Game & Map Screenshots 4

[Shinma]

Stridah, it's looking great! Like mlogan, I really like the buildings. I know you are working on lighting and overlays, but don't forget about your shadows!

 

[GammaVector]

@Shana: Yeah, that's the stuff! The cabinets look fine now!


Although, honestly, the shots you posted a couple pages back with a normal perspective were also very nice. I'd go with that, personally, because holy crap that 2.5D thing is gonna be a lot of work. But you're doing great on it thus far, so go for it if you want to!

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I'm using the normal method for the project (I'm messing with lightings using my script for now)... the 2.5D thingy will just be experiments for up until I think it reaches a usable form...


is it fine if there are lights on the floor without a visible ray from the roof?

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

@Stridah: Looks really, really good. A few questions I'd like to ask, though. The palm trees look a little small, and the edges are blurred like it's been resized. The tree on the top left goes behind the crate. I also wonder why the miners leave the rocks all over the ground? Plus, what are the wooden bridge things for? They're probably very hard to walk over, and a lot more impractical than real bridges?

Just a few niggles, but it's nice to sort that out so that it feels like a real place.

 

[GammaVector]

@Shana: I'd say so, yeah. You don't always see the rays IRL.


Now, as for a screenshot.

Do the walls look okay with the floor? Is the ceiling too weird? Do the lights look crappy? Should I ditch the whole lighting effects thing altogether because dammit I'm using the DS tileset it's not supposed to have lighting???


(Please don't mention the horrible clashyness of the RTP sprites with DS tiles. I know about it. Trust me, I know.)


EDIT: It's supposed to be a weird little hidden room in the base of a tree's roots. I'm having a really hard time communicating that with DS tiles. flsfjasfsfdjksa;;;;

 

[Shinma]

I like the lighting. Do you mind if I ask what script you are using for it?

I think the walls and ceiling are fine, since it is in a tree.

 

[GammaVector]

I'm using CSCA Light Effects: http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/8589-csca-light-effects/


It's a very simple script that is basically a port of Thomas Edison VX. I didn't need anything so complicated as Khas or Victor's systems. Just a little something to make torches glow, etc.

 

[Stridah]

ahhh thank you makio, i neber would have thought of that.

@logan SORRY! im such an idiot.

 

[Stridah]

@-benny they are not bridges for walking lol, it is a mining apparatus

-they are cecilianas small palm trees they are ment to be 1/2 scale to her normal ones

-you clear rocks out of tunnels, you pile em till they are exported or used for construction

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

@-benny they are not bridges for walking lol, it is a mining apparatus

-they are cecilianas small palm trees they are ment to be 1/2 scale to her normal ones

-you clear rocks out of tunnels, you pile em till they are exported or used for construction

What is a mining apparatus used for? I see no use in it. And what are the ropes hanging there for?

And I know you resized the palm trees, but they look small compared to the buildings. I'd enlarge them somewhat if you can, and find a way to make them less "blurry". By that I mean the edges are blurred due to resizing. Not sure if you can remedy that, but just saying they look out of place.

So the miners are just supposed to carry rocks out using wooden boxes? I'd place some wheelbarrows around because they would be used for the rocks in my opinion. Otherwise it seems impractical.

Don't get me wrong though. It looks nice. It'll probably look more like a mining place once NPCs are present, so yeah. I might be being nitpicky. Except the support for the wooden apparatus is longer on the right than the left. That is all.

 

[Stridah]

@benny. those trees actually are default size from cec's tile set.  I will re check if they are are blurry in gimp or just photobucket.  Very good idea about the wheel barrel.  Apparatus is longer because the cliff size is a tile different, so the supports have to be different for it to be straight.

 

[mlogan]

@stridah - Lunarea has some palm trees in her coastal town set that may fit better. I believe there is also one in Mack/First Seed Material stuff.

 

[Stridah]

thanks logan you know what, when i get home im actually gona put a quick screen of all the palm tree tiles i have (alot).  Then show the tree's i usually use in the forest areas, the palm trees need to be consistent with my more foresty tiles.  

Finding good desert resources is difficult, i am glad most of my deserty mapping will be done early in the game as it is the most challenging (Interiors is most boring).

 

[Stridah]

ok i will first post up a bunch of the trees i use for forests

Spoiler

and here is my palm tree's the only one ive found that really meshes well with my main tree's is the short one i have been using.  (p.s. i have lunarea's they dont match)

Spoiler

 

 

[Apollo]

So I recently started a new project called The Blackwell. I made the first map, and i'm having trouble getting the environment right. This is in the Blackwell, a place which is mostly barren except for some mosses, vines, and mushrooms. (and lilleh padz) So yeah, here's the screenie

So as you can see, its a bit empty, but i can't tell how to fix it.   Suggestions please!

 

[Makio-Kuta]

@Apollo: Try spacing out what you have a bit. You've got everything clustered into the center and that's playing towards making the place look very empty. Those wooden floor boards there--where did they come from? There's no other wood in the place so they seem very out of place at the moment. Either, you need to remove them or pull wood into other areas of the image.


I'm not sure what sort of purpose The Blackwell serves, so it is hard to suggest what other things to put. (though you mention mushrooms, and yet I don't think I see one in your screenshot)


The space looks rather wide too. Unless there is good reason for how wide it is, you could tighten the map up a bit. That'll give you less space to have to worry about decorating as well.

 

[Apollo]

@Makio that's only one part of the map, the place where the player starts (the cracked ground in the shot is where the player fell down from above) there are mushrooms in other areas of the map. I will take your advice though and space stuff out. Oh also those boards are there because they fell from above.

ok so i guess i'm gonna put a small synopsis of the story here...

Spoiler

No one in the town of Black Haven know what The Blackwell is, or what it was made for, or what's really inside of it. All they know is that every five years a voice like thunder echoes from within the fathomless darkness, calling for a sacrifice. Every five years a child at the age of twelve is randomly chosen from the village and throne into The Blackwell to appease whatever dark beast waits inside. If they don't, the creature threatens to destroy their village. The people live in fear every year that their child will be picked next for The Fall. This year, the victim is Aiden, a young boy, and he's about to enter a strange, dangerous, and, at times, wonderful new world...

Now for an actually explanation The Blackwell was built as a prison for a powerful demon. Whenever a child is throne down, if they survive their encounter with the mysterious shadow-man "Murk", they are taken in by The Survivors, the remnant of all the children throne into The Blackwell over the past 200 years. For an unknown reason, no one can age inside The Blackwell, so all the children still alive are the same age as the day they fell. Strange crystals grow in all parts of The Blackwell and they are used to cleanse "festerpools", pools of rancid water that spawn horrifying beasts call Hollows. There's no other clean water (excepting a small spring in the cave that everyone first falls into) so cleansing festerpools is the only way for The Survivors to get water to drink. The Blackwell is believed by The Survivors to be limitless, and every now and then changes its shape. It is an impossible labyrinth of dangers untold...I can't think of any other important points so i'll end it there.

Hopefully that explanation helps you determine what i should put in the screenie

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Oh I see. Well, the cracks being clustered together like that and the floor boards make a lot more sense when you explain why they are there. lol

Spoiler

Perhaps throwing some skeletons down there would make sense, for the children that failed to stay alive when they are tossed down there. As I am sure not all survive long enough to meet "Murk," thrown into a dark place with no supplies.
Is this like a dungeon crawler? The way you describe the place sounds like it would lend itself easily to one. Anyway, I am going to guess that the first room doesn't have any of the crystals or festerpools and that that sort of stuff lies deeper in the dungeon, so I guess that's not an option. Perhaps using different floor tiles to add a bit of variety to the floor would be a first good step. That can break up large spaces without having to worry about having a lot of actual decorative pieces on the map.


This is under the city, right? Is it possible other objects fall down there from time to time? Putting broken belongings that have fallen from above is an idea. Or even shallower pools of water that have gathered in places in this first room. I guess another suggestion might be abandoned camps from previous groups of children trying to survive.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Two new screenshots

Spoiler

@Apollo - I find the "lack of border" between the ground and the water a bit weird...

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

@Engr. Shana: On your 2nd screenshot, the fence is connecting with the outside edge of the map. It shouldn't do that. Try using some shift-mapping to remove that, so that it just goes round like a normal fence. I think it'll look good with some grass and trees in there as well.

Now for the 1st screenshot. It looks very grimy and deserted. But what were the pots/crates used for? Maybe you can flavour it up, provide some story behind why they're there. What was this room used for? But I'm guessing it's not finished, because it doesn't have an entrance or any windows.

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