Tp To Me - Feedback and opinion
If you have not played this map yet, I'll summarize it for you. You play through a multitude of levels in which you are required to teleport an armour stand along with you to activate pressure plates. These pressure plates activate effects or mechanisms and must not be deactivated (hence why you have to teleport the armour stand). In some levels, your reflexes had to be on point in order to teleport (or in some levels, to activate the pressure plates yourself) at the exact second you had to. It was a very interesting concept and the execution was brilliant.
This map, simply put, was magnificent. The concept was new, original, refreshing and something I haven't really seen before. At least not to this extent. I myself have made (mainly adventure) maps in the past, and in my opinion, maps require a few main aspects in order to be successful. Some of which are originality (a refreshing concept), technically pleasing (good use of command blocks) and player input. This map really had all three of these!
Now, the most valuable feedback for the creator, how can you improve? Despite the fact this map was dazzling, I missed quite a few features.
Lobby & Level 1
I spawned in the lobby and had no clue what do to. I was facing a cage which told me a pressure plate activates a mechanism. That was it basically, then I had to confirm I was ready by pressing a button and
then the actual guidelines popped up. Which brings me on to my next point: The explanation in chat was long-winded and boring. If people confirm that they're ready to play, then they don't want to lose another minute reading how to play.
What I suggest doing, is just having a board with some moving and colour-changing signs on (like you did in the lobby as well). These type of signs are easy on the eye and allow the player to read at own pace and to just start playing if they feel like they understand.
If you don't like that idea, then have a box like "[NEXT >>]" after every chat message so, once again, the player can read at their own pace.
Level 2 (view spoiler for those who have short memory loss or haven't played the map yet :p)
Lava should instant-kill you. It was very tedious to wait for my player character to die all the time - yes, this level took me far longer than I'm willing to admit.
This can very easily be detected by using a single repeating command block
End Lobby
I was actually disappointed by this. I always love to have some further features in the end lobby, I love seeing end lobbies that feel alive.
Something I'd highly recommend is having the option to 'spectate' the map, but as in, the command block teleports you to cool angles in the map. With every new angle a new line of text appears on the screen (e.g. how many command blocks went into the map, how much time you spent on the map, possible inspiration, etc.)
When I say 'feel alive' I seriously meant it. I would have LOVED to see the beta-testers as an armour-stand 'playing' the map. They don't necessarily have to be moving but it'd just make the map feel so viable and this would have been so much fun. Make a scene where all beta-testers together are (for example) discussing the tactic or working together. Go to town!
In general
The terracotta design was simple, which suited the map style. The terracotta itself though didn't suit so much - in my opinion. In the new 1.14 texture pack, it looks kind of rough, especially in a map like this. The map was very clean and polished, hence why I feel like concrete would have been a better block choice. I replaced all terracotta with the corresponding concrete colours (see spoiler) to show what I mean.
I would have loved a timer! It surely would motivate players to get a better time than their friends (and for bragging rights, obviously)
Conclusion
The map was magnificent and I enjoyed every second playing it. In fact, it inspired me to continue my map making as well. I also want to add, I loved the creative use of 1.13 and 1.14 mechanics, very appealing!
Now, this whole thing took me 40 minutes to type out. So, thank me for my time and see ya x
