Game & Map Screenshots 5

[Ikari]

@Nicke looks great! It'd be even better with some lighting.

I've got some screens of my own, as well.

Spoiler

Hopefully I can get some tips to make it more unique-looking so it's not a plain city.

 

[Kes]

@Seven

Bottom row of houses need windows.

Some houses are missing their chimneys.

Those houses that do have windows - consider their placement.  At the moment the tops of the windows are higher than the doors.  Look at any house, and that is never the case.  Try dropping them down one tile.

The windows on top left house just look wrong placed so close to the edges.  I can see that you have problems with finding enough room to put them in a bit, so you may have to rethink the shape of the house.  Does that house (and the one next to it) really need a double door?  Normally such a door would indicate a much grander house than this looks to be.  Make it a single door and that will free up a bit of width for the windows.

Each area of water has 5 drains (?) emptying in, but only the tiniest space for the water to go somewhere else.  With that much coming in, and so little space for it to escape, the town should be flooded by now.

The middle and bottom rows of houses have paths going to their doors, the top row does not.

To make it look more varied try:

Making the junction bigger and putting a tree in the middle.

You have lamp posts at the entrances, you are like to have them by the north exit as well.

Perhaps a bit of greenery/tree somewhere else?

A bit more clutter

Once your NPCs go in, that will help, but include something like a wandering dog or cat.  Also flying birds help.

 

[Ikari]

Like this?

Spoiler

Just need to add some more NPCs, though. =P

 

[Candacis]

@Seven:

It looks much better now, although next time try not taking the screenshot on the event layer to avoid the grid. Would also be good to crop the screenshot so we only see the map.

You could still do more clutter and trees and bushes. A good way to find out if your map still could use some clutter, is playtesting it and walk around with your character. Does he have long ways to go until something interesting appears in the screen? How big are the open spaces?

And try out how it looks if you place the chimney one tile down or one tile right. Not so directly at the edge.

And here are two screenshots of mine from my Face Contest entry, although I added a shadow map with Yamis Overlay Script, still tinkering with it:

Spoiler

Both ingame screenshots, only for the purpose of the screenshots I changed the resolution to 640x480.

 

[whitesphere]

@Noah

The town with the hot spring looks really good.

@Mirage88

I love the parallax mapping.  The forest looks quite dark and eerie.

 

[Halfmoon Media]

Okay, so this was my first shot at mapping after getting inspired by this thread... using celliannas tiles until I finish my own sets.

What do you think? I guess, where should I look at improving from this one? I wanted to try to make it look as natural as possible, not so forced...

Spoiler

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

The north end of the cliff on the lower right seems to blend with the grass, making it look like it's on the same level as the grass

 

[Halfmoon Media]

Does that look too awkward, then? I was trying to go for a "sloping" feel, which is somewhat hard to accomplish but I thought I'd try it

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

to me it doesn't work right now, maybe if you have another cliff on the other side...

 

[Kes]

@Halfmoon Media

For a first map, I think that's very good.

Your sloping problem.  I agree with Adiktuzmiko that how you're trying to do it now doesn't work.  It's the lower ground that needs to slope up, not the higher ground just vanish.  I'll hunt around for a map which shows an alternative way of doing it.  I know it's on this thread, just don't remember where.  I'll edit this post when I find it.

In the meantime, just a couple of things.  The cliffs at the back don't have shadows, so look quite flat.  I'm not sure that Celianna's onions are things that would be growing wild near a beach.  Try something else.  As you are making your own tiles, I assume you have some competence in editing etc., so could I suggest that you consider editing Celianna's sand or grass tile to make a more mixed one i.e. sand with a lot of grass, or grass with a lot of sand, to make a more natural 'blurred' transition between the beach and the meadow.  At the moment it is, necessarily, a bit abrupt.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I tried that before by making the sand overlay tile (from Mack I think) into green to make it look like grass...

 

[Halfmoon Media]

...The cliffs at the back don't have shadows, so look quite flat.

Yeah I intentionally removed the shadows. I'm going to use overlay shadows for that rather than using the auto shadows/shadow pen. It looks really gross and entirely unbelievable.

...I'm not sure that Celianna's onions are things that would be growing wild near a beach.  Try something else.  

I think you're right... I was feeling a "Lost in Blue" vibe with this and they always had random vegetables growing near the beaches, so I thought I'd throw them in just to try it. But! You are a totally right in that

As you are making your own tiles, I assume you have some competence in editing etc., so could I suggest that you consider editing Celianna's sand or grass tile to make a more mixed one i.e. sand with a lot of grass, or grass with a lot of sand, to make a more natural 'blurred' transition between the beach and the meadow.  At the moment it is, necessarily, a bit abrupt.

I noticed that too. It was one of the first things I noted down actually to add to my set when I saw the finished version of this.

As for the sloping problem... What about this?

Spoiler

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

It still looks weird to me... probably because the ground tiles themselves look flat, and maybe because the left cliff has a shadow and the center one does not. I think one of Candacis' map has a visible sloping, it has something to do with adding shadows (or just darkening) on the lower ground.

 

[Candacis]

You mean this?

Spoiler

I just left out all the decoration so you can see it better. Not sure if this is what is meant. I use those slopes so that my characters can walk around. It is a more natural alternative to stairs. The top/down slopes are a little steep, you could probably extend them more to make the slope softer.

Actually the whole area of the slope is darkened, but the end and the beginning is made brighter with a soft white brush.

I also use a stair script, so that my characters can go up and down the sideway slopes in a somewhat diagonal way.

If you would add shadows to your cliffs, halfmoon, you might start to see the problem with such open cliffs. You have to have some sort of ending to a cliff, otherwise with that perspective it is not clear how many different levels you have and it shatters the illusion of height differences.

I suggest making more dune grass for your beach and add more shells. Dune grass would also grow on the grass part. Transition areas behind beaches often have tall dune grass.

 

[Kes]

That's the one I was searching for.  It's not only the slopes, it's also the fact that there are several 'layers' to the height increase, so that it feels more natural than just going up in one move.

 

[Halfmoon Media]

@ Candacis I saw a similar image on your site when I was looking it up too but that's not the slope I'm going for... Let me see about adding the shadows, maybe it will help to make it more clear. I'll edit this pose once I do that.

Also, Good point on the dune grass. And thank you all for your feedback, It's been immensely helpful already!

@ksjp17 But the slope I'm trying to go for is supposed to have access from the back, not the front.... Again, let me see about the shadows, It may or may not make a difference...

EDIT: Does this make a difference? I added some shadows, and some more dune grass

Spoiler

 

[Kes]

That I think works much better.  I still think the cliff on the right is a bit of a problem.  Could you make it 2-tier?  i.e. a lower section, (which would probably have to start a tile or so nearer the water to allow for the 'terrace') rising in the normal way to a second section, which is the one which slopes off at the back?  It's just that the contrast in elevation is too steep to be accommodated by what you have so far.

EDIT

Actually I've done something a bit similar.  Have a look at the map in this post (it's inside the spoiler) and the screenshot to see how this approach can be used.  I think this is the effect you're looking for. http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/27537-game-map-screenshots-5/?p=303106

 

[NathanW]

Heya, guys! I've been dinking around in RPG Maker VX Ace and decided to make a map. And, well... here it is!

Gimme some input. I know the upper right side of the map is kind of blah, but I was working with what I had at that moment xD

 

[Halfmoon Media]

EDIT

Actually I've done something a bit similar.  Have a look at the map in this post (it's inside the spoiler) and the screenshot to see how this approach can be used.  I think this is the effect you're looking for. http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/27537-game-map-screenshots-5/?p=303106

YEEEESSSS That is the effect I am trying to make. And I see what you did with the vertical edges and that makes it look much smoother, too! And yeah, I can take the tall one down a notch

 

[BoluBolu]

Perhaps not to make the map like square map, you know your map is like square(err.. how do I explain it?), I mean create it more natural, maybe add more height. But if it's supposed to be like that then it's already good IMHO