TongDa Way for Minecraft

Review TongDa Way

Roads Between Settlements

Finding a village in Minecraft is not the easiest task, especially at the start when you don’t have elytra, are limited on food, and lack armor. Yet villages contain seeds, starter resources, and NPCs for trading, so players are very interested in them. In the vanilla version of the game, there are no hints or paths for discovering settlements. If you don’t like this mechanic, you can change and improve it a bit. Now you will have the ability to connect all the roads together in the game, including those between villages. This system makes it easier to find settlements and also visually improves the game world.

The TongDa Way mod adds full-fledged paths to the map, connected with each other. It’s a whole network of roads leading to different structures, including villages. The developer also added intersections where several roads cross. The whole area is lit up, which is another improvement for the game world. Through the configuration file, you can adjust many parameters and add custom improvements, since there are plenty of options, and each player decides how the roads will ultimately look in their world. An interesting idea from the author, with high-quality implementation. In this review, you’ll see many examples of road generation, intersections, paths from villages to other locations, gazebos along the roads, and many other new additions.

The roads in the game have become more colorful and elegant. Previously, they were generated mainly only inside villages, but now almost all settlements and small structures will be connected into a global network. You just need to walk along one of them. The paths are made of dirt, and roughly every 15–30 blocks lamps are placed, which glow at night. A player can calmly move along one of these paths and eventually end up in a village without worrying too much about mobs killing them on the way. However, hostile creatures still spawn along the way, since they can appear near the roads in darker corners.

In some locations you will encounter intersections. These are also generated by the TongDa Way mod, and several roads meet there from different directions. Signs are also added, showing directions like north, south, west, east. Now you don’t have to press F3 or use a map: you can just look at the sign to understand where to go. Sometimes you may come across small gazebos along the paths, which also display directions and the nearest villages. A beautiful animation of moving text is used here, something really missing in the vanilla game. It looks bright, as if you’re playing another RPG project.

In the configuration file, players can adjust some generation parameters, but such settings are mostly used by server owners to optimize performance and make impressive road junctions. If you install a separate map generation mod or at least a mini-map, you’ll see the entire road network there, highlighted thanks to lamps. On the map they look similar to GTA and similar projects, where the same type of maps are used. It looks very cool, and for vanilla Minecraft it’s a completely new level. The developers should have added something like this long ago to diversify gameplay, give players orientation, and provide at least some reference for finding villages.

The roads are generated evenly, fitting perfectly into the overall style of the game and the landscape. If certain areas have height differences, this is taken into account when creating paths. Sometimes there may be «gaps» or not quite correct slopes and bumps, but this is extremely rare. The developer periodically releases updates to refine the generation system. In the future, bridges, small tunnels (for large mountain biomes and structures), and varied styles are planned, so the paths won’t all look the same. Even now, however, it already looks much nicer.

This TongDa Way mod mechanic can be used to create a full-fledged RPG server, where players need to complete quests, constantly travel on foot from one point to another, and interact with NPCs and other players. Along the roads you can place buildings, checkpoints, and important locations so the player can «save». There are many opportunities for development, and this is just one of the options for players. Try playing with this add-on, evaluate the scale, appearance, and style of the roads, and enjoy the gameplay to the fullest! It works with almost any biome in the game and offers you a completely new gaming experience.