used exclusively as weapons.
A Forge for crafting and smelting anything ore-related, with furnaces.
And so on. The idea being if you want to make something in the 3x3, go to the structure or entity that makes the most sense for it - and if you don't have one, build one! This does make starting off a bit slow, since you'll need to make structures for toolmaking and whatnot, but that can help in actually developing a village or outpost of some kind that isn't just a tiny room that you cram all your items in.
2) Other buildings for common game elements.
Simply put, things like a Storage building for all your chests, a Farm for your growing needs, a Bunker for your bed/spawn, A Cartographer room for maps/compasses/clocks, and so on. More or less up to the player whether or not they incorporate these.
3) Virtual Villagers
If one wanted to put more life into their growing outpost/village, they could incorporate villagers - either by spawning/breeding Testificates or making virtual representations of them to man the buildings. For example, being unable to use the Blacksmithing structure without a blacksmith on duty. This can be further added to by requiring food production - such as 6 wheat = 2 bread per villager, in plots, to accomodate feeding them over time. Again, that's optional, but a good way to further flesh out a civilization and make its construction last longer.
4) Themes
This is probably the most important part. Since what I listed above is a fairly loose system, it could have a multitude of potential themes, which can guide how a player builds their structures. The most obvious is a medieval type theme, but there are others - perhaps sci-fi, building on a new planet by making a colony or even a space station over the land instead of on it. Or perhaps a Command & Conquer feel, with a Construction building for making other structures, a Barracks for sleeping in, A Weapons Factory for armaments, and so on. Or even a Western theme, building in a desert and trying to make structures that fit the idea of an old Western town.
==========
Anyway, that's enough of me rambling.
Do you have any thoughts? Know of any good challenges that meet something similar to this? All I did here was throw out a bunch of thoughts and ideas, but I'd be happy to hear feedback on it.
That's why I focused a lot on a progress mechanic that didn't require third-party restrictions or complicated tracking methods in my particular case.