PvE rev 11: Unity Endgame

[buzzie71]

POST-EVENT EDIT: Removed spoilers of potential future events.  (Sorry, but you know what the answer is when it comes to future storyline :P)

 

EDIT: Moving the list of stuff to do up here so it's more visible:

 

Left to do for now (condensed):

 

- Seek aesthetic opinions and revisions of the sets.

 

Before the event goes live:

 

- Pick a location for the gate in the overworld; protect and build that region and link that to the precursor set.

 

- Obfuscate region names.

 

- Update clue signs with clues to the door.

 

- Redecorate the entrance room. Need to think of something other than two gates and two signs.

 

- Set (and warn) the entrance and exit signs (into and out of the four sets) to clear inventory.

 

- Revise subreddit post, add in clues to the gate location, and then post it.

 

 

 

=====

 

Just wanted to at least announce this to the admins that this is happening - I've staked out a spot in the End for a structure meant to hold the logical conclusion to the Unity storyline: a sponge block (named something to be determined) that will provide Unity with the necessary power to return home.

 

Practical things first: I wanted this as a way to give players a chance to conclude the Unity story - it would be a bit of a let down (in my opinion) if players had spent time piecing together the story of how Unity arrived on this map and then not be presented with a conclusion to the story.  Originally I was going to make the way in (maybe a room with a warp sign in the overworld?) closed with a door that opens by way of tossing a named item in a hopper lock, ...[spoilers redacted]... I was thinking instead to place a (fake) portal to this site in the End in the overworld and announce a scavenger hunt for it.  Once someone (or even a team) finds the site, I'm hoping to make them look around a bit (not too much) for the said source block, which they can then bring back to spawn.  I admit that right now this is a bunch of idea fragments, but that is what I'm aiming for at the moment.

 

The site can be reached with /warp endgame.

 

In terms of the story, I am thinking about making the site a weapon built and used by a long-dead ancient superpower (the so-called Guardians).  The way I have ideas fleshed out at the moment, the Guardians were the dominant species in the (Minecraft) universe in ancient times, before Steves, testificates, the Endermen/Enderdragon, etc.  Like us, they conquered their home domain of the End and then branched out to master the Overworld and the Nether as well, building a massive empire spanning all three dimensions.  Their downfall came from internal strife within the species - many of the Guardians established independent factions which then attempted to assert their dominance over the empire.  The superweapons they have built were then used to fight their civil war, and the Guardians, as a species, eventually became nearly extinct due to their use.

 

The scavenger hunt ends at one of these superweapons (hoping to make it look like some sort of a giant laser).  The players who make it here will arrive via portal, following the advice and clues of someone from the future who has found the source block required for Unity (this will be the premise of the subreddit announcement post).  

 

Not sure about this part - was thinking about writing in a prophecy for the Guardians such that they knew that someone from Unity in the far future will come, and would thus leave more instructions on how to deactivate their weapon/obtain the source block under the reasoning that they (PvE) have overcome their differences and avoid internal struggle, while the Guardians could not (which meant that Unity would be a worthy successor to the Guardians and thus worthy to retrieve the source block).  If this doesn't work out, I could probably just as easily have John Smith (Unity AI) accompany the players somehow and give instructions that way.

 

Once it is found, the players will have an opportunity to communicate with the map population in the past (and thus a chance to close the loop, since they came because they were tipped off by themselves from the future); doing so will reward them with a novelty item prize (say, a named clock).

 

Questions, concerns, suggestions, leave them all below!  Just for the record, I would like to propose that this be declassified after the end of the rev, as well as any spawn (ie, Unity)-related topics from the archived forums, if possible.

[totemo]

The Heart of Unity.

[buzzie71]

Just to provide an update with how/where this is going, since I realize I've been slow and it seems like this has gone cold:

 

It's starting to come together; I'm getting a better idea of how/what the physical structure should be.  My intentions for how this scenario will play out as soon as a player (or a team of players) finds the portal location in the overworld is as follows:

 

Soon as the player/team traverses the overworld portal (assuming they follow the clues to get there, etc.) they will be placed in a long-ish corridor with a room containing a small model of Unity, with maybe some status reports/information on the walls of this room (warp: precursor).  Along this corridor will be regions with greeting/farewell flags that will trigger messages to the player.  This is mainly a scene-setting area; nothing is required of the player/team as of yet.

 

Storyline-wise, this will be the resident AI of the Guardian structures being visited (still thinking of names, see below), or John Smith from Unity; either way, they will brief the player on what's going on (no blocks in the Overworld rare enough to provide power to the REGE and Unity, but there is an auxiliary power core in <name of Guardian superweapon> that has been sitting in the presence of the powerful energy generator contained within for millennia, which has soaked up enough power that it could be used for a one-way trip, ie, Unity can use this to return home.

 

After passing through this area, the player/team arrives at the Guardian superweapon itself (warp: endgame).  They need to remove the four redstone torches from the chamber under the grass and place them in niches on the four walls (disabling the superweapon, so to speak); this will retract a piston and reveal a dropper, which then dispenses the auxiliary power core (a renamed sponge).  This is then taken to a hopper-locked piston door, where dropping said sponge in the hopper will open the door and lead to the exit portal.

 

Taking this exit portal will bring the player/team to a room (currently unbuilt, but thinking about just a sphere) with a return portal to the superweapon, an exit portal to the overworld (perhaps back to the place where the player/team entered in the first place?), a place to put down victory signs (similar to the 5K/glowstone quest), and a communications console-looking thing.  Using the console to contact John Smith about the location of the source block will earn the player/team a novelty prize for completing the time loop (given either on site or later) as well as announcing their deed.

 

Some things I haven't figured out yet, and would like to hear your suggestions on, in addition to anything else that comes to mind that I have missed:

 

Storyline:

- What is the name of the Guardian AI?  I am envisioning this AI to have been present for millennia (if you know the Halo storyline, think Guilty Spark without the humanizing in Halo 4/rampancy in Halo 3), who has seen the rise and fall of the Guardians, is aware that the Unity crew will be coming to take the auxiliary core, and will assist them in doing so.  The AI can, and probably should, speak with a bit of emotion similar to John Smith, and I'm thinking would sound more poetic/cryptic/obtuse (where John Smith would say "kill the Ghast and take the Ghast Tear it drops to Unity", this AI would say something like "relieve the demonic airborne jellyfish of its sorrows and bring them to the Vessel of Unity").  If John Smith is instead briefing the player/team, this point becomes moot.

 

Structure:

-Is there a better place to dispense the sponge block? Right now I have it positioned in one of the four corners of the basement near the ceiling, which, for an auxiliary power source, is a rather odd place to hold it.  I can't really think of a better spot without disturbing the spherical shape of the structure, though since the bottom is never seen by players going through via the portals, I suppose I can add more space there to support dispensing from the floor/closer to the beacons.

 

-Should the communication console be contained in a separate room, and if so, where in the sequence of rooms/areas should it be placed? Or should the console only have one possible contact (John Smith) and be sitting in a corner?  I am wondering if it would be cool to give players a chance to rotate through possible contacts (say, a list containing Retrieval Team Echo, the Molon Lord, Pony, or John Smith on Unity) and contact each of them.  Only a communication to John Smith will trigger the announcement, but the others could just send the player (via easy sign msg) some sort of humorous message.  The way I'm thinking of implementing this is for the sign for changing the contact to be an easy sign warp to an identical room containing the same console but with different actions on console use, and this is a bit difficult to replicate if the victory signs are in the same room as the console.

 

-Should the redstone torch removal/placement be dropped, and the dropper with the sponge block instead placed on a figurative/metaphorical pedestal?

 

-Still need to build everything after the superweapon area before rechecking that all the mechanics are working.

 

-Still need to find a location in the overworld to hide the portal - been holding off on this until the other areas (all in the End) are ready to prevent premature accidental discovery.

 

Other:

-Should there be a physical (in-game) prize for the player/team that reaches and completes the area first, besides the novelty prize which is just a named clock?  I've been thinking that perhaps the ultimate prize would be mentioning the player/team in the final log entry that describes the Unity taking off and returning home; would that suffice?

[buzzie71]

Decided to separate the communcations console (/warp telephone) from the sign placing area/victory area (/warp conduit).  Also with lack of good ideas about a Guardian AI, I'm thinking of having John Smith be the player's companion instead.  Should be more interesting to write, since John Smith doesn't know the workings of the structure and would be mostly as confused/clueless as the player.

 

Also drafted this announcement subreddit post for when the event goes live: 

Greetings again!  P has been quiet recently, and that's understandable - a lot has been built already, it's been the same map for months already, there was a reset of some server called Survival not too long ago... [author's note: might end up rewriting this line]

 

And then there's Unity, sitting at spawn, inert and underpowered.  Marooned, too, for the last 30 Minecraft years (about 5 Earth months), with no prospect of escape.

 

Until now.

 

John Smith has recently reported receiving some sort of encrypted communication from an unknown source.  The audio recording quality is terrible and much of the message is unintelligible, but from what he was able to analyze, he has found this much:

 

- The timestamp on the message indicates it was made in the future.

 

- Somewhere within the explored area (this map) is a portal.

 

- The portal is at... <clues to its location>

 

- The portal does not look like a Nether portal or an End portal, though it is approximately that size, if not slightly bigger.

 

- The portal is upright, much like a Nether portal.

 

- Somewhere on the other side of that portal contains a source block that can be used to power Unity for its return trip.

 

John Smith also reports that shipboard sensors, as powerful as they are, seem to be unable to locate the portal - something about "xray sensors unable to penetrate coal ore".  He assures me that once someone makes visual contact with it, he can lock the sensors onto the player(s) who enter the portal and examine what they see.

 

It seems the way home for Unity is now here, and real.  The question now is...where?

 

Good hunting, and may Unity shine upon you in your quest.

 

 

Left to do for now:

 

- Add in regions with greeting flags that will display messages to the players as they walk through the sets (see /warp Molon_Vessel for an example of what I mean)

 

- Link the four sets, either with easy signs (certainly can be done) or command blocks (possibly can be done) or with an alternate solution (I had a conversation with totemo and he was interested in looking for a plugin to control teleportation - maybe Multiverse, maybe a custom plugin...)

 

- Set (and warn) the entrance and exit signs (into and out of the four sets) to clear inventory.

 

- Add build regions to the endsphere basement so torches can be removed/placed.

 

- Brainstorm a third character to contact with the communication console - if nothing, then ignore (three contacts are enough if push comes to shove).

 

- Implement contact rotation and communcations in the telephone set.

 

- Add glowstone glyphs to the outside of the conduit set (?).

 

- Add in any extra easy signs for messages/announcements as they are needed.  For example, depending on how much is revealed in the precursor set, I might add messages on the walls in the room with the glass Unity to explain things a bit more.

 

- Alter perms on all lwc-locked containers in the sets and regions so they belong to "Guardians" (this will likely be the only mention of them during the quest)

 

- Seek aesthetic opinions and revisions of the sets.

 

- Wonder if there is a way to allow players free movement within the sets without being able to carry the source sponge block backwards into the overworld (as envisioned, there is no way to go backwards and return to the overworld; the only way out is by going forward through the quest).

 

Before the event goes live:

 

- Pick a location for the gate in the overworld; protect and build that region and link that to the precursor set.

 

- Revise subreddit post, add in clues to the gate location, and then post it.

[buzzie71]

The four sets are complete, barring any minor aesthetic changes of the sets themselves. For this to be playable, the last things to do are to pick a spot in the overworld for a portal gate, link that to the sets, link the sets back to that spot in the overworld, write clues to its location and announce. I'm thinking about launching this as the end-of-rev event for P (to exaggerate, it wouldn't make sense for someone to find the sponge core and then watch Unity sit on the ground for another three months) - so maybe a week prior to the rev's end date?
 
There is one thing in particular that I would like to ask about - I'm unsure what to write for the Molon Lord that would sound characteristically like the Molon Lord.  At the moment I have:
 
 

ALL HAIL MOLON LORD! I KILLED C.JOHNSON!!!

...which was lifted directly from the sign on the Molon Lord in the original 5K. Does it sound like the Molon Lord? Given where I got this from, almost certainly, though I am worried that it would not strike a chord with current players. Any suggestions for this line?

 

(EDIT: Changed this line to mention something about salvation and potato/carrot heretics.  Should be more interesting.)

Also, and probably more importantly, what would be a good prize for this quest? I have a few random logs lying around that I could probably give to the winning player or party, perhaps a mention in a future log that depicts the departure of Unity (after the rev ends),...anything else? I feel items at this point would not be very useful :S

[buzzie71]

I've carved out an area with the entrance to the endgame sets and a piston door that will admit players inside.  The door does work, so if you are checking the area out, PLEASE DO NOT OPEN THE DOORS for fear of revealing spoilers!

 

Beyond that, I invite anyone to check to make sure the six clues I've written for the door's location are actually concise enough to lead players to the door.  These are designed such that every clue on its own is near-meaningless (each of these will be placed on a sign somewhere on the map - overworld mainly, but possibly Nether and End, with clues that lead to those signs given on the subreddit announcement post).

 

Clues to point to the door:

• It is hidden near a major junction in the highways of iron and wood.
• You seek it in an underground cavity dug out long ago.
• It is hidden in the shadow of a mighty vessel of teamwork.
• A button or lever key is needed to reveal the gate.
• On the bottom lapis, the key you must place.
• In the direction you face to enter, the sun rises on the left.

If you do check these clues, please place a block (not a button or a lever or anything else that can trigger redstone) on the spot you think the button/lever should be placed, and right-click with a wood sword.  If you see a region named "codrex", then you've found the spot.

 

Please remember to remove the block after you are finished, and more importantly, please ensure no players are around before you check that location!

[buzzie71]

I've placed six signs around the playable map (4 in overworld, 1 in Nether, 1 in End).  They are all placed on top of a gravity-independent block, and both the sign and that block are protected by a region name I created by mashing the keyboard (to prevent anyone from guessing the region names and finding out their locations that way).  The warps to each of the signs are set up as "er<1-6>", so the first clue sign can be reached at /warp er1, second at /warp er2, and so forth.

 

Currently the signs are blank, but I intend to place the six clues to the door from the previous post on each of them.  These are the six clues to clues to the door that I propose, which will be placed in the subreddit announcement post when the event goes live: 
 

• Look on the peak of a tall sand dune.
• Dive to the floor of a deep trench.
• Seek on top of the seismically disturbed snowy lands.
• Hunt among the floor growth of a jungle under an iron highway.
• Scour the barren landscape of the World Between the Worlds.
• Check an alcove hidden within the former realm of the Pink Ender Dragon.

 

There are many places on the map that correspond to some of these, and I worry the area to search is too large for the given time frame.  I have faith in PvE players, who have time and again surpassed my expectations, but at the same time I don't want this to be overwhelmingly difficult.

 

Opinions? Suggestions? Are my clues reasonable? :P

[tompreuss]

Buzzie has been taking me through his updates every few days in game, and everything has been looking amazingly good so far.

[buzzie71]

Announcement signs have been added, clues have been planted and tompreuss is setting up the gate room.  Revising the subreddit post and posting below...

 

Greetings again!  Despite this rev's age, much has changed since launch. Magnificent towns sprung up from nothing, spleef games were played, and when all that was done, hostile mobs skirmished around a sunken pirate ship...

 

And then there's Unity, sitting at spawn, inert and underpowered, largely a constant during this entire rev.  The ship itself has been marooned for the last five and a half months, despite discovery of a potential but unsuitable replacement power source. It seems escape from this world is no longer a possibility.

 

At least, until now.

 

John Smith has recently reported receiving some sort of encrypted communication from an unknown source.  The audio recording quality is terrible (whoever was speaking apparently was roboting pretty hard) and much of the message is unintelligible, but from what he was able to analyze, he has found this much:

 

- The timestamp on the message indicates it was made in the future.

 

- Somewhere within the explored area (this map) is a portal.

 

- The clues to where this portal are hidden are scattered across the explored world:

- Look on the peak of a tall sand dune.

- Dive to the floor of a deep trench.

- Seek on top of the seismically disturbed snowy landscape.

- Hunt among the floor growth of a jungle under an iron and wood highway.

- Scour the barren landscape of the World Between the Worlds.

- Check an alcove hidden within the main island, in the realm of the former <s>Pink</s> Ender Dragon.

 

- The portal does not look like a Nether portal or an End portal, though it is approximately that size, if not slightly bigger.

 

- The portal is upright, much like a Nether portal.

 

- Somewhere on the other side of that portal contains a source block that can be used to power Unity for its return trip.

 

John Smith also reports that shipboard sensors, as powerful as they are, seem to be unable to locate the portal - something about "sensors cannot compensate for interference from native glowstone".  He assures me that he has every player on Unity's omnidirectional sensors, and can track them and what they see even if they pass through the portal to worlds unknown.

 

It seems the way home for Unity is now here, and real.  The question now is...will it be found?

 

Good hunting, and may Unity shine upon you in your quest.

[buzzie71]

Endgame was launched last night and...omg it was found in 3 hours :D.

 

Thank you tompreuss and totemo for your assistance in setting it up.

 

Requesting now for this thread to be declassified (ie moved to The Archives) when rev 11 concludes.

[Guest Former Staff]

Requesting now for this thread to be declassified (ie moved to The Archives) when rev 11 concludes.

 

I'll put this on my to-do list for the reset.

[Mrloud15]

Moving to the archives.