Envision, Create, Share

Welcome to HBGames, a leading amateur game development forum and Discord server. All are welcome, and amongst our ranks you will find experts in their field from all aspects of video game design and development.

Mapping Improvement Thread 4

No ID

Sponsor

This tileset is pretty limited, I can't really think of much to do with it.

map%20improv.png
 
1) Add some more curve to your walls. Make it more cave like, it will really improve the map overall. Right now you have just a boring rectangle.

2)The lava to land transition is still horrible. I suggest you custom make something or scrap the idea.

3) Decrease the fog tone. fog does not make a map look better, it improves a overall good map.

4) More scenery and props such as rocks and whatnot will also make your map better. Right now it is too plain and boring. It is boring to look at overall.

What tileset are you using? Ill see if I can throw an example together. If its custom, post it in spoilers and Ill work with it a little bit. o:
 

Nolund

Sponsor

Well since you took all my points Bacon, I believe he's using the Evil Castle Interior tileset with a heavy color tone change.
 

No ID

Sponsor

Obviously, I am no good at mapping so all of those points help out a lot. I'm just gonna scrap the whole thing since it not really supposed to be a cave but the inside to a castle. I'll try something different, I just liked the idea of walking on those floaty thingies.
 

Nolund

Sponsor

I don't really think you overdid it. I mean, it's a desert right? And nobody is going to build a town in the middle of the desert with no water. And of course, water allows for life.

Personally though, I think it needs like a central "market" type area, where everybody can come outside and do all their trading. You've got little stalls set up around town, but I think it would be better if they were all in one general area. Small towns are usually friendly and like to gather around a central point. For a desert town, a market seems like it would be good for that.

Just my 0.02 pesos though.
 
Love its a pretty good map overall. Just a few things here and there involving logic and placement:

1) Some of your houses are extremely curvy. While houses have turns, they are not cliffs. Remember that human made things follow the path of uniformity and geometry.

2) Same things with the paths. Remember, that path was paved, not eroded. There is going to be more uniformity and straight lines with that path. Curves are always good, but its just a point.

3) The grass would grow around the water.

4) There is really nothing defining locations in your map. Everything is not only spread out, there are not real natural keys or signals that tell the player where they are. If you were to shrink the map up a bit and maybe work on your placement of object, it would help with navigation.
 
I followed both of your points, you two, which are very much appreciated. (Thank you!) However, Bacon, I didn't really understand your last point. How can I make it more navigational?

Here is the new one~

Untitled-3.png
 
With those fixes, I think you fixed the last point as well. What I meant is that it seemed easy to get lost and there was nothing really that could act like a landmark or something that would tell you your location. I think more variation in your map would help it a lot. I suggest using the other sand autotiles and sprucing up some places that tend to be plain.
 
Hello. I'm new to RMXP and just started working on a project. This is my first map (that I've worked on for any length of time, anyway). I'd like some feedback. Thanks.

OOTF_Screen1.png
 
I just want to point out that I made some very important updates to the Map Image Maker nearly two months ago, which fixes character priority to work exactly like Tilemap (which is not like RMXP, it's priority based instead of layer based) and makes everything faster. It can create and save much larger maps as well, and the configuration is saved between uses in MapMaker.ini (which means some features are exposed, including features that weren't exposed before like the size of the preview image relative to command windows, starting tilesize, and where to save the images).

I point this out because it seems that not many people are using it. You can easily take a full-size image of your entire map with panorama, fog, and characters, then use any image editor as mundane as Paint to resize it smaller for the internet if desired.
 
1) The screentone is super green. I suggest toning it down a bunch.

2) I personally think you should expand your river a tile or two to make it look like a stream. Rivera and streams are not that short.

3) Add more curves to your long grass.

4) I have learned that using undulations like that in my opinion looks bad.
undalations%20right.png

undalations%20right%20A%20tech.png
This makes undulations look a lot better. It doesn't have to be sand, but something that would make sense.

5) You seem to clump the same type of objects together. Spread them out.

6) Objects such as those piles of rocks make no sense. There are no cliffs or rocky surfaces, therefore there wouldn't be any rubble.

7) Just like the river, the path should be expanded. Remember, that is a path that is eroded in time or a dusty trail that has been forgotten. It naturally would be bigger.

8) Weeds look better if you clump the one and two weed tiles together and can really add to a map.

9) Those clumps of grass should be used on the sides of the long grass tiles, not out in the open. The big, round one is acceptable but the thin one just looks bad overall.

10) You can use a variation of trees that add life to your map.

11) Some areas are desolate. Add some more plant life to the places that overall have no plants, just trees.

12) Get rid of the pink flower. You had a nice palette of the while and yellow, adding a pink kinda ruins the feel altogether. You are trying to create a mood and the less colors you uses, the more precise the mood is.
 

No ID

Sponsor

Ok Bacon, instead of the Lava thing I had going last time, I decided to use the Church Tile. The idea from this map came from the show my game is based of but cartoons maps are different then game maps. So what can I do to make this look better?

mapping%20help.png


This is supposed to be an evil lair or something thus the reason for the dark tint attempt, the normal screen tone seemed to light (mood wise).
 
1) The wall is really confusing and throws off the whole view. It looks like there is a wall separating the room.

2) The walls, both the ones separating and the ones surrounding, need more curves and detailing

3) The overall room is plain. Try adding some more things to it.

4) The window light tiles do not fit the position of the window.

5) It doesn't look really like an evil lair. There really isn't anything evil about it, it actually looks more holy. Try personalizing it more.

6) In my opinion, the screen-tone is a little bit to blue. But this tends to be different depending on the person you ask.
 
1) The map is not centered. You have symmetrical placing yet the main focus piece does not follow suit. Shrink the left side by a tile.

2) The middle wall is still kind of boring and uninspiring. Try making it more of a pedestal. Kill the sides and curve it so it goes to the top wall.

3) Close the rooms and wall up the sides.

Try these few things and repost and Ill see if I can find anymore things. Its basically the layout and overall structure you need to work on. It is an improvement of your previous map however. :D
 

No ID

Sponsor

I don't completely understand what you mean in #2 but it's difficult to make this look anymore polish seeing how this tile is limited. All I could think to do was tighten it up, leaving less space?

Noname1212.png
 

Thank you for viewing

HBGames is a leading amateur video game development forum and Discord server open to all ability levels. Feel free to have a nosey around!

Discord

Join our growing and active Discord server to discuss all aspects of game making in a relaxed environment. Join Us

Content

  • Our Games
  • Games in Development
  • Emoji by Twemoji.
    Top