Everyone has their own fond recollection of their first time playing Minecraft, usually loaded with the same warm nostalgia of a child waking up early on Christmas morning. Minecraft is a heated blanket for the soul, and the hand-warming mug of hot chocolate that completes the image are its community-made custom maps. These maps have evolved alongside the main game for a decade, going from simple adventure maps to full-fledged game modes.
Many consider the golden age of Minecraft maps to span from 2009 to 2012. At the time, Minecraft was a much simpler game with fewer mechanics and tools (excluding Minecraft mods) for creators to experiment with. These limitations didn't stop creators from releasing a number of prominent maps like Skyblock and The Walls, which have been downloaded millions of times and seen by hundreds of millions via YouTube Let's Plays. While simple in terms of structure, both offer distinct variations of Minecraft's core gameplay. Skyblock, for example, starts you off on a tiny island in the sky with nothing but a tree, water, and lava to survive, plus a ton of complex challenges to complete. The Walls, meanwhile, is a Hunger Games-inspired battle royale where each team gets some time to prepare before the titular walls that separate teams fall down and a free-for-all commences.
When talking about pivotal members of the Minecraft map community, you would be hard pressed to find someone more influential than Vechs, who has created several influential maps – check out Super Hostile and Race for the Wool – that set the bar for what a great Minecraft minigame should offer. “I’ve been making custom content for games since Duke Nukem 3D, and my Super Hostile series has over two million downloads,” Vechs says. Super Hostile itself gained a lot of attention from both community members and influencers alike – there are many Super Hostile Let's Plays with over a million views on YouTube.
RELATED LINKS: Minecraft console commands, Minecraft skins, Minecraft modsOriginal Article
