The Seven Skies - A LotC Adventure Map [Devlog]

[marimbamonk 1501]

x~ The Seven Skies ~x

A Lord of the Craft Adventure Map

 

(Teaser Audio Trailer; created almost 1yr ago)

 

Overview - What is The Seven Skies?

 

The Seven Skies is an independently developed adventure map set in the universe of Lord of the Craft.

It started as a simple idea a couple of years ago: I wanted to create an end-game raid on a scale that no one had ever seen on LotC. Some of us had been around for the Undead vs. Ascended in Aegis, the Cultists in Asulon, or Setherien in Anthos... In my opinion, the most intense and glorious moments on the server are those end-game events. These are the times when everyone is logged in, and the staff has a massive climactic event planned – so massive that it culminates to the migration of the entire playerbase to another map!

 

I knew that the Seven Skies was something that hadn't really been fleshed out lore-wise, and the idea of ascending to that unknown, mystic realm fascinated me. Soon enough, I had lore written and an entire campaign planned out, from start to finish. And, with the release of resource packs, the potential for game development was expanded tenfold. The server would be able to use their own custom textures, sounds, and even add voice-acting and a soundtrack to the game; all of that on top of the functionality of command blocks, plugins, and the staff's event team. If executed with proper preparation, The Seven Skies would have been the end to Athera (or the following world), and the biggest event the server has ever put on. 

 

I've proposed my full idea to several staff teams over the years, and at one point I even became a Lore Master because of my work on this project. But for one reason or another (staff disinterest in the project; my own inactivity; lack of resources/support), I've never been able to get The Seven Skies out of independent development and into the server's hands. I've had a few partners work with me on lore and gameplay mechanics, but even that fell through with mutual inactivity.

Several of the partners and staff members I shared the project with suggested the idea of making The Seven Skies into an adventure map instead – a downloadable, single-player map separate from the server that would be developed to run fully by itself. I didn't really consider the idea at first, but after letting the project sit for even longer now, I've realized that this is the best way to go.

 

To be clear: originally, The Seven Skies was supposed to be an end-game event campaign taking place on the LotC server itself; but now, I will be independently developing it as an adventure map.

 

Truly, I'd like to think of The Seven Skies as an Indie Game that runs on Minecraft's engine. It won't be as short as the average adventure map, and it will include its own sounds, textures, storyline, and so on (all of the features that a real independent game would have).

 

Even though the bulk of the work on The Seven Skies will be done by me, there are several aspects of game/adventure map creation that I am not well-versed in. I’ll be consulting a lot of YouTube tutorials, reference material, lore, and fellow players in order to give this project the best quality possible. This, in part, is where the Devlog comes in.

 

 

 

Devlog

This post will be the place where I discuss my progress with the project. Posts here will be sporadic, and the content of the posts will differ too – one week I may post about a certain command block string that I used for spawning named mobs, the next week I may post about composing The Seven Skies soundtrack, then I may post about build themes and design for one of the Skies, and the following week I might show you guys how I recorded some of the sound effects and voice-acting. It all depends on where I am in the development process!

 

Oftentimes, there will be something in development that I'll need your guys' feedback on. I'm comfortable with voice-acting, music composition, SFX, storyline/lore, and gameplay, among other things. I am not the best builder (never used Voxel or WorldEdit before!), and I'm a novice command block coder. Sometimes I'll post something here and need suggestions or a bit of debugging help. Any suggestions are gladly accepted.

 

I will not post huge spoilers here, but if you choose to follow this Devlog, expect minor spoilers here and there. I'll try to keep it sparse so that everyone playing the map for the first time will still be surprised by its features, even if they've followed my progress on the Devlog!

 

 

 

The Story

Based on an idea set forth in the Ancient History of the server's lore, this adventure map focuses on the realm of the Aenguls and Daemons. An unknown corruption originates from deep within the Seven Skies, afflicting Aenguldaemons of all kinds and tainting the Skies themselves. 

As a mortal – and immune to this corruption – you will be called upon to ascend to this fabled realm, reversing the damage done by the corruption and curing the Overworld of its taint. 

 

(there is much, much more to it than this, but this is all I can reveal as of now!)

 

 

 

Gameplay & Features

Gameplay for The Seven Skies will have you playing as your own LotC character (or feel free to make one up). Your strengths and weaknesses and some gameplay in The Seven Skies will depend on what race you choose at the beginning of the map.

The player will ascend each of the Seven Skies (each with their own unique theme, bosses, and gameplay) alongside a small armada of helpful forces. Aside from the main storyline, the player will be able to collect artifacts, uncover ancient secrets of lore, discover easter eggs, do side quests, and more!

 

The Seven Skies will have several features, including:

• custom textures (weapons, items, blocks, and mobs)

• custom sounds

• voice-acting for major characters & bosses

• The Seven Skies Soundtrack

 

(there is much, much more to it than this, but this is all I can reveal as of now!)

 

 

 

Is The Seven Skies adventure map canon (is this adventure map considered to be official lore)?

Short answer: no, The Seven Skies adventure map is not the official LotC Seven Skies lore. 

 

Long answer: As I work on this project, I will try to stay true to Lord of the Craft lore and history as much as I can. Even though this map will be in a place that LotC has never experienced, and a lot of the lore will be made up, it is all designed to fit in with the Lord of the Craft style as well as possible. 

There have been multiple interpretations both in-game and out-of-game on what the Seven Skies are, and what goes on there... The Seven Skies adventure map will simply be my own interpretation. 

 

Regardless of whether or not you believe the map to be canon or not, I want it to be a fun, exciting expansion that will still satisfy a good connection to the game it's based on.

 

 

 

What version of Minecraft is The Seven Skies compatible with?

The Seven Skies will be made in and for Minecraft 1.9. It will not be backwards compatible, obviously... And I may or may not decide to continually update it when newer Minecraft updates come out. 

 

 

 

When will The Seven Skies adventure map be finished?

My hope is to be finished (or at least mostly done) with The Seven Skies by the beginning of 2017. This is the biggest creative project I've committed to working on, so there may be a serious likelihood that development will continue for several months after that ETA.

Right now, at this early of a stage, defining a surefire ending point is really only speculation. We'll see how my development groove rolls along; as we get closer to the end, the end will become more evident!

 

 

 

Will I have to pay for the adventure map?

No.

I want all Minecraft players, whether they're a part of the Lord of the Craft community or not, to be able to play The Seven Skies for free (most adventure maps are free anyway). Even if I did peg a price on the adventure map, people could still easily pirate the thing, and I just don't want to have to deal with that. 

 

I will definitely make myself open for donations sometime during development and after the game is released, but no, payment will not be required at all. I will be spending a bit of money on a few things that I'll be using for the project – better composition software, audio equipment for recording foley, supplies for foley, etc. – but these are things I'll need for future projects anyway.

 

 

 

What can I do to help?

 

Devlog Feedback, Comments, Suggestions

I already mentioned in the Devlog section that I'll need help every now and then with coding, building, or the project in general; you can reply to this topic at any time with your suggestions and/or feedback. 

 

Guest/Cameo Contributions

Another thing I'm hoping to have is guest artists/producers, and even some cameo appearances added to the project. I will make it clear to you guys what I need and when, but there are already a few things that I'm sure I'll want some extra people for:

• small builds

• voice-acting

• music composition

• side-quest gameplay & story

• etc.

 

As far as cameo appearances... This primarily applies to voice-actors and music composers that I have a personal interest in bringing on to the project.

Right now, I already know I'd like to have Volutional compose a piece or two for The Seven Skies soundtrack, if he's willing. He's composed a few LotC soundtrack pieces before, and they were all great.

It would also be great to have the legendary LotC voice-actor Repiteo back for some voices (there are a few other good LotC VOs that I can't remember off the top of my head... Who was the guy who did "HE IMMOLATED THEM"?)

Y'know, stuff like that!

 

No need to post below and tell me that you're a builder or voice-actor and would like to work on the project. I might need you, but I will let all of you know when!

 

Donations

If, by some divine will, you feel compelled to aid me in the form of money, then my thanks go to you. I have no service open now, and I don't plan on opening one until I have a substantial amount of the project done. 

All of the money donated to me while this project is still in development will be used for this project – whether that's paying for sound equipment, foley supplies, software for audio/music, late night coding pizza, or my college tuition.

 

 

 

About the Creator

I first joined the Lord of the Craft in July of 2011, a short time after its initial release. My character from then till now has been Brunhyldir – an Orcish Shaman with a history in many other groups (such as the Ascended and Undead).

Outside of the game, I like to write, compose, and voice-act. I brought these passions of mine to Lord of the Craft too; I've linked some of my works below if you want to check them out.

 

My SoundCloud (LotC Soundtrack, Voice-Acting)

 

My Writing:

The Tales of Green Smoke

Orcish Timeline (many posts within)

 

I'm currently a College student, studying Sound Design (offered at my school as "Music Industry Studies"). I'm in my College's Symphonic Band, and I also teach a local Middle School Drumline. 

I aspire to be many things: a foley artist; a composer; a sound designer; a writer; a video game producer... At this point, I'm working project by project and building a resume as I look for the right path for me.

 

Fun fact: I may be able to get the sound design for this project to count for college credit, as a Sound Design major. Rad!

Fun fact: I will be voice-acting for World of Warcraft soon!

 

 

 

In Conclusion

Please feel free to follow this topic, and reply below with your thoughts or any questions you may have.

This devlog style is based on that of Dukope – an indie developer with years of experience and success behind him. He makes real games, all by himself, not wimpy lil adventure maps! I highly suggest you check out his work, he is my idol in this affair.

 

Have a nice day!

[Lotoke 25]

Wow! This sounds great.

Are you planning on allowing for multiple people to play through the map at once? E.g, on a server/ realms.

[colovian fur 8360]

glorious, now i can get the lotc experience without lotc.

[sneLf 314]

I feel like you should take your time if this is gonna be released in 2017. Plus this sounds like a great map, and taking your time might make it a Greater map then you say. Me likie this

[idiot 502]

Damn. This is really neat.

 

I'd be happy to contribute with builds and things alike!

[Jygg 330]

[Trenchist 864]

[Sky 0]

I swear I heard from you about this project as an idea back in Anthos ... Regardless, full support my friend.

[Dr. Boom/Dr. Bewm 29]

[BonesOfTheEarth 2252]

10/10

 

[marimbamonk 1501]

On 4/23/2016 at 10:36 PM, noahandreas said:

Wow! This sounds great.

Are you planning on allowing for multiple people to play through the map at once? E.g, on a server/ realms.

I'm planning on making it so that the map can be played by multiple people at once, but I'm going to optimize that after the map itself is finished. I'll be designing it for just one player, and then adding the necessary changes once everything is finished in order to make it multiplayer-friendly!

[marimbamonk 1501]

Devlog 1

May 1 2016

 

Adventure Map Intro Area - After Week 1 of Development

 

Details

So... this area may look somewhat familiar! 

Yes, I did model the beginning of the adventure map after the Cloud Temple from LotC. I wanted players to know immediately what universe they are in, as soon as they start up the map.

After walking through the three dialogue arches, you are then introduced to the Pools of Life & Death, another iconic Cloud Temple staple. 

 

Then comes the choosing of the player's race. I went for a museum-esque style here: the environments of each of the different races are displayed, giving the player insight into how that race lives. After seeing all of the displays, the next room will prompt you to choose your race.

In order in the video:

 

Human

Elf

Orc

Dwarf (unfinished)

Halfling (to be added)

Kharajyr (to be added)

 

I'm not really satisfied with my progress on the Dwarf area. I could use some ideas on how to make it especially dwarf-y.

 

Building

This is being built in 1.9.2, which means I do not have access to building mods like WorldEdit/MCEdit/Voxel Sniper (none have updated to 1.9.2 yet).

Yes; everything you saw in that video was built by hand, the old fashioned way!

 

With that said... I know for a fact that I won't be able to finish the Skies in time or in the manner that I'd like if I don't have some sort of building mod(s). There are things that would simply take too long to do if I were to attempt it in vanilla Creative. 

I'm praying that the building mods are updated to 1.9.2 asap so I can start the real time-consuming builds. Until then, I've occupied myself with things that I can do easily by hand (like the build shown in this video). 

 

If you guys have any insight on how I can somehow use a previous version of WorldEdit/Voxel Sniper without corrupting my 1.9.2 world, let me know. :l

 

What to expect from here/development process

I'm going to continue working on the intro build until it's finished. From there, I continue developing what I can until modern building mods are released. There are several boss fight mechanics/storyline events that will require some command block coding, and that's something I can figure out regardless of whether or not I have a build ready.

My hope is that the building mods will be updated by the start of the summer, which will be when the heavy development for this map will start.

 

Let me know what you guys think so far! Do you like the museum-esque display of the races? I thought it was a cool idea. I'm especially proud of the 3-Dimensional aspects of the Orc build – how it goes out into the desert and such. :)

 

Thanks for following, guys

[_Jandy_ 3519]

really excited to see the halfling stuff

[Milans 33]

Damn this sounds quite impresive. Can't wait to check it out next year

[marimbamonk 1501]

Devlog 2

June 27 2016

 

 

Slowly but surely, the Seven Skies is coming along. With the summer season now in full swing, I finally have time to do things! 

I'll let the video explain the changes that I've made and how things are going.

 

If you would be interested in developing the Seven Skies along with me, send me a message here on the forums. Depending on how many people are interested, I may find a way to make it a more open project.

 

Thank you guys for following.

 

Zac