First Town So Far

[thegilroy 3]

I'm making my first town and I was looking to see what people think of it so far! I'm not entirely finished with it but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear it!

 

I'm aiming for like a "lost woods" sort of feeling. The group residing there is trying to stay disconnected from the darkness of the world. They are self reliant and fairly sheltered. North steps lead to their temple. The NW corner has a decent stretch of land that I'm not quite sure what i want to do with it. South is going to be farmland (can't be self reliant without a food source). East is exit. North East is the Highborn/Elders home. Southwest is everyone else. Eventually there will be patrols near all the SE bridges restricting player movement.

 

If you have any idea's or suggestions as to how to make this feel more like a secret society hidden in the depths of the mountains, I would love to hear it! Or if you have questions/comments, i'd love to hear them aswell!!

 

Thank you!

 

thegilroy

 

(please excuse the quality. Had to upload as GIF)

 

[Rikifive 3,411]

It's really well done! It looks beautiful.

 

- fill the empty grass here and there, because it looks kinda empty -  You said it's not finished, so I guess you know that.

- I'm kinda confused about these buildings that are covered by upper layer (the bottom ones). I'm not a mapper, so I don't want you to suggest anything, because IDK what are the rules when making a map, but it's just kinda confusing for me. Or perhaps it's just because I can see the whole map - In game it would look better. Can't say anything, because I don't want to give you bad advice.

- Have some picture to hopefully brighten up your day.

 

Anyway, It really looks amazing so far! =] Good job!

[thegilroy 3]

Thank you for your response Rikifive! 

 

I completely agree that the grass is looking a little empty but i'm trying to figure out what to place there. The grass on the south cliffs isn't really a problem because in game you don't see too much of it, but the empty plot to the left of the buildings looks bare in my opinion. I just really don't know what to put there because i feel that a house would be too squished, and anything else might look awkward. I think I might just end up having events of kids playing or something, Running around to draw away the attention.

 

The houses that are covered by the upper laying are resting against the cliff. The town is supposed to be in a canyon like oasis. So I was trying to give the effect that the mountains surrounded the village. Does it look bad? I do notice that I need to fix the area south west of the homes. That hole was a mess up that I guess I overlooked. Thank you for that!

 

As for the center house, its supposed to have a north entrance to the house. I just feel like every house in a town having a door facing south is a little to cliche/unrealistic so I was trying to spice it up. I'm actually planning on creating a light effect that helps emphasize that there is an opening. Do you think it looks bad? Is it too confusing?

 

Same thing with the house just to the right of that. That mark in the dirt is kind of my place holder of where I'm going to place the light effect to show that there is an opening.

 

Please let me know what you think! and Again, Thank you for the help!!

[Rikifive 3,411]

As for the empty grass, you could always put some flowers around, small stones, bushes etc.. And yeah NPC running on map is also a good idea here.

 

Well, the houses doesn't look that bad, just a little bit confusing, though I really liked your idea to make it more realistic by putting doors on different sides instead on just one side (front).

Actually it may look better will these markers, because it's really hard to tell where the doors are without them.

 

If you have a house with doors on the side, then you could try doing something like this:

But I'm really unsure how to go about that.

 

Also there is something wrong with the roof. =P

 

In general I really like your idea. That is true, that the 'only front entrances' are unrealistic and ... let's say overused - I liked the original idea you want to implement here.

The indicators there will be really useful, to not make player confused.

 

The house covered by upper layer looks kinda weird, it tools like the house was short and the windows were underground...  The idea here is good, but it's hard to make that depth of view here, so it's hard to make it look good. Perhaps moving that house up a little would make it look better... I really have no idea.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Rikifive

[thegilroy 3]

Thank you for the info on the roof. I figured out what the issue was, I had the event set to "below player" instead of above player. I was able to fix it easy enough.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the side entrance thing. The pop-out was a good idea but I just feel it looks a little awkward. Idk, i'm kinda picky though. I looked online and i saw that someone used doormats as a marker for side doors, but surprisingly there is not a lot of people that do them. haha. maybe I should just scrap that house.

[+ Takeo212 1,079]

If you shift click a bit of the dirt road, it copies it exactly.

If you copy a center piece of the road and make that the path towards the house instead of a dot of dirt, it may looks more natural and informative of a door being there.

As for the north entrance area, I think it is a nice touch, but your depth is a little off. Make the deck area 1 square shorter from the top to show the angle better. From the moment, it makes the angle look strange, and I think having a lighting effect is good for some doorways, but since your having the door appear behind the roof like you are, it may be a little hard to understand.

 

Also, this may be a personal nit pick but the windows on the bottom, desking house seem out of place.

If you look out those windows, you can't see anything - only the dirt wall. I suggest a little replan on that?

[thegilroy 3]

Hello Takeo212,

 

I completely understand what you mean about the windows. Can't believe I didn't notice that.

 

I like your advise with the dirt block, Is this what you were meaning?

 

And I'm not quite sure what you meant about the angle of the house. I lowered the deck one unit. Is this what you were thinking?

[Dymdez 77]

I think it's a good measure that, when possible, make the map as small as possible.

[Knighterius 502]

I think it's a good measure that, when possible, make the map as small as possible.

I agree with this, and not only make it small but sometimes even make it in sections of branching areas, this is still good though, just make it worth all that walking around. Sometimes more can be less, and less can be more but I'm confident you'll find your balance. 

[+ Takeo212 1,079]

I think ensuring there is a distinct and obvious way to show a door is on the side is imporant. If you dont - by default, not alot of people would think RPGM games have side doors due to the build of the game.

Make sure everything is obvious - in terms of route - unless of course it's a secret, then dont make it obvious and make a hint somewhere that it can be found~

 

I think the balcony looks better that way.

The angle was strange and that balcony looked way to big. I think it looks better now though,

 

I like your overall map. It gives the town a nice sense of scenery and could possibly be good for a hidden secret or two ;P