Important note
This post concerns the maps that were previously found on Hive’s now closed Java server. If you don’t know what that is, please disregard this post entirely. The Hive is currently available on Bedrock Edition as a featured server. Also, as mentioned by The Hive several times, these old maps may not reflect their current standards of quality. Please do not use these maps as a measure to judge the quality of The Hive’s current builds, instead we recommend and encourage you to check out the games they offer on their Bedrock server.
We recommend reading this post in full, but if you only care about the end results, here are a bunch of links to skip through:
- Trouble in Mineville’s history
- What happened to the old maps?
- Our mission with Trouble in Mineville
- What is happening now?
Trouble in Mineville’s history
Trouble in Mineville initially launched as its own server network (MCTIMV) on Oct 18, 2012, with the maps SkyTemple (later renamed to Sky Lands, by Vareide and other members of TeamVareide) and Cathedral (Daniel & Erik from TeamVareide), and shortly after the iconic Mineville (a mashup of a couple TeamVareide builds) was also added.
Builders cameron224 and CrypticMech, who would later be the founding members of Team Nectar alongside Mouldy_Burrito (main builder of Kazamuzo Temple, and the CAI maps Berlin and China), contributed to several of the maps that were added before Hive came to be, like Freight (released as Frozen Cargo, by cameron224), Clockwork Island (by cameron224 and Dueces, later mysteriously renamed to Clockworld Island), Cabin in the Woods (by CrypticMech, later revamped by Team Nectar), and Calypso Harbor (by CrypticMech). Other maps that were added to MCTIMV include Forge (Captinnoah from TeamVareide, later revamped by Dueces), The Canal (Gepsutin, later revamped by Team Nectar), and Welcome to Woodbury (xBayani & JPLikesGames).
In early 2013, ClankStar and Vareide from MCTIMV, and b0xx3r and JollyajaX from MCTHB (The Herobrine) joined forces to create The Hive, also bringing Survival Games thanks to Vareide’s work on MCSG. The Hive later went on to add more games that you can also find in our selection, like Cowboys and Indians (2013), Block Party (2014), Gravity (2016), and Bed Wars (2017).
Hive’s Java server closed its doors on Apr 15, 2021. While we’re happy that many people transitioned that same day to our Trouble in Mineville, it also means that those players haven’t played on the classic maps for more than four years, after having played on them for almost up to nine years. In our recent survey polling veteran players with more than 1,000 Karma, 81% of the 104 respondents said they were “nostalgic” or “very nostalgic” towards the Hive maps, with only 6% reportedly being “not very nostalgic” or “not interested at all”. Additionally, 61% would play more if the Hive maps were added. The results of the survey show that the majority of old Trouble in Mineville players have grown attached to the classic maps in one way or another.
What happened to the old maps?
In the past, The Hive has mentioned that they have no plans of bringing Trouble in Mineville to their Bedrock Edition server, and that “none of the TIMV maps” were suited for their Murder Mystery game, though they did later add one Trouble in Mineville map to Murder Mystery, Chroma, not without heavy modifications. To this day, Chroma is the only Trouble in Mineville map out of 45 (not including removed maps) that was added to Murder Mystery.
There are also maps that were in the game back on MCTIMV and Hive, but were later removed due to issues with gameplay, with server software, or due to them being superseded by revamped versions. These include the classic versions of Forge, Cabin in the Woods, The Canal, and Armadillo (this one we were able to get), as well as the maps Prime (cameron224) and The Zoo from MCTIMV, and Silent Valley (Madraver from Team Nectar) and Seraphim (ChildOfLights, leZeus, Kinley_) from Hive.
Those who were around at the time may remember that when The Hive announced their intention to close the Java server back in January 2021, they also announced to be working on an “open-source version of Trouble in Mineville” that would also include “a collection of maps that we have made over time”. Sadly, not much was heard of this project over time, and in 2023 it was confirmed to have been officially cancelled.
SInce we became aware of that information (unfortunately this was only around last year), we’ve made attempts to get in touch with Hive staff wondering what the new plans were for the old maps, but all our attempts have been unsuccessful so far.
We understand and respect that our requests might be categorized at the very bottom as not relevant to their business, and that Hive has other commitments at the moment, for example they are planning to release a new SkyBlock/MMO experience called SkyBlock: Horizons during the summer, which is set to be the studio’s “biggest undertaking since the initial release of our minigame server back in 2018” (s). That said, it is a bit unfortunate that we haven’t been able to get in contact lately on this matter, because this severely limits our options. With this post, we hope to explain our position and our plans moving forward.
Our mission with Trouble in Mineville
On our side, it is clear that the demand for “Hive’s Lost Gamemode” is still here. Last month, we welcomed a returning top 10 player who had just played Minecraft for the first time in years, thanks to YouTube featuring a Trouble in Mineville montage. In the past year, we’ve helped several returning players transfer their stats over to new accounts that they had to create because of the forced migration, which shows that players are coming back to this game even after several years of pause. And some with new-found determination—over the past year, we’ve seen a few top players return to the game and gain more than 100,000 karma on the server. According to them, a big incentive to play is to do it with friends, as Trouble in Mineville is a social game first and foremost.
Ever since we added the game to our server, our goal with Trouble in Mineville was to create a new home for TIMV players with a version of the game that was made by TIMV players for TIMV players, faithful to the original where needed, but also one that entertained players with new and exciting content. But even with our most ambitious events, our design goals make sure that players can still find the core Trouble in Mineville experience and enjoy its social aspects.
With over 60,000 Trouble in Mineville games played in the last year, it’s been our second most successful so far, only behind 2021. We’ve released 11 maps, 3 of which were returning Hive maps. Meanwhile, our new replay system has brought Trouble in Mineville moderation to the next level, receiving universal praise from our moderation team. Of course, our solutions might not work at the scale Hive might operate, or that it had back in the day, but we strive to make the experience better for both our new and dedicated playerbases.
Last year, we also bought the troubleinmineville.com domain name, which was registered on Sep 20, 2012 and was used for the original website of MCTIMV when it launched. You can already use this address to join the server (or give it a like on NameMC), but we’re also planning to use it to host a website that is fully dedicated to the game, potentially an in-depth and permanent archive of information.
What is happening now?
Until we get official communications from Hive detailing terms of use for the maps (see below), we will begin our own efforts to release the classic Hive maps on our version of Trouble in Mineville.
The parts you’ve read thus far hopefully explained our positions in regards to the game, but our rationale for this decision is simple, we think no one benefits from having the maps be “lost in time”: not Hive, and not the TIMV community. If we assume that Hive will never host the maps again, we think it is fair that they can still find a place where the very community that enjoyed them the most is currently playing.
Below are a few paragraphs going over the details of our current plans.
How were the maps sourced?
The maps were extracted from saved ReplayMod replays as part of an archive project we ran, as well as replays contributed by other ReplayMod users. Having access to a replay helps recreate spawn locations, and preserves the map’s original state before looting phase has started.
What if The Hive doesn’t want KIG to use the maps?
We hope to be acting in good faith, and we hope that Hive understands the reasoning behind our decision. While we are a server with monetization, our goals are far from being the most profitable server. Our finances are stable, but they’re not something that’s worth our focus. Even the only store category that has received updates lately—lobby pets—is monetized mostly to support the time it took to implement them, and so that pets are uncommon enough that they don’t cause chaos in the lobby. In general, the server is run by people who volunteer their time to contribute to the games. This extends to all the teams our server is made of.
In any case, we reserve The Hive the right to request us to immediately cease offering the maps on the server, at any time and for any or no reason at all. We will promptly acknowledge and comply with such a request, so the maps may go away at any moment’s notice. Note that this won’t affect the community-submitted maps that are already on the server, for which we’ve got permission from the original creators.
Additionally, should the maps ever get released by The Hive under different terms, we would, at our discretion, either adopt the new terms or cease offering the maps.
In the meantime, playing on any map that is property of The Hive will display the following, alongside a link to this post:
This map is property of Hive Games. KIG is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hive Games. Hive Games has the right to request us to remove this map any time, without a reason. All rights reserved.
The notice can also be viewed at any time by running /hivemaps in a Trouble in Mineville lobby.
I want the maps now. When will they release?
Please understand that getting a map ready takes time, as elements like spawns, traitor traps, damage features, etc. need to be recreated manually. Additionally, maps have to be thouroughly tested to make sure they are exploit-free. If this sparked your interest and you’d like to help, we invite you to register to join the Trouble in Mineville council. We’d like to thank the current members for their previous and upcoming effort on this project.
At least for the first month, we will be releasing classic maps on a weekly basis, though we might skip some weeks if we have other plans for that week, or if we need more time.
The first map we’re releasing is Frozen Cargo by cameron224. We plan to have it ready for this weekend.
The next map will be… determined in the Crew Battle event running this weekend! Pick your team between Sky Lands and Forge, and contribute your event stats to make your favorite map win. The winning map will be added the next week!
Will you add Chroma?
Good question. Probably not, at least for the foreseeable future.
While the version found on the Bedrock server has several differences to the original, it is still the same map at its core. While we understand that this may be bad news for some, we ask that you understand that we’d like to avoid any conflicts of interest whenever possible, in the hopes of reaching an agreement on definite licensing terms in the future.
On a similar note, should any maps that we add be featured later on the Bedrock server, it is likely that we will remove those maps from our rotation for the time being.
I don’t play TIMV, what does this mean for other modes? Do we get China? Hive Bed Wars maps?
Nothing will change for other games, this post is exclusively about Trouble in Mineville.
More specifically, while we did get permission to use the Cowboys and Indians maps back in 2021, the issue with China is that because the map was removed several years prior to the closing announcement, there are no archives of it we could find. Unfortunately, the difficulties in communication faced with regards to the Trouble in Mineville maps mean that the chances of us getting China this way are even smaller than before.
Bed Wars on Hive’s Java server included maps exclusively built by Team Nectar, and those maps are currently featured on their Bedrock version of Bed Wars. We have no plans to use or pursue those maps.
It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible without the original work of MCTIMV and Hive, which originally designed the games we all love. We’d like to give a big thank you to The Hive, the original MCTIMV community, the Hive community, and of course to all the players that are still sticking around with us today.
Sincerely,
Rocco and Jay from the KIG Team
