Game & Map Screenshots 7

[Citrus-Shock]

Howdy! I'm still kinda new to rpg maker in general, and was hoping for some pointers.

So, I've been playing around with parallaxes and editing the maps in Paint Tool Sai. Drawing shadows and light, making custom and hand-drawn pixel object. It's been a lot of fun thus far.

However, I'm aiming for a certain type of "atmosphere" in each map, but I worry that it's been overdone and would distract the player, more than settle them into the game.
Here's a picture of the map for reference.
Is the lighting and shadows too distracting? Does there need to be more items added to make it less bland and more busy?
(It's an antique shop, btw)
 

Spoiler

 

[taarna23]

Cute room! The shadowing on the carpet is weirding me out because I don't know where it's coming from and seems to extend onto the desk. Unless that carpet is ON the desk, which is also weird...

 

[Citrus-Shock]

Cute room! The shadowing on the carpet is weirding me out because I don't know where it's coming from and seems to extend onto the desk. Unless that carpet is ON the desk, which is also weird...

Thank you! :3
Oh, I didn't even think of that!
The aim was to have one consistent color for all the shadows. I didn't think it would "blend" so much with the other objects.
Thank you again for your help, I knew something was off with the image but couldn't quite place what.

 

[taarna23]

Oh! I somehow missed that it is an antique shop - every single dang one of those I have been in has been a cluttered mess of STUFF. It's like treasure hunting, really.

 

[Citrus-Shock]

Oh! I somehow missed that it is an antique shop - every single dang one of those I have been in has been a cluttered mess of STUFF. It's like treasure hunting, really.

^^^^^^
It kinda makes them fun to go into. Never know what you'll find.

 

[Prescott]

It's... BEAUTIFUL.


On first sight, this map looks gorgeous. It's crazy how even simple lighting effects can make it look so real.


That being said, your shadows need a little bit of work. If the cabinets were inside of the wall, they wouldn't cast any shadow.


As @taarna23 mentioned, the shadow on the carpet looks really weird. There's no light coming from that direction so there shouldn't be a shadow there.


Which leads me to my next point, the angles and lengths for a lot of the shadows are off. The one that strikes me the most is the bottom left box with the cabbage(?) in it. The angle would be a bit more to the left than what it is right now. Your closet on the right should have a longer shadow than that box too, since it's two tiles high instead of just one.


The things on the tables don't need shadows if they are on the table directly, such as the carpet, the letter, etc.


I would also HEAVILY advise removing the shadows on the sprites themselves. RPG Maker RTP comes with pre-baked shadows and if you're making your own you don't want two shadows going different directions and such. You can really notice it on that little flower stand at the bottom of your map.


Now, as far as the actually MAPPING goes...


Those bookshelves are not supposed to be in the wall. They are meant to be put on the floor. So bring them down a tile or edit them to remove the bottom parts where it would be standing on solid ground.


If that carpet is indeed on top of the table, it's impossible for the player to move around; both of the pathways are blocked with stuff.

 

[Citrus-Shock]

It's... BEAUTIFUL.


On first sight, this map looks gorgeous. It's crazy how even simple lighting effects can make it look so real.


That being said, your shadows need a little bit of work. If the cabinets were inside of the wall, they wouldn't cast any shadow.


As @taarna23 mentioned, the shadow on the carpet looks really weird. There's no light coming from that direction so there shouldn't be a shadow there.


Which leads me to my next point, the angles and lengths for a lot of the shadows are off. The one that strikes me the most is the bottom left box with the cabbage(?) in it. The angle would be a bit more to the left than what it is right now. Your closet on the right should have a longer shadow than that box too, since it's two tiles high instead of just one.


The things on the tables don't need shadows if they are on the table directly, such as the carpet, the letter, etc.


I would also HEAVILY advise removing the shadows on the sprites themselves. RPG Maker RTP comes with pre-baked shadows and if you're making your own you don't want two shadows going different directions and such. You can really notice it on that little flower stand at the bottom of your map.


Now, as far as the actually MAPPING goes...


Those bookshelves are not supposed to be in the wall. They are meant to be put on the floor. So bring them down a tile or edit them to remove the bottom parts where it would be standing on solid ground.


If that carpet is indeed on top of the table, it's impossible for the player to move around; both of the pathways are blocked with stuff.

Thank you very much for the advice!
I understand how the carpet looks as if it's on a table. In all actuality, that's a counter, and the carpet is a rug. (Ideally to cushion your feet while helping customers.) Looking at it again, I can see how the viewer/player would be able to make that misunderstanding.

Note taken. c:

I'll adjust the map to where it looks more...sensible (I think that's the correct word for this situation).
Again, thank you!

 

[Citrus-Shock]

@Prescott
This is an altered version of the base map, it's got the same "organized/organizable clutter" feel to it.
Changed the rug and counter thingy to look more...comprehensible?
I'll edit the same little knickknacks and doorway from the first map into it soon.
 

Spoiler

 

[Bura]

This week I finally added more frames to the walk cycle, so here's Rourke getting his socks wet:

@RocketKnight Your sprites are really nice, so I heavily recommend keeping that zoomed-in look from the previous version, the details aren't too noticeable when it's zoomed out.


@nithisx It looks pretty cool and there are a lot of details, but I'd play around with the lights, so there's a clear point of interest (for example, lower the intensity of all the lights except the ones in the kitchen)

 

[Stridah]

Cabfe is hating a bit, cause that is better then the HIGH majority of maps posted here.  Very nice usage if different tiles and textures nithis...keep plugging away.  Personally i do not see how the beams will interfere with the player moving around at all. 

 

[cabfe]

Cabfe is hating a bit, cause that is better then the HIGH majority of maps posted here.  Very nice usage if different tiles and textures nithis...keep plugging away.  Personally i do not see how the beams will interfere with the player moving around at all. 

Err, what?


I didn't say that I hated it. It's good, but there are ways for improvement. I'm just pointing what I think needs more work to make the map even better.


People who post their maps here are looking for feedback on how to improve their work, not to boast. Or so I think.


Even the OP said this: "i know i can make it better, but i don't know how. Can you help me?"


As with any help, feel free to ignore.


By the way, how could this comment (deleted? I don't see it) have been posted on Feb. 13th about a picture posted in the future?

 

[Prescott]

There ya go, that looks a lot better!!


You do plan on adding ceiling tiles, right?

 

[Ace VII]

For a game that I'm working on with my friends


I had to manually edit out those tilesets because they don't fit in for the use in Ace -_-


[IMG]http://orig01.deviantart.net/4647/f/2016/051/3/5/ss_regna_facility_12_by_kervinlee-d9sfcc3.png[/IMG]


Interested in helping? PM meh ^_^

 

[RocketKnight]

Thanks for the advises buddys


@Bura Always amazing! Loving your project


New screenshots:

Spoiler

 

[Sharm]

I've merged Citrus-Shock's thread with this one.  Sorry for any confusion it causes.

 

[Citrus-Shock]

There ya go, that looks a lot better!!


You do plan on adding ceiling tiles, right?

(If this is toward me.)

Ceiling Tiles? What are those?

 

[Nova]

Here's part of the first town of my game Dreamborne.


[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/pI6bVCS.png[/IMG]

 

[Prescott]

@RocketKnight Yes! You took our advice  That looks spectacular!


@Citrus-Shock Ceiling tiles, I guess you can live without them if you want to, but it is probably better to have them. They are on the A page by default, and they're right on top of the wall tiles. You usually want to use one or two tiles thick around the entire map. Almost every single image on this Google Images Search has them, it's a bit hard to explain without showing you. They just go on top of walls.


@ Nova Looks great! That art style is very nostalgic. Dreamborne even sounds a little bit like Earthbound


EDIT: I've got some maps of my own to share!


This is one of the homes in a port town, close to where the player begins. There are no flowers around because, essentially, their island is dying.


Before any of you ask, yes, the toilet will be changed to something else in the future xD it is purely a placeholder for now, it will probably be changed into a wooden box that you would find in an old timey outhouse kinda' deal.


That goes for the rest of the graphics entirely, too. I'm not necessarily looking for comments about the quality of the graphics, since they will all be replaced with new ones rather than blurred RTP, but instead I am looking for comments and criticism on the layout of the map itself


There will also be lighting effects added later, after all the maps themselves are done.


First Floor

Spoiler

Second Floor

Spoiler

I tried making that second floor show the first floor from the top. Hopefully I did that right! It's something I've never done before in RPG Maker.

 

[KanaX]

Err, what?


I didn't say that I hated it. It's good, but there are ways for improvement. I'm just pointing what I think needs more work to make the map even better.


People who post their maps here are looking for feedback on how to improve their work, not to boast. Or so I think.


Even the OP said this: "i know i can make it better, but i don't know how. Can you help me?"


As with any help, feel free to ignore.


By the way, how could this comment (deleted? I don't see it) have been posted on Feb. 13th about a picture posted in the future?

Why am I brought into this? I never said anything like that. I don't think I even got a reply by cabfe on the map.

 

[Aceri]

@Craig Thanks, I'll let you know whenever I finish one!


@cabfe You'll notice how I said " speeds the frames switch" and not FPS.  The parallax image switches every X amount of frames, so every 12 frames > switch to next image.  That's why 12 is faster than 15.  Both gifs were recorded in 30 FPS.  Also yeah the small pond is unfortunately part of the whole picture, you can't exactly just animate different sections with the script I"m using.  It is revolving 3 frames though, I might be able to extend it to 4 and have 2 of the frames repeat.  That should make the waterfall even smoother and should hopefully slow down the pools of water.  


@SpacemanFive Thank yous, the idea with the mist is something I forgot to consider.  I may end up doing that, we'll see.  I remember AK47 did some amazing waterfall maps that had mist. ~inspiration


@Strashiner Interesting guess, but not quite that complicated haha.  It's just 3 images cycling back and forth, water, pool, cliffs, and grass were made by heavily editing battlebacks.
@Chaos17 Which part is difficult to read?  The pathing should be fairly the same.  If you're referring to the hidden path that leads to the back of the waterfall, that's because it's part of a puzzle mechanic.  You can see the entrance to the cliffs if you look at the reflections.  Also a little thing that's not shown in those examples, ingame it's going to actually be black and white except for the water.  That's due to plot reasons and how Spectrum Seeker works.


----





Made an Inn/tavern thingy.  Lighting may be off in some areas, I'm honestly not the best at it haha.  Also not worth spending several hours trying to get them perfect.. 


Need more practice working on interior in general, much prefer doing outside maps.  

I'm the opposite. Interiors are usually my thing while I couldn't do an exterior to save my life.

Your map looks good though.The main quadrant has a nice flow(flow as in traffic) to it.