What do you think about GB Zelda and GB Dragon Quest styled mapping?

[Oriceles]

After reinventing my project so many times I came to decide to work with those map edge transfers, i think they feel really nice since you have to make every specific area meaningful, I also decided to work on a 1x1 resolution, probably awkward for many to find a 816x816 game.

So I want know what are your thoughts on this specific mapping style?. I think it is very awesome on puzzle dungeons as well.

 

[Seacliff]

Dude... just last week I started a small side-project in the old NES Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy style in RPG Maker 2k to pass some time between classes.

Personally, I like the style. But like anything else in game creation it always comes down to execution. I personally don't have any tips to give outside maybe choosing a fitting tile set (rips or no), but I'm all for the idea.

 

[Oriceles]

I'm using the normal RTP for this, the only problem comes with the restriction of how big you can make the areas and buildings since you have to lock the camera to a restricted size of the grid (Not sure if you can achieve that on R2k3), in my case I'm using 17x17 areas (816 x 816 resolution).

First map I've done so far is the main city from where the player will do everything and explore the surroundings (I decided to not use a world map for this project).

Spoiler

Now thie following is a in game screenshot of how the locked camera looks on the north entrance.

Spoiler

 

[Seacliff]

Okay, it seemed like I was confused. What you seem to be referring to is the screen scrolling in Zelda 1 , Zelda Oracles, and Link's Awakening's, right? I don't think your title and first post wasn't very clear on that. I thought you were referring to the specific methods old DQ and Zelda titles used.

So I think I understand what you are asking now. I've seen this attempted several times, but have yet to see a full game using this style of map transitioning. I, personally, still like the idea since it can be easier to prevent awkward open spaces in larger maps.

That said, for it to work, I would highly recommend a map system of some kind so players would know where they are. They can only see so many tiles at one time and might find it disorienting. I can say a map was definitely helpful in Link's Awakening.

 

[Basileus]

First off, that is one jarring resolution in your second image. Is it possible to tweak that?

Second, if I have this correct then you are asking if people like maps where you can move about within a given area but the map doesn't scroll with the player and the only way to see the rest of the map is to walk into the edge and shift into the next "box". Is that about right?

I personally don't mind that style. The map can still feel cohesive even if it doesn't scroll so long as you work out a logical map ahead of time that shows the different "regions" or "screens" as being connected. I think that having a more limited space to walk around in can be good for exploring since you can assume there are one of two things per screen to interact with instead of searching all around to guess where a dev might have put the thing you need. Searching one screen at a time makes it easier than running all around a giant map with no brakes. Some people like that (see: sandbox games like Assassin's Creed) but I prefer more focused bits where the dev can make each screen look scenic since they are essentially working with a fixed canvas.

 

[Sharm]

I was also confused about what you were asking about at first. I like the seamless movement, if I ever make a game I'll probably have it.

You'll want to make sure that you have landmarks and other points of interest as visual anchors. I agree with Basileus that by removing the transitions you're removing one of the ways people know where they are and keep track of what they've explored already. I don't think you need to keep the maps segmented to compensate but I do think it would be a good idea to have things arranged so that if the player decided to divide things up themselves in their head they could. This could be "everything in sight of the clock tower" as easily as it could be "everything inside the bushes."