rpg vx ace RTP Self-Challenge: Critiques and Thoughts Appreciated

[+ JuJu 73]

Hello everyone! I haven't been updating here as much as I'd like, due to retail holiday rush and general cold season rush on top of that. Pharmacy is tiring... (clears throat) 
 
Anyway, I wanted to do a small project as a personal challenge: no parallax mapping. Only use the mapping process in VXACE to make the game and see how it would turn out. The theme of the mapping is a small, simplistic place that only has what the 9 inhabitants need to make them feel comfortable. There's a big outdoor focus on small parks and simplicity, without clutter and with the river running throughout the town. 

 

I'm working on the demo, and when the demo is finished I'll make a proper page for the game, but: 
 
At the moment, how do these look? Any thoughts or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated! I'm using Pixel Myth Germania set as the main mapping set for the Town, which is the bulk of these screenshots. Sprites are my creations using the Game Character Hub.

 

 

 

 

 

[charlesthehurst 691]

All of your outside screenshots of the town seem rather bland.  The mapping itself is solid, but feels a bit lackluster.  It also seems the buildings are neatly isolated from each other, which emphasizes how artificial the map looks.  Try to bring your buildings closer together so there isn't as much negative space.  About 2-3 tiles between houses on the side should look a bit more like a town and less like a RPG Map.  Based on the stone road and water canal, this town should look like it has the infrastructure to support those kind of projects.  This looks more like a market town with plenty of traffic than a village of 9 people.

 

The park map is super adorable and I wouldn't change it at all.  It looks and feels exactly like a real park.

 

Your inside map is too big.  Get rid of that nook with the bookcase.  No house would logically have a space like that for any purpose.  Try to shorten the distance between the bottom wall(where I assume the door is) and the staircases leading to the basement.  Shorten the right part of the map by two tiles.  Try to center the table on top of the rug.  Take the pile of wood and figure out how to put it closer to the fireplace or stove.  Right above the opening basement stairs is a weird (and kinda dangerous  ) spot.

[+ JuJu 73]

All of your outside screenshots of the town seem rather bland.  The mapping itself is solid, but feels a bit lackluster.  It also seems the buildings are neatly isolated from each other, which emphasizes how artificial the map looks.  Try to bring your buildings closer together so there isn't as much negative space.  About 2-3 tiles between houses on the side should look a bit more like a town and less like a RPG Map.  Based on the stone road and water canal, this town should look like it has the infrastructure to support those kind of projects.  This looks more like a market town with plenty of traffic than a village of 9 people.

 

Thanks for the thoughts! 

There's actually only 9 people in this world (explained better in the game, haha) so each house was (built?) for them when they arrived. The place itself it supposed to seem emptier than any normal town. But perhaps I can rearrange things a bit, to make them less... open. 

 

In retrospect, it wouldn't matter how much danger they're in-- or at least they wouldn't care as much --but the interiors of the houses are in need of reworking and I'm trying to create better designs around what I have to work with. That's what makes this self-challenge so frustrating, yet fun!