Hello everyone!
I'd like to make this post to provide you all my insight into eggwars maps, as well as providing new players a basic idea of what to expect when joining these maps for the first time! I'd love to hear your feedback, as well as how you feel my review compares to your view of the map! I am in a crunch for time, and will be doing this in several parts, doing 3-5 maps in each post, so keep an eye out for part 2 if you enjoy this read!
To start, and I know this has been said a million times, but ender pearls NEED to be implemented in normal mode! I believe they should also be 64 diamonds like in OP, and maybe reduce the price in OP to 40 or 32 each. It's incredibly easy for a player to camp out in normal items because they shelter themselves on their island, often resulting in a stalemate that can last forever, and the introduction of epearls to normal items would provide the excitement we all look for!
That is honestly my only suggestion at this time. Onto my review of the maps! I've played a few hundred games at this point, and while I've only played a few maps a handful of times, I've gotten a pretty solid handle on how each map is laid out, and hope my reviews can provide a little feedback for future maps.
I will rate each map in three categories; aesthetics, difficulty, and overall.
The aesthetic rating is based purely on the look of the map. Please don't misinterpret a 3 as a poor rating. These ratings are relative to each other, so a 3 is average, while a 5 is the most beautiful map available. ALL of the maps are absolutely beautiful, and we as players greatly appreciate the work that has gone into building them just for our entertainment, so a big THANK YOU to our builders for you hard work!
The difficulty rating will be based on how hard it is to gather valuable resources safely and be able to return to your home island without too much altercation. Some maps vary greatly in difficulty depending on the players in the game, therefore providing an unreliable source of data.
The overall rating is based on not only those two aspects, but also the level of fun a map is and the fairness of each map in respect to each player and their island (See snowy losing some points for having unbalance player islands). You can call me biased here if you'd like, but that's why they call it a "review"!
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
1. Snowy: Snowy is a wonderful little map that provides the standard 3 island groups with a mid between them, and a larger middle island in the center of the map. One great thing about this map is the accessibility to true mid, and it's value even with no diamonds available. It's a map that is small enough to have packed action from the beginning, but big enough to stack up if you die mid game, and still have the opportunity to get back in it. The biggest con with the map would have to be the fact that the middle island of any 3 doesn't have a tree to build into/around, or a generator blocking them from building in key spaces. This provides an advantage and disadvantage to the player. It's much easier to build to mid to collect diamonds and gold, but it's also easy access for other players to quickly get to that island without a tree in the way and break an egg. While it does provide an advantage and disadvantage, I do believe all players should face the exact same obstacles, and see this as an issue. Also, not allowing diamond generators on player islands prevents a lot of camping, which is a very nice incentive to be aggressive and get those diamonds from mid before anyone else!
Aesthetics: 4/5
Difficulty: 2/5
Overall: 4/5
2. Tropical: Grab your pina coladas and shades, because we are headed to the tropics for this next map! Tropic is laid out almost exactly the same as snowy, though the middle player in any group doesn't face the same tree dilemma. There's a mid island for each group with a diamond generator, although there's no gold like in snowy, and a central island to the map with 2 high level gold generators. The biggest difference here is the fact that you have to build to true mid in Tropic unlike Snowy where it's so easily accessible. The difficulty is increased by the fact that you really have to mind the gap in Tropic, as your island platform is full of holes and steps at different elevations, which can make navigating the seemingly simple bridge very difficult. The fact that the roof of the hut provides easy access to others' islands provides a higher level of difficulty as well, since you need to make sure your egg is protected before heading out for those precious diamonds. The palm trees provide a wonderful aesthetic, as well as the several different blocks used to create the environment.
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
3. Safari: Do you like getting rushed immediately? Because playing this map is how you get rushed immediately. Safari is one of the most difficult maps due to the absolute ease of access to the one central island, and thus, all other players' islands. Eggs are usually destroyed within 20 seconds of the game beginning, which is why the Builder kit may be your best choice here! As a real safari is, the aesthetics of player islands is rather bland and vanilla, but it's absolutely made up by the fact that there is a MASSIVE zebra and tiger in mid, with a secret diamond generator on top of the zebra for those brave enough to build that high! Games on this map are usually very fast paced due to the rushing nature, which I would like to see more of on different maps, especially when playing normal items as it's easier to avoid a stalemate, and different strategies are required in order to have a lick of success. The map is incredible difficult, although if you find yourself in a game where nobody is rushing (very rare), it can be fairly easy to win with a decent strategy. Also, to add to the difficulty is the default bridges made of leaves to each players' island. They are not straight forward, and are full of holes that are easy to fall through if you aren't paying close attention. A little practice goes a long way on this map, and I think it's a great way for beginners to start off with to gain experience!
Aesthetics: 3/5
Difficulty: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
4. End: If you've ever actually played all the way through Survival mode of Minecraft, and visited The End or End cities, than this map should muster up a little deja vu! Built out of almost all End Stone and Ender Bricks*, this is one of the most beautiful maps available for eggwars. Not only that, but it provides many aspects we don't see in many other maps, such as one central island surrounded by all player islands, or the pre-built bridge to mid, although getting there and back is incredibly more difficult than Safari. One advantage this map provides is the easy access diamond generator on each players island (Safari has one, but it's a climb to access, and can provide opportunity for your opponents to siege while you're attempting to access it). Getting to mid and getting diamonds to fix your broken generator is one of the most potent strategies available in eggwars, but the builders made sure to not make us too comfortable with the pre-built bridges to mid, and the insanely close proximity of neighbors for easy access while you sneak off to mid to get those diamonds. This is probably the most difficult map, and newbies should beware of it before going in, because a solid strategy and total awareness are absolutely required if you want to even stand a chance on End.
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 5/5
Overall: 4/5 (only because it can be such a difficult map, that I'm sure some players hate it, and a fine balance of ease as well as fun are needed for the perfect overall map)
5. Nightmare: Put on your diapers, because this map has the edgy feel that will make even the manliest man uneasy. Nightmare does a fantastic job of giving you chills, while you provide yourself thrills. Each player starts on their own island with a haunted mansion containing two iron generators, as well as a gold and diamond generator upstairs! These are provided because getting to mid and back safely is no easy task, even for the best players. As a new player, I had a very difficult time warming up to this map because it's not only hard to protect your egg, but the unique layout of mid can be heinously difficult to navigate if you are new, or if you are simply facing aggressive players. Narrow pathways, a small island with diamonds on it that is not connected to anything, and the long bridge required from any player island to access it make it hard to get started. If you are lucky and can get to mid unscathed, there are 20 fresh diamonds just waiting for you to bring home, so a strong start is key on this map. The odd placement of the egg on the awning of the house does provide an area for whole new strategies as far as protecting or attacking eggs! (IMHO: I love building from my island to another players on the backside of the house, and building up to the roof on the backside of the house while crouching so I'm not detectable, and if the player isn't paying close attention, breaking their egg is incredibly easy, even if I have just an iron ax).
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
I'd like to make this post to provide you all my insight into eggwars maps, as well as providing new players a basic idea of what to expect when joining these maps for the first time! I'd love to hear your feedback, as well as how you feel my review compares to your view of the map! I am in a crunch for time, and will be doing this in several parts, doing 3-5 maps in each post, so keep an eye out for part 2 if you enjoy this read!
To start, and I know this has been said a million times, but ender pearls NEED to be implemented in normal mode! I believe they should also be 64 diamonds like in OP, and maybe reduce the price in OP to 40 or 32 each. It's incredibly easy for a player to camp out in normal items because they shelter themselves on their island, often resulting in a stalemate that can last forever, and the introduction of epearls to normal items would provide the excitement we all look for!
That is honestly my only suggestion at this time. Onto my review of the maps! I've played a few hundred games at this point, and while I've only played a few maps a handful of times, I've gotten a pretty solid handle on how each map is laid out, and hope my reviews can provide a little feedback for future maps.
I will rate each map in three categories; aesthetics, difficulty, and overall.
The aesthetic rating is based purely on the look of the map. Please don't misinterpret a 3 as a poor rating. These ratings are relative to each other, so a 3 is average, while a 5 is the most beautiful map available. ALL of the maps are absolutely beautiful, and we as players greatly appreciate the work that has gone into building them just for our entertainment, so a big THANK YOU to our builders for you hard work!
The difficulty rating will be based on how hard it is to gather valuable resources safely and be able to return to your home island without too much altercation. Some maps vary greatly in difficulty depending on the players in the game, therefore providing an unreliable source of data.
The overall rating is based on not only those two aspects, but also the level of fun a map is and the fairness of each map in respect to each player and their island (See snowy losing some points for having unbalance player islands). You can call me biased here if you'd like, but that's why they call it a "review"!
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
1. Snowy: Snowy is a wonderful little map that provides the standard 3 island groups with a mid between them, and a larger middle island in the center of the map. One great thing about this map is the accessibility to true mid, and it's value even with no diamonds available. It's a map that is small enough to have packed action from the beginning, but big enough to stack up if you die mid game, and still have the opportunity to get back in it. The biggest con with the map would have to be the fact that the middle island of any 3 doesn't have a tree to build into/around, or a generator blocking them from building in key spaces. This provides an advantage and disadvantage to the player. It's much easier to build to mid to collect diamonds and gold, but it's also easy access for other players to quickly get to that island without a tree in the way and break an egg. While it does provide an advantage and disadvantage, I do believe all players should face the exact same obstacles, and see this as an issue. Also, not allowing diamond generators on player islands prevents a lot of camping, which is a very nice incentive to be aggressive and get those diamonds from mid before anyone else!
Aesthetics: 4/5
Difficulty: 2/5
Overall: 4/5
2. Tropical: Grab your pina coladas and shades, because we are headed to the tropics for this next map! Tropic is laid out almost exactly the same as snowy, though the middle player in any group doesn't face the same tree dilemma. There's a mid island for each group with a diamond generator, although there's no gold like in snowy, and a central island to the map with 2 high level gold generators. The biggest difference here is the fact that you have to build to true mid in Tropic unlike Snowy where it's so easily accessible. The difficulty is increased by the fact that you really have to mind the gap in Tropic, as your island platform is full of holes and steps at different elevations, which can make navigating the seemingly simple bridge very difficult. The fact that the roof of the hut provides easy access to others' islands provides a higher level of difficulty as well, since you need to make sure your egg is protected before heading out for those precious diamonds. The palm trees provide a wonderful aesthetic, as well as the several different blocks used to create the environment.
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
3. Safari: Do you like getting rushed immediately? Because playing this map is how you get rushed immediately. Safari is one of the most difficult maps due to the absolute ease of access to the one central island, and thus, all other players' islands. Eggs are usually destroyed within 20 seconds of the game beginning, which is why the Builder kit may be your best choice here! As a real safari is, the aesthetics of player islands is rather bland and vanilla, but it's absolutely made up by the fact that there is a MASSIVE zebra and tiger in mid, with a secret diamond generator on top of the zebra for those brave enough to build that high! Games on this map are usually very fast paced due to the rushing nature, which I would like to see more of on different maps, especially when playing normal items as it's easier to avoid a stalemate, and different strategies are required in order to have a lick of success. The map is incredible difficult, although if you find yourself in a game where nobody is rushing (very rare), it can be fairly easy to win with a decent strategy. Also, to add to the difficulty is the default bridges made of leaves to each players' island. They are not straight forward, and are full of holes that are easy to fall through if you aren't paying close attention. A little practice goes a long way on this map, and I think it's a great way for beginners to start off with to gain experience!
Aesthetics: 3/5
Difficulty: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
4. End: If you've ever actually played all the way through Survival mode of Minecraft, and visited The End or End cities, than this map should muster up a little deja vu! Built out of almost all End Stone and Ender Bricks*, this is one of the most beautiful maps available for eggwars. Not only that, but it provides many aspects we don't see in many other maps, such as one central island surrounded by all player islands, or the pre-built bridge to mid, although getting there and back is incredibly more difficult than Safari. One advantage this map provides is the easy access diamond generator on each players island (Safari has one, but it's a climb to access, and can provide opportunity for your opponents to siege while you're attempting to access it). Getting to mid and getting diamonds to fix your broken generator is one of the most potent strategies available in eggwars, but the builders made sure to not make us too comfortable with the pre-built bridges to mid, and the insanely close proximity of neighbors for easy access while you sneak off to mid to get those diamonds. This is probably the most difficult map, and newbies should beware of it before going in, because a solid strategy and total awareness are absolutely required if you want to even stand a chance on End.
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 5/5
Overall: 4/5 (only because it can be such a difficult map, that I'm sure some players hate it, and a fine balance of ease as well as fun are needed for the perfect overall map)
5. Nightmare: Put on your diapers, because this map has the edgy feel that will make even the manliest man uneasy. Nightmare does a fantastic job of giving you chills, while you provide yourself thrills. Each player starts on their own island with a haunted mansion containing two iron generators, as well as a gold and diamond generator upstairs! These are provided because getting to mid and back safely is no easy task, even for the best players. As a new player, I had a very difficult time warming up to this map because it's not only hard to protect your egg, but the unique layout of mid can be heinously difficult to navigate if you are new, or if you are simply facing aggressive players. Narrow pathways, a small island with diamonds on it that is not connected to anything, and the long bridge required from any player island to access it make it hard to get started. If you are lucky and can get to mid unscathed, there are 20 fresh diamonds just waiting for you to bring home, so a strong start is key on this map. The odd placement of the egg on the awning of the house does provide an area for whole new strategies as far as protecting or attacking eggs! (IMHO: I love building from my island to another players on the backside of the house, and building up to the roof on the backside of the house while crouching so I'm not detectable, and if the player isn't paying close attention, breaking their egg is incredibly easy, even if I have just an iron ax).
Aesthetics: 5/5
Difficulty: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
