Game & Map Screenshots 4

[Alkorri]

@ Alkorii In regards to your map the columns look like they go higher then the walls which throws off the perspective a bit for me.  Are you using rpg maker or parallaxing?  Also don't worry to much about your first map, make a few maps for your game with the rtp as you learn to map some, then you will want to re-do them once you get a bit more used to things (maybe a different tile set).  I kinda did a first draft of the prologue of my game with the normal rtp in rpg maker before i started parallaxing it in gimp.

Yeah I'm kinda a newbie and this is one of my first maps so no, I don't know how to parallax... I wanted to get to know the game engine and rtp, you know?

 

[Makio-Kuta]

@Ruby: I agree with Indrah, everything is taking up a lot of space on the screen. I think if you pulled the character down and to the left a bit, it would help things out. (Also, I know you mentioned it is temporary, but the calender display box might due good to be a bit smaller too. Just moving it to the other side of the screen might now be enough; it will still be having everything occupy a large amount of your screen's space) By moving the character, you may be able to get away with not moving the calender and keeping only that one side of the screen obscured by the message system. and we'll get to see her cute flower.


I know that moving the character down and to the left is going to cut off the art a bit, but I think that it would just be a better use of your space overall. You can use the full art elsewhere, like on a status screen or such not - because that is some lovely art and it would be a shame not to put the entire thing somewhere in the game. Anyway, the map behind everything looks really cute.


@Alkorri: I enjoy the fact that for one of your first maps it doesn't fall into the common mistake of making it too big. Everything is nice and compact and using the space well. Props there!


You could probably get away with using the blue sign on the wall if you edit the sprite a bit. As it is now, it really looks to heavy to sit on a wall. If you cut the 'legs' off and bring the top down a bit so it isn't as bulky looking it might look a bit better.


I'm too lazy to test how well it works myself though, but here:

The other thing that jumps out to me is that you have stairs leading up to what, for all intents, looks like the back of the alter. And I know that that isn't your fault, because they don't offer a back of the alter tile, so here:

again, fair warning that I am far too lazy to test how well that looks in game, but if anyone wants to snatch those up for whatever reason, they can.


Anyway, all that needless nitpicking aside, it's a nice map!

 

[Stridah]

Yeah I'm kinda a newbie and this is one of my first maps so no, I don't know how to parallax... I wanted to get to know the game engine and rtp, you know?

Yeah totally understand that is a real good way of starting, i did the exact same thing.  Make a few maps then start looking into parallaxing them.

@ks yes i was talking about general cliff tiles, i hate square cliffs.  Also yes you have to do some digging with Hanzo's stuff but the majority of it is on the net, and i just avoid certain tiles. Also i was refering to generally only liking round cliffs, Alkorri asked me how i got them.  I do not visually like square cliffs (personal preference but they really bother me).

@ Sharm thanks, bad habit of mine to respond to one person, then realize i have someone else to respond to and forget i should be editing it in the first.

 

[Sharm]

Fixed the double post for you.

 

[Alkorri]

Spoiler

@Alkorri: I enjoy the fact that for one of your first maps it doesn't fall into the common mistake of making it too big. Everything is nice and compact and using the space well. Props there!

You could probably get away with using the blue sign on the wall if you edit the sprite a bit. As it is now, it really looks to heavy to sit on a wall. If you cut the 'legs' off and bring the top down a bit so it isn't as bulky looking it might look a bit better.

I'm too lazy to test how well it works myself though, but here:

The other thing that jumps out to me is that you have stairs leading up to what, for all intents, looks like the back of the alter. And I know that that isn't your fault, because they don't offer a back of the alter tile, so here:

again, fair warning that I am far too lazy to test how well that looks in game, but if anyone wants to snatch those up for whatever reason, they can.

Anyway, all that needless nitpicking aside, it's a nice map!

You... OMG... that's beautiful. This is the best community in the world!! <3 That is magic! I will totally test those tiles (now to figure out a way to use GIMP to transplant it onto my tileset lol.)

And to repay your kindness, I will read through the webstory in your profile if you don't mind. Hope you don't mind comments from my humble editor self  Edit: Lord, the story is longer than I thought. I will keep reading more as soon as I'm not under a deadline! ;D

Yeah totally understand that is a real good way of starting, i did the exact same thing.  Make a few maps then start looking into parallaxing them.

I'm not sure if I will even learn to parallax, but thanks for the encouragement

 

[Stridah]

@Alkorri

At some point I will be making a tutorial on using tiled to parallax, it is less intimidating then gimped (I use both). But if you can map in rpg maker you can map in tiled and having unlimited layers gives you such better results (imo of course).

 

[Candacis]

@quigon: wow, can't wait to see this as a video

@alkorri: thanks for the compliment ^^ Well, I choose to place the rug under the tub for aesthetics rather than logic. And there are bathroom rugs, I myself have one in front of my bathtub ^^
But I fixed the rug under the stairs, missed that, thx

And for your map: That is a great first map, nice size and good use of the rtp. I recommend that you stick to the standard rtp for your first maps until you are comfortable with it and know what can be done with it.
Another way of having the altar tile appear as the viewer sees it from the back, is to just use the upper part of the two tiles and place it directly at the wall. That way it looks like the wall would hide the rest. This works with a lot of stuff that uses 2 tiles.
Or use the tile makio provided ^^
Oh, and it looks better if you make the screenshot in-game or maybe via Script: http://himeworks.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/map-screenshot/
That way the events appear on the screenshot as well.

@ruby: the bust looks gorgeous, really well made. I would use it as well. But yeah, windowskin needs to change, it isn't very readable with white font color on transparent green, and readability always goes before looks. Same goes for usability and that big portrait. I would make it a bit smaller. Otherwise I'm wondering if it will not block important action on the screen.


---
Here is an update to my cellar. I tried out lighting effects with Victor's Script:

Spoiler

 

 

[oztiks708]

Hey all! Let me start off by saying Great job everybody. I have been browsing for a long while, and this is a first time post! Hopefully done right... Everybody has inspired me to learn more and more over the past year, this is a map I have been working on for a few hours now for my new project!

Spoiler

 

[Stridah]

@oz you did a really nice job on this! Nice work in gimped...I generally am not a fan of that tile set and I really like it!

 

[Jonnie91]

@oztiks708

That is beautifully subtle, good use of slight fog to create an atmosphere, the only one comment for me personally is that the light in the right hand side of the main "path" is abit bright, but that's me being highly picky :x

a map I'm working on for a commission, not 100% done, I'm planning to add in some sprites to the map, to fill it up abit more! I couldn't really think of anything else to add to the map, as it's a cinema room, so it's not something that should or could be filled up too much more, without it being pretty much unsafe (in realistic terms)

I'm planning to add an evented flickering light to bring a bit more to the map, but this is a basic map with a VERY simplistic tint, this isn't obviously an "in session" cinema, as there is no pictures on the screen (YET) but yeah your thoughts would be as always lovely. The tilesets are by the incredibly talented Cait not me!

 

[oztiks708]

@Jonnie91

Thank you! I wouldn't have caught that! I am still working on the balance of color and smoothing out of a few things, it is a fairly long map.

That cinema is great! I am always jealous of the diagonal walls, I am terrible at Houses and inside structures. Still haven't had much luck with them. Once you have a few people in there I think it will be a fantastic map, simple yet perfectly done.

 

[Ksi]

@Jonnie: The only issue I see here is that the height is off. You either need to make the side walls four tiles high or get rid of the stage part, because that's adding an extra tile of height to the screen/curtains which are already three tiles high.

Apart from that it's quite nice. Very cozy~

 

[The Yank]

@jonnie91- It looks pretty good so far, but I agree with Ksi on the wall issue. Also, I feel like the stage might be a bit too high, looks about eye level to the character in the screenshot. Maybe you could make it half a tile high.

Here are some screenshots of maps I've been working on, I'd like to know if I have too many or too few random objects scattered around.

Spoiler

Also, while I'm here, I'd like to ask about the 3x2 tile fireplace in the RTP. Is it meant to go completely on the wall (engraved into it) or is 1 row of it meant to be on the wall and one row on the floor?

Edit: I'd like to know the same for the fireplaces in Celianna's tileset

 

[Stridah]

@yank, something about the perspective in the second one is off, those floor tiles look like they are floating a bit to me.  I also think you might have over done it some with the flowers. First map looks great thought.  I cant figure why the perspective looks off in second maybe im drunk lol.

I have added trees to the map and cleaned up some of the road.

-disregard background image its a place holder

-I will most likely be commissioning custom store signs as I really have yet to find any I like

-need suggestions on now adding items (boxes etc around the buildings) this is always where I struggle most I did start but haven't made my mind up yet on how its going.

-Stupid questions but how do I use that spoiler box everyone uses so that my image does not clog the whole page?

 

[Alkorri]

@Stridah - I would love to see your tutorial on parallax mapping, thanks!  Stridah, type the word spoiler in between [ ] at the beginning, and close it with the exact same thing by just adding the / symbol inside those brackets before the word spoiler. Make sense?

@Candacis - Thanks for the encouragement! I tried to make the screenshot in game but the room was slightly bigger than the allotted default window. Plus, I have not learned to use any scripts yet and I am nervous about messing it up. I do want to learn how to do lighting for dark rooms though :/

@oztiks708 - Hi there, glad to have you! Oooh, not often I see a HF map.. Is this nighttime or just some dark cavern? I'm just a newbie, mind you, but for some reason I was hoping for some colour so my eyes gravitated towards those light specks ;D

@Jonnie91 - What an unusual shape! And I love the curtains What is that on both ends of the stage, by the way? Cigarette butt bins? If so, why are they all the way there and not near the seats for the audience? For a moment I was gonna bring up lack of stairs, but it could simply be that kind of stage where you just hop up. Out of curiosity...does this theatre have any lamps/light sources? Apologies for being nitpicky

Edit:

@The Yank - Gah I forgot you, sorry ;D I've never made a snowy landscape, and it looks good. I especially love that feasting map though. Perhaps you could space out those pink flowers more? 

 

[oztiks708]

Thanks for the tips, and comments. Still working on it to give it a bit of color, though in my story this is a place known as, "The shade." It is a parallel universe to ours where demons are the populace and humans are considered the, "evil" in the world!

@Candacis - I really like that cellar, your mixing of tilesets is an art I cannot seem to grasp. Looks very crisp. Keep on playing with the lighting scripts, they can be a bane but you can do wonders with them.

@Stridah - I really like the way you map, It is very consistent and the way the color pallet balances out is great! As far as putting clutter around the buildings, try to keep it subtle. I find a lot of time I end up trying to cram too much in one area.

@The Yank - I like the ideas behind your map, in the second one though I would maybe tone down some of the clutter and give it a bit more breathing room. otherwise they are looking great!

I have been working on a few maps tonight for my shade cavern, heres another.

Spoiler

 

[Stridah]

@oz I suffer from the same problem, I over do it! I want it to feel like a lived in populated area so bad that I put crap everywhere! Maybe what ill do is post a few items im sure of and get some feedback then see. Also I like your map, ill be nit picky since I know everyone likes to hear things to make the map perfect! bottom left I think the mountain runs a little to close to the paths and makes it look like its right on top of your paths.

I would pull that mountain back maybe 32 pixels so you can see the water flow through, then look at the cliff next to it, it looks like the cliff is running to your top path, so it makes it look like a floor tile.  Id replace it with the path tile then just erase some so you see more of the water.

I sometimes have trouble typing my thoughts is that is not clear let me know and I can tell u on Skype or something lol

*edit* wrote instructions (btw you do a real nice job)

Spoiler

 

[B.Ultimus]

@raiden - My what large eyes she has.

@luchi - it's good!  although...something about the colors are throwing me off, I just can't put my finger on it.

@Quigon - It looks nice...did you do the art yourself? I'd be interested to see the cubes stylize in action...right now it reminds me of a photoshop filter

@Ruby:  I love that art!  Does the screen darken when you're talking with someone, or is that the scene?  The font's a little big in my opinon. :x

@Alkorri: For a first map, it's not bad.  I see clever use of the above character events    Be careful of spamming too many objects in one scene, and make sure the colors compliment each other, otherwise, everything will look crowded.

Did some spicing up on the crypt.  I went ahead and darkened the floor tiles and the bricks surrounding the water so it doesn't look like it's merging with the ceiling.  I also went ahead and and added a few more objects.  For the dungeon I'd love to mess around with some lighting effects once the tileset and the maps are finished.

 

 

[Alkorri]

@Alkorri: For a first map, it's not bad.  I see clever use of the above character events    Be careful of spamming too many objects in one scene, and make sure the colors compliment each other, otherwise, everything will look crowded.

Did some spicing up on the crypt.  I went ahead and darkened the floor tiles and the bricks surrounding the water so it doesn't look like it's merging with the ceiling.  I also went ahead and and added a few more objects.  For the dungeon I'd love to mess around with some lighting effects once the tileset and the maps are finished.

Spoiler

Those colours... That coffin... Those tiles. I waaant ;D Those are gorgeous. I don't remember seeing those in the RTP!

That's also an idea. I never even thought about switching around the scene so that my sprite faces the other direction.

@oztiks708 - I suddenly noticed the puddles you added. Err, is it always that radioactive green? ;D I like that you tried to add more colour to the map however.

@Stridah - I also just realised...that's a HUGE map. I see shop signs there. Is that a whole city? I think I will stick to the RTP blocky cliffs for a while. Gotta practise my mapping skills first

 

[B.Ultimus]

Those colours... That coffin... Those tiles. I waaant ;D Those are gorgeous. I don't remember seeing those in the RTP!

Macks tileset + RTP + Photoshop can lead to some creative tilesets.  Best of luck!