Disclaimer: The suggestions will begin at Section One. Thank you 
Introduction:
Hi there, my name is zachary5149 and I am a long-time fan of the game-mode that will be getting a release in the upcoming months, Block Party. I play casually with friends and competitively with those same people. This gameā¦ itās hard to accurately describe just how unique it has been over the years not only playing it but playing WITHOUT it.
Our Journey:
Some of you might not know this but back in April of 2021 the Java Edition Hive server sadly shut down and with it went the only outlet for Block Party. Luckily, there were a few Discord servers that kept that community together. It wasnāt until five months later when the folks over at a server that shall remain nameless as per community guidelines decided to revamp Block Party and for a while, that was what I and many others had been up to. Unfortunately, while the server is popular, a few short-comings, mostly the lack of development past a prototype state (negative feedback is allowed so long as it is constructive as per community guidelines. And since letting everyone know why we are in the position we are classifies as āconstructiveā, it is allowed), saw the game-mode lose popularity and the community after about six months knew that it did not have a good shot at being developed further, returning our community back into limbo until another alternative could be found. Fast forward another three-four months and our community is now fully aware of the game-mode the Bedrock Hive Dev Team is working on, and couldnāt be more anxious to see how it all unfolds.
Segway to Other Things:
And so, with the release of this new game-mode coming sooner rather than later, I figured it might be a good idea to throw out a few ideas I have for the game-mode. I understand that I am not on the development team nor am I trying to force my opinions on others. I am simply getting all my thoughts out there so others can see it and know that there are a lot of people looking forward to the release of this game and that we all just want it to be the best possible version of itself that it can be! With or without my opinions.
Context:
Block Party is very simple in its design: You spawn on a 2D square map with some sort of design on it with up to 16 different colors. The goal is to find the color the game picks for you and stand on it before time runs out. The game starts off easy, giving you plenty of time to react and reach the color you want but be careful! As the rounds progress, the amount of time you have to find and reach the selected color gets shorter. If you want to go far in a round of Block Party, it is important to learn the maps you play on and find the best spots! Knowing situationally what the best spots are during a certain time-frame is also very important. But knowledge is only half the battle! Reacting to the color the game selects is just as important! These two factors mesh together to create a beautiful game about learning from your mistakes and evolving at your own pace!
-So with the gameās premise underway, how about we get into some of the finer details shall we?
Section One: Pacing
The pacing of anything, whether it be movies, interviews, tours or videogames, is key to providing the user a wholistic and enjoyable experience! A game of Block Party is cut up into a series of repeated phases that go on loop until either everybody falls below the map, one player is left standing or the gameās round limit has been reached at which point whoever remains upright is the victor!
-The first phase is the āPlayer Joinā phase where people are joining the game. Considering the size of the server, the required # of players required before the initial countdown shouldnāt be too much of a concern, however the smaller is usually the better if you ask me.
-The countdown phase which begins after the player threshold is met is current set at 20 seconds on other Arcade games which, in my opinion does not need to be changed.
-The first phase when the game starts gives players a chance to explore the map and is the same throughout the the entire game. Depending on the size of the map, you want to give the players a certain amount of time to react. If itās a 24x24, you probably want two seconds at least. If itās a 48x48, Iād recommend three. If itās 64x64, Iād suggest four seconds.
-After that, the game picks the color and the player has to scramble for the color! If you add the time across all 25 rounds, you get anywhere from 69-84 total seconds to react to colors. It would be nice if it was closer to 69 than to 84 just to keep the games faster.
-After that, the map disappears aside from the selected color and everyone not on the color falls down. Similar to the first phase, the time is locked throughout the entire game and is usually around 2-4 seconds. On the server we moved to for a while (that shall remain nameless as per community guidelines) it was set to four seconds which kind of hurt the pacing, so keeping it anywhere from 2.5-3 seconds would be nice. The trick is making sure the powerups you can acquire donāt allow the user to stall in the air long enough for the floor to reset without falling beneath the floor.
Section Two: Map Symmetry
Map symmetry is something that cannot be under-valued to me. When it comes to finding the best spots on each map, it is easier to find them on symmetrical maps. With this in mind, it would be nice to have a healthy amount of asymmetrical maps that require the user to analyze different areas of the map to find the best spots. Block Party to me is a type of game where you evolve with the game. It took me around a year and a half to get proficient at Block Party and that was thanks to its excellent playability and skill-ceiling. Introducing a healthy number of asymmetrical maps to me is very important and I would love to see them.
Section Three: Map Complexity/Difficulty
Before I begin this segment, I would like to say that I understand that there are a lot of controller users who play on Bedrock Hive and, compared to a Mouse and Keyboard, is possibly more imprecise, making it harder to both react to colors and maneuver to them in a seamless manner. With this in mind, I am sure that the developers are thinking on scaling back the difficulty on some maps. While I do understand that, I also have first-hand witnessed the failings of other servers trying to replicate the format of Block Party (Negative feedback is allowed so long as it is constructive, aka serving a purpose. The purpose here is to emphasize the importance of Block Partyās skill ceiling, therefore under community guidelines it is allowed. And since the server in question is not mentioned by name, it is also allowed under community guidelines). A lot of different things go into a skill ceiling, one of those things includes how far the best spots require you to jump to each color. It was why Hive Java Edition was so incredible to me. Even after years of playing, I was always finding ways to improve thanks to its expansive skill ceiling. I would love for the Hive Team to do whatever they can to keep that skill ceiling as high as possible. The number of colors a map provides also increases the difficulty too, a habit I often notice whenever I am adjusting certain maps I work on in my spare time.
Section Four: Map Viability
Let me ask you: Have you ever heard of the term āSpeed 12ā? If you havenāt, I honestly canāt blame you. If you have, welcome brother, it is good to see you again . Every round of Block Party gives you a certain amount of time to react to each color. Anywhere from six seconds to half of a second. Half a second of reaction time is called āSpeed 12ā. One second is referred to as āSpeed 11ā. 1.5 seconds is āSpeed 10ā. So if a map is āSpeed 12ā viable, it means with the least possible time to react, you can reach every color on a given map. If a map is Speed 11 viable, it means you can reach all colors on a map with one second of reaction time, but not half a second. Itās important to understand these terms when considering the percentages of maps that have a certain viability. For example, Hive Java Edition had 25% of maps that were Speed 12 viable. ANOTHER server that shall remain nameless as per community guidelines that also made their own version of Block Party is more like 70%. Generally speaking, the more S12 maps there are in Block Party, the better. But there are also pros as well as cons that come with viabilities below Speed 11. For example, if a map is Speed 11 viable, it has TWO spots you need to master. The spot where you can reach everything on Speed 11 and the most optimal spot for Speed 12. In general, not a lot, if any, maps should have a viability rating below Speed 10 and if a map IS viable at Speed 10 or 11, it is definitely a good idea to make sure that the most optimal spots can still cover a large majority of colors, often only missing 1-2 colors if you play your cards right. The server we moved to for a time (that shall remain nameless as per community guidelines) has quite a few maps where you are missing anywhere from 40-80% of colors on the most optimal Speed 12 locations which introduces a way too high luck factor, resulting in games ending before the best part, aka the climax rounds 18-25. Being able to get to those rounds is very important but itās just as important to make them feel earned by increasing the skill ceiling of each game.
Conclusion:
These last few years our community has been through has been rough, I do not mind telling you that. It has been a roller coaster of emotions all the way through. The flame that fueled me and countless others who loved the game of Block Party has been burning long-since the fuel has run out, refusing to fade and fighting on despite the odds. And once more we have a chance. A chance to return to the good times. A chance to enjoy our favorite game as if it never left. The best of the ride does not have to be over. For there is yet so much life left that our community and this game has to give. It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all of us, that we can experience a taste of the former days. It is here where I wish everyone the best of times and that this new, and possibly last version of Block Party can become what I know it can beā¦ the sunlight at the end of a long and dark tunnel. A tunnel we never thought we could escape fromā¦ thank you allā¦ and I will see you soon enoughā¦