Minecraft Forums

Opening thought:A while ago when I was struggling with how to do a review of Wileynator's Minecraft Town I had written up part of an opening that suggested that larrge and expansive worlds are somewhat flawed because players aren't going to want to spend hours walking the game world... I think this map may have proved me wrong... lets see.

Visual:The views on this map are something different, most maps I do revolve around buildings and strngish imagery. This map, by comparrison, seems to be centred around the terain, every different section within in the map has been sculpted within an inch of their lives, in a good way. The colours of woods, sand and snow are niceley varied over the areas. It would also be very remiss of me to point out the endings, right here and now I am going to start with some spoilers, if you don't want to know then go to the Final Thoughts now. Now I've spoken before about a center piece that can truely make a mp, and here it takes the form of multiple endings with each of them having a fully recreated version of your starting area, in differing stages of hellish possesion, it is really impressive when you consider the smallish area that the creator is working within.
[9.75/10]

Challenge:This map is mostly adventure, but alot of the next natural steps require some serious thought on how to proceed. But when puzzles do show up they work well in slowly building their way from simple jumps through trees to truley difficult jumps in mid-air.
[4.5/5]

Length:As I said in this opening this map is really long, and it took me forever to get to the end... but I did get to then end, the map made me want to keep playing because of the way it is all conneted, the extra challenges of hunting gold and bedrock in the overworld is made fun by the continued upgrading of your tools to access new areas. And whats even more supprising s when you finally make it to the end you might want to keep playing! The irst time I got the average eding because I missed one rescue and as such I went back and spent another hour messing around just to reach the full end.
[4.5/5]

Story:I've played through 3 endings and can honestly say at this point that I have never seen a map so ambigious in its plot, from what I am sure you are returning to your home village only to find an old frined of some description who may or may not be evil and he is kidnapping villigers, but because you're a great guy you try to help and screw everything up. The whole lot is a tad unclear in its inception but one you get into the thing it begins to make a lot more sense, however not in its entirity and this is the part that I persoanlly enjoyed, having the ability to draw your own interpretation of a story adds to its personal and engrossing nature.
[9.5/10]

Redstone:Yep Im once more dragging out an 'other' category, not to add to the score but to give some serious props for some brilliant work. I can't even descibe how well the redstone works within its self, but let me give you one example. As you run around looking for a way down a tower, once you work it out you walk a bit more only to end up where you began, confsed you alk abck to your 'quest giver' only todiscover you've opened up a new way somehow? This is probably the simpleit redsone use but it really is awesome.

Things that need Improvement:- ... Make it clearer that you need to visit the man at the top of the mansion after the garden?? Thats all I've got.

Things that need No-Improvement:- EVERYTHING ELSE

Final Thoughts:As you may have gatthered I really enjoyed and was really impressed by this map, it does so well in not oly making a good looking and engrossing map, but it also has so many new and interesting ideas. This ends up tieing for my favourite map so as you may expect I suggest everyone who enjoys adventure maps and intriguing new ideas play this one, because it is brilliant!

Percentage Score: 95%

The plot origins are a play off of the minecraft journey itself, which I thought was quite interesting. Apparently you have gone out to have some adventure, mining, crafting, building, and so forth, and now, more mature, you come back to your hometown. Unfortunately, people are disappearing, and everyone suspects the old man who owns this enormous mansion.

The story itself is a bit out there, and it twists in on itself creating a very strained ending sequence, but what's cool about it is that there are multiple endings. Spoiler Alert: I got the WORST ONE. There are all sorts of gold bars everywhere, and those are your score, I got Explorer Jr., which is the 3rd rank up. So... yay?

You may have noticed that I did not summarize the plot, this is for two reasons.

1: I do not know all the endings
2: You really should just play this yourself

There are several features that make this map easy to love. Redstone work is absolutely STELLAR. Just the little things make it SO AWESOME. The specialized too feature was interesting, basically you need a sword to cut through cobwebs, a diamond pick to break through Mossy Cobble, a diamond Shovel to break through clay, and a diamond axe to break through Birch. This was very interesting because it created a progression of sorts while saving space. THe corruption of Hades did a similar thing, but yours was much more finely executed.

The feature that pushed me over the edge? The NPC's.

Yes they are pumpkins on sticks, that is not what matters. What matters is that the old man will actually have different signs after you do certain tasks, I guess its done using explosions? Or pistons? I really don't know, I didn't investigate because I didn't want to lose the immersion I experienced.

There are flaws believe it or not. Besides some typos, your tasks were often unclear, and ill-defined. I usually just wandered around (finding a lot of gold) until I saw signs. The minecart room could have been done a little better, it was confusing at its best, and downright ugly and bothersome at its worst. Don't criss-cross all your tracks! Keep them isolated. There were a few areas where I fell into the redstone chambers, but that was probably my fault in retrospect.

The combat seemed like a "For the hell of it" addition. Yeah, it was fun, but it felt a little out of place.

This is a great balance of Linear gameplay and Open world exploration and choice. Speaking of which, I decided to not save any of the people, and I brutally mrdered the captured ones with lava... (BY ACCIDENT MIND YOU!) So, maybe I could have done a little better.

This is an RPG reminiscent of Fallout or Elder Scrolls. (That is a BIG complement mind you.) More people should play this. Its no wonder Albarel(?) recommended this to me. Simply Fantastic.

Play this. If you play nothing else, play this.

Wow. That was something. Eronev mansion is definitely one of the best maps I have played. So many unique things I have never seen before made this experience an exciting one. But before I start, let me just confess that because of me, all the villagers are dead. Yes, my ending wasn't the best.

Lets start with the unique things. Pumpkin npcs. Ok, I have actually seen these before in maps, but how they were implemented was done very well. The creator even made fun of the fact that they were pumpkins quite a lot, which I found very entertaining. The dynamic text boxes were amazing. I didn't even know that was possible. Definitely helps it stand out from other maps. And unique buildings. The buildings in this map were all different in size, shape and material. Even your house looks like it should, cozy and homely. Multiple endings helped make this map that much more unique.

What blew me away with this map, is the amount of redstone circuitry it would have taken to make this. I can't imagine how much work it would have taken to even make the mine cart station(which was amazing by the way). This map was pieced together extremely well, as I did not find any typos or large bugs, which is saying something for the amount of things that could have gone wrong with the redstone.

Every map has its flaws though, and now I will explain why it did not get a perfect 10. Unfortunately, I got extremely confused at some points during the map, and at one point, almost quit. The story got pretty confusing after leaving the mansion through the painting hallway. I think the creator should give better directions on what you need to do during this part in the map. Other than that, the story could have been better. My tips for that are below.

Overall, this is a fantastic map, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes adventure maps.

A fairly long, interesting, and sweet map, this particular adventure has a ton of new features including talking NPCs and upgrades. With tons of action, puzzles, redstone areas, and piston projects, it will disappoint only the most brutal of map reviewers - and even then I am probably wrong. The construction here was just incredible. So go ahead, readers, give the map a shot. You won't regret it. That, I DO guarantee.

A collection of well thought-out features in this map were just a few of the things that made me excited for what was waiting around the next turn. A unique upgrade system that allowed you to break certain blocks only after achieving goals was very original, fun, and neat. It wasn't messy, with things laid out all over the place - it was very casual, which in this case is a very good thing. Another really nice feature were talking NPC's with pumpkin heads. I know this wasn't really supposed to happen, but with the texture pack I was using (Europhia's Clean Pack 2.4) they looked like they had huge grins on their faces. Still, the effect on the player's attention span was quite nice, as they were a key feature. It is too bad that they slowly began disappearing as the map progressed - I would like to see more of those, Jigarbov! I really liked them. Another feature, which is not particularly new, is a scoring system, having diamonds / gold bars (I can't remember which) laid out throughout the map. It didn't have a huge effect on me, though overall I'm glad it was implemented. The map took me about 95 minutes to complete, though I have a feeling there was a bit of stuff I missed. The interesting features of the map, two of which are completely original, support the length greatly. Overall, everything is held up, with just a little difficulty, in Eronev Mansion Adventure's length aspect.

A great variety of puzzles, all of which are unique, fill this map with enjoyment. They often have old features which are then upgraded to change them around into something you've never seen before. More on that in the puzzle section. Meanwhile, mob fights are unfortunately scarce. For an adventure map, this is sad, as they are a main part of the genre, though it still holds up in the end. While immersed in one of the amazing, well-crafted puzzles, you will hardly notice this. Still, I believe that some more fights would be nice. They would add more flavor, I guess.

The story is new and unseen, though it is not the most incredible. While it feels very original and exciting at the beginning when you talk to a large number of Pumpkin-People, it slowly goes down the drain as puzzles begin filling up the rest of the length. Basically, you return from a great journey looking for your parents. Your home town of Eronev has changed since then; it is no longer bright and sunny, and instead it seems "filled with panic". The place is built with a lot of brand new buildings which compliment the plot well, though the mansion is just a little too big for the little town. It towers over them, which I believe happened purposely, yet something is out of place there. Anyway, back to where I was, the old man in the mansion is supposedly kidnapping people and, though you just got back, you must rescue the unfortunate missing people - by going on a one of a kind adventure into Eronev Mansion. Like I stated before, the plot is thick with drama, then fades into almost nothing but a few encounters here and there, though luckily it picks back up at the end. This story format is unfortunately typical in most adventure maps these days, yet in this map I don't mind it as much. Maybe it is the charm of the construction and that the very interesting encounters you DO get in the map (though they may be few) are fun.

The puzzles were THE highlight from this map. They kept it alive, with old and new features and, to my pleasure, the SLIGHTEST bit of parkour. In fact, I don't even believe there was any parkour; I played this map over three days ago, and my memory is anything but eidetic. I particularly loved the note block puzzle where you heard the music and then had to play it by pressing pressure plates. I have honestly never seen anything like that - quite a nice idea. The concept for repairing the different railway systems with some redstone along the way was a nice touch.

The atmospheric aspect was very quest-worthy and perilous at the beginning, with warnings from the townspeople about the man - yet like the plot dilemma of the map, this begins to fade into a more rushed phase. Still, I didn't give this gold for nothing. There is still that hint, that air of mistrust against the old man that really gets you going while you "play along" with what he orders you to do. The lack of NPCs is luckily compensated by an creepy sense of the old man watching you. Despite its problems here, Eronev Mansion Adventure still holds up strong here.

Overall, Eronev Mansion Adventure is a great adventure map with enjoyable features all around. It covers up everything neatly, pays great attention to detail, and makes for an incredibly enjoyable experience. The 3 great features that hold your attention span really upgrade this map to a whole new level I have not seen before. While it may not be the best made, or have the best plot, or even be the most enjoyable map I've played, IT IS PRETTY DAMN CLOSE!!!

Here is the armor set for Eronev Mansion Adventure:

No iron! Sweet!

This is an adventure map which seems to be doing fairly well. I watched some of the videos and read the thread and I gather that villagers are going missing. I sincerly hope there is more to it than that.

I start off in a nice little beach, I can see some buildings here and there and I can tell that the creator has put some effort into making the buildings look nice. There are a few NPc's around, each not being very helpful. So I follow a little path and think 'thats whatI'm talking about'. Many of the maps I've reviewed don't get great marks when it comes to the looks. But ahead of me I can see a huge mansion - and it looks amazing. Some zones of the map are aboslutley amazing and most are hand made. However I would love to see this quality of work in all areas of the map. There is nothing worse than one average spot in an amzing map - it seems worse then it really is.

Hidden around there area are also lot's of chests, most of the time they have gold ingots - which is the scoring system. These chests are everywhere and I can't imagine how many ingots there are to collect. Maybe it's overdoing it? No. I think it gives the map that great exploration factor.

The map also lets you use levers and buttons etc, however you can only place them at redstone ore blocks. Which is a great idea as they stand out and are easy to spot. SO after collecting some supplies I enter the big mansion , which still looks amazing. Another thing I noticed is how well the map is staged. It is quite a open place yet the creator still manages to direct you to places in order before you get to new areas. This makes the map more interesting and also adds a RPG feel.

I soon find a sort of transportation room which takes you too different challenges or outposts. Each outpost has a certain objective to be completed. I found this quite good and doesn't make the map very cluttered. However I don't feel like it suits the theme of the map. I also would have prefered if the tunnels weren't just stone with ores in it. I would have liked the tunnel to be all of one block for Aesthetic purposes. As the map continued I felt like the creator got a bit slack in some sections. Some things seemed like they were just MCedited out of the Earth.

I soon find what is the first of some great redstone puzzles which use pistons. I abosultley love this but once again, it wasn't that original. This didn't detract from the experiance though - I just was expecting a bit more from the map after exploring some of it. However one puzzle was great, it reminded me of Portal too. YOu use pistons to direct water flow to take out torches. These once all gone let you advance. I must say that alot of work went into this map when it came to redstone. I won't explain all the puzzles and the rest of the map because I reccomend you play this map as soon s possible, it's a great fun!

This map is a must for redstone puzzle fanatics, the story has some great twists and turns. The map itself is amazngly large and you can waste a good hour or so playing it. Some of the builds are great but there are times in the map when the work seems to be a bit sloppy or rushed.

for Plot: It started off pretty cliche but had some nice twists and redirections. There were also great multiple endings.
for Challenges: This map has loads of great redstone puzzles. Each one is different from the rest and the best way to improve on this is to satisfy some of the less redstone fanatics.
for Aesthetics: Some of the builds in this map look great and are so much fun to explore. However every now and then you find yourself in an area which doesn't live up to the rest of the map. Honeslty this mp has the potential to be one of the best looking maps.
for Grammer: There is a tonne of signs in this map and of all the ones I read they all seemed perfect. Amazing Job!
for Bugs: For all the stuff in the map, even with msot being redstone stuff I didn't find any back-breaking bugs.
for Extra: This map uses a new system of rules about breaking blocks, it's sort of a level up method. I have seen this before but in a badly implemented manner, so Kudos for doing this well.. Also whats even cooler is that the pumpkin NPC's say different things (different signs) after certain taks. Whatever you did, pistons etc is amazing, absolutley loved that.

3.5/5: This map is absolutley great, the reason it didn't get an amazing mark though is because it is missing a little bit in every section. However this still leaves it a great map and I reccomend you give it a go. It's one of the better adventure map's I have played in a while.

Review Summary:
That was incredible. No question, the best adventure map I've ever played.
This map hits a perfect score on ALL of my rating criteria, and then goes above and beyond.
Some examples;
I was super impressed with the way the map maker 'contained' all of this goodness in what I would consider a medium-sized map area. The minecart and redstone tracks were just the right length.
I was also very impressed with the way they captured the Zelda-like feel and paced the armor and weapon upgrades, AND the tool upgrades, which gave us the opportunity to go back through past areas and use those tools to find more hidden stuff.
Not to mention the incredible redstone and noteblock contraptions.
In this map - you don't sit back and watch this stuff happen. You are part of the story at every turn. You are not just flicking a switch, you are placing blocks in the right places and then flicking switches to make things happen. The NPCs that you "save" along the way are re-used later to brilliant effect.
The story/dialogue is genius. Two specific examples that are repeated many times throughout the map;
1 - You read NPC dialogue from a sign, then you interact with the encounter, and that sign goes away. It's not just sitting there out of sequence.
2 - After major encounters, the dialogue in the quest hub "changes"! Meaning the signs get destroyed, blocks move, and reveal NEW dialogue for the next encounters. It's very very effective.
If you've read any of my other map reviews, I typically don't play for score. I play to get to the end of the story and if I happen to pick up some hidden score along the way, so be it. I typically end up with about half of the 'best available score'. But this time I was sucked into the hunt.


My Total Playtime: 5.5 hours
My Final Score: 38 gold blocks plus 4 gold ingots, all 8 villagers

Map Total Rating (out of 20): 20

The map's knife edge was it's personal style, the messages feel like they are talking to you, and not to just anyone, the multiple endings. Although I really think you could have expanded more on those personal messages, I thought it was very unique and made the map much more compelling to play.

The story wasn't amazing, but it was enough to keep the player wanting to find all the villagers, find out who the old man really is. Even though the gameplay did not draw back in the final parts of the map, the story definitely did. I was expecting a bigger and more unexpected ending, but the fact that a demon was released once the man stopped the sacrifices was a little depressing. Plus we never find out who the main character is, what he's like. He needed more of a backstory, then just "out surviving."

Nevertheless, the gameplay was stellar. Better than I have seen in a long time. It was fun, it wasn't redundant and the map kept introducing new and unique gameplay aspects that utilized Minecraft's engine to the fullest. Exploring the village was fun and rewarding and kept me wanting to search some more. I didn't mind because I would come across something promising so often. That was something that really gave the map it's final push. The dialog was very well done, it was very funny and the grammar and spelling made the extra difference.

There were a few bugs, I got stuck a few times, but it didn't matter too much. What I would like to see next time (I'm pretty sure there will be a next time) is getting closer to the other characters. I want to feel compassion and sadness for the people who made sacrifices to save the villagers and yourself. I would also like to see the personal style put into effect more. And it should go without saying, a better story. Though, I am absolutely certain you are capable of all of these aspects, as I have seen in the map.

The map wasn't the hardest map out there. Not that it's a bad thing, I mean, it is an adventure map. I don't think it should have been harder. The difficulty really suited the map and it's style.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the second part, and I truly hope that you will use my service again to review it as I thoroughly enjoyed playing to the fullest extent.
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