Good Town Maps?

[asmodeus]

This is my first post, so sorry if I post it in the wrong topic. But I have seen a lot of good forest and wilderness maps and can make them just fine. But whenever I try to make a town. It always seems so boring and something isn't right about it. Can someone post a screenshot of a good town they made? It would help me a lot and I would appriciate it!

 

[Tim.]

Welcome to the forums. This map is something I just put together in a couple minutes, didn't bother putting a lot of detail into the top and bottom ends, seeing as the river and fences make them inaccessible.

Spoiler

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/3767/posttownexamplemm1.png[/img]

 

[asmodeus]

Thanks for the fast response. That is a pretty good map, even without details. I can defenetly make my towns better now. I geuss I never really made the houses differ from eachother. If anyone else has a Castle Town map or something, I would like to see that too  ;D

 

[trainspotter]

here's a merchant area of my castle town.

Spoiler

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h19/mjb_trains/merchantdist.jpg[/img]

 

[Tim.]

Trainspotter: I don't think using an editted tileset helps him out that much. Any how, here's something done with the regular RTP castle town. It's a bit empty in places, but normally people put a lot of NPCs in to fill space. This isn't the full town map, but I think it's pretty useful anyway.

Spoiler

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9136/castletownsamplebp9.png[/img]

 

[Shifter]

Hrm.  Well I think Tim's examples are not that helpful.  One of them is a very bare map that sorta doesn't really offer anything.  The second I think you do more harm than good as this map teaches a lot of symmetrism (I know that is not a word but thats how I roll) which is NOT a good thing in any map.  By that I mean all the buildings are very uniform and square (although yuo did give them some variation) and worse of all the trees are all in lines..the bushes are all in lines..just not good for mapping at all.  No offense Tim I know you were trying to help him. Of course..you WERE working with default RTP and it is really hard to make a decent map with such..

I think detail is the key.  Do not leave a lot of open/empty space because that draws attention and looks bad...try to put a good variation of things in and not all uniform (symmetrical) etc..I wish I had an example but I never used RTP maps without edits..I think you need some edits or combined sets to really produce a decent map but that is just me.  I think the key when using JUST RTP is to make smaller maps..so things dont see so large and lacking...the smaller the more you can make appear to be happening ...connect smaller maps if you have to.

Again that's just My opinion..Im no expert.

 

[trainspotter]

Well he asked for good town maps, and I think good town maps come from modified RTP tilesets.

Also Shifter has a good point about small maps. I am big advicator for smaller maps. especially in cities where you have a lot going on. big maps with lots of stuff happening can really lag. and lag will kill a game, no matter how awesome it is.

 

[Tim.]

No offense Tim I know you were trying to help him. Of course..you WERE working with default RTP and it is really hard to make a decent map with such..

I think detail is the key.  Do not leave a lot of open/empty space because that draws attention and looks bad...try to put a good variation of things in and not all uniform (symmetrical) etc..I wish I had an example but I never used RTP maps without edits..I think you need some edits or combined sets to really produce a decent map but that is just me.   I think the key when using JUST RTP is to make smaller maps..so things dont see so large and lacking...the smaller the more you can make appear to be happening ...connect smaller maps if you have to.

Again that's just My opinion..Im no expert.

First off, no offense taken. It is a bit hard working with the default RTP, some tilesets are a bit lacking. Maybe that's just me, I've always been a sucker for large maps...

Second, I completely agree with everything I bolded there. Small maps are a lot easier to work with, and if necesary can be connected with events. They also tend not to lag as much. Although I have to disagree a little with Trainspotter, I'm quite sure an abundance of events generates more lag than just having a large map.