Map submission - "Underground" [TIMV]

[4mins]

Hi everyone! I’m Emma also known as 4mins, I’m here to present a brand new TIMV map called “Underground” this map is based upon the London underground in the UK. We believe this would make an excellent addition to the server KIG!

This map is created by 4mins, Swiftkie & Flafkas.

“Underground” contains 2 underground train platforms with two tube trains on each platform. The two trains are fully furnished with chairs and poles as well as an ender chest in the right hand side train. There is a iron door on each platform which leads players through a service tunnel where there is multiple entrances too, one from upstairs and two downstairs. This service tunnel contains multiple directions allowing innocents and traitors to move without camping, there is also an ender chest located here in between two lines of water from the ceiling.

The traitor tester is in the hallway between the two platforms, The tester area is intentionally smaller to make players less likely to gather around it which prevents traitor kills so we wanted to encourage those to explore the map. There is currently no traitor trap.

We also added another layer to this map by adding two escalators to act as stairs for players to walk up, greeting them to an area where the ticket barrier is, this area has two toilets with a hidden passageway through a painting to the other bathroom as well as a coffee shop, fully furbished where the next ender chest is located inside the roof. The next area has another two shops, fully furnished and accessible. There is two out of service escalators which are closed off to players with barriers. There is next escalators leading you up to the main center of the map which is an open area which contains a circular dome as the roof and itself is set in a circular area, this area contains another level with balconies, letting players walk up and around the area and get a height advantage but still keeping it fair. This area contains seating areas and a main tree centered in the area with the last ender chest on top of the balcony which can be accessed from stairs leading up and around.

There is in total 112 chests and 4 ender chests on this map enough to allow most players to receive 5 chests. This map contains multiple entrances in every area of the map to prevent camping in any area but also includes concealed areas for traitors to get kills secretly. There are several levels and areas to the map so that the gameplay is split up nicely, while keeping everything connected so that players can move around the map easily and have a better play through experience. The map is completely divided and accessible with having two platforms on the ground floor, two more floors as well as having a secret tunnel system.

The time of day should be daytime, the entire map is set inside and there is no way outside. The circular dome in the center of the map has a glass roof allowing daylight in. This includes a more enclosed yet open environment during the matches.

A full walkthrough of the map can be viewed here! Walkthrough. A full screenshot gallery of the map is also available here! Screenshots.

We are eagerly looking to hear feedback from the community on this map! We are happy with our design and ideas but we are open to any suggestions and or feedback you may have that we could add. We would like to make this map the best it can be with every chance of it possibly being added in game! Thanks for checking it out! We hope you like “Underground!”

We’d like to thank and credit everyone for contributing to this project.

• 4mins: All aspects of interior design and decoration, tube design & all shops.
• Swiftkie: All aspects of outside exterior, roofs, glass dome, escalators & service tunnels.
• Flafkas: Player feedback, idea inspirations and detailing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

[Pudge]

Hey, Nice map!

Overall I think it looks very visually pleasing and would like to see it in game.

I really like how the map isn’t too open, like you said the tester is in a slightly smaller area to prevent camping which is great. I also like how interactive the map is, for example you can walk into each shop.
I also like the space between each ender chests allowing players to be more spread out at the beginning of the game.

I’m not a massive fan of the Iron Doors, fast paced fights could be an issue as the players would sometimes not be able to get through the doors quickly (especially the iron door at the entrance of the ender chest on the train.) Also having stone pressure plates could be confusing because of claymores. Maybe you could find an alternative for those entrances.

I think this is a great start though and I’m sure others will also have feedback to give!

[4mins]

Heyy, thank you for your feedback!

First thank you for you for sharing your opinions and thank you for your nice comments! I completely can see your point and would be happy to change the iron doors on the train specifically to let people get through faster. I can also change the pressure plates not to confuse anyone! Are all iron doors with buttons issues do you think? Could it be better suited keeping some or completely removing them and replacing them with wooden doors?

[Pudge]

Thank you for responding to feedback so quickly!

I honestly think it would be better to completely remove them and replace them with wooden doors unless you have any other ideas that could be a good alternative

[4mins]

Hi! We have now removed the iron door on the train and replaced it with a wooden door to allow easier access. In regards to the iron doors for the tunnels they have now been worldedited to remain open all the time to avoid any issues and to allow for easier chases.

[iAmABox]

Hey, I’m really enjoying the look of this map but have a bit of advice in how I imagine it can play better!

• I reckon the stairs at and around 1:16 in the walkthrough could do with taller ceilings, just since if you were to get attacked by someone behind you, you’d get knocked into the ceiling and wouldn’t really be able to escape, pretty much guaranteeing you’ll die
• There are a couple of areas where it looks like you should be able to access because no visible blocks prohibit it, or any visible blocks look like they can be jumped over, but in fact there are barriers stopping it. Would you be able to make areas where you can’t access look inaccessible to people trying to access them, for example by raising the iron bars of the ‘closed line’ by an extra block? (On this note, the tracks might be fine to make accessible, even if thematically they should be inaccessible)
• Some areas feel a little like dead ends, such as the area with the glass dome, only having one area to escape. If possible, would it be possible to somehow link them to other areas of the map? I understand thematically this might be a bit tricky. Perhaps if they somehow connected to the flights of stairs?

At the moment these are my only three points of criticism, the first two being quite simple to fix! I really like the idea behind the map and it’s layout, so really well done to you guys

[4mins]

@iAmABox

thematically

Hello! Thank you for your suggestions and I’m happy to hear your feedback! Regarding your concern on the height of the stairs I will suggest this back and we will most likely make the roof higher to avoid any instant deaths.

Secondly, I believe you are right with creating the illusion more that the blocked off areas should look more obvious to players. In regards to the train tracks I believe they and the end of that platform by the tunnel in front of the train should be blocked off, which they are. I believe this is what you meant by it as I don’t think blocking them with bars wouldn’t work as the illusion is the train is moving like I believe you meant, correct me if I’m wrong.

Lastly, I could try do something in the glass dome to connect another entrance around, I did have this worry and wanted to include multiple entrances to each room to allow for escape. In other areas of the map there is mostly always entrances out or through the Iron doors which lead you to rooms or the tunnels. These have now been changed to constantly open thanks to Pudge’s feedback. Let me know if this is all correct! Thank you, again.

[4mins]

UPDATE!

Thank you for your suggestions so far! We have now completely revamped the tunnels to include a higher roof, tested by hitting players into it to make sure it wasn’t going to trap them. We have also ran into more difficulty during this making sure all entrances line up that we have now added a ladder situation, which adds a little more adventure from any chases that happen. Please note this drop doesn’t take many hearts if you were full prior, so I don’t believe water would be necessary.

Next, we changed the iron bars and highered them to make the appearance of the closed tube station more apparent and obvious.

Finally, we decided to add a new area in the main center room with the glass dome, this room is based upon a ticket service help room. This room contains an elevator which allows players to go down on a ladder, allowing more intense fights and also allowing a way out for a traitor. This elevator leads down to the Pharmacy in the shopping area, allowing players to explore the whole map.

I hope this satisfies! Any other suggestions or feedback, please let me know! Thank you. PS: Here is the fixed iron doors and wooden door.

[Commodore]

I think the others have covered most of my thoughts already, but I have a few thoughts of my own to add in here. I really like the aesthetics of this map a lot. It looks very clean and modern, and the layout seems like it would play pretty well.

My one major concern is still the iron doors. Even with them forced open all the time, it’s still a really narrow gap to get through in a fast-paced fight (even more narrow than a one block gap because of the door). I would personally recommend removing all the iron doors and even the doorways, since even a 1x2 opening is pretty narrow. Wider entrances are generally better for gameplay in TIMV, so I think these would be best as normal 3x3 openings. The exception to this, in my opinion, is small rooms where it makes sense to have a doorway as the entrance. Main hallways, staircases, etc. should be a bit more accessible though.

Also, I think having an ender chest in the train, which is right by the tester, and another one in the staircase that’s also right by the tester is probably not ideal. Ender chest locations are generally best kept further away from the tester area so that players are spread out away from it at the beginning of the game. This helps make the game play a bit faster as traitors are encouraged to get early kills. Especially with two ender chests in close proximity to the tester, this could be a bit problematic. I’d recommend either moving one of them to another location much more distant from the tester, or removing one of them entirely. Either solution could be fine depending on what you feel works best for your map. If you can find another good place for at least one of them that would further spread players out, that would probably be best.

As for the question of blocking off the train tracks, I think the idea here is to just remove the barriers blocking them off so that those tracks could be playable. I agree blocking them with bars would not look right, so the best solution is to probably just allow players to get down onto the tracks. That would of course require adding ladders or something to allow players to climb back up. I think the area around the train could be reworked just a bit with gameplay in mind (so that the space makes sense visually and players can get where they look like they can get, but also can’t hide behind the train or something). That’s my thinking at least.

Great work on this map!

[4mins]

Hello, first of all thank you for sharing your opinions.

I can understand the concern of the iron doors, they can be removed completely leaving the 1 block wide walk through as multiple people have commented on them. I do not personally feel making the doorways bigger would be right for these specific entrances, as these doorways lead to smaller hallways inside the tunnel system. If they were leading to a main room or a smaller room I would agree and open them larger as a few are on the map as I do agree with what you said.

I can understand your point of view and concern over the ender chest spacing, however I do believe they are quite spread out as much as they can. The train ender chest is quite close to the tester indeed however, the other one is through the tunnel system which takes you further from the tester. There is also two trains to this map and only one ender chest on one train. The ender chest in the tunnel, I believe would attract less players due to more obvious ones like the train and the main area with the dome! I also think it’d be easier to get a kill here at the start of the game as it’s more hidden. We do have two more spaced out upstairs to allow for more spread out players and less crowded to ensure a fair chance for each role. We may possibly look at changing the ender chest if there is a better spot!

Regarding, the train tracks we did play with the idea of making them playable to get on as it would be more efficient. However, I believe keeping them blocked purely with barriers is the best option. My reasoning is because the tunnel is blocked and the track is quite short in front of the train, so I believe adding it so players can get on the tracks will perhaps influence some hiding or avoiding. There couldn’t be full tracks here as it’s very short, as well as extending them would make the map larger by too much and would still make it a dead end. I appreciate your comments!

[4mins]

Hi! I have since my last reply I asked one of my fellow map builders to have a try on the map to influence some of your ideas as I didn’t want to not try everyone’s feedback! I’m happy to say your idea did fit, at first I didn’t believe 3 by 3 doors would work but I considered them and the rest of the team agrees they fit the area much better. I have also now removed the ender chest on the train and kept the one in the tunnel so now overall we have 3 ender chests on this map! Thank you for your suggestion!

I have kept the train track closed as I don’t believe it still fits. Here are some images of the new entrances to the tunnel!

[4mins]

CHANGES

There is now three total ender chests on this map!

[iAmABox]

Hey, sorry for my late reply - just to clarify I did mean that the train tracks probably shouldn’t be blocked off at all since the invisible barriers where it looks like nothing is blocking you is a bit jarring. Alternatively, if you wanted to stick to the thematic nature that is the tracks are dangerous, I could discuss with the game council and devs the possibility of the tracks behaving the same way as poisonous water on maps like Calcedony, where if you fall onto the tracks then you die? This way I believe the problem of camping/hiding in the tunnel is removed, thematically it fits a lot, and it removes the issue of barriers blocking off somewhere that looks accessible. Obviously I could only confirm if implementing this is possible in Minecraft after discussing it, but I thought I should let you know that we might discuss this as a possibility.

Also about the enderchests, I don’t mind you removing one of the enderchests, although I’d recommend keeping the one on the train since it’s more to the periphery of the map, while the one in the tunnels feels like it’s connected to many more areas. Also, the area in the train where the enderchest was felt really claustrophobic which adds an element of risk when going for it since you become quite vulnerable in an enclosed space, which I quite like. Perhaps the area in the tunnels where the enderchest currently is could be reserved for a traitor trap button, if you wanted to add one to the map?

[4mins]

Hi! Absolutely that sounds awesome if it’d be possible! I greatly would appreciate you speaking them to see the possibility of this, if it’s possible I’d be happy to keep them open with the implement of danger.

I can go ahead and replace the one in the train, I agree that allowing that enclosed area in the map will be risky and could enable some quick kills early on. I actually completely forgot about the traitor trap! Only because I didn’t think it’d be possible so thank you so much for the idea. I think the traitor trap would fit perfect where the current ender chest is in the tunnel with the distance from the traitor tester.

[4mins]

TRAITOR TRAP & ENDER CHEST
We have now implemented a traitor trap button on the map, located in the tunnel between the two streams of water in replacement of the ender chest. We have now since replaced the ender chest on the train as well!

[iAmABox]

Super cool! Do you have any idea what you’d like the trap to do? It’d probably be best to make sure the trap happened within sight of where the button was, just to make sure the traitor using it can see if it will actually trap someone

[4mins]

Is there anything you would suggest? and or what the options are? as I’ve only ever seen lava traps and would perhaps like it to be unique to this map. What is your thoughts on adding a slap where the new button is, this slab would open inbetween the escalators and could allow the traitor to see the tester and would also allow people to shoot through it. I also have the other option of perhaps adding glass there just one block as it is in direct viewing of the tester from being under the escalator. We’ll keep the button there but perhaps change placement depending on what approach we use to see the tester.

[Commodore]

I really like the changes a lot! I think the idea of making the rails deal damage is really cool and fits very well with the map.

I totally agree with your thinking that a unique traitor trap is much better than a lava tester trap. Your idea of opening up a hole to the tester could work if you want to allow a traitor to shoot creeper arrows in or something (for that reason I would not make it glass). Alternatively, maybe it could open up a secret passage briefly that could allow a quick get-away for the traitor? That seems like it could fit thematically. If you did that though, it’d have to be accessible from the other side as well to prevent camping. My other idea is that since the tester is on the same level of the rails that would be deadly, maybe it could open up the floor of the tester and appear to drop you down onto some train tracks? This might be a bit more difficult to do since it would likely require a bit of changing the tester and maybe that location for the button wouldn’t work, I’m not sure. Just some things for you to consider.

Also, I agree that the ender chest on the train is probably the right one to keep. That said, do you think it would be possible to move the walls enclosing that room backwards just a few blocks? Right now, it seems like there’s very little space for players to actually stand around it. If you moved that wall back a bit, players could definitely fit in there but it would still be an enclosed space which is of course still good for getting quick early kills.

[iAmABox]

If the tester is right beneath the button then, if you wanted the tester to be trapped, then a glass floor beneath the trap button might be a nice idea to see if someone would die to the tester. I like the idea of tracks beneath the tester instead of a standard lava drop trap, but if you wanted something different then other traps include Mount Moor’s disappearing bridges/islands, Kazamuzo’s shutting the doors of the temple, the traitor room in Crystal Village, etc etc. We can’t guarantee everything can be implemented, but if you have any ideas you like let us know and we can see if it’s possible.

[4mins]

Hi! Thank you very much, I could definitely open up the hole I just didn’t want it to be too op to shoot creeper arrows in there. However, there is multiple escape points at the tester so players could move out the way and I think it would allow a unique addition to the map.

I think because the button is where it is in the tunnel opening up a passageway wouldn’t be necessary as traitors could easily escape in either direction to get away quicker without it being too campy.

I love the idea of opening the tester onto train tracks! Hypothetically it would work, I would just have to add another train track under the tester which when opened it will drop you down so you hit them tracks and die.

Unfortunately it isn’t possible to move it backwards as where the ender chest is located is at the front of the train, there is still room for players but I will have a look and see if there’s anything I can do this weekend.