Hi gang! Editorial You know what they say: three times' a charm! (I actually had to look this up) They postponed once, they postponed twice... but then that big bad reset switch finally got pushed and we got ourselves a new wasteland. ... and a whole lot more. So.. while waiting for Aya to come online and my pizza to get ready I figured I'd start by sharing my first impressions of the new wastelands. In case you're wondering why: some players genuinely hardly ever go into the waste because they like to play the economy instead. Sounds crazy? Personally I agree; I love my mining sessions and it's called MINEcraft for a reason afterall. But... this is also a good example why I love the Empire so much. That "play your way" motto is not just a marketing phrase. And I like to think I've proven this to be true right here. Some players play Empire Minecraft without mining. They still have fun, they still get things done. So... I figured, why not do a review so that if you don't want to go into the waste... you don't have to! Shell's waste review! The new waste... I will be honest here and tell it like it is. Even at the risk of controversy The new waste is totally bad! I stepped out and died within 2 minutes. Talk about a hostile environment! So there you have it. Don't buy this but get yourself a nice supporter voucher instead. So there... A little more serious now.... This wasteland reset doesn't only come with a brand new Minecraft world to explore and tear apart, it also introduces us to a whole new outpost design, as shown above. So lets dig into this a bit. The first obviously noticeable detail is the big S. As one could expect this tells us the direction which we're facing and I think it's a big pro. It wouldn't be the first time when players build stuff around an outpost only to give instructions such as: "/waste s, leave on the north end". So you'd always have to push F3 to see where you're going. Not anymore! And it's pretty consistent too! This is what it looked like when I tried /waste ne (to try and find my now destroyed tunnel <sob> ): You spawn in a position which tells you both where you are and the direction you're facing. As you can see it leaves little to guess where I am right now, even without looking at the status messages. Leveled design The outpost now consists of 3 main 'layers', where the top one is the small platform where you start out. I really think this is a massive improvement over the previous design, because quite frankly... you could never be too sure where you'd end up. Especially when using the (sometimes) confusing teleports. Sometimes you'd spawn right in front of another teleport. Or you'd be spawn into the air, and then got dropped down for several blocks. No real problems here (we're protected anyway) and also easy to find out. But at the same time also very confusing at first. Not to mention for new(er) players. But no more! On the next level we can find the teleport portals as well as the small remnants of the Empire shop. In my opinion another major improvement to the previous design because as you can see there is no way what so ever that you'll run into such a teleport by mistake. Which was one of my biggest personal issues with the previous design. However, I do think that the shop signs are a little bit obscured. They're easy to spot, but also easy to confuse for regular signs. But I don't consider this to be a bad thing because as we all (hopefully) know the prices are totally unfair. What does matter though is that the platform as it is now still allows you to stare out into the wild while wondering if you should head out, get more food, buy a bed or call it quits and head back to town. Holograms The new area also relies more on holograms. Although I like the design I'm not fully sure if this is a good thing because I know that these can also add to lag. Note that I'm not saying that they do cause lag, but only that I'm a little concerned, especially if the Empire is going to use more of these. And sometimes they also seem to glitch out: Colors?! There has been some talk about the color design in the official thread. I'm definitely not touching that myself but I do want to address it anyway. As you can see the outpost still uses the previous design with ice blocks and glass on top. Which I think is a very solid setup because this also helps the outposts stand out on the live map: Player impressions! While I was working on this review I got into contact with a few players and asked them for their opinion as well. Here's Sazuke's comment about the design while I was busy staring out into the wilderness And here is Duck1D who found me while I was being AFK (to write all this): Duck told me he also had a good time exploring all these. And the final score! (disclaimer: don't take this section too seriously. I can back up my claims with facts, but me 'scoring' the stuff as if this is a competition of some sort is of course a little bit silly). Pro's Solid starting point; you will know exactly where you are, and which direction you're facing. Level design; no more accidentally running into one of those water teleports. One way down; you also don't have to look around for the stair anymore: pick a direction, start running, you're there. Water collection / protection: If you're a nether lover then what's the last thing you'd want to see there? No, those Endermen we'll just have to accept I meant of course: water. We don't need no drippin' water in our nether! We like it high & dry thank you very much. So what did the staff do? Place outposts with waterfalls on 'm which would drip all out into the nether and spoil our game (like turning lava into obsidian and we couldn't mine that, no fair! ). But no more! Enter the water basket Keeping the nether clean & dry! Stands out much better on the live map. Con's No more water in the nether! The Empire shop signs are a little bit obscured. It's a good thing because it won't attract new players, but can also be a little difficult if you still quickly want to buy overpriced torches. The public tools are also harder to reach. It used to be 'run up the ladder, into the crafting table & ender chest'. Now you need to look out for them a bit more. Personally I'd have tried to place these somewhere 'outside' to make them easier to reach. And the final verdict on the Shell Scale: 9/10 This is a solid improvement, it enhances our gameplay and makes things a lot easier on us. However... I am still curious if we'll find any secrets here, and I'm probably going to "cheat" to find out (not really cheating of course but downloading the outpost and examining it in single player). And there you have it!
Love this review!! Really helps me see what has changed since I can’t get online lol. Thanks so much!!
