CONCEPTS




A- Outer/Inner Dynamics


* Inner should be easily defendable, safe/lit and empty, Outer dangerous yet resourceful.


* Behind the idea of rewarding risk-taking, the aim would not be to value experienced players or skills, but rather to foster dynamics of cooperation/defection 


* Hence then, the crucial importance of hunger, making resource collection and thus exploration necessary.


* Nevertheless, Inner safety is only on the condition of mutual non-aggression (unless making the citadel a safe zone)


B- Environmental Design


* Large trees were used in the design to promote both mob spawning during the day (to ensure difficulty of outer rim), create an ominous atmosphere, and to encourage building large but flamable bases.


* Surface layer is of one or two blocks deep, composed of dirt, gravel, and cobblestone blocks. This is to reduce the potential for underground expansion and to control resources, such as iron, through chest distribution.


* There are plenty of flowers and grasses for seeds and dyes to help identify teams if required and to build farms.


* Water is very scarce, with the only non-moving water being in the centre of the citadel. This is in order to incite combat over water sources.


C- Architectural Design


* The thickness of walls & floors should prevent quick destructions and consequently avoid an early permeability. 


* Various pits lead to lower floors  and making the construction a natural defense point. The most defendable points are therefore the heights and the lower core for its visibility.


* The core contains a pool of water, in with the goal of facilitating agriculture (requiring dirt, seeds and tools, only obtainable on the outer rim).


* The citadel is thus only defendable with resources gathered from the outer rim.








D- Loot Choices


* Chests were divided into tiers of I, II, III, with 3rd tier being the best.
   * The rarity ratio is of about 8 to 5 to 1.


* Tier I: Contains mostly base but possibly useful utility items, such as bone marrow, string, feathers, and the like. Rare chances of getting a weapon or armour, but when found are of inferior quality, such as chain, leather, or wood and stone respectively. Terrible food sources, like a few cookies, sometimes occur.
   * Tier I chests are easily spotted and reached.


* Tier II: Contain better weapons and armour, going up to but not reaching iron. Food is more common and is often plantable, like melons and melon seeds, carrots, potatos, etc. Utilities are better (bows, fishing rods) and more deadly (TNT). Also contain spawn eggs for friendly mobs, such as cows or sheep. They are the primary chests inside the citadel in the centre.
   * Tier II chests are hard to spot or reach.


* Tier III: Best weapons and armour, and the chests are full of them. Iron tools are common, as is armour. Contain very rare utilities, such as beacons and enchantment tables, and the means to use them. Very rarely have spawn eggs for dangerous mobs (like Ghasts), and even more rarely have a single diamond in them.
   * Tier III chests are hard to spot and reach.


* Overall, any individualizing loot was avoided, anything that  would give any single player a massive advantage over everyone else. So no diamond swords, no diamond chestplates. To get those things, you need to cooperate and perhaps even betray another player, a mood the map cultivates as best as it can.


E- Recommendations and Ideal Conditions


* Because of its size, the map gets more interesting to play and observe starting 16 people. Resource scarcity being an intended core dynamic, having a lot more players could still be recommendable. 


* Because of the same reasons,  death is itself quite punitive already. Nevertheless, an ideal setting would allow 2 or 3 lives.


* The map remains also playable as an open and hardcore server (death resulting in blacklisting).


F- Aims and Objectives


* The map has no explicit objectives. The desgin hints at cooperation as beneficial, and while individual gameplay is limited (through loot choices and map design), it is a possibility. 

* Because of both resource scarcity and defense based architecture, the map is prone to cause players to team up against both the environment and other players. Conflict  then becomes focused on sieges and raids as opposed to pure PvP.


   * The map ultimately comes down to a collective management of limited resources with no incentives to fully cooperate aside for long-term enjoyment.
   
G- License

This map was created by Brent Calvelage and Tom LeCercle. Copyright (C) 2016

You are free to use, modify, and distribute these files, subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. This allows you to share or adapt these files for non-commercial use only, provided you give appropriate credit to the original authors, provide a link to the same Creative Commons license, and indicate if any changes were made. Derivative works must be distributed under the same Creative Commons license as the original. You may not apply any additional legal terms or technological measures that prohibit others from using such derivative works in ways that the license permits. 
For a summary of the license terms, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
For full details, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode