Game & Map Screenshots 5

[Lucy Fox]

Ah, I see what you mean. Thank's, I didn't recognized it : D

 

[Alkorri]

@Metereo - Like Sharm says, that water does indeed look better!

@RocketKnight - The look and sounds do seem to match the feel of the 1920s. Certainly unique looking, and I hope you find someone to proofread your game when the time comes I don't know whether you saw my previous comment that the sprite and the face does not match for me - the hair and expression are different, so I don't know if these are just placeholders.

@KaYsEr - (Man that's a hard username to type, lol) I love the retro look of that screenshot. That home looks warm and inviting thanks to the lamp and fireplace. Does the lower room connect to the upper room? Because I saw the ladder which seems to imply that room is in the attic, so I wasn't sure. I've not heard of many rooms with ladders going into basements ;D

@Tsukitsune - This still looks like a WIP, so the main thing I will say is that I hope the steps match the stone walls to the side I like the curve of that stairs, although personally I'm not sure how I feel about the shape of that platform? It looks a bit...stiff? An artist could probably say it better.

@Lucy Fox - Lovely screenshot. Ruins are an insta-appeal to me That being said, I think I get what ksjp is saying, yes. I'm a bit disconcerted by how I can only see two 'legs' of that structure in the middle, which together with the short tower is why it looks a bit top-down.

Two more things: the top of the waterfall looks like it's shooting up into the air instead of flowing from the water? I'm also wondering why it looks as if that creature is the only thing with a shadow.

 

[Lucy Fox]

Thanks Alkorri. I'll rework your points. (Because they are right xD )

Other things have shadows too, but they aren't that opaque as the creature's one. (I'll change that too : D )

 

[RocketKnight]

@Alkorri - What would be your suggestions?

 

[Alkorri]

@RocketKnight - What do you mean? About the sprite?

 

[Tsukitsune]

@Tsukitsune:

Interesting stile O: I like it. Though somehow it seems to be a bit empty.

It's still not finished, but thank you.

Also really love that screenshot, what tiles are those?

@Tsukitsune

The one thing I forgot to mention when watching your Twitch.tv stream of mapping, was that something still seems a bit off ... at the bottom of those stairs, How the white part curves so much more sharply inward towards the floor. Each "step" could be stretched out a bit more to the right, to extend the curving perspective, ... but may I suggest only by half the whitespace for each of the steps?

The little triangle of wall at the bottom-left of the stairs seems out of place; since you're parallaxing, why not try something that looks a little more like "ice-covered rock", like it was like that naturally?

I find the general layout quite unique, for a non-rectangular room layout; as I said, the stairs/steps down to the chamber will always be part of the problem for that perspective. But I think you've really got a good concept.

Thanks for watching!  Aye I noticed that too, I spent most of yesterday fixing the perspective of those steps.  Also the ice covered stuff, I normally put all that stuff after I lay the base tiles.

@Tsukitsune - This still looks like a WIP, so the main thing I will say is that I hope the steps match the stone walls to the side I like the curve of that stairs, although personally I'm not sure how I feel about the shape of that platform? It looks a bit...stiff? An artist could probably say it better.

It's pretty plain right now, all the small details and textures come after I lay out the ground work.  

 

[Ultimacj]

>Lucy very nice tileset somewhat reminds me of the DS set in a way.  I like the waterfalls

>Tsu  Very nice though some reason the wall on the left side just looks "odd" or "off" but nothing serious if you left that way.

 

[Lucy Fox]

@Tsukitsune:
With that ice on it it looks really great!
 
This is a mix of Amarant tilesets and some stuff from Avery.

And also a bit recoloring to get the tiles matching together : D
 
@Ultimacj:
Thank you :3

 

[Creative Ed]

 

I searched for your game, is it "Space Insignia"? Looks good indeed, maybe a little more sharpness on the 3D elements to make them "blend" better with 2D, for your next game.

 
And you are right about my camera, actually this video is from when I was still "experimenting" (lighting, camera, texturing etc, are supposed to be different jobs haha, takes time to be OK on all of them as a single man), but I will keep those little scenes (just 3 or 4) in the final game because it reminds me where I come from (and there is good/bad memories linked to their creation).
I improved my skills now, and have better software/hardware too, so hopefully the camera does better today than in this old technical-video.

Haha don't mind that game, I made it on a rush, and tried to make the 3D look "pixelish" but it didn't work quite well.

I dropped that game though, since it was for the RPG Maker contest a while back, and it was also only a hobby.

This is a better example of my work:




Anyway, I understand your point, but a little tweak here and there never hurts

 

[esby]

@Alkorri - Yeah, two different screens. Not using Luna atm, just a couple edited Moghunter scripts.


@Tsukitsune - The parallaxed floor looks out of place, especially since you've used tiles on the lower level.


Playing around with Archeia's library tiles.

 

[Ultimacj]

Somewhat finished areas of my first town for my next project.

First two are the outside areas of the town, the 3rd one is one of the buildings (similar to a library), and the fourth one is the mayors mansion (4th floor).

Top of the wall was cut off on this one it's actually there I'm just not good at photo editing

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For those wondering why i have two different things on the same floor is separated; I'm following an old school format some games did where you see something but it's totally out of reach making the player go "Hmm what's that?" you'll eventually find out HOW to get there.

 

[Tuomo L]

 

[Alkorri]

@BustedEd - Don't know if you wanted a comment on that video, but just wanted to say it looks very professional I only wish the 'camera' could have lingered a bit longer around the 1:30 mark so we can appreciate the majesty of the ship to match the music. But anyway, awesome work.

@esbie - I like that room, it has a cosy feel. I'm not sure what to think about the shape of the room, however, as it seems uneven. Is there any particular reason why you can't have the left corner match the corner with the long table? Maybe space out the sofa area a bit so it doesn't look so cramped I notice a chair that might make it difficult for people to squeeze into the far left sofa. 

@Ultimacj


There is a lot of empty space in your maps. Your towns, for instance, have wide open spaces with little to engage the eye. Things like benches, barrels, crates, mailboxes, or other signs showing people live there.

 

Map#1 and #2 - Fill that grassy space with something eg flowerbeds, dirt, more trees etc. You also need to use shift mapping on the roofs.

 

Map#3 - Carpets really don't work that way, and it looks like you need to use shift mapping on the green carpet too. In real life you would also not see stairs going through a carpet. Again, a lot of unused empty space. What is what white tower thing on the left? If this room is supposed to be some library, it would be nice to see more bookshelves against the walls. Add tables, chairs etc. If you can't fill up the empty space, you might want to make the room smaller.

 

Map #4 - Is that supposed to be steps leading up to a mayor's throne? That stairs you chose is more suited to taking people to the next level, not for this purpose. It looks jarring and I cannot tell if the room with the mayor(?) is one level or two. Try to make the room more appealing with wall decorations, and fill the empty corners. The walls are also one-tile high and two-tiles high; choose a height and stick with it.



 

@Mister Big T - Could you put large screenshots in a spoiler next time? The look of the menu is nice, although for a forest, it looks rather sparse. Try to add more trees, different types of trees, bushes, the occasional wildflower. Unless you intended for this area to look deforested. Try to make add more natural elements like pebbles, stones, dirt. The path also looks unusually straight.

 

[Ultimacj]

That's a wall for #3

I have more detail but unfortunately while in test mode I can only capture so much.  I also don't want to put TOO much detail to where it's fluttered and unappealing.  I'll see about the carpet and remove part of it so it doesn't look like it's bleeding into the stairs, though I myself can't tell just by looking at it.

As for the rooftops, I used a tutorial map that came with the DS pack and copied it straight from it, Never used shift mapping before but I'll look into it, but as I said I copied the tutorial look and applied my own buildings to it.

 

[Alkorri]

Ultimacj, you might want to try Hime's Mapshot script here, which allows you to easily capture screenshots and mapshots. I use it myself.

When mapping, one should strike a balance between too empty and too cluttered, and your maps currently lean towards the former. Shift mapping is absolutely essential You might want to look for a few tutorials. Not only will it make your maps look better, but it allows you to create certain houses and terrain features that would be impossible without shift mapping.

 

[Creative Ed]

@Alkorri - Thank you Yeah, we wanted to keep that shot a little longer but we couldn't as we would have too big of an axis jump for the next shot (it still jumped, but it would've been worse), so we had to shorten it

 

[Ultimacj]

Eh, I kinda get it and kinda don't...I'm no artist so seeing something awesome sauce detailed won't always present itself..  If I see auto tiling acting odd, I'll know when to use shift mapping.   Thanks

 

[esby]

@Alkorri - It'll eventually be grander and bigger, I'm just trying to get the spacing and feel of the map right before expanding.


@Ultimacj - What Alkorri said, it's way too open, I think the DS tiles look better when used in smaller cozier maps. One solitary house per 17x13 map is way too barren, condense everything way down, create gardens using the fences if you don't want the houses directly next to each other. There's an error with your signpost, it still has the background colour in it. The RTP tiles look way out of place to and there's Inn signposts that come with the set you can use.


In the second screenshot the house is missing the bottom of it's autotile and again the RTP tiles just don't match.


I don't get why the wall is so tall in the third screenshot, it really looks odd. Shrink down the room and use more decoration tiles, it's really sparse right now.


@Big T - You need to play about with the positioning of the bust a little, have it sit flush with the white border of the windowskin and maybe move the text over a little so you aren't limited to four words per line.

 

[Ultimacj]

>esbie the actual map size is 41x42, there about 7 houses on the map itself though I"m planning to add a bit more extra detail this is just ground work.

Took me awhile but (thank god) there are DS tiles (castle ones) that can indicate an INN or a weapon shop so I'm using those now rather than stock.  Pity the town tile set doesn't have these, not sure why....

Good eye on the bottom part the house I didn't catch it...wonder why RM didn't auto tile it.

Thanks for the input

 

[Tuomo L]

I did the fixes you guys suggested. (Aside the straight roads since that's the only way you can do them with the basic tileset)

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