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Building for EliteMobs

The following wiki page helps you understand the process required to create EliteMobs dungeons and arenas.

Vocabulary:

  • "Boss" - Big encounter, meant to be fought by a lot of people
  • "Miniboss" - Smaller encounter, usually able to be killed by 1 player
  • "Fodder" - Relatively easy mobs to kill

Understanding the EliteMobs dungeon categories​

Lairs​

Smallest size category

Lairs are typically around 50x50 single-build structures, distributed as worlds, and usually contain one big boss encounter, though some can also contain a miniboss and some fodder.

Minidungeons​

Medium size category

Minidungeons are typically around 100x100 or 150x150 structures, often times with several structures or structures with several sections. These have 1 boss, and usually at least 3 or more minibosses. They also have lots of fodder.

Adventures​

Adventures are whole adventure maps, usually not measured in blocks. These are city-sized or even larger. They have 1 boss and 10+ minibosses, and dozens of unique fodder which usually amounts to hundreds or thousands in total in the map.

Arenas​

Arenas are wave-based survival arena challenges in EliteMobs. These are typically around 100x100, though any size is possible based on corner coordinates configuration. They can have any amount of waves, but it's not usually recommended going over 50 for performance reasons.

Arena Configuration Options:

  • Arena Shapes: Arenas can be configured as rectangular or cylindrical using the cylindricalArena setting
  • Player Limits: Set minimum and maximum player counts for arena participation
  • Access Control: Restrict arena access using permission requirements
  • Custom Rewards: Configure specific rewards for completing arena waves
  • Wave Customization: Customize wave intermissions and boss compositions for each wave

Instanced Dungeons​

Instanced Dungeons are similar to Minidungeons except that they are instanced. Meaning that every time a player or a group of players wishes to go to an Instanced Dungeon a new world is generated just for them.

Instanced Dungeons provide a personalized dungeon experience for each player or group. When players enter an instanced dungeon:

  • A new world is created specifically for that group
  • Boss health scales based on the number of players (approximately 0.75x per player, minimum of 2 players worth of health)
  • Boss levels can adapt to player-selected difficulty
  • Player lockout timers can be configured to prevent repeated attempts within a certain timeframe

Enchantment Challenge Dungeons: Instanced dungeons can also be configured as enchantment challenges, which players access exclusively during item enchantment attempts that result in challenges. This creates a unique gameplay loop where enchanting powerful items requires completing dungeon content.

Raids​

Instanced content - coming soon

Dungeon Configuration Options​

When creating dungeons, administrators have access to several configuration options:

Environment Settings:

  • World Environment: Configure dungeons to use Normal, Nether, or End world environments
  • Explosion Control: Enable or disable explosion damage within the dungeon using the allowExplosions flag
  • Liquid Flow Control: Control whether liquids can flow within the dungeon using the allowLiquidFlow flag

Player Management:

  • Lockout Timers: Set dungeonLockoutMinutes to control how long players must wait before re-entering a dungeon
  • Region Messages: Configure regionEnterMessage and regionLeaveMessage for custom player notifications
  • Permission Requirements: Restrict dungeon access to players with specific permissions

Construction Methods:

  • Schematic-Based Building: Dungeons can be constructed from schematic files using schematicName and anchorPoint configurations
  • Package Versioning: Use dungeonVersion to track content updates and manage dungeon versions

Theming​

The most important thing about any EliteMobs structure is the theme. Themes influence design of the build, its contents, its lore and its bosses.

As an example, you can see The North Pole here. It had the concept of putting Christmas-related bosses in a snowglobe, resulting in a visually striking and mechanically interesting location.

Here is an other example, The Oasis. This was all about making an ancient Egypt location overrun with the undead and mummies, and it is one of the most popular builds in EliteMobs.

Combat locations​

Combat locations should avoid creating terrain which is easily exploitable. This means avoiding making pillars players can climb on to be safe, decorations that can be used to cheese the AI and other such obstacles. Some exploits are always going to be found, and that's not too important, but boss locations should be less prone to suffer from these exploits.

The ideal boss combat area is relatively flat, unobstructed, around 30 blocks in radius and can contain some pillars or other map elements which players must hide behind to clear certain boss mechanics.

Corridors should aim to be at least 5 blocks wide if they are meant to have adds in them. Miniboss arenas can be 15ish blocks in radius, depending on the powers/theming they have.

Please note that these are minimum dimensions. There's not really any problem if you go over.

Keep in mind that you can seal off or change the environment blocks either using EliteScript or Transitive Blocks. This is a great way to make sure players can only progress further once they have defeated a certain mob.

EliteMobs includes anti-exploit systems and combat tag features to prevent players from exploiting boss mechanics, complementing well-designed combat locations.

Designing for EliteMobs​

The better you know EliteMobs, the better the content you make for it will be. The following is a list of EliteMobs features which will help you come up with interesting things for your dungeon:

  • Regional Bosses - Every creature in Dungeons is a regional boss, meaning that they have a leash (if they go over a certain distance they get pulled back to their spawn point) and respawn on a timer.
  • Creating bosses - This will show you everything a boss can do and be, like disguises, health multipliers, whether it can move and at what speed, taunts & more!
  • EliteScript - EliteScript is the most powerful tool at your disposal when it comes to creating unforgettable encounters where only your imagination is the limit. EliteMobs includes 50+ built-in powers including elemental attacks, projectile variations, boss-specific mechanics, and utility powers.
  • Treasure Chests - These can have items or even turn into enemies (mimics)
  • Boss phases - Bosses can have phases. This system is very powerful because bosses can turn into anything between phases, including different entity types, different disguises, different custom models and so on. Phase-specific music can also be configured to enhance the atmosphere.
  • Transitive Blocks - These are blocks that get placed when a boss spawns or dies. They also can be spawned and cleared when a boss changes phases! These can be used to be make very interesting dynamic arenas.
  • Wormholes - Cool portals that can teleport players to other locations. Support multiple visual styles (CRYSTAL, ICOSAHEDRON, CUBE) with customizable particle effects and RGB colors.

Additional Boss Features:

  • Boss Mounts: Bosses can ride other entities with custom model mount points for unique visual effects
  • Boss Trails: Configure visual particle trails that follow bosses as they move
  • Boss Taunts: Set up multiple random combat messages that bosses can use (on-damage and on-damaged messages)
  • Boss Escape Mechanics: Configure conditions under which bosses can escape from combat

Encounter design​

Encounter design should be a priority when designing the combat area. Ideally you would have an idea of which powers you want to use, or at least of what theme of the powers should be - something like fire, or lighting, or ice, or reinforcements, or anything else that fits with the EliteMobs powers. Once you know what you want the powers to be, you can design the combat area accordingly.

If the bosses have a power that required running away from them, the area needs to be big enough to accommodate that. If there is a power where you must hide behind an obstacle, the structure needs that kind of obstacle. There's a lot of details that can go into building these arenas, and the more you take into account the better the encounter will be.

Modifying the EliteMobs Resource Pack​

As of Minecraft version 1.21.4 and EliteMobs version 9.1.13, the EliteMobs resource pack has been updated to align with Minecraft's new method for using custom models.

The updated EliteMobs resource pack structure is as follows:

elitemobs_resource_pack

  • assets
    • elitemobs
      • items
        • This directory contains JSON files that define which custom models Minecraft can use. The actual models are stored in the models folder.
        • Subdirectories:
          • coins
          • equipment
          • primis_map
          • ui
      • models
        • This folder contains the actual model files as JSON files.
        • Subdirectories:
          • coins
          • equipment
          • primis_map
          • ui
      • textures
        • This folder stores all textures, including those used by the models.
        • Subdirectories:
          • blocks
          • gui
          • items (this is where model-specific textures are stored)
          • primis_map
          • ui
    • minecraft
      • atlases
      • font
      • models
        • items (contains JSON files that specify which items in Minecraft should use custom models)
      • sounds
        • custom (stores custom sound files)

Let's break down how a JSON file in the *.minecraft\resourcepacks\elitemobs_resource_pack\assets\elitemobs\items\coins* folder is structured and what it does:

{
  "model": {
    "type": "minecraft:model",
    "model": "elitemobs:coins/coin1"
  }
}

Purpose: This JSON file tells Minecraft that this is a model, specifies the type of model, and indicates the location of the model file.

Key Fields:

type: minecraft:model This specifies that the file represents a model type. model: elitemobs:coins/coin1 This points to the location of the model within the resource pack.

Path Details:

elitemobs: instructs Minecraft to look in the elitemobs folder within the assets directory. coins/coin1 specifies the subfolder and the model file name.

The full path to the referenced model file is: *.minecraft\resourcepacks\elitemobs_resource_pack\assets\elitemobs\models\coins\coin1.json

A good way to test if your custom models are working correctly is to use the following command:

/minecraft:give @p apple[item_model="elitemobs:coins/coin1"]

How It Works: This command gives you an apple that uses the elitemobs:coins/coin1 model. If the resource pack is set up correctly, you should see the custom coin model applied to the apple item.

Testing Your Own Custom Model: If you've added your own custom model to the resource pack, follow these steps to test it:

  1. Create the Model JSON: Place your JSON file in the appropriate subfolder within the items directory. For example: assets/elitemobs/items/mymodel/myawesomemodel.json

  2. Add the Model File: Add the corresponding model file (myawesomemodel.json) to the models folder within the same subfolder. For example: assets/elitemobs/models/mymodel/myawesomemodel.json

  3. Add the Texture: Add the texture file for the model in the textures folder. For example: assets/elitemobs/textures/items/myawesomemodel.png

Once everything is set up, use the command below to test your model:

/minecraft:give @p apple[item_model="elitemobs:mymodel/myawesomemodel"]

If everything was done correctly, you'll receive an apple in your hand, and it will display your custom model instead of the default apple model.

Questions?​

Ask on discord any time!