Town Maps Feedback

[Saeryen 299]

These are some town maps for Catty Lands, taken with Tsukihime's Map Screenshot script. These are completed maps only, when incomplete maps are complete I will add them!

 

Some of the towns may appear to have two of the same NPC. These NPCs are conditional events and only appear at certain points in the game, so you don't see two at once. (And the blue flames are just there for fun, they say "I'm a test fire, I'm only here because the game isn't finished" so they'll go away when the game is done.)

 

 

The Maps

 

Arrasiann

 

Old version

 

 

Calicia (updated)

 

Old version 1

Old version 2

Old version 3

 

 

Cattilian (updated)

 

(The group of mages in the bottom left only appear during a sidequest)

Old version

 

 

Katry

 

 

 

 

Kelyet (updated)

 

(Kelyet is the very first town map I made for CL!)

Old version

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by saeryensong

[shadowblack 103]

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at the maps is: "That's a lot of empty space!" No grass, no moss, no flowers and other plants, no bushes and tress, no other objects, just empty space. Normally I like exploring the towns and finding hidden stuff, but it seems like your towns have nothing to find.

[Saeryen 299]

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at the maps is: "That's a lot of empty space!" No grass, no moss, no flowers and other plants, no bushes and tress, no other objects, just empty space. Normally I like exploring the towns and finding hidden stuff, but it seems like your towns have nothing to find.

Thanks for the input!

 

Most of the hidden stuff in CL is in "dungeon" areas. Since this is a game without monster battles and such, I try to make the dungeons really exciting with puzzles and hidden stuff. But I will think on that.

 

(Also, exploring one of these towns and talking to people is the key to unearthing one of the game's plot twists!)

 

What do people think of the stuff that is there? (houses, trees, NPCs etc.)

Edited September 28, 2015 by saeryensong

[Tsarmina 2,612]

I think your recolors are really unique, but sometimes the colors are super saturated (like those blue trees, both the sky blue and midnight blue ones) XC also there really is a lot of empty space, I think maybe some more trees (or maybe some more kinds of trees) as well as different kinds of grass and shrubs and flowers, some small hills, maybe some clumped tiles....that would all help break up the monotony a lot@

[magic2345 252]

- First thing I noticed is that the map's quite big isn't it? Which makes it hard to populate. Perhaps consider decreasing the map size. Other than that, adding more clumps of trees, grass autotile (I see you didn't use it at all, you should, it helps XD), and more vegetation in general will make it seem more...town-ish.

 

- For the plant recolors, the orange-tinted ones look fine, the other ones however...too neonish and actually looks kinda radioactive. XD

 

- Adding elevation also helps a lot, Also, randomize the tree clumps more.

 

- The houses look good though, perhaps a bit too many windows on some, but they're pretty good overall.

 

- Just keep in mind that open fields are a drag to go through as the player, unless they're interesting with lots of things to see. I wouldn't recommend an open field though.

[Saeryen 299]

magic, by adding elevation do you mean cliffs?

 

What do you guys suggest for the trees? I don't want them looking too drab, the setting (and the game) is supposed to be whimsical Wonderland-like.

[magic2345 252]

Yes, just one tile cliffs will do. It also gives an excuse to put small waterfalls for the rivers. XD

 

As Tsarmina said, perhaps try lowering their saturation, because as they are now, they're more radioactive than wonderland. For the wonderland vibe you're going for, perhaps soft pastel colors? I'm not that good at choosing colors, so I'll let the others answer that.

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Pastels sounds good Vibrant colors like the ones you have might be suitable in like, a legit Wonderland where everything is just bizarre and eventually you go crazy from the sheer absurdity of life and it's horrible really, just ask Alice *deep breath in* Also having different colored clumps of trees would really help. 

[Saeryen 299]

What is grass autotile? Is it that slightly darker grass?

 

As for tree recolors, I probably will recolor most of them (I think the pink Calicia trees look a little too un-whimsical now that I think about it) but the blue Calicia trees...I don't know if I want to change that much about them, I thought about it and those ones are kind of dear to my heart.

 

Someone once suggested making the Cattilian pink trees paler, which I may do.

 

EDIT: Here is an updated Calicia. I think the pink trees actually look much better now.

 

 

 

 

And the old version if anyone wants to compare:

 

 

Edited October 1, 2015 by saeryensong

[Tharis 212]

I'm more inclined to see an implied story at a glance. Think about when you approach a building in Skyrim, even if it's a broken down house in the middle of nowhere you can automatically see that there is some kind of story there. The easiest way when making a house or town, to pull this off is to think of it in terms of "Who lives here? What kind of lives do they lead? What supplies are they going to need? Is it a major city, medium town, small hovel? Will items and goods stored outside become damaged (even if you don't have the resources to show this) or attract rodents?

 

One thing I like to do is add fauna to my maps as well it's a nice way to get some life in the scene without having to add any dialog or work really.

 

I tend to actually like larger single maps for smaller towns with some space between each of the houses (just make sure to fill in the space with some kind of detail like trees or other brush) and many smaller maps for larger cities with houses cramped together more, it helps both create the illusion that their respective sizes imply.

[Saeryen 299]

One thing I like to do is add fauna to my maps as well it's a nice way to get some life in the scene without having to add any dialog or work really.

All of my maps have at least one animal, though I think I will take your advice and add more. Except Calicia and Mileria (which isn't shown here due to being unfinished) that have lots of animals, with Calicia you might have to zoom in so you can see all the butterflies.

[Tsarmina 2,612]

The grass autotile is that thing that looks kind of like a bush, there are 4 different colors (green, light green, gold, white for snow)--and it adds a surprisingly large amount of depth on any map

[Balter 32]

-

as a laziest person on earth, I'll doze off while playing your game because the map is too wide.

I don't know if that is beach or cliff? and I never seen in my life that people can grow crop like that on beach

the inn was plaque with windows

 

+ 

I really like unusual things there, such as blue raddish, purple wood. it's cool.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Balter

[Saeryen 299]

The crops are growing on plowed field tiles. I originally had them growing on grass until someone from a different forum suggested I use the farmland tiles.

 

Thanks for the tree feedback!

 

What do people think of my updated Calicia map, compared with the old one?

[xoferew 261]

Yes, the new pink tree color is 120% more whimsical.    And I like how you've filled in some of the space with trees and such.

[Balter 32]

wait, is that beach or what? because I believe it's a seaside.

 

the updated calicia, i think it's a bit merrier now

[Squires 35]

All that space, yet it had to be salty. Wait, is that how the joke works? .-.
 

Anywho, I see a lot of nothing everywhere, which could be improved. Maybe some variation in the different kinds of trees/plants would be nice as well.

[Saeryen 299]

wait, is that beach or what? because I believe it's a seaside.

 

the updated calicia, i think it's a bit merrier now

What tiles do you actually mean? Because you said crops, which confused me.

The wooden tiles in Calicia and Arrasiann are part of a dock where your ship can hook up.

[Squires 35]

 

wait, is that beach or what? because I believe it's a seaside.

 

the updated calicia, i think it's a bit merrier now

What tiles do you actually mean? Because you said crops, which confused me.

The wooden tiles in Calicia and Arrasiann are part of a dock where your ship can hook up. 

I think he/she is referring to the fact that the beach looks like a long line of soil for plants.

[xoferew 261]

Maybe the dock needs protruding piers or those big knobby things to tie ropes onto or something.  Because some people can't tell it's a dock. 

[Saeryen 299]

Kelyet has been updated!

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the town of Katry, a tropical low mountain town:

 

 

[RetroExcellent 369]

I like the overall aesthetic if your designs, it does imply whimsical and fun. The one thing I have to complain about, two of your maps look pretty much identical, one simply likes an inversion of the other, with trees instead of walls. I mean the water/beach looks pretty much like you copied and then inverted it before pasting. If these towns are anywhere near each other in the game, most players will notice that.

 

I also agree with the others, the size of your maps is immense, and that could cause a lot of boredom. For example, pokemon, even the largest cities are broken up into multiple maps to make it feel more down to earth and approachable. They also fill it in with life, and random buildings and things to look at, which you are well on your way to doing. I just think it is a bit much. Nothing wrong with having big cities, but maybe you should put them on more than one map, just to give that close feel to the player.

[Saeryen 299]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Calicia and Arrasiann are both ports, and those are docks, not beaches (I might make the water tiles different and rectangular). They look similar because you're supposed to dock your ship there.

[Saeryen 299]

Updates on Calicia and Cattilian! I may make these the final updates unless I have a good reason to do more. I want to make sure these are final before posting these two towns to the blog and the showcase thread.

 

Calicia

 

 

 

Cattilian

 

 

[lonequeso 1,921]

Your trees look like cotton candy

 

They look good all the little details make it look more interesting. The pier is pretty barren. It could use a couple details. Other than that, the building lok great. The gardens are a nice touch. Did I mention the trees? Each city has a very warm, serene feel to it.

 

Nice work!

Edited December 6, 2015 by lonequeso