Hey guys,

Today I will be giving you some tips on how to create a good adventure map.
Please note that some things will be from a subjective point of view, so you may not agree all the times.
However, most people seems to find the following good in adventure maps.

Tip 1: Custom Mobs
Everyone who plays singleplayer regularly gets bored of fighting the same mobs over and over again. There is hardly any variety. So it is nice to give your mobs some accessories: heads, armour, weapons. Even though you are still fighting skeletons and zombies then, it makes your adventure map more attractive to play. Adding Custom Drops is also a great feature to have in your map.

Tip 2: Storyline
Hardly anybody wants to play a map where you dwell around without any particular goal, neither do people want to play a map with such a far-fetched complex storyline. Give the players a goal to accomplish, so that they will be encouraged to finish the map. Sidequests are a nice addition to your story.

Tip 3: Custom Items
Sure, there is a lot you can do with the current default Minecraft items, and there is nothing wrong with them, but using redstone knowledge to change items into custom items is a lot better and interesting than having to use normal items. Change a fishing rod into a grappling hook, add bombs you can place down or change paper into bandage. I just named 3 out of thousand of options. The possibilities are endless, in terms of speaking. Moreover, make sure to add creative ways to put these items to good use, be it a boss battle, a puzzle, or a shortcut.

Tip 4: Add 'Dungeons'
Everyone who has ever played The Legend of Zelda or a Minecraft adventure map knows what ''dungeons'' mean. For those who don't know exactly what I am talking about: dungeons are structures or complexes through which you have to go in order to obtain a certain item or in order to accomplish a certain goal. Many things that ae featured in dungeons are Custom Items, Mini Bosses, Bosses and Puzzles. These are not entirely necessary, but it is the most fun and simple way to add adventure into an adventure map. Be as creative as you can be creating these dungeons.

Tip 5: Add Boss Fights
Boss Fights are climaxes in a game. Whether it be the end of a dungeon, the end of the map or just an unexpected fight, boss fights are always fun to experience and/or create. I made a blog [10 Tips - How To Create A Good Minecraft Boss Battle] before, so check out my channel to see that blog if you'd like to.

Tip 6: Gameplay
This is very important, since more original gameplay will result in a better adventure map (most times). There are many options of altered gameplay, think of stuff like the amount of health. Think up of ways to increase health or ways to heal, for instance. But be careful, don't alter it too much. With the current MC technology, people are able to create custom models in resource packs, thus adding a whole new dimension to the game. But please don't do this (too much), since people want to play a MC adventure map, so please stick to MC tools. If you want to change MC into another game, you could just as well play another game with the same concept you want to change in MC.

Tip 7: Use Redstone & Command Blocks
I can't think of a way to create an adventure map without using redstone, but if you're considering making an adventure map please learn how to use redstone and command blocks (or get someone to do it for you, which I don't recommend). This is very important, since literally the whole gameplay depends on the redstone. Make sure not too create laggy circuits, since this will bug some players thus making your map less successful. If you have any redstone questions, feel free to ask me.

Tip 8: Add Puzzles
How many people are out there who spam the whole map with mobs with incredibly high health, so that players spam their mouse in order to make progress. That is not fun. Players want to feel proud after they have finally accomplished something, and they won't if all they do is click and wait. So please, avoid making a hack-and-slash map. Add puzzles, instead. Find a balance between fighting and solving puzzles for maximal fun. Puzzles are not only a way to come closer to your goal, but are also fun and require intelligence and thinking instead of mere clicking. These are a big plus.

Tip 9: Be Creative
This one is obvious. But I can't stress enough how important it is. We have already seen dozens of maps where you have to free the world of evil. This doesn't mean you can't use this concept, but keep it original or add certain plot twist. People want creative, original and new gameplay features, boss fights, monsters, items etc. This keeps everything interesting!

Tip 10: Test
Test your map a few times, or have people test it for you. Even the smallest mistake can screw up the whole map, which is a shame if you put a lot of effort in it. Double-check every corner, every mob, every redstone contracption, every sidequest, make sure you did not make any grammar mistakes and make sure the map is 100% working. This is important, since it is the very essence of the map, but players being able to see redstone circuits will take away their feeling of playing a realistic map.

Tip 11: Realistic Builds
Your map will be more attractive if your landscape, the terraforming, the builds and everything else looks great. It is so important to put effort in this since people will see those things first if you post your map here on PMC. And we all know the more attractive something looks, the more people want to try it out. If your maps looks horrible, chances are high that people won't even bother downloading it.

Tip 12: Detailing
Take your time to make your adventure map. Don't rush and don't set deadlines too quickly. Detail your map to make it looks more realistic. If everything important for the plot looks nice, but the rest doesn't, you may want to change that. Moreover, add details to areas you can't enter. If you have mountains, add snow or pine trees.

Tip 13: Conversations
What is the point of adventure maps without any conversations? If you write instructions and nearly everything that could be told to you in a conversation in books or on signs, your adventure will feel empty. So make lever and original use of the player's ability to talk. If you don't know how to add conversations, you can use the /say and /tellraw commands. I recommend the last one. You can create raw json for the tellraw command here: http://minecraftjson.com/. It is an official site.

Tip 14: Special Abilities
Add special abilties to make the map more fun. You can apply special abilities to items (having a rose in your inventory gives you more health or having a feather in your handgives you jump boost) or to armour (apply respiration to a special cap). You can do a lot with this and it can seperate your map from the other maps in originality.

Tip 15: Supply Players Well Enough
Nobody likes shortcomings in items or food. If players dwell around half the time finding supplements, they will not like your adventure map. However, if you supply the player with too much, the chances are that the map will be easy. Find a balance, make sure the player won't have too much, but also not too little.

Tip 16: Sounds
Adding sounds or custom sounds is a great way to make you map 'your own'. When you kill a boss skeleton, you can add the wither boss death sound for example. Make great use of custom sounds, it is a great way to add more dimension to your adventure!

Tip 17: Particles
Just like sounds, you may want to add in some particles. Add them to places where they would normally not/hardly occur. When a mob gets mad, for example, because you dealt him so much damage, it would be so nice to make some angry villager particles float around him.

Tip 18: Armor Stands
Armor stands are a great way of adding never-before-seen features to your map. If you are at graveyard, you can add invisible armor stands holding bones under a certain angle, thus making it look like there are bones lying on the ground. First of all you can't pick them up, second of all it looks more realistic and more original than an item you cannot pick up. Mojangs reaction to armor stand must have been priceless. They were probably thinking 'let's add a great decorative block', not knowing it would become MC's most innovative block ever.

Tip 19: Custom Armor
It is great to add in some custom armor in tiers. Each of them can have custom names and different kinds of enchantments. If the players are constantly wearing armor, you may want to make mobs stronger, to increase difficulty.

Tip 20: Fake Enchanting
This may sound really weird, but it is actually quite simple, and it adds some realistic aspects to the game (especially for the newcomers). The enchantment lores are light grey. So you can add simple text lores that are light grey, but not enchantments, thus making it look like real enchantments. Adding Angel Blessing I or II to a sword makes it look like it can defeat evil, adding Water Resistance to a respiration cap or Heat Resistance to chestplates adds new game mechanics. It is really fun to do. What's more, if you are good at redstone, you can makes these features come true. Testfor players that wear the Angle Blessing swords fro example, and only THEY can slash through an evil forcefield, for instance, whereas players who aren't wielding these swords cannot do this.

Tip 21: NPCs
If your map's concept is about being alone, then don't add NPCs of course. But overall, common maps are less empty when there are NPCs walking around. Keep in mind that they shouldn't be placed around at random and that they are better when some have an actual function (trading or for the plot).

Tip 22: Well Thought Ending
Sudden endings are weird. If you walk through a door and there is a sign saying TO BE CONTINUED, you may be surprised and there is nobody there to blame you. What's more, end bosses who aren't mentioned throughout the whole map or who haven't showed themselves are not really that good. The good old (or should I say 'bad old') 'You don't know me but I am the master puppet behind all events' end boss is lame. Cliffhangers are OK. If you decide to make a sequel or prequel explaining stuff, though.

Tip 23: The /tellraw Command
We used to have the /say command, but let's be honest, the /tellraw command has so much more possibilities. And we could get rid of the [@] before every piece of text. I mentioned the website before where you can easily generate raw json for your /tellraw command. And on top of that, there is the possibility to click a piece of text in order to execute a command or something else. Please make use of this command and use plenty of colours. This is not necessary, but it makes the chat bar more clear.

Tip 24: Enlarge Your World
Let's say you are making a forest. A huge forest. Laying down a gravel path from the beginning of the map, where you spawn, right to the places you need to visit is lame and boring. Obvious, as well. Make your world bigger, make players find places themselves, add sidequests, build places that aren't necessary for the plot, but for exploring. People like to explore new worlds. So don't stick to an A to Z path.

Tip 25: Logical Beginning
The 'I just woke up, I do not know where I am, but I need to save the world from evil' beginning is cliche. Make clear why the player must go on this journey. Either explain right away, either make this clear later on in the game or create a sequel or prequel that tells you why you decided to go on this save-the-world adventure.


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