The Triforce Grade Mentality - What is it?

[Samara__]

The Triforce Grade
What is it? Is it good or bad? What can we do?
​

The Triforce Grade consists of Terrain-Structure-Organic in order of when you do these steps. Meaning, you do Terrain (landscaping) first, Structure (buildings) next, then Organics (trees and animals) last. This has been the mentality and teaching on Manacube Creative for years, but no one has stepped back and took a look into if it is effective in teaching how to build or in grading.

Pros and Cons​

Starting off with a comparison on how the mentality can be used positively and its drawbacks.

Pros​

The Triforce mentality is an easy way to break down builds into 3 main parts to process one at a time. This is very useful for builders who tend to get overwhelmed and for graders to point out which of the 3 parts are below-par, average, or above-par. The Triforce mentality helps builders reduce issues building by putting in an order of operations. The order of operations goes: Terrain first so it doesn't interfere with your Structure, Structure second so it doesn't interfere with your Organics, Organics are last. This also reflects how places are built in real life.

Cons​

One large drawback to the Triforce mentality is how it over generalizes some styles. For example, plots that have styles similar to cyberpunk and sci-fi can be seen as lacking in the Terrain portion. Or, modern-day builds might be lacking in the Organics portion if a park isn't added. Builds like tanks, ships, airplanes, cities, and many other modern day replicas are often thought less than medieval builds and fantasy. There are styles that simply cannot conform with the Triforce.

What can we do?​

The Triforce mentality is good in some cases, but very poor in others. Here are some ideas that can be used with the Triforce mentality or replace it.

• The S.A.T. method. Stands for Skill-Atmosphere-Theme. Builders who use this method focus on detail when necessary as well has how close their build creates an environment where people who stand in it become engulfed in the realm of their build. Theme may be an important part to achieve the Atmosphere part. This method pushes more thought towards wholeness in builds.
• The C.O.C method. Stands for Composition-Originality-Craft. Builders who use this method focus on B+ to A+ builds by stressing Composition (the placement of elements of the plot and color theory) and Originality of what they create. Craft is described as detail and skill within what they build.

Each of these methods have their pros and cons, but the more we are aware of the method we use, the more that we can curve bias towards a few types of styles. These methods might even help builders explore new styles with a different way of thinking, exploring the medium of Minecraft.

 

[sophiaaah <3]

I completely agree with your suggestion about the other grading styles. The current grading method isn't efficient since it can't apply to all building styles. Plots that lack a certain skills like terrain, structure, or organics struggle to get a higher grade. The Triforce grading can be a good method to grade as long as it can excuse a certain skill if the build is more leaned towards another skill. For example, if a plot shows outstanding and over the top display of organics and terrain but it lacks in structure, if the plot itself is well done it should deserve a high grade and shouldn't have point deducted for lack of structure.

 

[caleb!]

Hey Sam! Thanks for writing this up - I really appreciate it. I've found that when I'm making a new build, I usually focus on the terrain/structure/organics method you mentioned, which isn't super conducive to improving a build or experimenting with new styles. Grading with a mindset of the COC method (which seems like the best choice to me) would make it easier for builders to improve more rapidly and let people build whatever they want and still get a fair, objective grade.

 

[DoinB Ryze Hack?!]

It is almost inevitable for builds like cities and sci-fi themed builds to be graded lower because they are lacking in certain aspects of the builds that the graders are looking for. Fantasy builds and towns that use a lot of structures tend to be grade higher because the fantasy or medieval building styles tend to have more variation of structure and it is much easier to incorporate terrain into the build. I'm sure that if a player can find a way to have terrain and a futuristic build with a lot of variation in it (not just a rectangle with windows), it would be graded just as high as some of the other plots that use fantasy style builds. Some examples of this happening are the "Darth Vader's Castle" and the Space and Swamp plots, achieving grades on the higher side because they were able to use terrain and building variation as well as originality. All new methods you described are being somewhat incorporated into the grading system already although I agree that some parts that should be considered more in deciding a grade are left out such as attention to detail and storytelling. I think the current grading system is overall acceptable but I would love to see buildings with maybe not as much effort into the build itself, but the story it tells to be graded somewhat higher as I love builds that tell stories.

 

[LiLKayla]

Howdy Howdy Homies!

I read this earlier and stated how I felt about it in the discord. I do agree with this post with my whole heart and have already taken steps to make this less of an issue. When grading I personally keep all of these thoughts in mind, as other players get helper and helpers become mod I will ensure that they are aware of this as well.

I contact anaxrocks to request a change of wording on the wiki to make the guidelines more inclusive to builders who build in different styles. She approved of it and it is on the page on! This is where out grade guidelines are on public display so any current or new players can view this. Here is a link to the page, we added a note at the top with a disclaimer about the guidelines. Thank you Samara and others for always being on the look out for ways to improve creative!.

https://manacube.wiki/creative/plot-grade-rules

 

[Dnho]

lol nice