""You wake up in a strange place with no memory of how you got there..." c'mon... give your character a back story. Even if they are entering a mysterious place, it helps the player feel connected to the game. "
Guess its from my xera map? Well screw it, fixed on my other map ^^
I got the story now but i need some help, as i see you got a lot of free time and are a good criticiser, im gonna seek help here !
Ok the story goes like this (as short as possible) :
"You are born in heaven (floating islands), signs tell you that youve been sleeping for 25 years and that you missed of everything what happened to earth (you are god akatosh), so your mission is to go back to earth, try not to use your powers (cheat ^^), see whats going on and in the mean time help people and have some fun :smile.gif:"
The map will be very simillar to my xera map but i just got this story problem.. The problem is that idk what next?!
Any ideas how to expand the story? Giving some goals for the players?
Oh and one more thing, do you think quests in pictures (downloadable with map) are a good idea? I already made them and they look awesome.. i can message you then but they are kind of secret so dont share ^^
I like it. One thing you could do is start off in your life in some predicament it's impossible to survive. For example, standing on a + block in the middle of lava with ghasts above and creepers coming from every direction. And then die and respawn in heaven.
Signs tell you that youve been sleeping for 25 years and that you missed of everything what happened to earth
Why tell them the duration? Make it seem like no time has passed, but when they get back down to earth they start realizing it's been a LONG time. Maybe you started in a little village (backing up before the death part) and when you get back down it's grown to skyscrapers. Subtle/quick flashes at first - You could start off in a nursery with a crib and a sign ... "your life flashes before your eyes"... go outside and see something like ..."the tree where you broke your leg at age 5"... "the park bench you met Sarah" ... "the mine where you worked to feed your family"... and then go into the mine and get into that death situation.
Not sure if 'Akatosh' is critical to the rest of your story? Could you just be a normal person?
So you have a good hook. But what's next? Feel free to send me your secret pictures [email protected] or PM me.
There are a lot of places you could go from here.
Think about it like this... Start with motivation. If YOU came back from the dead what's the first thing you'd do? Would you seek out your family, only to find out they died hundreds of years ago? WOuld you seek out your descendants? Revisit the place of your death? Is there something you would try to re-do, set right, avenge? The main character probably isn't going to get satisfaction on his past. At some point needs to accept it and "move on". Maybe asking "WHY me? why was I sent back?" - which could lead to a quest, or... during that experience, you introduce some unexpected issue that the main character grasps on to as his quest.
If you can get the player invested in your character and back story, then the actual quest will be all the more because we'll tend to have this little roleplay voice in the back of our heads.
I like it. One thing you could do is start off in your life in some predicament it's impossible to survive. For example, standing on a + block in the middle of lava with ghasts above and creepers coming from every direction. And then die and respawn in heaven.
Good idea! Ill mix it up a bit :wink.gif: Whatcha think of: " you have mistaken something in your life and died because of that mistake, of course player dies in the game and respawns at heaven. Then the god gives him a second chance if he will do good deeds on earth! (Much more awesome, thanks!
Why tell them the duration? Make it seem like no time has passed, but when they get back down to earth they start realizing it's been a LONG time. Maybe you started in a little village (backing up before the death part) and when you get back down it's grown to skyscrapers. Subtle/quick flashes at first - You could start off in a nursery with a crib and a sign ... "your life flashes before your eyes"... go outside and see something like ..."the tree where you broke your leg at age 5"... "the park bench you met Sarah" ... "the mine where you worked to feed your family"... and then go into the mine and get into that death situation.
Not sure if 'Akatosh' is critical to the rest of your story? Could you just be a normal person?
Im a lame story maker lol, but those wont matter as ill change the story. Starting in a little village with your familly.. hm.. that sounds nice and ill work on it! Another good idea is to make medium size main quests like "you must find your missing friend or familly member or searching for an ancient treasure, recovering the supplies of a village..
So you have a good hook. But what's next? Feel free to send me your secret pictures [email protected] or PM me.
There are a lot of places you could go from here.
EMAIL SENT.
Think about it like this... Start with motivation. If YOU came back from the dead what's the first thing you'd do? Would you seek out your family, only to find out they died hundreds of years ago? WOuld you seek out your descendants? Revisit the place of your death? Is there something you would try to re-do, set right, avenge?
Awesome idea! So instead of a mistake you died because of a trap someone made for you. Of course because god gave you a second chance your mission wont be to kill him but to put him in the jail! (for example, you found his underground room
full of dead bodies ^^
This map has a unique premise and a fairly straight forward adventure. But you MUST play it with 'survival' in mind (or on peaceful). I wanted to see more detail or disguise of the terrain (a lot of spheres).
This was a hard map to grade. After 4 hours of playing I am nowhere near done... or rather, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do other than keep exploring town after town. This map has a ridiculous number of small "instances" with puzzles. An enormous amount of effort, and they're all varied. But looking at my score (only 5 slime) after 4 hours and no idea where I left the storyline, I am going to put this one aside for a while. Too many other maps to try.
This turned out to be pretty enjoyable! I was getting worried after the 3rd puzzle room, but F2B showed me 4 thing I've never seen before. I particularly like a puzzle with a bucket. And I did chuckle at two points during the "story".
The map feels like an actual town (fairly large) and has many nice details represented. The majority of play will be running errangs for over 26 townspeople and collecting 'money' to upgrade your home (Turk called it a 'Treasure Hunt' in his banner. There is an overarching storyline with multiple endings, but it gets a little lost in the running around. The dialogue in the notes felt to me like it was intentionally "street".
And so is Pokemon. :tongue.gif:
I have it on my list to go back and rate with my 20-point scale, but not sure how soon I can get to it. Last time I downloaded (and played on multiplayer with my 8 year old) I don't think the whole region was finished? I think only up to one of the caves...
Lol. I love how your map gets a perfect score. Isn't that a bit... I dunno, biased?
Probably. It's definitely subjective. But i made the scale. Every rating has a clear definition of what i like in a map. And then i made a map trying to hit all those criteria. You will see that i have released more than 6 maps and my older ones score much lower.
Play them and see if you like any. Feel free to provide constructive criticism.
If you have questions or disagree with a particular rating, please let me know. I will be happy to rethink it. One of the risks in putting out a numeric scale, as i have, is that my playthrough can be totally different from someone else's. I hope my notes and suggestions will help you, but i am just one opinion.
If i had been 'led' thru your story, i might have made it a 2. But i think your point (in the forum post and note 3) was to give players more freedom. Yet, in playing your map, i couldn't find any incentive to explore. In fact, i feel if you do explore you will miss parts of the main story that take away from the experience. I was even hesitant to mark 2 categories down. So i went and read the note files that we had missed.
Lastly... The more maps i play (and like) that inherently raises the bar on what 'average' means.
Probably. It's definitely subjective. But i made the scale. Every rating has a clear definition of what i like in a map. And then i made a map trying to hit all those criteria. You will see that i have released more than 6 maps and my older ones score much lower.
Play them and see if you like any. Feel free to provide constructive criticism.
If you have questions or disagree with a particular rating, please let me know. I will be happy to rethink it. One of the risks in putting out a numeric scale, as i have, is that my playthrough can be totally different from someone else's. I hope my notes and suggestions will help you, but i am just one opinion.
If i had been 'led' thru your story, i might have made it a 2. But i think your point (in the forum post and note 3) was to give players more freedom. Yet, in playing your map, i couldn't find any incentive to explore. In fact, i feel if you do explore you will miss parts of the main story that take away from the experience. I was even hesitant to mark 2 categories down. So i went and read the note files that we had missed.
Lastly... The more maps i play (and like) that inherently raises the bar on what 'average' means.
Ah, actually didn't realize you'd reviewed my map. I'd checked before, but usually just ctrl-f'd and missed it because both my name and the map's name are misspelled. I dunno, you sure you're being thorough with these reviews and actually playing and paying attention to the maps?
But yeah, I'd just glanced and saw your map was rated perfectly. That just doesn't seem right to me. If you wanted to be regarded as a trusted reviewer, I don't think it's a good idea to rate your own maps as perfect without some evidence. I'd recommend maybe writing more "full" reviews for maps (explaining the points you give).
That said, yeah, I respect your points about my map. It's not for everyone, definitely. I think it's more entertaining for those who enjoy more exploration based games rather than straight adventure. I wanted to put the player in the shoes of the adventurer. You (as far as I can tell) are more of a story based type of player, which I understand. I think you just didn't really get the point of the notes in my map. They're not as much there to provide a goal for players -- they're there to be a choice. Players can choose to follow the story, or, if it pleases them, blow up all the towns methodically if they want. I also tried to lay out the notes in TSF to not particularly be dependent on eachother, so that if someone came upon one in their exploring, they may be a bit confused, but if they choose to go back and find the notes in order, nothing'll be spoiled too severely.
Two gorgeous cities with detail - easily on par or better than my own level of detail (except no redstone was used). Fun to find the ~100 hidden gold ingots. As far as creation goes, it's a perfect score.
However... it's absolutely NOT an adventure map. There are no quests or story. I believe there's only one minor puzzle and fight (opening the bridge). And, if it did have a story, the best armor is too readily available, so progression score would suffer.
Ah, actually didn't realize you'd reviewed my map. I'd checked before, but usually just ctrl-f'd and missed it because both my name and the map's name are misspelled. I dunno, you sure you're being thorough with these reviews and actually playing and paying attention to the maps?
I fixed that now - very sorry! Stolen Fortune absolutely makes more sense to the story line (not sure how Future got stuck in my head).
I think what happend is when I copied your save folder to my server, I shortened the name to 'Stolen' (so I wouldn't have to type it all into my server.properties file) and then I didn't see the official title (or author's name) in your 'notes' files so I jotted it down wrongly in my notepad file. I should have corrected that when I searched up your post, before I submitted the reply.
But yeah, I'd just glanced and saw your map was rated perfectly. That just doesn't seem right to me. If you wanted to be regarded as a trusted reviewer, I don't think it's a good idea to rate your own maps as perfect without some evidence. I'd recommend maybe writing more "full" reviews for maps (explaining the points you give).
That's a great idea. I should do that. First, I will take my maps out of the rated list just so there's no confusion.
I think it's more entertaining for those who enjoy more exploration based games rather than straight adventure.
I respect that. Here's my question... if I go off of the 'path' that your storyline follows... do you believe that there are places/encounters that you created, that can be discovered by the player? The first thing we did was go and explore Tessing and Stine. Tessing led to Cetchel and Sancre(spelling?) and note 6 (if I remember right). Stine led to note 3. So we realized we had messed up the storyline and went back to the starting house, and to Dinsar (spelling?). We found note 2 and retraced our steps to 3, then tried to follow the story and came across 6. In the distance, I saw a stone wall that I though was part of Sancre so I went there and came across note 10. So again, we went off the path and missed out on the story.
I am glad to see other players found this map enjoyable. Unfortunately, it didn't quite do it for me. I am looking forward to your next map (Nations United I think? I often forget names) to see how it improved on this one.
Guess its from my xera map? Well screw it, fixed on my other map ^^
I got the story now but i need some help, as i see you got a lot of free time and are a good criticiser, im gonna seek help here !
Ok the story goes like this (as short as possible) :
"You are born in heaven (floating islands), signs tell you that youve been sleeping for 25 years and that you missed of everything what happened to earth (you are god akatosh), so your mission is to go back to earth, try not to use your powers (cheat ^^), see whats going on and in the mean time help people and have some fun :smile.gif:"
The map will be very simillar to my xera map but i just got this story problem.. The problem is that idk what next?!
Any ideas how to expand the story? Giving some goals for the players?
Oh and one more thing, do you think quests in pictures (downloadable with map) are a good idea? I already made them and they look awesome.. i can message you then but they are kind of secret so dont share ^^
Thanks in advance !
I like it. One thing you could do is start off in your life in some predicament it's impossible to survive. For example, standing on a + block in the middle of lava with ghasts above and creepers coming from every direction. And then die and respawn in heaven.
Why tell them the duration? Make it seem like no time has passed, but when they get back down to earth they start realizing it's been a LONG time. Maybe you started in a little village (backing up before the death part) and when you get back down it's grown to skyscrapers. Subtle/quick flashes at first - You could start off in a nursery with a crib and a sign ... "your life flashes before your eyes"... go outside and see something like ..."the tree where you broke your leg at age 5"... "the park bench you met Sarah" ... "the mine where you worked to feed your family"... and then go into the mine and get into that death situation.
Not sure if 'Akatosh' is critical to the rest of your story? Could you just be a normal person?
So you have a good hook. But what's next? Feel free to send me your secret pictures [email protected] or PM me.
There are a lot of places you could go from here.
Think about it like this... Start with motivation. If YOU came back from the dead what's the first thing you'd do? Would you seek out your family, only to find out they died hundreds of years ago? WOuld you seek out your descendants? Revisit the place of your death? Is there something you would try to re-do, set right, avenge? The main character probably isn't going to get satisfaction on his past. At some point needs to accept it and "move on". Maybe asking "WHY me? why was I sent back?" - which could lead to a quest, or... during that experience, you introduce some unexpected issue that the main character grasps on to as his quest.
If you can get the player invested in your character and back story, then the actual quest will be all the more because we'll tend to have this little roleplay voice in the back of our heads.
Good idea! Ill mix it up a bit :wink.gif: Whatcha think of: " you have mistaken something in your life and died because of that mistake, of course player dies in the game and respawns at heaven. Then the god gives him a second chance if he will do good deeds on earth! (Much more awesome, thanks!
Im a lame story maker lol, but those wont matter as ill change the story. Starting in a little village with your familly.. hm.. that sounds nice and ill work on it! Another good idea is to make medium size main quests like "you must find your missing friend or familly member or searching for an ancient treasure, recovering the supplies of a village..
EMAIL SENT.
Awesome idea! So instead of a mistake you died because of a trap someone made for you. Of course because god gave you a second chance your mission wont be to kill him but to put him in the jail! (for example, you found his underground room
full of dead bodies ^^
Shadow of Mars v1.2
By: Raziel
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/238845-
This map has a unique premise and a fairly straight forward adventure. But you MUST play it with 'survival' in mind (or on peaceful). I wanted to see more detail or disguise of the terrain (a lot of spheres).
Map Total Rating (out of 20): 12
Lands of Xera v0.5 (Easy file)
By: Robertx32
URL: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/302956-
This was a hard map to grade. After 4 hours of playing I am nowhere near done... or rather, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do other than keep exploring town after town. This map has a ridiculous number of small "instances" with puzzles. An enormous amount of effort, and they're all varied. But looking at my score (only 5 slime) after 4 hours and no idea where I left the storyline, I am going to put this one aside for a while. Too many other maps to try.
Map Total Rating (out of 20): 12
The Lure into the Endless, v2.1.5
By: F2B
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/359162-
Map Total Rating (out of 20): 12
This turned out to be pretty enjoyable! I was getting worried after the 3rd puzzle room, but F2B showed me 4 thing I've never seen before. I particularly like a puzzle with a bucket. And I did chuckle at two points during the "story".
[Adv] KNOWING v.2 by ModernTurk
12/20
The map feels like an actual town (fairly large) and has many nice details represented. The majority of play will be running errangs for over 26 townspeople and collecting 'money' to upgrade your home (Turk called it a 'Treasure Hunt' in his banner. There is an overarching storyline with multiple endings, but it gets a little lost in the running around. The dialogue in the notes felt to me like it was intentionally "street".
It is a bit ubiquitous, isn't it?
And so is Pokemon. :tongue.gif:
I have it on my list to go back and rate with my 20-point scale, but not sure how soon I can get to it. Last time I downloaded (and played on multiplayer with my 8 year old) I don't think the whole region was finished? I think only up to one of the caves...
Probably. It's definitely subjective. But i made the scale. Every rating has a clear definition of what i like in a map. And then i made a map trying to hit all those criteria. You will see that i have released more than 6 maps and my older ones score much lower.
Play them and see if you like any. Feel free to provide constructive criticism.
If you have questions or disagree with a particular rating, please let me know. I will be happy to rethink it. One of the risks in putting out a numeric scale, as i have, is that my playthrough can be totally different from someone else's. I hope my notes and suggestions will help you, but i am just one opinion.
If i had been 'led' thru your story, i might have made it a 2. But i think your point (in the forum post and note 3) was to give players more freedom. Yet, in playing your map, i couldn't find any incentive to explore. In fact, i feel if you do explore you will miss parts of the main story that take away from the experience. I was even hesitant to mark 2 categories down. So i went and read the note files that we had missed.
Lastly... The more maps i play (and like) that inherently raises the bar on what 'average' means.
Ah, actually didn't realize you'd reviewed my map. I'd checked before, but usually just ctrl-f'd and missed it because both my name and the map's name are misspelled. I dunno, you sure you're being thorough with these reviews and actually playing and paying attention to the maps?
But yeah, I'd just glanced and saw your map was rated perfectly. That just doesn't seem right to me. If you wanted to be regarded as a trusted reviewer, I don't think it's a good idea to rate your own maps as perfect without some evidence. I'd recommend maybe writing more "full" reviews for maps (explaining the points you give).
That said, yeah, I respect your points about my map. It's not for everyone, definitely. I think it's more entertaining for those who enjoy more exploration based games rather than straight adventure. I wanted to put the player in the shoes of the adventurer. You (as far as I can tell) are more of a story based type of player, which I understand. I think you just didn't really get the point of the notes in my map. They're not as much there to provide a goal for players -- they're there to be a choice. Players can choose to follow the story, or, if it pleases them, blow up all the towns methodically if they want. I also tried to lay out the notes in TSF to not particularly be dependent on eachother, so that if someone came upon one in their exploring, they may be a bit confused, but if they choose to go back and find the notes in order, nothing'll be spoiled too severely.
The Land of Kronos
Version: 2.0
By: benhutchings
URL: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/389947-
Map Total Rating (out of 20): 11
Two gorgeous cities with detail - easily on par or better than my own level of detail (except no redstone was used). Fun to find the ~100 hidden gold ingots. As far as creation goes, it's a perfect score.
However... it's absolutely NOT an adventure map. There are no quests or story. I believe there's only one minor puzzle and fight (opening the bridge). And, if it did have a story, the best armor is too readily available, so progression score would suffer.
I fixed that now - very sorry! Stolen Fortune absolutely makes more sense to the story line (not sure how Future got stuck in my head).
I think what happend is when I copied your save folder to my server, I shortened the name to 'Stolen' (so I wouldn't have to type it all into my server.properties file) and then I didn't see the official title (or author's name) in your 'notes' files so I jotted it down wrongly in my notepad file. I should have corrected that when I searched up your post, before I submitted the reply.
That's a great idea. I should do that. First, I will take my maps out of the rated list just so there's no confusion.
I respect that. Here's my question... if I go off of the 'path' that your storyline follows... do you believe that there are places/encounters that you created, that can be discovered by the player? The first thing we did was go and explore Tessing and Stine. Tessing led to Cetchel and Sancre(spelling?) and note 6 (if I remember right). Stine led to note 3. So we realized we had messed up the storyline and went back to the starting house, and to Dinsar (spelling?). We found note 2 and retraced our steps to 3, then tried to follow the story and came across 6. In the distance, I saw a stone wall that I though was part of Sancre so I went there and came across note 10. So again, we went off the path and missed out on the story.
I am glad to see other players found this map enjoyable. Unfortunately, it didn't quite do it for me. I am looking forward to your next map (Nations United I think? I often forget names) to see how it improved on this one.
Removed the ratings from my own maps. Removed my maps from the rating list.
Absolutely