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Background of Defend The Bed
Since running the recent Chunk Wars beta test tournament I've had a number of players, streamers and mapmakers ask me to explain the background and key features of, what I've started calling, 'Defend The Bed' in more detail. So I thought I'd write them down and share them for everyone to see.
I developed Defend The Bed genre while searching for vanilla-inspired victory conditions for Chunk Wars. I tested a number of different ways of deciding which team had won each game, including; player and team-based lives systems, toggle-able local and global countdown timers and traditional Bed War.
Bed War is a genre that was invented by last_username and popularised in a range of different PvP maps since. It's a strong concept and a lot of fun to play! However, both casually and competitively, it can result in periods of gameplay where teams hide and search for beds, again fun - but not what I wanted for Chunk Wars.
None of the existing mini-game genres or victory conditions I found were suitable for the gameplay style I wanted to achieve; a pressure-filled vanilla experience that rewarded strong game knowledge and correct decision-making by selectively aggressive players and teams.
I spent quite a lot of time trying to find an existing solution but kept arriving at a fundamental problem - I needed victory conditions that were designed to fit my game, not a game designed to fit someone else's victory conditions.
Key features of Chunk Wars (and Defend the Bed) gameplay
I went back to the drawing board and revisited my list of key desired features for Chunk Wars;
- Encourages fun and fast-paced Attack/Defend gameplay
- Creates opportunities for well coordinated strategies to succeed
- Naturally builds-up to moments of intense pressure during games
- Exciting and immediate transitions between game conditions (unlimited lives / sudden death)
- Minimises unnecessary stalemate situations or gameplay lulls (hide and seek Bed)
- Allows different gameplay styles to succeed (sneak / rush)
- Incentivises correct decision making and selectively aggressive play
- Accessible for casual and competitive players
- Easy to understand for players, streamers and viewers
These key features led me to design victory conditions and a clear set of rules which fitted my Chunk Wars mini-game - and they eventually led to my creation of the ruleset for the new Defend The Bed mini-game genre which I have included below.
Rules of Defend The Bed
- Teams get one (or more) Beds(s)
- Teams are not allowed to craft new Beds
- Teams are not allowed to break their own Bed(s)
- Teams are allowed to break opponents' Bed(s) and use them as their own
- Teams are only allowed to place Beds in the marked pre-determined Bed locations
- Teams are not allowed to protect or obstruct their own or their opponent's Bed with Obsidian
Guidelines for Mapmakers
If you are interested in building a Defend The Bed map I hope you have found the above background information useful - and that the following guidelines will help you to create interesting new mini-game experiences for Minecraft players everywhere!
- Most Defend The Bed maps will be successful because they allow teams to attack and defend a single point (1x2 block space) on the map. This style is catered for when you provide one Bed per team and you pre-place that Bed in your map.
- You can provide more than one Bed per team and/or more than one Bed location. This creates some very interesting strategic decisions, but at the expense of extended gameplay. I recommend testing one Bed and one Bed location per team if you are making your first Defend The Bed map - and only then trying multiple Beds and/or multiple locations if you are an advanced mapmaker or very familiar with the Attack/Defend and PvP genre.
- Picking correct Bed locations is essential to successful gameplay. As the mapmaker you decide where the key gameplay pinch points will be by creating environmental and situational challenges for players and teams to overcome. Ensure that you think carefully about the routes to each Bed location for the attacking and defending teams. They shouldn't be too hard to access or too easy to defend.
What's next for Defend The Bed?
I have conceptualised and am at the very early stages of building a second Defend The Bed mini-game. This playable map will showcase new strategic challenges for teams in a multiple Bed location arena - where they will have to decide which Bed location they want to defend and head out to attack the location that their opponents choose.
If you're interested in featuring your Defend The Bed map in this thread, please get in touch with me - I hope to build a list of DTB maps over time and share with the community if players connect with this idea, and the genre emerges and develops.
You can check the Chunk Wars project page in the Update Log for even more videos!
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Just checked out your profile - some of those Command and Conquer builds are incredible, great job! Can't decide if my favourite is Redeemer or the MARV, amazing work!
Good job