@thatbennyguy: I think that people use the term 'unnatural' incorrectly in regards to rpgmaker. The fact is that in reality that is how the path goes, strait through the woods and then it arcs towards the pasture-gate. The way the fence is set up is relatively how they actually are (I should know, since I installed them.) though using the wooden fences to substitute for horse-wire. The break in the fences that separate the left side of the pasture from the right do exist and have a purpose, at certain times I run an electric fence across those gaps to keep the horses from over-grazing or just wandering to far off. As for the grass, it actually is taller on the wooded side than it is in the pasture (though honestly not as tall as the tall grass tiles, which are pretty unrealistic in almost any situation you would use them in anyway but it's the best that I've got, even unkempt grass doesn't naturally grow up to your waist most of the time, depending on the grass and where it is.) because nothing is generally grazing on the other side of the fence. I get what you are saying from an aesthetic standpoint, sadly rpgmaker cannot capture the elegance and beauty of subtle hills and a sunrise over an open pasture doted by grazing animals and surrounded by a wall of trees that from a top down perspective would be nothing but treetops but can be safely walked through and have trails that wouldn't even be visible from such a perspective.
I do understand that it isn't aesthetically pleasing, and we'll probably touch up on it a bit more to fix that as much as we can (it isn't that important that it appear as it really is, since that's impossible anyway but they want it to be close, so it will have to be balanced between realism and aesthetics.) but the more that is added to make it aesthetically pleasing in the rpgmaker sense the less realistic it will become.
Edit: Log houses still exist and oftentimes nowadays have either been made around or else retrofitted with electricity to boot. Generally I've always tried to position my electronics in a way that they cover up the outlets that they use anyway, which I thought a lot of people did except for outlets that are used for multiple devices.
@Laine: Your maps never cease to amaze me, always so simple yet filled with aesthetic beauty and subtle touches that dramatically shift the way the map is perceived.
@Kyuukon: I really like the way your transitions work.
