When I look at the original skyblocks map I see a lot that you can get ideas from but there is a few basic concepts to keep in mind.

1. There needs to be at least one bedrock tile included in the map otherwise you fail right of the bat.

2. The spawn location can't be a breakable tile otherwise you fall to your death.

3. The cobblestone generator is an optional feature and is only added in to make the progress a bit faster.

4. You can complete skyblocks with just using a tree as your main platform device.

5. Lava is the only necessary item to reach the nether as you don't need water.

6. Water buck is only necessary if you like to build underneath, but don't want to access the nether.

7. The smallest size skyblock you can have is two tiles.

8. Don't put large guys such as the iron Gollum on the same island as this could lead to the players death.


Now that is out of the way here are the issues with the skyblock map.

1. If you place lava on the island you can instantly die again and again.

2. There is no challenge from collecting items from a chest, or harvesting trees.

3. The design of the sand island is a bit dated.

4. The design of the starting island is a bit dated.

5. Bedrock is a bit of an ugly tile when it is unearthed on the island.

Now here is what I discovered. If I added a landing platform the player can have more dirt on the map and are less likely to die if lava is used on the main island. The bedrock is now moved to the landing platform, the player now must platform over to the island to build the trees. Challenging enemies could be added that can swoop in to stop the player. Items seperatred across multiple islands is a bit more fun. Once you get to the island it feels a bit more satisfying. The landing platform can be designed to hold more players that go to the island.

This is stuff I kind of discovered on my own in my map creation.