Introduction:
Well I thought that I should exchange my experience with mapping with the rest of the community, so here is my very first tutorial. Interiors!
Basics:
Keep in mind that you shouldn't make a house just to let it be there. A house should have a function; living, storing, selling, etc. The house that you're mapping should fit the purpose of the house. So never make a house where somebody is supposed to live and place a shop in it.
(I know it might sound stupid, but you'd be suprised what you find if you go through screenshots and projects)
I split up the layers in 3 parts (since we have 3 mapping layers, and an eventing layer which you wont use often for mapping)
Layer 1 - Shaping
Layer 2 - Basic looks
Layer 3 - Details
If you have comments, feedback, suggestions, flaming (lets not do that, feel free to PM me) or just something nice to say. Feel free to post.
I hope you all enjoyed the tutorial and above all learned something.
~MindHunterr
Well I thought that I should exchange my experience with mapping with the rest of the community, so here is my very first tutorial. Interiors!
Basics:
Keep in mind that you shouldn't make a house just to let it be there. A house should have a function; living, storing, selling, etc. The house that you're mapping should fit the purpose of the house. So never make a house where somebody is supposed to live and place a shop in it.
(I know it might sound stupid, but you'd be suprised what you find if you go through screenshots and projects)
I split up the layers in 3 parts (since we have 3 mapping layers, and an eventing layer which you wont use often for mapping)
Layer 1 - Shaping
Layer 2 - Basic looks
Layer 3 - Details
Well, I'm gonna run you through mapping a house. I will try to be as detailed as possible.
So, lets get on with it!
-First off:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5391/Part11.png[/IMG]
The very beginning of your brand new and shiny house!
The floor is where I always start (Place this in layer 1). Just fill the whole map with a floor with the bucket. The size I usually use for a house is the basic 20x15. Remember! A house doesn't have to be big (in fact, bigger houses are very hard to map properly).
-The next step:
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/1338/Part10.png[/IMG]
Add a wall auto tile around the map (still working in layer 1!), It gives an immediate feeling of being inside something. But let's continue.
-More Walls!
ttp://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/1338/Part10.png[/IMG]
A square house is most of the time very boring to look at, yet it's used in almost every RPG. Basically it is the most sufficient way to use your space, but that isn't the most important now. Shiny maps is the most important. What I do is adding wall autotiles randomly into the maps. I just see what it looks like, if it doesn't look good I just change it. When you're messing around with the autotiles, remember that every room should have a function. My house has 3 functional rooms, a bedroom, a kitchen and a living room. Remember once again that we're still working in layer 1.
-Walls, Walls, Walls and... windows?
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/9348/Part6.png[/IMG]
As you can see here I added the walls to the house. Some people are going to flame me now for using the support beams at every corner, and all I can say is; "Have fun flaming, this is my way of working." I also added windows (In layer 2). After adding the windows I added some light tiles on the floors, to show that there's light coming from the windows (also note the wall tile which is behind the window). The last thing I added is the floor in the bottem right room. This is where my bedroom is going to be, Very cozy indeed...
-Alright, lets put some stuff in there
http://imgcash1.imageshack.us/img110/4858/Part12.png[/IMG]
As you can see I added some items in the house, a bed in the bedroom, a fireplace in the living room and a kitchen in the... kitchen (doh). I also added a table in the kitchen. Of course a person has to sit while he's eating, so I added a table and chairs in layer 2, and after that I added the top part of the table in layer 3, so that it looks like the chairs are near the table.
-Details Part 1
http://imgcash1.imageshack.us/img110/1962/Part9.png[/IMG]
Ok, as you can see I added some more items, cupboards and other places to put things in. These should be relevant to the room they're in. So if you're in the living room you don't need a place to put your clothes in, right? I also added a little table near the bed with a light on it. Most houses have this (IRL) and so does this one.
-Details Part 2
http://imgcash3.imageshack.us/img110/1153/Part8.png[/IMG]
More details were added to the items, especially plants. I personally think that plants make the house more... habited, so I always add some. When you add these plants take the FULL plant and add it, even if half of it is inside the walls (which you will see on top of the walls, but I'll come back to that later) You can also see a painting near the bed. Do NOT add of the same pictures in the same house. Look at it like this, if you're house was full of the same pictures, wouldn't you get terribly bored? Also take note of the smaller details like cups and a knife on the kitchen thingie. For this part I also added a fire in the fireplace and a NPC at the table.
-Details Details and layer 3
Take a look at the picture underneath this. Notice anything strange about the bedroom floor? The auto-tile floor isn't cut off there to show the sides! I really
really hate it when somebody does that, it just annoys me. To fix this I do this; Switch to layer 3 and add the whole wall auto-tile again, exactly as the one in layer 1. This will make sure that the floor doesn't look... strange and that you can't walk through plants.
-The results:
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/3439/Part13.png[/IMG]
This is a screenshot taken from in-game, you can see that the fire is neatly in place (make sure to add the fire that is up the tile, there are 2 kinds of fire). When I looked at the map I thought that the bedroom was very empty, so I decided to add a few autotile walls there, to make it look smaller and more cozy.
So, lets get on with it!
-First off:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5391/Part11.png[/IMG]
The very beginning of your brand new and shiny house!
The floor is where I always start (Place this in layer 1). Just fill the whole map with a floor with the bucket. The size I usually use for a house is the basic 20x15. Remember! A house doesn't have to be big (in fact, bigger houses are very hard to map properly).
-The next step:
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/1338/Part10.png[/IMG]
Add a wall auto tile around the map (still working in layer 1!), It gives an immediate feeling of being inside something. But let's continue.
-More Walls!
ttp://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/1338/Part10.png[/IMG]
A square house is most of the time very boring to look at, yet it's used in almost every RPG. Basically it is the most sufficient way to use your space, but that isn't the most important now. Shiny maps is the most important. What I do is adding wall autotiles randomly into the maps. I just see what it looks like, if it doesn't look good I just change it. When you're messing around with the autotiles, remember that every room should have a function. My house has 3 functional rooms, a bedroom, a kitchen and a living room. Remember once again that we're still working in layer 1.
-Walls, Walls, Walls and... windows?
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/9348/Part6.png[/IMG]
As you can see here I added the walls to the house. Some people are going to flame me now for using the support beams at every corner, and all I can say is; "Have fun flaming, this is my way of working." I also added windows (In layer 2). After adding the windows I added some light tiles on the floors, to show that there's light coming from the windows (also note the wall tile which is behind the window). The last thing I added is the floor in the bottem right room. This is where my bedroom is going to be, Very cozy indeed...
-Alright, lets put some stuff in there
http://imgcash1.imageshack.us/img110/4858/Part12.png[/IMG]
As you can see I added some items in the house, a bed in the bedroom, a fireplace in the living room and a kitchen in the... kitchen (doh). I also added a table in the kitchen. Of course a person has to sit while he's eating, so I added a table and chairs in layer 2, and after that I added the top part of the table in layer 3, so that it looks like the chairs are near the table.
-Details Part 1
http://imgcash1.imageshack.us/img110/1962/Part9.png[/IMG]
Ok, as you can see I added some more items, cupboards and other places to put things in. These should be relevant to the room they're in. So if you're in the living room you don't need a place to put your clothes in, right? I also added a little table near the bed with a light on it. Most houses have this (IRL) and so does this one.
-Details Part 2
http://imgcash3.imageshack.us/img110/1153/Part8.png[/IMG]
More details were added to the items, especially plants. I personally think that plants make the house more... habited, so I always add some. When you add these plants take the FULL plant and add it, even if half of it is inside the walls (which you will see on top of the walls, but I'll come back to that later) You can also see a painting near the bed. Do NOT add of the same pictures in the same house. Look at it like this, if you're house was full of the same pictures, wouldn't you get terribly bored? Also take note of the smaller details like cups and a knife on the kitchen thingie. For this part I also added a fire in the fireplace and a NPC at the table.
-Details Details and layer 3
Take a look at the picture underneath this. Notice anything strange about the bedroom floor? The auto-tile floor isn't cut off there to show the sides! I really
really hate it when somebody does that, it just annoys me. To fix this I do this; Switch to layer 3 and add the whole wall auto-tile again, exactly as the one in layer 1. This will make sure that the floor doesn't look... strange and that you can't walk through plants.
-The results:
http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img110/3439/Part13.png[/IMG]
This is a screenshot taken from in-game, you can see that the fire is neatly in place (make sure to add the fire that is up the tile, there are 2 kinds of fire). When I looked at the map I thought that the bedroom was very empty, so I decided to add a few autotile walls there, to make it look smaller and more cozy.
If you have comments, feedback, suggestions, flaming (lets not do that, feel free to PM me) or just something nice to say. Feel free to post.
I hope you all enjoyed the tutorial and above all learned something.
~MindHunterr
