MOTIVATION SAPPING DUNGEONS/MAPS... HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THEM?

For me, it usually means I'm missing tiles or resources. So I go spend a few days making more.

Ooh, bonus question!

Hrrrrm, my advice?
DON'T HAVE BORING LOCATIONS. If it's putting your players to sleep, cut it. End of story, no exceptions.

I stop, because if it's no fun to make it's probably no fun to play.

emmych: stop going back in time and posting what i'm saying you jerk

As a designer: I know exactly what you are referring to UPRC, and I personally find constructing convincing towns to be the most difficult type of area; they require an elaborate layout and structure, multiple sub building locations, and a sense of natural activity, all while appearing believable and organized. It is for these reasons that I think a lot of RPGs have very stylized and minimalistic towns; even RPG Maker VX Ace's defaults towns are designed in this way, with small buildings and a simple layout featuring only necessary locations.

My solution to this problem is to think about the town in relation to the rest of the game; this location is necessary, so can I use it for something? Could I have a series of events here which advance the plot? Could I use the opportunity of this town to further the characterization of the protagonists? When I start thinking along those lines, I think of new locations, NPCs, and backstories to add flavour and context to the location, and pretty soon, instead of laying down a bunch of buildings, I'm crafting a unique place with its own sense of identity.

BONUS QUESTION: In general, I find the kind of locations which sap one's enthusiasm are places the designer feels are 'obligatory' to have in their game. This is a common trap for all creative individuals, and is akin to artists copying the works of the masters; you don't feel as though the location is your own idea, because you are copying the template of successful games in the past. My advice is to change one's perspective, and think about how the same basic need can be accomplished in a different way. For example, if you feel the need to put a cave dungeon in a location as an early area for the party to level up in, think about whether or not you could accomplish that same goal in a different way; perhaps the characters could participate in a tournament where they level up, or they could come across the ruins of an ancient civilization with ghosts who task them with various experience-giving quests, or anything you like that accomplishes the same objective. My point is, never sacrifice ingenuity and creativity for the sake of convention.

As a player: I have experienced dungeons or towns in games which are wholly uninteresting to me, and which go on for too long. I have experienced this both in amateur games and professional games, and this sensation is typically caused by a) an excess of random encounters b) an excess of dialogue that isn't directly related to the main plot or the characters c) obvious busywork, such as collecting items, delivering messages, pit traps and switch puzzles. Digressions like these are designed to pad out a game's length, as many RPGs typically advertise their longevity as a selling point. I am usually invested enough in an RPG by the time the first one of these areas rolls around that I am willing to press on, but if the busywork keeps piling up I have on occasion stopped an RPG for good.

BONUS QUESTION: My advice to my fellow designers is again to think about what it is you want to do with the location; no area needs to be a chore to get through, and thinking about a location as such will only rob both you and the player of a better experience. Many people find towns dull, but there is absolutely no reason for them to be; when people gather together in one place all kinds of crazy things happen! Many people design 'throwaway' dungeons designed solely for a fetch quest, when you can do so much with a creepy place full of monsters. Dressing up these locations with interesting events, compelling backstories, challenging puzzles, unique layouts and plenty of opportunities to explore the world you have created will make any boredom disappear surprisingly quickly.

If I use anything that resembles a dungeoun, it is merely to get to point b from point a type of thing.

I really never liked dungeouns, they feel like filler material, and if a game uses random encounters, it makes them much worse.

author=LockeZ
Someone named Square Enix thinks all gameplay is just filler to get the player to the next FMV

Color me astonished

lockez astonished is not a colour

GOD WHERE DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL

*insert some sort of mean girls related joke .gif here*

author=Gourd_Clae
I think playing music while mapping may help. Then again, I'm not really a designer yet.

I like to listen to the map's theme song while I work. I pick mine very carefully to set the mood, so listening to it as I make the map helps me to "get in the zone" or something. Its worked so far.

The hardest thing for me to make are towns. I can make pretty good ones actually, but its so time consuming and when I realize that my game will require another 5-6 towns to be mapped plus a capital city or two and the castles to go with them... it just REALLY ruins my motivation. I actually dropped the "town" concept entirely in my current project. Instead, there's a central hub area that features the shops, NPCs, etc. The rest of the game consists of the actual stages with a few mini-hubs here and there. Its a lot less stressful working this way, because I can get right to the point. I've made a lot more progress than in any other of my projects.

Thanks Verincia. Your idea is similar to the approach used in the Sega CD game 'Dark Wizard' (which was a strategy game, not an RPG, but definitely had RPG elements):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO0lnAK7yPM#t=03m43s

Another option is to have just one town be the central hub of the game, with dungeons and other locations being accessible in the outlying lands, or through other means. One game which took this approach was the PSX classic Alundra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alundra

This approach can not only save on mapping time, but also allow for a much more detailed and complex environment with inter-connected NPCs who reveal more about themselves as the game continues. This is essentially what the Persona series does.

Towns, god damn I hate mapping towns. Usually saps my motivation as theres not really much fun stuff going on in them, like puzzles or etc, also, mine always feel so 'heres x number of houses in a square' ok good done.

Generally I take a break then try and think of ways to make the area more fun when I come back to it, I also tend to play through other rm games to get a feel for how others map their towns.


Boring stuff when playing. Its gotta be those dungeons that are just extended treks designed to extend the gameplay somewhat. Not an rm example but the libra king tower in Rogue Galaxy was a bitch for this. "What's that? You got to the top? Ok now go back to the start and go the other way". Probably could do with a giant drill going through them.

EDIT: I always get sad when my post looks so much longer and informative in the editor.