Need advices for mapping :v

[KommissarKong 1]

Hey Community,

I'd like to ask you about mapping stuff.

First of all, I don't like the VX Ace Style, where the charakters look so chibi and the houses are 3x3 Tiles big, so I decided to make the houses bigger.

There is a little Town in my Rpg-Game.

It should be a town surrounded by a Wall out of stone.
The atmosphere should be dark and abandoned.

This is what came out. (see photo 1)

To my eyes it looks like sh*t, I dont know why but its just gross, and that is my best work (took me 2 hours (i know T_T))

 

Because of the fact the Houses are now bigger i splitted the map in 6 parts, so the player gets the feeling of an actual big town. (see photo 2, 3)

It still looks super mega sh*tty, so has anyone an advice how to make this better?

Really appreciate every little advice, this is super frustrating and holding me back from creating the events for the story.

 

Thanks for reading. LoL, Kong

PS: It shouldn't be hard to renovate the houses or anything, my problem is the structure of that town, it looks so.. boring and not unique. And the ground is also empty but looks terrible with something on it..

I cri evritiem

Edited April 6, 2015 by KommissarKong

[HumanNinja 144]

You're right, it all looks kinda crappy. It's all so bland and boring. To give the buildings some variance you might try starting with a stone foundation and then having wood the rest of the way up. The ground tiles are boring because they are exactly the same throughout. You could try making the grass tiles throughout and creating stone pathways for the streets or from house to house which would allow for more variance in terms of dirt and other natural tidbits (flowers, bushes, etc.).

 

If you're unsure of how to use the tilesets you have, try looking for maps that other people have made to get a sense for how they work. You may draw some inspiration this way.

 

In my own experience, when you try to make the houses really large, like you've done, it just doesn't work out when using tiles that were designed for smaller buildings. The window tiles and other little tiles just look better when the buildings are smaller. If you want to have larger buildings you'll probably need to find some resources that match or create your own. Scaling the building size back by one tile in each direction may also help remedy the issue of enormity.

 

Peruse through the screenshot critique thread if you'd like to see some examples of other people's town maps. There are quite a few there. You may also try a Google search for images of towns created within RM VX Ace.

[+ Brackev 66]

The town looks boxy.  Try staggering the building a tile up or down. 

Try adding a well worn path.

[SpartanD39 1]

If you're going for an abandoned look add damage to the buildings, signs of disuse and neglect. Missing cobblestones in the walkways, bits of ivy and such growing up from the base of buildings, cracks in the base of the walls, pools of water here and there that have gathered and stayed since people aren't there so much, and depending on why the area is abandoned or depopulated, battle/disaster marks. 

 

Also, if the town is surrounded by walls there should be towers at regular intervals for defenders to use, and crenellations, stairways, and the like for access. 

 

That combined with the suggestions above will go a long way.

 

It's a reasonable effort, and definitely has potential, keep it up.

[Enneagon 20]

What's bugging me is that the buildings are too tall. Those sharply-slanted roofs don't look natural on buildings that wide, especially the curved building; at the top left you can see that it doesn't line up like it should. Try to find flatter roofs or a different layout. A brighter colour palette would work as well.

 

There's a general rule in mapmaking that a space should never be any bigger than it has to be. If bigness is your aesthetic, that's fine, but as is you've left a lot of unnecessary empty space for the player to walk through. Make things compact to save on travel time and add more detail to fill up empty space.