Dedicated readers of our site may have noticed the recent story we published about Pathway Studios. If you haven’t seen it yet, why not check it out now? Of course, only if you’re interested! Seriously, give it a read. Please.
Anyway, I recently had a chat with another content creator from the Marketplace—the wonderful Sam from Polymaps!
Polymaps is a four-person team that produces high-quality materials for the Marketplace, and we were thrilled to have them as part of our “Twelve Days of Minecraft” campaign last December.
“Since we started creating maps,” says Sam, “our goal has always been to provide unique and engaging experiences through Minecraft PE. We aim to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the game.”
This ambitious goal helps Sam be part of a supportive team. “We’ve been friends for many years,” Sam explains, “even before we began making maps and content, so we work really well together.”
“Our first project released on the Marketplace was the Stone Age texture pack. It was fascinating to learn about formatting Minecraft Pocket Edition for texture packs, and creating custom modeled mobs was an exciting challenge. For me, the Cave Iron Golem became my favorite mob because we designed not just its look but also recorded unique sounds specifically for it.”
That’s not all they recorded. As Sam mentions, in the Stone Age texture pack, “we wanted to create sounds for frogs to replace the default rabbit sound in MCPE, so I recorded my own voice for them. The sounds I had to make were quite strange, and it was hard not to laugh.”
Hey, nobody ever said game development was glamorous.
Since then, Polymaps has created a plethora of creations for the Marketplace, including their latest two releases that were part of our “Twelve Days of Minecraft“—“Santa’s Gift Hunt” and “Santa on Sleigh.”
“We put a tremendous amount of effort into both maps,” Sam shares, “and it truly paid off. On the morning of December 24th, when we saw our content available for free on the Marketplace, and witnessed how many people enjoyed the maps for Minecraft PE, it felt like an early Christmas gift.”
How can you ensure that you’ve made a fun and interesting gift? Sam believes it always comes down to the details. “For me, detailing is the most enjoyable part of map creation, and it’s crucial for helping a project stand out among many other great ones. For instance, in ‘Santa on Sleigh,’ we decided to give Santa a blow-up belly using both carpet and slime blocks from Minecraft Pocket Edition. It was such a small addition, but the number of people who noticed it and shared their screenshots with us was worth it.”
The attention to detail and unique quirks of their projects have helped Polymaps shine amidst the crowd.
But it’s not all fun and games! Well, it’s all games… but sometimes working within technical limitations can stall the development of a map or mini-game, forcing creators to find workaround solutions.
“While creating maps is certainly a rewarding experience, it often presents certain challenges,” Sam states. “The biggest issue for us is that the Minecraft mapping community is relatively tight-knit, which limits our access to information and documentation regarding mods, texture packs, and game logistics.
“We overcome this by experimenting and diving deeper into the Minecraft PE platform. Fortunately, all partners in the Marketplace are very open to helping each other, and we often come up with specific solutions together.” Teamwork makes the dream work!
It sounds like incredibly hard work, but Sam assures me otherwise. In fact, he finds it very fulfilling and enjoyable when receiving feedback from players of Minecraft PE.
“The best part of being a partner with Minecraft is seeing how many people enjoy our work,” he tells me. “A couple of months ago, we were invited to the London event Minecon Earth, where we had our own booth for everyone to play our maps. It was amazing to see how much fun all the kids were having and how engaged their parents were.”
