Map-Adventure Down the Well
- Thread starter Darthkitten
- Start date
SovereignVis
Terrarian
I might try to make my own adventure map when I finish my current project. One of the things I see in many maps is players being given some items way too early like grappling hooks. Making the rest of the map too easy. I looked around on the forums and didn't really find anything, but is there any kind of guide thread for making adventure maps? That's seems like it should be a thing, and we can have a list of the items broken down into different recommended tiers for what items the player should get first and what they should get later on. Same for weapons and traps. This could help map makers make more balanced maps. We could also put other stuff like guides on how to make some puzzles and other devices as well as many more tips that could help people with making there adventure maps. With the new stuff that was added in 1.3.1 a whole new world of possibilities have opened up and I think a whole new thread to explore these possibilities is needed.
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Darthkitten
Paladin
So, I don't think there's a guide for how to build adventure maps. I'd think it's mainly because there's no one right way to make an adventure map. You could put the grappling hook in at the start if you wanted, as long as the map is then built around that.
Just playing adventure maps should help give you ideas. Heck, playing video games in general will give you ideas. Parts of my map were inspired by games like Cave Story and Dark Souls.
If you need help with 1.3.1 stuff in general, there's not an adventure map guide, but a wiring guide available.
Maybe this will be useful?
Gwenyvier
Terrarian
Color removed so I can read it without having to highlight it.
I do not make maps, but I do play a lot of adventure maps that show up. For grapple hooks you can give them as early as you want as long as you build your map around the person having it. That means if you make a room with say a floor covered in lava and platforms on a timer you want to make sure they can't just cheese the room by just going across the ceiling. Cover the ceiling in jungle spikes. As an alternative you can give Climbing Gear instead, which has much the same, albeit much more limited uses. Don't make pixel perfect jumps, as those just piss people off.
For good trap and wiring mechanics check out Echos of a Lost World and Tales of a Terrarian. Echos has some brilliant one use triggers using boulders, cobwebs, and weapons. And T of T uses a lot of the new 1.3.1 mechanics. Since we're on traps, don't make completely unavoidable traps. Example: 3 block high hallway with pressure plates that trigger dart traps. Traps are fine, difficult traps add challenge, but unavoidable ones just piss people off (and will have me flat out remove the triggers for after you catching me with it once).
Aside from that just try to base your map around what you give your players to use. And don't forget to set up your rules for the map. For other things just remember there are people like me that purposefully try to break your map or sequence break (get items earlier than you anticipate). It is almost impossible to prevent, so don't worry about it too much.
Also... avoid the Arkalis. Love the weapon, but it chews through normal mode enemies far too easily for any combat oriented map.
JacobDaGun
Terrarian
So, overall, this was pretty enjoyable. I can't speak too boldy, since this IS the first adventure map I've ever played, but it was cool nonetheless.
I found all 3 endings, though the "flatten your path" thing at the end stumped me for longer than I would like to admit.
I had only a few qualms.
Firstly, why were there chests that had life fruits that you couldn't access, like in the volcano or above the water drain? I don't understand.
Secondly, a bit wraith heavy, but it made sense after a certain discovery.
Thirdly...was the "bad ending" victory room duplicated off to the right there?
Fourthly, not sure if this was just unlucky on my end or what, but the King Slime spawned on me like 5 times. I did get a Slime Hook through that, which led to many cheesings happening. (Sorry about that! ^_^' )
Fifthly, uh...not sure if I'm just an idiot or what, but the first time I rebooted up the map, I flipped the reset lever and...nothing...? Bug? Glitch? Faulty Wiring?
Sixthly, slightly bizzare weapon upgrade line, but maybe that was just me.
Seventhly, while fairly satisfying, the good ending was quite...vague? I wasn't quite sure what to do, but whatever.
Also, was the Tinker's Table intentional? Because I totally made an Obsidian Shield at that, and I'm not sure if that was intended.
Eighthly, red gem was (in my opinion) hidden FAR too well. I spent a good hour looking for the darned thing.
Aside from that...only other things I can say are that the Trash Can at the start is...kind of broken? I couldn't use it until I mined it up and put it back down.
Also, slightly disappointing lack of any Trap Chest usage. I would have really liked to have seen a bit more...or well, actually any.
I did find the sort of back and forth of "Hey, I have item X now, I can do this thing now!" was pretty great...though giving out such an early grappling hook felt...odd. I would have almost preferred Climbing Claws initially. (Of course I had the cheesy slime hook, but at the same time...???) Could have been placed a bit later, like past that hallway of fire with the forgeguy, or making a puzzle to get it rather than just a simple...room. I don't know, I just play the games, I don't make them.
I can't think of anything else to write, so I think that brings this very large text wall to a close. Insert bad joke about the Wall of Flesh here. I bid you all a good evening...or morning...or whatever time you're at right now.
I found all 3 endings, though the "flatten your path" thing at the end stumped me for longer than I would like to admit.
I had only a few qualms.
Firstly, why were there chests that had life fruits that you couldn't access, like in the volcano or above the water drain? I don't understand.
Secondly, a bit wraith heavy, but it made sense after a certain discovery.
Thirdly...was the "bad ending" victory room duplicated off to the right there?
Fourthly, not sure if this was just unlucky on my end or what, but the King Slime spawned on me like 5 times. I did get a Slime Hook through that, which led to many cheesings happening. (Sorry about that! ^_^' )
Fifthly, uh...not sure if I'm just an idiot or what, but the first time I rebooted up the map, I flipped the reset lever and...nothing...? Bug? Glitch? Faulty Wiring?
Sixthly, slightly bizzare weapon upgrade line, but maybe that was just me.
Seventhly, while fairly satisfying, the good ending was quite...vague? I wasn't quite sure what to do, but whatever.
Also, was the Tinker's Table intentional? Because I totally made an Obsidian Shield at that, and I'm not sure if that was intended.
Eighthly, red gem was (in my opinion) hidden FAR too well. I spent a good hour looking for the darned thing.
Aside from that...only other things I can say are that the Trash Can at the start is...kind of broken? I couldn't use it until I mined it up and put it back down.
Also, slightly disappointing lack of any Trap Chest usage. I would have really liked to have seen a bit more...or well, actually any.
I did find the sort of back and forth of "Hey, I have item X now, I can do this thing now!" was pretty great...though giving out such an early grappling hook felt...odd. I would have almost preferred Climbing Claws initially. (Of course I had the cheesy slime hook, but at the same time...???) Could have been placed a bit later, like past that hallway of fire with the forgeguy, or making a puzzle to get it rather than just a simple...room. I don't know, I just play the games, I don't make them.
I can't think of anything else to write, so I think that brings this very large text wall to a close. Insert bad joke about the Wall of Flesh here. I bid you all a good evening...or morning...or whatever time you're at right now.
Gwenyvier
Terrarian
@JacobDaGun
Right before the boss fight you are given the Rod of Discord, that allows you to go back to several areas to get blatantly blocked off chests you could see but not reach.
Darthkitten
Paladin
On the life fruits, you can access them. You just need the right item.
On the duplication thing... Take a certain item with you and explore those rooms. You'll understand just why it's called the "bad" ending... Having a larger resolution might also help...
On the king slime thing, yeahhhhh... I getcha. This happened to me too first time playtesting the map. Sadly, there's nothing I can do about it. It's just the way Terraria works.
Tinker table was semi-intentional. I didn't think anyone would actually use it, but I knew they could should they desire. Consider it a reward for being so clever.
On the red gem? Might just be you on that. No one else has mentioned problems with finding it, and I thought the way that the level was designed hinted where you needed to go.
On the trapped chests, I don't think you can actually put items in them, so I didn't really see too many uses for them other than to simply troll people.
SovereignVis
Terrarian
Yeah, that's not what I mean. That only shows the basics of wiring and is a poor example of how those things could be used in an adventure map. My current project uses far more complex wiring than what those examples give.
And of course there is no right or wrong way to make an adventure map, but there are good adventure maps and there are bad ones. I think many people would benefit from some kind of guide with tips & examples to help them build better maps.
If there isn't a thread for it then we might just have to make it. I have never made an adventure map before, so I'm not sure I should be the one in charge of a guide thread for it.
Darthkitten
Paladin
Did a quick fix where I increased the height of a ledge in the jungle, requiring you to get the cloud in a bottle before you can get the grappling hook!
Kieda
Terrarian
I was actually somewhat thinking of making a basic guide & tips for adventure maps thingy, but not sure if it should be video series or just write long texts about different things with pictures. It would be heavily based on my, mbran139's and Baih's experiences in our maps and what difficulties we've faced and so on.
ThirstyMichael
Terrarian
I've been scrambling around the map for the past half hour, and have pretty much found everything else to discover (I believe), can you just tell me what the bad ending is, or at least a hint to the item I need and what to do with it?
Darthkitten
Paladin
Darthkitten
Paladin
I'll give you a hint. It involves chimneys!
I really did enjoy this adventure map. The puzzles were fun and very fair compared to other Terraria adventure maps. It definitely reminded me of Metroid with the "now that I have this item... I can do that task!" sort of mindset.
I found the Goblin's Workbench... was that the only secret in that house? I felt like I was missing something.
I don't know why everyone had a problem with the Wraith spawnrate. You just have to avoid the pressure plates on the way to the Volcanic Ruins.
(and I found the Red Gem pretty easily)
The only thing I did have a problem with was the "bad" ending. I forgot about the sign when I got to the final teleporter and once I got to the party room I got kind of pissed. I felt like all my hard work was for nothing and deleted the map. Later, I remembered the sign that said to 'return here'.
Maybe if you just added another clue near the end about the other ending. Like maybe the professor would said like "are you sure you explored the entire cavern?" just to tip off the player and remind them about the sign. I don't know. The ending with the ducks felt more satisfying to me, tbh.
Otherwise, really freakin' good for your first adventure map! I hope you make more of these because, damn you have a knack for it!
I found the Goblin's Workbench... was that the only secret in that house? I felt like I was missing something.
I don't know why everyone had a problem with the Wraith spawnrate. You just have to avoid the pressure plates on the way to the Volcanic Ruins.
(and I found the Red Gem pretty easily)
The only thing I did have a problem with was the "bad" ending. I forgot about the sign when I got to the final teleporter and once I got to the party room I got kind of pissed. I felt like all my hard work was for nothing and deleted the map. Later, I remembered the sign that said to 'return here'.
Maybe if you just added another clue near the end about the other ending. Like maybe the professor would said like "are you sure you explored the entire cavern?" just to tip off the player and remind them about the sign. I don't know. The ending with the ducks felt more satisfying to me, tbh.
Otherwise, really freakin' good for your first adventure map! I hope you make more of these because, damn you have a knack for it!
Casey Howley
Steampunker
As the first adventure map I've played in Terraria, I really enjoyed it.
The puzzles were fun, the secrets were nice, and the story was really interesting.
I rate this map...
Quack/10
The puzzles were fun, the secrets were nice, and the story was really interesting.
I rate this map...
Quack/10
MinerTurtle45
Official Terrarian
I FOUND THE TRUE TRUE ENDING
WHERE ARE MY CHEESE AND QUACKERS
WHERE ARE MY CHEESE AND QUACKERS
Xylia
Terrarian
So I just finished the map today, and my thoughts....
1). I liked the open ended-ness of the map, I know others here said things against it but I rather liked it. The "True" Ending was a bit too easy to find, though lol. I found it in like 5 minutes of playing (going left was the first thing I did).
2). Coulda used more healing potions. There's a LOT of spike and fire traps and they drain your health quick. Don't really need super healing potions everywhere, but some 100HP potions would have been nice. I think there's, what, 10 in the whole map?
3). The rules were kinda unclear -- you gave us a Merchant right near the beginning of the game but did not say which items are OK to buy and which are not. The fact you made the doctor a Tax Collector seems to imply you're OK with the use of money and NPC shops.
4). A glowing mushroom biome would have been cool. In fact, it would have solved the healing potion problem as you could then make your own healing potions with the glowing mushrooms farmed from said biome (since the Merchant sells bottles, and there's a tinkerer's bench with a glass bottle ontop of it).
5). This map could have really used a pair of hermes boots at some point. Slow Walk tends to get annoying after awhile, and I know some puzzles can be made easier with a run-and-jump but I don't think I see any past the first few areas that it really would have changed much in.
6). The wings at the end was a nice touch, most adventure maps have you slogging along with the minimum accessories and weapons, but you gave us a decent range of stuff (perhaps a little too powerful in some points I thought, lol). I especially liked the clockwork assault rifle+150 ichor bullets, lol.
I do think we could have used a bit stronger boss than the WoF, but I suppose the WoF was the only one that really fit the bill for the game's plot. Though, with a few clever adjustments, a bit more armor strewed about, you could have used Skeletron Prime instead of WoF. That'd take a bit more weapons/armor, though.
Either way I did enjoy the map, it was a nice little quick adventure that had an interesting plot and plot twist behind it.
The only thing about the plot I will say, is that the "YOU WIN" area after (presumably) doing what the Doctor asked you to do seems kinda odd. After I beat the WoF and then I went back up to his house and I was like "so... what happens if you go up and take those teleporters?"
I was half expecting the thing to teleport me into a spike room to get killed or something lol.
1). I liked the open ended-ness of the map, I know others here said things against it but I rather liked it. The "True" Ending was a bit too easy to find, though lol. I found it in like 5 minutes of playing (going left was the first thing I did).
2). Coulda used more healing potions. There's a LOT of spike and fire traps and they drain your health quick. Don't really need super healing potions everywhere, but some 100HP potions would have been nice. I think there's, what, 10 in the whole map?
3). The rules were kinda unclear -- you gave us a Merchant right near the beginning of the game but did not say which items are OK to buy and which are not. The fact you made the doctor a Tax Collector seems to imply you're OK with the use of money and NPC shops.
4). A glowing mushroom biome would have been cool. In fact, it would have solved the healing potion problem as you could then make your own healing potions with the glowing mushrooms farmed from said biome (since the Merchant sells bottles, and there's a tinkerer's bench with a glass bottle ontop of it).
5). This map could have really used a pair of hermes boots at some point. Slow Walk tends to get annoying after awhile, and I know some puzzles can be made easier with a run-and-jump but I don't think I see any past the first few areas that it really would have changed much in.
6). The wings at the end was a nice touch, most adventure maps have you slogging along with the minimum accessories and weapons, but you gave us a decent range of stuff (perhaps a little too powerful in some points I thought, lol). I especially liked the clockwork assault rifle+150 ichor bullets, lol.
I do think we could have used a bit stronger boss than the WoF, but I suppose the WoF was the only one that really fit the bill for the game's plot. Though, with a few clever adjustments, a bit more armor strewed about, you could have used Skeletron Prime instead of WoF. That'd take a bit more weapons/armor, though.
Either way I did enjoy the map, it was a nice little quick adventure that had an interesting plot and plot twist behind it.
The only thing about the plot I will say, is that the "YOU WIN" area after (presumably) doing what the Doctor asked you to do seems kinda odd. After I beat the WoF and then I went back up to his house and I was like "so... what happens if you go up and take those teleporters?"
I was half expecting the thing to teleport me into a spike room to get killed or something lol.
MinerTurtle45
Official Terrarian
This. I was expecting something like this too, but instead because there's a sign that says not to trust the doctor, and that, along with the "come back after all three are placed" part made it seem like something bad would happen after you go through the teleporter.
Actually, I've got an idea. Make the hallowed chest without anything in it a trapped hallowed chest that activates a trap which kill you.