Need Feedback on Some Maps

[OneLegend 1]

These are some maps I'm designing for my game currently. I only have a few done but I'd like some feedback on them. My main concern is that some things in the forests are maybe TOO random and that the castle looks a little too bland.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I know I'm missing a window in the last screenshot above the door. 

[gcook725 30]

Not too shabby. Better than a lot of people. I'll start from the top.

 

The forest images. Not crazy about 1-tall treewalls or all the muddy dirt; that's just preference though so take it how you will. On the idea of "too random" though, I actually think otherwise: Placement of objects feel a little... unnatural. What I mean by that is while the placement of objects is anything buy scarce, you have a tendency to clump the same kinds of objects quite closely. While this does mimic reality, unless the flowers you map with have some variety in appearance for each species, all you end up doing is showing what appears to be THE SAME EXACT FLOWER in multiple places, often in the same screen. Whem players realize graphics are being reused it tends to break immersion. In short you should probably spread out and diffuse the various object a little more.

 

Also, try making different shapes of tree "clumps". constantly seeing just 1 tree at a time can be boring and again doesn't have enough variety to help the player "forget" that you're just reusing the same tree over and over. It also looks a little unnatural in a forest.

 

Last comment I'd like to make on the forest: What is the point of all the water pools and how did the get there like that IN the game? That is to say what created the pools in the game world? The only logical answer would have to be either springs or runoff from rain., though in either case the water would be more likely to form only a few pools. Might I recommend that instead? If the development reason is merely to break up the ground with other textures, then perhaps you might also consider a winding or forking river/creek instead?

 

For the bridge, it looks mostly okay, but I have a couple technical issues I'd like to point out. A) Be VERY careful with tall grass on ledges. While it looks nice, if you aren't careful with placement it WILL connect with grass not on the ledge and will allow passability up onto the ledge from another passable tile, so most of the map. The bridge supports are meant to be places on water, not land. take a look at them ;P. Other than than, same issues with variety as the forest maps.

 

Lastly, the castle. Yes it is too bland. Kinda. Hint: No castle can be perfectly maintained ever. Don't be afraid to have a couple things of plants showing through the stone. maybe a tuftbof grass or two, or a bit of moss somewhere. It'll liven it up and add variety. Just be careful, don't go overboard.

[OneLegend 1]

Not too shabby. Better than a lot of people. I'll start from the top.

 

The forest images. Not crazy about 1-tall treewalls or all the muddy dirt; that's just preference though so take it how you will. On the idea of "too random" though, I actually think otherwise: Placement of objects feel a little... unnatural. What I mean by that is while the placement of objects is anything buy scarce, you have a tendency to clump the same kinds of objects quite closely. While this does mimic reality, unless the flowers you map with have some variety in appearance for each species, all you end up doing is showing what appears to be THE SAME EXACT FLOWER in multiple places, often in the same screen. Whem players realize graphics are being reused it tends to break immersion. In short you should probably spread out and diffuse the various object a little more.

 

Also, try making different shapes of tree "clumps". constantly seeing just 1 tree at a time can be boring and again doesn't have enough variety to help the player "forget" that you're just reusing the same tree over and over. It also looks a little unnatural in a forest.

 

Last comment I'd like to make on the forest: What is the point of all the water pools and how did the get there like that IN the game? That is to say what created the pools in the game world? The only logical answer would have to be either springs or runoff from rain., though in either case the water would be more likely to form only a few pools. Might I recommend that instead? If the development reason is merely to break up the ground with other textures, then perhaps you might also consider a winding or forking river/creek instead?

 

For the bridge, it looks mostly okay, but I have a couple technical issues I'd like to point out. A) Be VERY careful with tall grass on ledges. While it looks nice, if you aren't careful with placement it WILL connect with grass not on the ledge and will allow passability up onto the ledge from another passable tile, so most of the map. The bridge supports are meant to be places on water, not land. take a look at them ;P. Other than than, same issues with variety as the forest maps.

 

Lastly, the castle. Yes it is too bland. Kinda. Hint: No castle can be perfectly maintained ever. Don't be afraid to have a couple things of plants showing through the stone. maybe a tuftbof grass or two, or a bit of moss somewhere. It'll liven it up and add variety. Just be careful, don't go overboard.

VERY helpful, thank you.

 

Your feedback on the forest is exactly what I was looking for, especially with the water and the trees. Yes, the water was entirely placed to just break up the land a little bit and I was hoping somebody would inform me whether it looked right or not. I also know that the flowers were definitely not placed well enough and I was looking for feedback on how to fix that, which you also did. I'm going to be going back to the maps and making the walls/trees taller. 

 

For the bridge : I had no idea about the passing tiles thing, thank you! I also was having a really hard time even making the bridge with the limited tiles I'm given with the RTP, but I'm tryin my best. 

 

Castle : I knew SOMETHING was missing with the castle, I just didn't realize that the problem was it was too maintained. Again, thank you for all the feedback!

[gcook725 30]

Yeah, big bridges are a pain really. By the way, if you haven't yet, tweak the tileset directional passability for the bridge tiles to all 4 directions.

[piggybankcowboy 13]

That missing window is tickling my OCD, haha. 

 

I never liked that tree graphic you are using for the "walls" of the forest, unless it's at the very edge of the map. It would be great if the top of it showed the tops of trees as opposed to just a leafy edge and a dark space. Honestly, that's my only real issue with your maps. gcook725 pretty much said it all. Wear and tear on the castle is a good way to show that it's been there for awhile, and is lived in. Otherwise it looks too new, like it was just built a week ago. I don't remember specifically what other plant-based detail tiles are in the default set, but if you want to keep your water pools, maybe make the area look more like a swamp? That's what I thought you were going for there. 

 

Overall, I like your work so far, though. I'm a noob myself, but I feel like you've got a bit of a natural knack for mapping that will continue to grow. 

[gcook725 30]

Heh, personally I like the "Tree Wall" autotiles. I feel they are aesthetically pleasing (compared to the alternative) and they are a lot easier for a developer to use. The alternative of course is to fill the entire unplayable area of the map with the normal 2x2 trees which have an unfortunate tendency of making the forest look too... cluttered because the trees inside look a lot like the trees outside. I used to make my forest maps with this style, but stopped because I've found its somewhat difficult to navigate sometimes.

[OneLegend 1]

That missing window is tickling my OCD, haha. 

 

I never liked that tree graphic you are using for the "walls" of the forest, unless it's at the very edge of the map. It would be great if the top of it showed the tops of trees as opposed to just a leafy edge and a dark space. Honestly, that's my only real issue with your maps. gcook725 pretty much said it all. Wear and tear on the castle is a good way to show that it's been there for awhile, and is lived in. Otherwise it looks too new, like it was just built a week ago. I don't remember specifically what other plant-based detail tiles are in the default set, but if you want to keep your water pools, maybe make the area look more like a swamp? That's what I thought you were going for there. 

 

Overall, I like your work so far, though. I'm a noob myself, but I feel like you've got a bit of a natural knack for mapping that will continue to grow. 

 

haha, thank you for the feedback. the reason I didn't bother doing much for the castle in the first place was because I had originally made it as a New Kingdom type thing, it actually WAS supposed to be just built recently and that's the point of you journeying there, to make peace with the new King. However I've scrapped that idea and I noticed that it looks too bland now and that's why I put this up here, and I'm trying to make it look more dirty.

 

I've also been touching up on the forest a little bit, and I made a couple more branching areas that I've completely removed the water from. However upon attempting to remove the water from the original forest I just can't get it to look right so I'm still working on that. I've tried the 'swamp' thing before and I am absolutely horrible at it.

 

Thank you for the encouragement btw, it's nice to know that I'm getting a little better at mapping. Overall I'm spending a lot more time on the mapping than I used to. Like I said, though, a big part of my problem is that I'm using the basics that the maker came with (the RTP) so I'm struggling to make variety in different areas, as in if I make a new forest I don't want it to look like this one, which is why I added in the pools of water.

What I think I'm going to do now is grab some tilesets and redesign the forest with different tiles. The make-up will probably be the same but without the random areas of water and the strange makeup of the plantlife.