The MCCI Winter Update is coming, with brand new and returning wintery maps and variants coming to Battle Box, Dynaball, Hole In The Wall and TGTTOS. Sky Battle is also seeing some loot changes, and some extra settings and commands are being added to private lobbies. The update isn’t the only thing to get excited for, because Jingle Jam brings an opportunity for players to get their hands on some extra in-game goodies as a charity donation reward. Let’s get into all the details…
Battle Box
Battle Box’s new “Ice Fishing” map will bring a completely new ranged combat to Battle Box – fishing rods! With no bows, players can use their fishing rods to try and pull enemies into danger – or use “levitation orbs” to lift their target, then pull them to their death once the effect ends.
“Santa’s Slay”, a seasonal Battle Box map seen on the Island in 2022 and 2023, will also be making its return. This map is focused on elevation, with three levels – the surface, middle layer, and the bottom pit – all focused around a sleigh centrepiece.
Dynaball
Dynaball will be seeing not one but TWO new maps with this update. The first is a map with small platforms and slippery surfaces – making navigating this world of frozen trees no easy task. Sparkling blocks on the trees will give players levitation when destroyed.
Whilst this first map ramps up the difficulty, the second map – a mini ski slalom course – offers plenty of room for players to manoeuvre, with the steep thick slopes making aiming and throwing TNT much easier.
The “Presents” and “Sled” maps from 2023 will also be making their returns.
Hole In The Wall
Hole In The Wall will be seeing a brand new “Iced Palace” map variant – because of course, a slippery floor is just what you want when you’re trying to dodge walls! The extra challenge of the ice makes this map one for the Hole In The Wall pros.
Last year’s “Winter Beach,” a holiday variant of the standard “Beach” map, will be returning as well.
TGTTOS (To Get To The Other Side)
Seasonal TGTTOS map variants “Polar Passing” and “Santa’s Train” were first seen in MC Championship #28 in 2022, then joined the Island in 2023. Both maps will be returning to the Island for the 2024 season.
Sky Battle
Sky Battle will be seeing a temporary change to the loot pool for the duration of the winter event. Creeper eggs will be replaced with snow golem eggs, with the chance for them to be found doubled. Whilst snowballs thrown by a player do not cause any damage, snow golem snowballs are continuously fired and deal one heart of damage each. Players will start the game with eight snowballs for themselves, and have double the normal chance to find more snowballs in loot.
Plobby Updates
Plobbies (or private lobbies) are receiving a whole host of changes – with some just for the holiday season, and others as longer-term additions.
Across all games, plobby hosts will be able to access three festive settings. “Fish Mode” adds more fish – and breaks things that are not fish. “Hailstorm” makes hail fall from the sky, dealing knockback to players it hits and destroying blocks. Whilst MCC’s PvP game Meltdown hasn’t made its way to the Island yet, “Meltdown Mode” adds snowballs which can freeze players. These settings are only available for plobbies until the winter event ends.
That’s not the only plobby update though, and I’m sure MCCI tournament hosts will be rejoicing with these ones! For more permanent additions to the plobby system, plobby owners will now be able to adjust the following:
BATTLE BOX
- Choose to stop the game when a team hits a target number of wins (e.g. first to 5), instead of having a fixed number of rounds.
- Configure how quickly blocks can be mined with the pickaxe, allowing for faster or slower point captures.
- Control how long the capture point is locked for at the start of the round.
- Allow players to change kits every round, instead of just once at the start of the game.
HOLE IN THE WALL
- Choose to use a particular set of walls, instead of the walls usually used on the map.
PARKOUR WARRIOR – SURVIVOR
- Change the number of players that can be in the final duel.
- Change how many obstacles each leap has, between 1 and 10 (default is 3).
- Change how many obstacles the final duel has, between 1 and 25 (default is 5).
SKY BATTLE
- Adjust the loot items in chests according to a rule set. Why not try a game with melee weapons turned into tridents, or tertiary items all turned into low durability shields?
TGTTOS
- Change how many rounds are played.
- /timer pause and /timer resume (pause and resume the timer)
- /timer skip (skip the current timer to the last 10 seconds on the round)
- /timer restart (jump the timer back to where it started)
- /game respawn <player> (respawn a player that has already been eliminated)
- /game end (end the current game and skip to the podium)
The update will go live on MCC Island in early December. You can join the server at IP: play.mccisland.net
Jingle Jam Rewards
As well as the update, Noxcrew are also bringing MCC Island in-game items to the Jingle Jam Games Collection – a reward alongside all donations of £35 or higher to the Jingle Jam campaign.
This year’s rewards are:
- 150 Gems
- 1 Mastery Key
- 2x Silver Treasure Chest
- 3x Bronze Treasure Chest
- 1x Uncommon Cosmetic Crate
- 2x Common Cosmetic Crate
- 4x Material Crate
- 3x Rare Quest Scroll
- 5x Quest Refresh Tokens
- 15x Quest Reroll Tokens
Donations to Jingle Jam open on 1st December at 5pm GMT. You can donate to Sphere News’ Jingle Jam campaign on the Jinglecrafters Tiltify – this link will become active shortly after that time.