Currently (even though I technically haven’t played it in a long time) Survival Games feels like it’s 90% sword fighting, and I think that might somewhat contribute to its low popularity (the gameplay isn’t the most dynamic I guess)
Accessible Crafting
The game allows for crafting, but you have to find a crafting table to use the crafting items; I think it would be cool if chests had a small chance of coming with a placeable crafting table in them. After all, I feel like crafting isn’t used enough in the game. Crafting tables being more accessible would further emphasize the survival aspect of the game
After all, it is Survival Games, which is based on The Hunger Games; and a notable aspect of The Hunger Games seems to be strategy and ingenuity
The Game-Changing Update
A major update on the game could honestly be a game-changer (quite literally xD) and a good enough update could bring me back to the game
I think a great update could be accomplished by encouraging the strategy and ingenuity mentioned above as well as variety in gameplay. Of course, the game will still have combat at its core, but it would be great if there were some additional strategies that could be used. It’s honestly quite fun to think about the possibilities
I’m including the ideas that you mentioned above and am also elaborating more on the overall concept with some additional ideas
Placeable Blocks
With placeable blocks, I imagine some players making a pillar or spamming blocks everywhere, which might affect the overall look and environment of the arena, which I personally don’t think would match the theme of the game, plus it would look messy and cause there to be obstacles
However, I think that a way to prevent messy blocks is to make blocks rarer in chests and in less quantities
Also, placeable blocks could maybe be obtained from parts of the map, maybe even exclusive to the map which might be the best approach
An additional option is to add a height limit (but it shouldn’t limit players too much)
Breakable Blocks
Allowing blocks to be broken might cause players to hide underground and camp as mentioned by lentjuhhh_
A lower height limit could work in this case, maybe extending down three blocks maximum. (I’m not sure how this could work with varying terrain levels though, but maybe it’s possible)
Edit: When writing this post I didn’t realize that the moving world border could help deal with campers, so it’s probably not as much of an issue as I thought. A lower height limit could still work well though so that players don’t spend too much time underground when the game should be taking place on the surface
Also, maybe only certain blocks could be breakable, mostly including the most useful ones like ladders as well as blocks placed down by a player.
An approach to block-breaking is mentioned in the next section:
“Can break: “
An interesting approach to breakable blocks would be to have pickaxes only able to break a certain block. For example, if you craft an iron pickaxe it could be only able to break andesite. This would encourage strategy as the player would have to look for parts of the map with that block.
To add to this concept, maybe the block that the pickaxe is able to break could be randomized.
This could also be applied to axes and shovels as well.
Also, the blocks that the tool can break could vary depending on the map, as the blocks in a map will have different materials in different amounts
If a particular map has a lot of dirt blocks in it, then dirt blocks could be less common of (or even not) a breakable block when it comes to these tools.
To add to that, if a map has no dirt blocks whatsoever then “Can break: dirt” probably shouldn’t be included on a tool.
Lastly, if dirt and coarse dirt blocks are paired together or used interchangeably in the terrain, then the shovel could maybe break both
Traps and Redstone
Being able to place and break blocks could allow for traps to be made (which would help emphasize the concepts of strategy and ingenuity mentioned above)
Most traps would need at least some redstone to function though, so an interesting idea would be to include redstone components in the game
Also, an issue with traps is that many of them require digging into the ground to make, which might not always align well with the “Can break: “ idea since it means that many traps might only work on certain parts of the map (and some maps might be better for traps than others) However, even with this limitation, making a trap could still be doable
Also, with the “Can break: “ idea, a player could possibly end up getting multiple tools allowing them to break more than one kind of block
Larger Map & Slower World Border Movement
These ideas were mentioned in this thread, and I think they’re definitely interesting. They would make the game more immersive and allow for more time for players to gather resources and prepare
More Players and Loot at Center
These ideas (mentioned in this thread) could work if the map is big enough
Ores
These ideas (also mentioned in this thread) are pretty interesting
Ores could work, but I’m not sure how they would pair with limited block breaking; maybe they could be common and breakable with any pickaxe. I imagine them generating under a single layer of terrain, but maybe a few could be exposed on the surface
With ores in mind, maybe a furnace could be included in chests sometimes, kind of like how I suggested earlier with crafting tables
Custom Structures
In terms of custom structures, do you mean randomly generated ones? That’s a cool idea, especially if the structures would have chests with custom or special loot in them
If you meant structures like the ones already in maps sometimes then that could be good too
Custom Items
Custom items are an aspect that I think would be really cool. Ideally the custom items should somewhat fit with the theme of the game
One kind of custom item I have in mind would be custom weapons, but I don’t many ideas for that. Overall I don’t have many ideas for custom items in general, so I’m curious if anyone here has any ideas
I guess the item doesn’t have to be completely custom, as an item that exists in Minecraft but isn’t in Survival Games could still be a potentially good addition
Separate Mode?
However, some players might currently enjoy the pace and style of Survival Games as it currently is, so Survival Games with these changes could be a separate mode instead, with the original one being called “Classic Survival Games” or something like that.
An issue with this though could be the popularity of the game since the player count could get divided too much between the modes, causing queuing issues for one or both versions (especially considering Solo and Teams of 2)
Also, congrats on posting your first thread!