Take it from me, as someone who has had quite a bit of Youtuber coverage. CaptainSparklez, Logdotzip, JeromeASF, MinecraftUniverse, and hundreds of smaller channels have played through my work. So if you really want your map to be played by your idol, you'd best give this a quick readthrough, as I'd bet it'll give you at least a sprig of a chance.
First of all, here's the simplest part; get rid of the whole "made for soandso" thing. You can have a clever nod hidden somewhere in the map, or maybe a message that only shows itself to a specific person at the end, but anything more and it'll just be awkward, for both your everyday player and your big internet star. And if it's awkward for players, the less likely they are to review it, share it with friends, all the stuff that helps make a map popular. And that's one of the first factors likely to catch a Youtuber's eye - popularity. (Unless you want to get on Bad Map Weekend, which I doubt.)
Secondly - and this is the part where it gets tricky - you need to put in EFFORT. I know that seems like a scary word - and it should be. It's much easier to make a quick knockoff of a popular map, than to make a whole new concept. But here's the thing. Quick knockoffs are quickly (Pun intended) lost and forgotten, because people have already seen them a million times. Remember the whole popularity thing? Now, this isn't to say you can't make a good knockoff. For instance, if a person were to take this "burning house minigame" trend and advance it with better redstone, effects, builds, hell, maybe even a story, their map would gain more popularity than the other knockoffs because it surpasses the original. And that's factor 2 - quality.
And now, finally, we reach the biggest factor. What will make your chances higher than both things I listen above combined. It's just one word and I probably don't even have to explain it. Here you go -
INNOVATION.
Look at the most popular maps ever released. Herobrine's Mansion. Diversity 1 and 2. Freaking Skyblock. Know what they have in common? Creativity. Ingenuity. Passion. These people were able to take what they had in Minecraft's base engine and elevate it to a level previously believed to be impossible. This is ultimately what makes a good map. You have to make an original concept. An original story. An original world. Do that correctly, and Youtubers will be BEGGING to play your maps.
And, as a side effect, I won't get peeved by seeing the same map over and over.
Another big thing is not having your feature screenshot be an empty void with a few blocks, or having your camera stare at a blank wall of nothing. I can personally say that a well made forum thread post has convinced me to play a lot of things, and a poor forum thread post USUALLY means the map is bad.
I can personally say that a well made forum thread post has convinced me to play a lot of things, and a poor forum thread post USUALLY means the map is bad.
Honestly, that's what makes me even check something out in the first place - is having a good description of something, but at the same time not writing a linear description of what you have to do throughout the whole map. If you ruin what I have to do to complete a map, you take away any wonder I might have and one of the key reasons I'd otherwise try it.
Great points! I figured I would chime in since a lot of the maps have been made for my channel and I have probably played almost 100 of them for Youtube at this point. I do believe though that if the Youtuber is expecting them, then putting made for and there name in the title is actually helpful considering I go through the forums looking for fan made maps. The most important thing is a well made map you put effort in, but also if it doesn't have a few good screenshots we wont know to download it. I go through lots of maps each day and it would take hours to download all the ones that have no screenshots, so I need to pass over a lot of those. If the screenshots look great it is an instant download to check out though!
I'd really stress the effort point! It disappoints me when I download a map, and I realize that there's no sign of real work. For example, puzzle maps! I see plenty of maps wit "don't break block" rules! If they really put effort in, they would use adventure mode with CanBreak and CanPlaceOn tags.
I'm gonna tell you a secret.
You're doing it wrong.
Take it from me, as someone who has had quite a bit of Youtuber coverage. CaptainSparklez, Logdotzip, JeromeASF, MinecraftUniverse, and hundreds of smaller channels have played through my work. So if you really want your map to be played by your idol, you'd best give this a quick readthrough, as I'd bet it'll give you at least a sprig of a chance.
First of all, here's the simplest part; get rid of the whole "made for soandso" thing. You can have a clever nod hidden somewhere in the map, or maybe a message that only shows itself to a specific person at the end, but anything more and it'll just be awkward, for both your everyday player and your big internet star. And if it's awkward for players, the less likely they are to review it, share it with friends, all the stuff that helps make a map popular. And that's one of the first factors likely to catch a Youtuber's eye - popularity. (Unless you want to get on Bad Map Weekend, which I doubt.)
Secondly - and this is the part where it gets tricky - you need to put in EFFORT. I know that seems like a scary word - and it should be. It's much easier to make a quick knockoff of a popular map, than to make a whole new concept. But here's the thing. Quick knockoffs are quickly (Pun intended) lost and forgotten, because people have already seen them a million times. Remember the whole popularity thing? Now, this isn't to say you can't make a good knockoff. For instance, if a person were to take this "burning house minigame" trend and advance it with better redstone, effects, builds, hell, maybe even a story, their map would gain more popularity than the other knockoffs because it surpasses the original. And that's factor 2 - quality.
And now, finally, we reach the biggest factor. What will make your chances higher than both things I listen above combined. It's just one word and I probably don't even have to explain it. Here you go -
INNOVATION.
Look at the most popular maps ever released. Herobrine's Mansion. Diversity 1 and 2. Freaking Skyblock. Know what they have in common? Creativity. Ingenuity. Passion. These people were able to take what they had in Minecraft's base engine and elevate it to a level previously believed to be impossible. This is ultimately what makes a good map. You have to make an original concept. An original story. An original world. Do that correctly, and Youtubers will be BEGGING to play your maps.
And, as a side effect, I won't get peeved by seeing the same map over and over.
Good luck, people. You'll need it.
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Dang. Nice words of wisdom. It really motivates me to work harder on my map! (and I'm not being sarcastic)
(however shouldn't this be in the map discussion area?)
Games:
[2012] Floater [HTML5 Javascript Game]: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/2619031-html5-gamefloater-a-game-about-scuba-diving/
Another big thing is not having your feature screenshot be an empty void with a few blocks, or having your camera stare at a blank wall of nothing. I can personally say that a well made forum thread post has convinced me to play a lot of things, and a poor forum thread post USUALLY means the map is bad.
One more thing is, You need to Use new & not-often used Features.
Creator of "Spawncube" Click here to go to forum thread! - THEGamingninja
My Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/THEGamingninjaGamingPC Remember to Subscribe!
Honestly, that's what makes me even check something out in the first place - is having a good description of something, but at the same time not writing a linear description of what you have to do throughout the whole map. If you ruin what I have to do to complete a map, you take away any wonder I might have and one of the key reasons I'd otherwise try it.
They mentioned that with creativity.
Sincerely, AciD
YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/xlxAciDxlx
Facebook: http://facebook.com/xlxAciDxlx
Twitter: http://twitter.com/xlxAciDxlx
Great points! I figured I would chime in since a lot of the maps have been made for my channel and I have probably played almost 100 of them for Youtube at this point. I do believe though that if the Youtuber is expecting them, then putting made for and there name in the title is actually helpful considering I go through the forums looking for fan made maps. The most important thing is a well made map you put effort in, but also if it doesn't have a few good screenshots we wont know to download it. I go through lots of maps each day and it would take hours to download all the ones that have no screenshots, so I need to pass over a lot of those. If the screenshots look great it is an instant download to check out though!
I'd really stress the effort point! It disappoints me when I download a map, and I realize that there's no sign of real work. For example, puzzle maps! I see plenty of maps wit "don't break block" rules! If they really put effort in, they would use adventure mode with CanBreak and CanPlaceOn tags.
IQ Test
Please don't use this thread to advertise stuff to Youtubers.
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