Anyone who has looked around for cool worlds on Minecraft Xbox 360 edition as much as me and my brothers knows how valuable a map maker tool would be.
I'm not talking about a map editor here, not something that would give players the opportunity to abuse the game. The point is that even though castles and canals are relatively easy to make, terrain is creeping hard to edit. Want to flatten a mountain? 7 or 8 hour project. Make an ocean? Better take the week off. Make a replica of Middle Earth (or anything, really) in a 1028X1028 grid? Practically a lifetime.
Why should we be enslaved to an RNG in the first place? When I'm looking for a good world, It's rare that I'm simply interested in a random amalgam of biomes. I might be thinking, for example, a map consisting only of islands, or an oasis in the middle of a giant desert. Terrain is as important to building projects as the materials you gather.
So what I posit would be a massive improvement to the Xbox 360 edition would be a map maker a la SimCity. It's beautiful in its simplicity. Before world generation, one has the opportunity to draw out the elevation and biomes, or edit the terrain to his/her liking (but wouldn't be able to decide where trees, caves, and other structures were located, for example). Flatten your mountains, make your oceans, create your replicas of epic fantasy worlds, all with the sweep of the control stick. The finite world map of the Xbox 360 edition would be perfectly suited to this feature.
Hmm... The response so far has been sort of sterile. I assumed that people would find this interesting, based on how much I've always wanted to edit the terrain to complement my creations, or maybe even just my mood, when I enter survival.
Well, yeah, I didn't really mean something like MCedit, though. If you've ever played SimCity (or, at least, SimCity 4,) it offers a very, very simple terrain editor just before you start building your city. You're basically limited to changing the elevation (including making land and sea) and placing trees. That's basically what I was imagining here.
Though if you understood what I was saying and still didn't like it, I suppose I can understand where you're coming from.
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The idea in general is not bad, but it would only be useful for creative mode and not survival, as it would be cheating in a sense to let a player edit the terrain in a survival world to their perfect specifications. However, there have been ideas mentioned before that are similar in nature to this that would fit better into the game.
I can't remember the exact thread, but it had the familiar folks who post often in these threads building on it. Basically the rough idea was that upon selecting the options for creating your world, you should have the ability to include and exclude certain biomes from your world, and select what percentage of each biome will be present on the map. This editing would also allow you to select the ocean height of the world along with the block height.
The idea in general is not bad, but it would only be useful for creative mode and not survival, as it would be cheating in a sense to let a player edit the terrain in a survival world to their perfect specifications.
(I feel like I'm some sort of thread-nazi here, running around and answering all objections specifically)
Don't take this aggressively, but can you think of any specific advantage that this gives to a player in Survival Mode?
(I feel like I'm some sort of thread-nazi here, running around and answering all objections specifically)
Don't take this aggressively, but can you think of any specific advantage that this gives to a player in Survival Mode?
Allowing a player in survival to flatten land would remove a large amount of the work that is required in building up a base. It simply makes the game that much more easier. The idea of biome selection is definitely an idea I'm all for, but what it sounds like you are suggesting is the ability for the player to go into the world itself and edit anything they like or don't like to their perfect specifications. That's not what survival is about. Survival is about going up to whatever challenge the game throws at you and you do your best to survive and make it work. We're not looking for the perfect oasis when we play survival, we do it because we like the challenge and struggle of the game mode.
That being said, 4j has also confirmed that we will be getting the ability to customize the biome type and block height on the superflat world in a "Future" update, so in many ways, we will soon be getting what you are suggesting here.
The idea of biome selection is definitely an idea I'm all for, but what it sounds like you are suggesting is the ability for the player to go into the world itself and edit anything they like or don't like to their perfect specifications.
I think there are two main miscommunications in the Original Post that I need to address.
1) The main thing that I'm trying to say here is this: It's both fun and achievable to create fantastic structures in Minecraft. Megalithic monuments go hand in hand with grand castles and stylish manors. The main reason these structures can be created, however, is that they're essentially a bunch of 2D walls put together in interesting ways. 2D means length X width. Terrain is not 2D, it's 3D. 3D means Length X Width X Height. All of the effort that goes into editing terrain is cubed! Sure, a person can flatten an area in a matter of minutes, but to really edit terrain takes massive amounts of time. Impossible amounts of time. If I want to make islands, or change the shape of a my continent... Well, I can't, really. I perceive this somewhat as a flaw in the game design. I love Minecraft, and adding this feature would add a whole new dimension to it. That's why I love this idea.
2) The system I'm suggesting is extremely unspecific, so you can't flatten out areas for use in building or create mob traps or anything. Theoretically, you'd have a GUI identical to your run-of-the-mill map:
And you could then plot the altitude and biome of the squares (using brushes), which would then be used like coordinates to build the world.
I can't remember the exact thread, but it had the familiar folks who post often in these threads building on it. Basically the rough idea was that upon selecting the options for creating your world, you should have the ability to include and exclude certain biomes from your world, and select what percentage of each biome will be present on the map. This editing would also allow you to select the ocean height of the world along with the block height.
Although similar, it is still very different in that it still relies on random seed for terrain generation and as such, is not ideal for creating specific maps.
I'm in the camp of those who support a good map editor (even something to the level of MCedit). Most of the things I hear people showing off are structure builds of some sort, not really in the realm of terrain building. Although some landscaping may take place within these builds, rarely is there a massive map wide terrain modification that would be used in mimicing a particular world map (like what 4J did with the Skyrim mash-up).
But like Killin_dat_mob said, it would have to be for a Creative Map (initially). you could always change this to survival or adventure mode after it is built, but Achievements should be disabled for the reasons mentioned above.
Hmm... The response so far has been sort of sterile. I assumed that people would find this interesting, based on how much I've always wanted to edit the terrain to complement my creations, or maybe even just my mood, when I enter survival.
Please allow a little time to pass for us to respond... a lot of us have real lives and we don't sit in front of the computer on these forums 24/7 just to respond to inquiries immediately. Your second post is barely an hour after your first posting.
A feature that should be included is a biome/seed overlay so the player can see what biomes will be placed on the map. Although biomes wouldn't necessarily affect the terrain initially generated by your map maker suggestion, it will affect weather patterns, and it would be nice to be able to scroll through the available biomes to find a good weather pattern match for your world (especially since modifying biome/weather boundaries beyond the seed value is not likely going to be implemented).
I am in full support of a map editor/creator. As mentioned some people simply do not have the time to create an epic map or simply do not choose to put that much effort into it. To say it doesn't fit into the style of Minecraft gameplay, I would strongly disagree. Who is to state how the game should be played? I would think the goal is to have fun and build whatever you choose to build.
You still need imagination to build the 'perfect' map anyway, all you do is shed countless hours and more that you could do something else doing.
Anyone who has looked around for cool worlds on Minecraft Xbox 360 edition as much as me and my brothers knows how valuable a map maker tool would be.
I'm not talking about a map editor here, not something that would give players the opportunity to abuse the game. The point is that even though castles and canals are relatively easy to make, terrain is creeping hard to edit. Want to flatten a mountain? 7 or 8 hour project. Make an ocean? Better take the week off. Make a replica of Middle Earth (or anything, really) in a 1028X1028 grid? Practically a lifetime.
Why should we be enslaved to an RNG in the first place? When I'm looking for a good world, It's rare that I'm simply interested in a random amalgam of biomes. I might be thinking, for example, a map consisting only of islands, or an oasis in the middle of a giant desert. Terrain is as important to building projects as the materials you gather.
So what I posit would be a massive improvement to the Xbox 360 edition would be a map maker a la SimCity. It's beautiful in its simplicity. Before world generation, one has the opportunity to draw out the elevation and biomes, or edit the terrain to his/her liking (but wouldn't be able to decide where trees, caves, and other structures were located, for example). Flatten your mountains, make your oceans, create your replicas of epic fantasy worlds, all with the sweep of the control stick. The finite world map of the Xbox 360 edition would be perfectly suited to this feature.
Hmm... The response so far has been sort of sterile. I assumed that people would find this interesting, based on how much I've always wanted to edit the terrain to complement my creations, or maybe even just my mood, when I enter survival.
Well, yeah, I didn't really mean something like MCedit, though. If you've ever played SimCity (or, at least, SimCity 4,) it offers a very, very simple terrain editor just before you start building your city. You're basically limited to changing the elevation (including making land and sea) and placing trees. That's basically what I was imagining here.
Though if you understood what I was saying and still didn't like it, I suppose I can understand where you're coming from.
The idea in general is not bad, but it would only be useful for creative mode and not survival, as it would be cheating in a sense to let a player edit the terrain in a survival world to their perfect specifications. However, there have been ideas mentioned before that are similar in nature to this that would fit better into the game.
I can't remember the exact thread, but it had the familiar folks who post often in these threads building on it. Basically the rough idea was that upon selecting the options for creating your world, you should have the ability to include and exclude certain biomes from your world, and select what percentage of each biome will be present on the map. This editing would also allow you to select the ocean height of the world along with the block height.
(I feel like I'm some sort of thread-nazi here, running around and answering all objections specifically)
Don't take this aggressively, but can you think of any specific advantage that this gives to a player in Survival Mode?
Allowing a player in survival to flatten land would remove a large amount of the work that is required in building up a base. It simply makes the game that much more easier. The idea of biome selection is definitely an idea I'm all for, but what it sounds like you are suggesting is the ability for the player to go into the world itself and edit anything they like or don't like to their perfect specifications. That's not what survival is about. Survival is about going up to whatever challenge the game throws at you and you do your best to survive and make it work. We're not looking for the perfect oasis when we play survival, we do it because we like the challenge and struggle of the game mode.
That being said, 4j has also confirmed that we will be getting the ability to customize the biome type and block height on the superflat world in a "Future" update, so in many ways, we will soon be getting what you are suggesting here.
I think there are two main miscommunications in the Original Post that I need to address.
1) The main thing that I'm trying to say here is this: It's both fun and achievable to create fantastic structures in Minecraft. Megalithic monuments go hand in hand with grand castles and stylish manors. The main reason these structures can be created, however, is that they're essentially a bunch of 2D walls put together in interesting ways. 2D means length X width. Terrain is not 2D, it's 3D. 3D means Length X Width X Height. All of the effort that goes into editing terrain is cubed! Sure, a person can flatten an area in a matter of minutes, but to really edit terrain takes massive amounts of time. Impossible amounts of time. If I want to make islands, or change the shape of a my continent... Well, I can't, really. I perceive this somewhat as a flaw in the game design. I love Minecraft, and adding this feature would add a whole new dimension to it. That's why I love this idea.
2) The system I'm suggesting is extremely unspecific, so you can't flatten out areas for use in building or create mob traps or anything. Theoretically, you'd have a GUI identical to your run-of-the-mill map:
And you could then plot the altitude and biome of the squares (using brushes), which would then be used like coordinates to build the world.
This thread? http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-xbox-360-edition/mcx360-discussion/mcx360-suggestions/2122570-better-biome-placement#c12
Although similar, it is still very different in that it still relies on random seed for terrain generation and as such, is not ideal for creating specific maps.
I'm in the camp of those who support a good map editor (even something to the level of MCedit). Most of the things I hear people showing off are structure builds of some sort, not really in the realm of terrain building. Although some landscaping may take place within these builds, rarely is there a massive map wide terrain modification that would be used in mimicing a particular world map (like what 4J did with the Skyrim mash-up).
But like Killin_dat_mob said, it would have to be for a Creative Map (initially). you could always change this to survival or adventure mode after it is built, but Achievements should be disabled for the reasons mentioned above.
Please allow a little time to pass for us to respond... a lot of us have real lives and we don't sit in front of the computer on these forums 24/7 just to respond to inquiries immediately. Your second post is barely an hour after your first posting.
A feature that should be included is a biome/seed overlay so the player can see what biomes will be placed on the map. Although biomes wouldn't necessarily affect the terrain initially generated by your map maker suggestion, it will affect weather patterns, and it would be nice to be able to scroll through the available biomes to find a good weather pattern match for your world (especially since modifying biome/weather boundaries beyond the seed value is not likely going to be implemented).
I like the idea, try using custom superflat, it helps now you can edit it to your liking
I am in full support of a map editor/creator. As mentioned some people simply do not have the time to create an epic map or simply do not choose to put that much effort into it. To say it doesn't fit into the style of Minecraft gameplay, I would strongly disagree. Who is to state how the game should be played? I would think the goal is to have fun and build whatever you choose to build.
You still need imagination to build the 'perfect' map anyway, all you do is shed countless hours and more that you could do something else doing.
Perpetually negative