[Blitz] Shire

A map I made for the Hypixel server!

Built for 16 players. Will not be available for download. Support this map with a diamond, and be sure to visit it on the HP forums as well! http://hypixel.net/threads/blitz-shire-final-edition.141915/

A History of [Blitz] Shire

I've always been drawn to the towering castles, beautiful scenery, and mystical creatures of fictional worlds. It wouldn't surprise you at all that I found all of this in J.R.R.Tolkien's Middle Earth. One area that always stood out to me was the Shire, a peaceful place with breathtaking scenery and adorable houses. I wanted to recreate this world in my favorite video game, and I did just that starting the winter of 2012. (Yes, that was a long time ago.)

It began with a small Hobbit Hole I made just for fun. I made it in a default world in a nice forest biome. It consisted of a pantry, a hallway, a kitchen, and a large bedroom. There were many windows to always see the amazing views. Eventually, that Hobbit Hole found itself alongside another Hobbit Hole, and I eventually had created an entire community. I still had made this all for fun, and I really had no use for it. i began to brainstorm, as I believed this concept held promise. At the time, Vareide's "Survival Games" was taking the Minecraft world by storm, and I wanted to take a whack at it.

I got together a server and create a glass dome. Progress had begun. It was my first ever SG attempt, and not too terrible for being so, I suppose. There was enough chests to make the map playable, and my friends and I had some good times on the map.

The map received 8 diamonds on PMC. I don't know how it got that much. It was a good concept, but ended up being a flat landscape with an obvious WE sphere for a center, and just a handful of copy and pasted Hobbit Holes. (I've kept the map around for laughs, enjoy:www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-shire-survival-games/)

It took me awhile to admit it was sad. However, having done all the terraforming by hand on the last map, which took a great deal of time, I was by no means interested in trying again. Working solo on such a large project is quite difficult, and I have plenty of experience with it.(vadact plz axsept 2 ur bild teem me thx)

Then I found World Painter.

At the time I thought it was amazing. I could literally "paint" my world in minutes. It soon became obvious it was time to give the Shire Survival Games another try. The terraforming would take nowhere near as long. In fact, I probably wouldn't have to do much outside World Painter at all. What I didn't realize was that while World Painter made terraforming so easy, it didn't terraform properly. The terrain was much too smooth. This would lead to version 2's downfall.

While it turned out much better than the original ShireSG, the new and improved map left much to be desired. However, this map made a key impact on all the future versions of the map. It saw the addition of more different sized Hobbit Holes, better terraforming, an interesting middle, and a human village. www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-shire-survival-games-2/

For some reason, I thought this map may stand a chance on bring accepted for the Hypixel network. I decided to give it a shot. I improved the version I had put on PMC to create my third version of the map. In the fall of 2013, I submitted one of the server's first Blitz Maps, The Shire. hypixel.net/threads/blitz-the-shire.25155/ It was quite popular with the community, attracting over 4500 views and 150 comments. However, I continually saw the same remark - too boring.

Yes, I had spiced up the landscape, added more Hobbit Holes, but the map was pretty much smooth. There wasn't enough structures. Horsetamers would never be hindered by anything. There weren't even any trees anywhere on the map.

Even though the map was sparking tons of excitement on the forums, the silence of the staff screamed a resounding "no". This time, I wasn't as reluctant to admit my failures. I needed to start from scratch, just keeping the basic ideas. I had redone this map twice. A third time oughta do the trick.

I went back to the drawing board and constructed a smaller 16 person map, a map size that was becoming increasingly popular with the release of the latest Blitz maps, Valley, Peaks, and Some-Dude's-Name-Which-Starts-With-An-A's Tower. No expense was spared on this new version of the map. All the old Hobbit Holes were scrapped. Only one building made it into the map you see submitted today. I let the old thread die and started a new one.hypixel.net/threads/blitz-shire.61410/ The nearly tripled amount of likes on the new topic told me I was finally on the right path. I kept the thread going and the community support blew me away. I was without a doubt people wanted this map on the server. The encouragement led me to believe that the map deserved something more than the year and a half I had spent developing it - it needed another makeover. This map was going to be accepted. Two years of tears and trials and rebuilding was not going to again end in denial.

And now here I am.

I hope you can now fully understand all the time and effort I have put into this map. I have done it all by myself, and it hasn't been easy. I want this map to be accepted not only to prove to the community I can build, but also to prove it to myself. The continued denial has worn on me, and the acceptance of this map would make me feel renewed.

But not only would this map be good for me, it'd be awesome for you guys. I have tested this map with friends, and it is a blast. There's lots of excitement, and so much to explore.

Thanks for reading this, and thank you guys so much for all your support over the years!