Diversity is actually more than a minecraft adventure map. IT’s also a minecraft arena map, a minecraft CTM map, a minecraft trivia map, a minecraft parkour map and the list goes on, including minecraft activities such as: minecraft dropper levels, minecraft survival levels and more. This map is the Philosopher’s Stone of minecraft maps, in other words. For every type of challenge completed, you are awarded a precious block of colored wool, which can be used to complete the monument, thus proving your mastery of all minecraft genres.
The latest version of Diversity was released on the 6th of August. I downloaded all 14.5 MBs and played it. The first thing about this map you should note is that it is made in Adventure mode. This means that for much of the map, there’s not a lot of crafting and there’s certainly no mining. In fact, these activities are strongly frowned upon.
Diversity makes very good use of the most modern and updated minecraft redstone mechanics. The monument is no mere slab where your wool can be placed, it is a redstone behemoth which can only be completed by placing the correct wool in the receptacle. It is up to the player which order the ten challenges are completed in. If there is any level you particularly hate, the game is kind enough to provide one FREEBIE. This freebie can be used to skip any level. I chose the Parkour level, because I lack the co-ordination not to leap into lava whenever the opportunity presents itself.
I began with the Diversity Dropper level. Whilst villagers stood about hmmming and hawwing to themselves, I hurled my avatar down a well that would make Alice in Wonderland feel queasy. The dropper level is frustratingly challenging, just as one feels one is close to cracking a pathway through the tunnel, one finds oneself slamming into a wooden stay. Still, progress was made with every drop and after seven or eight tries, I made it through the first dropper challenge, only to find myself confronted with another one much the same. The second did not require quite the same learning curve, but the third, set in a snowy biome. Was it fun? Sort of, I suppose. If repeatedly slamming into solid objects woven together in an almost impenetrable net is ‘fun’.
Abandoning the dropper level for a bit, I rage-quit without seeming to notice it, then re-opened minecraft and moved on to the Trivial Level. The trivia level is actually a great deal of fun. Questions are posed via command block and then you must choose an answer to stand under. The right answer propels you to the next question. The wrong answer kills you in an interesting and unique fashion, anything from a barrage of arrows to a cactus bed.
These are just two of the ten levels available for play in Diversity, but I don’t want to spoil this map. Alls you really need to know is that this is a very big minecraft game map and every part of it seems to have been made with care. Attention to things like difficulty curve is good, and though there will undoubtedly be parts of the map you don’t like, every game needs its Water Temple, right?