Game & Map Screenshots 5

[boldpaste2]

@seita, I actually like the way the walls look. I am one of those people who likes seeing abnormalities xD as for the floor and the wall. I actually think it looks best the way it is because it shows a bit of depth as well as a good indicator of "Look here, I'm an exit!".

==============================

On another note, I really like overlay mapping. Yea it's a lot of work but it really can bring a map to life

Layer 1 - Rough Layout

Spoiler

Layer 2 - Ground

Spoiler

Layer 3 - Objects

Spoiler

Layer 4 - Parallax

Spoiler

Layer 5 - When you put it all together!

Spoiler

 

[Alkorri]

Out of curiosity, boldpaste2, how long did that take you? Nice map. For some reason because of the perspective of the cliffs, I feel like I'm having a bird's eye view of the map. The sign by the door also looks like it's made of paper, which seems odd for a ruined jungle temple since a stone or metal one feels more appropriate to me. Unless that sign was put there recently

@Anorak - My two cents In Map#1, it's so dark already that I don't think you need the shadows on the cliffs. Map#2 looks fine, if a bit cluttered to me. It's like you're not sure what the eye should focus on. Map #3 made me wish the fairy's top wings were smaller, complete or even gone; the part where it's cut off looks strange. In Maps #3 and 4, I think you need to use shift-clicking as I can see the cliff edges at the bottom of the upper-level cliff. I like Map#5 because it's not as crowded as the earlier maps, but did you mean to use stone stairs instead of dirt ones?

 

[boldpaste2]

It took me around 2 or so hours. I really can't do anything about the (diagonal cliff) because that would just mean 100s of hours to replace them in 100 or so maps. I don't do it as much to the bottom to add the perspective back in. Its the style that FF6 utilizes on mountain and caves. and yea, the sign what put there recently. The temple is locked by an archaeologist and you need to speak to him first before going in. If you try to go in before you know whats up, your going to get lost because the perspective changes all the time. 

 

[CobeSlice]

Hey everyone! I've been tinkering away at my game, slow and steady, and decided to post my first map here for everyone to see. It's pretty much finished, I'm still working on some interiors for some of the last few buildings, but here is the exterior map.This is the starting town for the game. It's quite large, and I'm thinking about making it a town you revisit later in the campaign since I put so much into it. I might also alter the story concept a bit and add a smaller town you start in, and have this be a central location for the game instead. I'm not 100% certain yet. Anyway, what are you thoughts and opinions? The very, very top of the map is cut off, but the large road leads to a bridge/exit so there wasn't really anything there to see and the bottom portion just elongates the docks a little more, with more ocean, so again... not so much to see.

Spoiler

I've also been working on a wooded area, which is located just north of the town (where the bridge would lead). It's not perfectly lined up to be free flowing, and gives the appearance that after you left the town via the north bridge, you might be walking a bit off screen to arrive at the area, sort of like a key location. I'm trying to avoid having to deal with an overworld map that the character moves on, and just do connecting maps and leaving some of the needless wandering off-screen. I'd like some opinions on that concept as well as this map!

Spoiler

You can see more of my projects on my deviantart page.

 

[RocketKnight]

My new project:

Spoiler

 

[No1434]

Hei guys ! 
 
I need some feedback about my map.

Heres the screenshot

Spoiler

 

[RaZzi]

@boldpaste2 : The ff6 style of mountains/hills works but not with those graphics. You must realize that you can't just rotate the graphics and go with it. The left side off those cliffs have wrong lighting and it's same with all your maps. It looks that the lighting comes from bottom of the map and ruins the whole perspective: It looks like its sloping down and not being on the same height as the other hill. The rocks on the right side of the cliff have lighter top areas and darker bottom areas but the left side has that opposite. It gives cheap, amateurish, lazy and bad immersion to anyone who has ever worked with any photoediting software. I'd recommend you hire pixel artist/artist to correct the left side of your cliff and then paste it over to all of your other maps too. Or perhaps try to use "Flip vertical/horizontal" on that right side of your cliff.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Trying to do some outside view of house mapping

 

[CobeSlice]

Hei guys ! 

I need some feedback about my map.

Heres the screenshot

I think this is looks pretty decent, and it's more or less straight-forward. However, I would suggest that if this is an area that sees a lot of foot traffic to add some broken up path parts, or even just use indirect pathing by way of the tall grass, to help lead the player to where they need to exit. Otherwise this becomes a giant maze-puzzle and could frustrate some less-than-directionally-saavy people. Otherwise I think it looks really good. Just the right amount of filler objects.

 

[RaZzi]

@No1434: I prefer 2 tiles tall trees. And there are some areas in that map that are too "straight" to be inside a forest.

 

[esby]

@CobeSlice - There's a couple big empty stretches of land that could do with filling in on the city map. Forest map is slightly too open, bring in the auto tile by a tile or two. Try to work in some different height levels, both your maps are completely flat right now.

@RocketKnight - Title screen is cool, although I'm not convinced on the font choice. Maybe something a little fancier.

First screenshot is too square and barren. Try adding a main pathway and a little more structure.

Third screenshot is a little too long for it's purpose but is fine other than that.

Fourth screenshot is again too square, might just be me though, add in an extra layer of steps and I'm not too sure on the use of the water.

@No1434 - I agree, the shrinky dink tree autotile looks off, especially when you've used two tile high trees and pillars elsewhere in the map. I'd suggest opening up the map a little bit, it's a little too narrow. Indrah's good at that style forest, check out some of her maps for suggestions.

@Engr - Why doesn't the roof tile properly? Not a fan of the windows half on the wall either, I'd stick to the bottom style. Looks cute other than that.

 

[Alkorri]

@Cobeslice - It's a good idea to not overwhelm your players in the beginning, so a small town works as a starting area instead of that city. You could indeed place that city in a central location and/or in the middle of the game. It's also perfectly normal to use connecting maps instead of an overworld map. Back to my nosy, mouthy comments

Spoiler

• For big maps, I really prefer it when people link to a larger version so I can actually see details. It makes it easier for people to comment on them too instead of having to squint their eyes. So if I misidentify some landmark on your map, bear with me.
• I think it's odd to have the farming area inside the city itself, because most city planners and leaders would use that precious space for houses, government buildings and so on. There's a reason that so many cities have their agricultural lands outside their cities, mainly so they have room to expand. The exceptions to this rule is if this farming area belongs to a private citizen, or complements larger-scale agricultural activities already outside the city, and/or if it's just too dangerous to farm outside, such as in the case of a zombie apocalypse for instance.
• You might have valid worldbuilding reasons to have that farm there, so assuming that you do, I like that you place it close to a source of water (a well) as I don't see a pond around. Edit: After squinting, I finally noticed the canals, so my bad. In a city where canals cut across the landscape, you'd think land would be even more precious.
• At first I mistook it for a 'park' on the north end of the city, until I realised it was a cemetery. That's fine, but I wonder why there's no trees or anything to make visiting your loved ones pleasant. The paths you laid down there seem unnecessary (there could be valid reasons!) and doesn't make the place that attractive either.
• In a real-life city, I'm not sure I would place both the farming area and a cemetery right at one of the entrances. Unless these people are unpretentious folk, most city planners place attractive buildings in that area so these will be the first thing to impress visitors (and your players) when they first arrive there.
• I like that you can clearly see sections clearly allocated throughout the city: the shops, the market, the slums, the residential areas and (I think?) government buildings or what not.
• I like that you used grass and I think flowers to break up the map, but I still think there are too many empty spaces with nothing there. You might want to put some decorative items such as benches, statues, fountains, mailboxes (if any), anything taking advantage of the canals etc. Some empty spaces I see are:

1. that area west and north of the slums (bottom right of the city)
2. behind that church-like building on the west side of the map
3. that long piece of land south of the big house with the blue roof. Make sure there is something interesting to see in those spaces.
4. a large rectangular piece of land surrounded by flower bushes? What exactly is that? A park or someone's garden? It looks rather empty.

• Other than that, it's a pretty decent city using RTP tiles. I like the effort putting into making houses with different shaped and coloured roofs. I like that you use windows to use up space on the walls, but you might consider using other elements such as ivy, banners, flowers for variety. I also notice some houses with windows placed oddly, like one next to the door and the other side the window is placed further away.

@RocketKnight - I really like the first screenshot - it reminds me of something from Bioshock for some reason. As for the rest, the trees, the fountain and sprite are certainly stylised, almost like a watercolour effect. That's why when I look at the last map, I feel as if there's a clash of styles there. Everything in that office looks crisp and clean, whereas Screenshots #2 and #3 seem surreal and dreamlike. I don't know your story, so that might have been your intention. That being said, I like how there is little wasted space.

@No1434 - As forest maps go, it's not bad. I feel there are places where the paths could use some expanding for variety as everything is one tile wide. That might been your intention, to give a feeling of claustrophobia, I dunno. There seems to be a lot of broken pillars and statues around, implying there used to be some ruined city or temple here ages ago. If so, you should probably add more elements from that feature. If there wasn't, you might want to think on the reasons those pillars are scattered all around the forest. (Sacrificial pillars or places of worship?)

Unlike Razzi says, I don't mind some straight paths as long as it's mixed with some curved paths. I would however change that box-shaped area of trees in the middle so that it looks more natural.

@Engr Adiktuzmiko - Your map is cute, and I like it Why are those two shutters hanging off the roof tho? I feel as if it should be higher up. Also I agree with esbie; it looks like the roof needs some shift-clicking?

 

[Kes]

@CobeSlice

I think you would find it helpful to think about towns you know and the proportion of open space to built up space.  The amount of empty space you have in your map is well over anything that would strike most people as realistic for what I think you want to make a busy town.  You are also asking the player to walk long distances seeing nothing and doing nothing.  So you might want to think about shrinking the whole map a bit.

Then look at e.g. the church like building on the left.  It is set in a large piece of green space, but has its doors  right at the edge of the path.  An imposing building would almost certainly have a bit of a forecourt leading up to the doors, so you could set your building back a tile or two on that space.  It would also make it feel a bit less empty.  That sort of logic could easily apply to other buildings on the map.

Then think about how people 'colonise' space and make it private.  Nearly all that land around the buildings is public space.  Maybe by making it look more closely linked to individual houses, you will make your town feel more lived in.

As an example of what I mean about private space, here is a map that I'm working on now, so it is far from finished.  But you will see how private space has been indicated by things like different ground tiles, the placement of washing lines, things like that.  It's big, so in a spoiler.

Spoiler

 

[boldpaste2]

@boldpaste2 : The ff6 style of mountains/hills works but not with those graphics. You must realize that you can't just rotate the graphics and go with it. The left side off those cliffs have wrong lighting and it's same with all your maps. It looks that the lighting comes from bottom of the map and ruins the whole perspective: It looks like its sloping down and not being on the same height as the other hill. The rocks on the right side of the cliff have lighter top areas and darker bottom areas but the left side has that opposite. It gives cheap, amateurish, lazy and bad immersion to anyone who has ever worked with any photoediting software. I'd recommend you hire pixel artist/artist to correct the left side of your cliff and then paste it over to all of your other maps too. Or perhaps try to use "Flip vertical/horizontal" on that right side of your cliff.

When it comes to photo editing software, yup, I am an amateur at it but i get what you mean on the cliff on the left side. I forgot to invert the shadow on that side. When it comes to this style with the modified tile sets I am using, flipping works fine unless you don't get the shadowing right. The perspective is Top down from an angle so the walls are supposed to curve a bit if they are not 90 degree walls. Also, when it comes to hiring a pixel artist, I barely have a budget so that options out the window.

 

[wynautastronaut]

A couple screens from a new forest map I am working on. It's for a very short game, but the players will spend most time here so I want to give it some sense of exploration. 

Spoiler

Trying to do some outside view of house mapping

The house should be casting a shadow on the right since other things (bucket, well, windows) are casting on to the right. Other than that, it looks cute!

Hei guys ! 
 
I need some feedback about my map.

Heres the screenshot

Spoiler

Screen Shot Forest.png

Since there are some dead trees, you could add some twigs and leaves on the floors, too. I like how you blocked the main path lol 

 

[Alkorri]

@wynautastronaut - I like the first map, but it looks like there's a bit of dirt part on the bottom left corner that is cut off? Come to think of it, the path there also looks a bit messy. For instance it leads to this large patch beside the pond, implying some sort of activity there. A picnic spot perhaps? (If so, where are the other signs eg stones, campfires) You might want to think of the reasons why those two dirt spots are there

Edit: I just noticed the two trees in the first map, where the smaller tree on the right is closer towards the player, and yet the leaves of the bigger tree on the left overlaps the smaller tree slightly. This looks a bit odd to me. You did it right in the second map when trees in front overlap the trees behind it.

In the second map, I don't see any clear paths so it looks like you could go north, south, east and west. Not sure if you intended this since you said you wanted players to explore this forest.

Are you planning to use that DS sprite btw? Because if you happen to have anything with doors for instance, the players will notice the height difference.

 

[RaZzi]

[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]@wynautastronaut: I like it. However, forest are usually more dense. Also some tint screen might add some visual candy. Other than that, I like the variation of the details.[/SIZE]

 

[wynautastronaut]

@wynautastronaut - I like the first map, but it looks like there's a bit of dirt part on the bottom left corner that is cut off? Come to think of it, the path there also looks a bit messy. For instance it leads to this large patch beside the pond, implying some sort of activity there. A picnic spot perhaps? (If so, where are the other signs eg stones, campfires) You might want to think of the reasons why those two dirt spots are there

Edit: I just noticed the two trees in the first map, where the smaller tree on the right is closer towards the player, and yet the leaves of the bigger tree on the left overlaps the smaller tree slightly. This looks a bit odd to me. You did it right in the second map when trees in front overlap the trees behind it.

In the second map, I don't see any clear paths so it looks like you could go north, south, east and west. Not sure if you intended this since you said you wanted players to explore this forest.

Are you planning to use that DS sprite btw? Because if you happen to have anything with doors for instance, the players will notice the height difference.

Thank you! I noticed that dirt patch and fixed it. As for the path, it's kind of supposed to look messy. It's not meant to have been put there, but it's meant to have been worn by travelers, animals that eat grass (around water usually), and has grown barren. Does that make sense? I don't want it to look messy bad, though. lol I'll try more or less of it maybe it's just an odd amount. 

Yeah, those trees look odd I will try to push them closer together. 

They are both screens of the same map, but different areas. Most of the map will look like the bottom. 

As for sprites, maybe. I thought of this and tried fixing it using a regular one tile door like this. Will it be bad otherwise?

Thanks for all the feedback!

Razzi, thank you for the suggestions! I'll tint the screen, that's a great idea. As for the density of the forest, I am worried that if it's too dense, the path ways will be too obvious and it might look linear, which I don't want. But I can dense it up a bit more! Thanks!

 

[Alkorri]

@wynautastronaut - It makes sense. As long as you had a reason for it

As for that door, it's an interesting idea. It clashes a bit because that RTP door is painted, not pixel art. Perhaps if you tried a DS-style door?

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Yeah the roofs where, uhmmm... I used the wrong cut... I actually made the whole house on an image editing program while trying to frankenstile... XD I used the other window coz I want to somehow have a window on the higher floor but I don't want to use the same window as the one below...