Mapping Improvement Thread 4

[mark1707]

It's not a HUD, it's a menu.. :P But thanks for the comments..

 

[regi]

I like the feel of the map, but the font and icons scream "genericRPG" to me (but maybe I'm just sick overmuch of RTP). Otherwise, maybe change the charset in the menu to a faceset? That way you won't get double the same guy.

 

[lordgore]

World map:

 

[Tuna]

I don't know much about world maps, but this one is pretty damn nice! Reminds me of Seiken Densetsu for some reason.

 

[lordgore]

Thanks, glad you like it. I almost refrained from using Inquisitor's tileset at all because it seemed so complicated. It actually wasnt so hard to use after all. Only took me two days to make that. Not like, 48 hours either lol.

 

[Tuna]

Inquisitor's tileset is pretty amazing if you can stand digging through all of those tiles.

 

[rey meustrus]

Not that it isn't good, and props for figuring it out, but here are some strange things or things you could improve:

• More variation in the grass. The tileset has tons of shades of grass, and while it can be a real pain to deal with because it's hard to see the transitions, it can be the one thing that makes a great map an amazing map.
• Similarly, there's not enough transition to the snowy/desert areas.
• The ocean also has three shades, which you have used logically but not artistically. If you want to kill some time you can try some snaking edges and such.
• Your roads don't seem to go anywhere. They just exist near important points. I recognize it can be hard, even impossible, to get the roads to go where you want, but a road that only goes halfway to its destination is kind of pointless. The worst offender is the last closeup, between the gate and the mountains.
• Your towns should have some farming going on nearby, and your castles should have some villages and farming nearby. The idea is that castles are built where there is strategic advantage, and usually close to the center of a kingdom.
• The castle in the southeast corner is supposed to go near mountains. The colors don't match up a well in green grass.

See this page for an example of imo the best anybody could do with the tileset (mapped by Inq himself).

 

[lordgore]

Yeah, its the ground color transitions more than anything else that intimidated me by the tileset, they really are hard to see. I decided to try and make a map without worrying so much about them.

Now that you point it out, you're right, I definitely could add some more detail in the ocean, I shall do that.

The roads, Im not a huge fan of. They are so dark, I just dont like the looks of it very much. I used them simply to point to the entrance to new areas, and have them fade out.

Some of the villages have farms. Much like the roads, Im just not a big fan of how they look.They dont look so much like farms as round patches of grass. Id much rather see something more like this: http://www.countrylovin.com/Oberst/images/arial.JPG Maybe I will try to make a few of my own additions to the tileset.

As for the castle, you are right. I will use a different one there. Thanks for the input, Im going to make some changes and post pics when Im finished.

 

[MagitekElite]

Wow Lordgore, your worldmap is awesome T.T

I didn't know those tilesets could form lakes, I had to make one myself xD

So I was thinking as I mapped "I really want a house built off the ground" so I looked around at some real life pictures and decided to build a new tileset with both land and "off the ground" house capabilities. What do you guys think?

 

[Tuna]

Good attempt, but I think it looks pretty awkward. From what I've seen, the beams built to support the underside of a house are way thicker than that. The wood looks like it would be better used constructing some sort of fence.

Keep things simple. Put your houses on the ground.

 

[MagitekElite]

Hmm...What if I made different wood then? Wider? You think that would work? Or how about cement or stone holding the building up?

I just always wanted a two-story house in RPG XP (Its actually a little something needed in my game), so I wanted to see if I could accomplish it xD

 

[Tuna]

Cement/stone would definitely help.

 

[MagitekElite]

Okay, then I shall go with that! :3

So I'm testing out all the stone walls the RTP has, and this is one of them. Does it look weird?

Spoiler

What kind of stone do you think would match though? With the brown and red houses? :blush:

I was hoping for something like this....I thought it was pretty possible and could be done in real life.

Here's another shot at thicker/wider wood. Its strange, I've seen houses built on concepts like this before xD

Spoiler

 

[Tuna]

I really like what you did with the thicker wood. If you put in more of those triangle beams like in the picture it would look a lot better. It would also help to move that mailbox away because it looks odd blending in with the wood.

 

[MagitekElite]

Yea! Thank you, Tuna

Ah, you mean the support pieces at the botton corner of the houses? Where should I place them?

Here is a quick variation of the house. Without the mailbox xD

Spoiler

 

[Tuna]

Looks good to me. Only other thing I see is the height of the lamp posts. I would either make them one tile taller or make the house supports one tile lower.

 

[MagitekElite]

Hm, it might look better with the house support beams being lower.

House support beams edited:

Spoiler

Lamp Edited:

Spoiler

EDIT:
Alright (I was wondering which was the Map thread xD), so I've edited my map to what Regi pointed out (Thanks Regi, it does make a lot more sense as to where to put dirt and stuff :P) and here is what I got.

Spoiler

If you see this Regi, did you mean something like this?

 

[Tuna]

I would definitely go with the first one with the lower beams. Looks great! :biggrin:

 

[regi]

Better, but I still think some areas could use more grass (maybe left of the easternmost red house). Also try not to put fences right over grass/flowers, it looks out of place; and avoid placing trees in the middle of the road, like near the bottom exit. Lastly, I noticed the tree shadows in your tileset are opaque. You can fix this in an image-editing program that supports opacity, or by using the "Import Graphic" feature.

Otherwise, it's a pretty decent-looking town. Just make sure to add lots of life: NPCs, animals, and the like. That's the biggest thing to give it a village-feel!

 

[MagitekElite]

Thanks for the help Tuna! I will use the smaller! :D

@Regi:
I did use the Import Graphic feature, but for some strange reason (others have pointed this out as well) the shadows remain too dark. In a image-editing program, how would I fix this? Would I have to lower the opacity?

I will add lots of life (not too many NPCs though, because something happened in the town that causes some of the people to leave for a while :P).

I've got an update, is this any better?

Spoiler