Maps Adventure map design practices?

A map has a giant base, minable ore, parkour, a few puzzles, and plot sprinkled about. Is it:

  • An Adventure Map

  • A Parkour Map

  • A Survival Map

  • A Puzzle Map

  • A Fortress/Living Quarters Map (Curse.com lists that, but it isn't listed here)


Results are only viewable after voting.

Darkstar01

Official Terrarian
I'm currently working on an adventure map; in fact, I'm probably more than 2/3 done. In light of that fact, some of the questions I'm about to ask will seem nonsensical, but just hear me out. Also keep in mind that this isn't just for me, since other people might wonder about these, too. I understand that some (all?) of these questions won't have definitive, objective, answers, and I don't expect them to be. Just tell me whatever comes to mind. Now, ahem...

1. What makes an adventure map an adventure? If a survival map just involves standard progression, does an adventure map have to explicitly hand you all items/you find them, or does the flow of progression merely need to be directed in some way? Are there any other things that can make it adventurey? I'm probably way overthinking this. :rolleyes:

2. How do you make an adventure map? The obvious answer is TEdit, but then what's the second step? If you make a blank world in TEdit, that might be too much freedom for some people to handle. :confused: Is it okay to use pieces from naturally existing maps for a frame? For significant areas? Is there a level of copypasta beyond which is frowned upon, and if so, at roughly what point do we get there?

3. How good does a map have to be, and how can we tell? If a map isn't super awesome with gorgeous builds will people still play it? Will they like it? Or does the map just need to not be broken, and have mostly sane balancing and progression to be enjoyable?
Can you figure out why I'm asking this, yet? :sigh:

P.S. The poll only lets you pick one because you can only pick one prefix for a thread. If you had to pick, which would it be?
 
Well, since literally no one has replied to this thread... :sigh:
I guess I'll try to give some of my own answers first.

1. I would say that an adventure map is anything that feels like an adventure. Parkour, boss arenas, fortresses, and puzzles can all be part of that, but if a map is composed entirely of one of these, then it probably ins't really an adventure. While there doesn't necessarily need to be a plot (though having one can help), there should be some sense of cohesion.

Having a bunch of random puzzles and parkour areas in a world can be chaotic, but if there's something binding them together, say, themes, and/or a general sense of progression, then it will feel like a more unified whole. And of course progression should be controlled in some way, even if those controls are loose. IF the goal is to beat WoF, but there are no rules, then someone can just pull a Ningushu and kill WoF almost immediately after starting.

2. It might help to start with some kind of theme, however general that might be. Even if the theme is 'Corruption', that doesn't mean the entire map need to be Corruption based, just that the Corruption should play an integral role. Maybe you'll take inspiration from somewhere else and project it into your work.

Many of the major locations in the adventure map I'm working on right now are based on important landmarks in my first console world. Before I got Terraria on PC, I had started leaving signposts around that world with bits of the lore I imagined for it, and here I am now adapting it into an actual adventure map. Of course, that just gave me a general sense of direction; I had to fill in all of the blanks on my own. And that's a fairly simple map... I think.

You don't have to base it on existing biomes; you could build things based on other themes, such as Meteorite, Martian, Adamantite, etc. You could even use some paint and mood lighting and heavily modify an area to create a unique biome of your very own (though you'll still have to follow standard Terraria spawning rules, etc, unless you have mods).

3. I haven't a clue. I know the answer is ultimately subjective, but go ahead; give me your totally subjective approximation.
 
Sadly this section is one of the deadest places on the forums, so it's no surprise that you haven't gotten any replies :(.

1. How I see it, an adventure map is a map where you generally follow some kind of story, and you may not destroy most blocks. Adventure maps for me are those where the mapmaker has prepared challenges for the player, and has decided at which point the player will reach them. Of course this depends on how open the adventure map is. The one I'm working on, for example, is a linear map as you can only really travel in one direction.

2. It depends entirely on what kind of map you're doing, sometimes you might wanna come up with a plot before you build as well. When I started the map I'm working on now I just used a normal generated world and improvised, making dungeons, towns or other things wherever I saw fit.

3. Since there aren't a lot of maps around, at least not on the TCF, a map can get attention even if it's not the greatest or prettiest map ever. As long as it's balanced and fun, there's no need to worry.
 
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