HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY MAPS ?

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Firstly, the 'floor' is a ceiling tile.


I am aware, but it doesn't seem horrible or out of place, right ?

What kind of room is this supposed to be? Is it a drama room or an assembly hall? If it's a drama room (where drama and acting is taught) then the lockers, table and board is fine (even if, in my experience, most drama classes are taught in normal classrooms and any acting is moved to the assembly/auditorium, so this doesn't really make sense.)


It 's suppose to be a music clubroom from K-On. It 's neither a classroom nor an auditorium.

Have you ever been in a hall?


Yes, and this is not a hall.

a few steps on one side if possible?


Sure, I 'll add it. :D

chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Wow..! The microphone, though is in the wall, there's also the bottom of 2 small white squares at the very top. Love those couches.
author=chana
Wow..! The microphone, though is in the wall, there's also the bottom of 2 small white squares at the very top. Love those couches.


Umm, no. That's the RMVX toolbar. xP
there's also the bottom of 2 small white squares at the very top.
Umm, no. That's the RMVX toolbar. xP

LOL ! :D

OK... I am not sure what microphone are you talking about, but did I make the wrong call here ? Was there really a stage in the Light Music Club ? I need to double-check this... ;)
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Microphone behind the guitar should be brought down.
OK, I just checked and there is no stage in Light Music Clubroom. :P

This looks a bit uninteresting, so I might try relocating things around.





chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Yeah, that looks nice, though the 2 microphones (the black ovals on tripods.
..) are still stuck in the wall (top center) and should be more detached from it. Otherwise the napsacks are a bit too geometrically disposed. You could also scatter the instruments (and certainly the 2 microphones) somewhat around the room as in the picture, not sure, an idea.

Edit : also the blackboard seems somewhat of a must, maybe try to stick it in there so the place will look a bit motre sloppy?
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!
Now I see what you were talking about ! :D Sorry, I didn't see that and thought it was together with the guitar. Thanks for pointing that out. :)

And yeah, like i said, I am trying to relocate things around.

Update :


Should I put those instruments on the top instead ?
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Hey, you forgot the lousdspeakers... looks good to me if a bit aligned, also those knapsacks form a regular wall in front of the couch, maybe put some around the table. Those windows are much better, imo. Maybe the instruments would be better at the top, in any case not so aligned, you could have some at the top, others against a sidewall, not too far from each other, for example.
OK, how about this ? ;) The whole room still seems pretty bland, though...



Also, I have a problem with passing tiles. I set the instrument tiles to a star but I don't want the players to walk on them if they are going up. If they can, that would be pretty weird.

If they're set to the star it means that they will show above the character, overlapping them. Another way of doing it would be to have them set to an event with two pages - one for setting above hero and one for setting at the same level. The second page would be turned on via a switch. Then surround three sides of the instruments with a certain region number and make another event (Parallel Process) to check what region the hero is on. If it's on that number, have it turn on the switch that changes the instrument pages. If it's on the normal number (0), then have it turn off the switch.

As for the map, maybe a small carpet on the floor would make the room a bit cozier.
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
You have to put a star at the top of the instruments and a cross at the bottom, so they can walk behind but not on them. That sprite really has to be a tile back from the piano! also the microphone is traditionally in front of the instruments (so you can see the singer, is there one?). Otherwise you could add posters and maybe things on the floor, wires, music sheets, a glass of beer, whatever... maybe an uncentered couch or chairs facing the musicians? if you could give it a slightly disorganized look (I know it's not easy!), musicians are artists! But don't try too hard, it already looks quite good as it is.

Edit : uh, that floor is way better.
If they're set to the star it means that they will show above the character, overlapping them. Another way of doing it would be to have them set to an event with two pages - one for setting above hero and one for setting at the same level. The second page would be turned on via a switch. Then surround three sides of the instruments with a certain region number and make another event (Parallel Process) to check what region the hero is on. If it's on that number, have it turn on the switch that changes the instrument pages. If it's on the normal number (0), then have it turn off the switch.

O.O GAHH ! Is there another simpler way to do it ?

As for the map, maybe a small carpet on the floor would make the room a bit cozier.

I tried that, but it didn't look very well. You mean the whole floor or a certain part ?

You have to put a star at the top of the instruments and a cross at the bottom, so they can walk behind but not on them. That sprite really has to be a tile back from the piano! also the microphone is traditionally in front of the instruments (so you can see the singer, is there one?). Otherwise you could add posters and maybe things on the floor, wires, music sheets, a glass of beer, whatever... maybe an uncentered couch or chairs facing the musicians?

I am aware, but those tiles take up only one space. Are you sure the sprite should be one tile back ? Well, when you walk in the room, technically, the instruments are there but there won't be anyone using it. All the members would be at their desk eating sweets. I might add some kind of poster if I could, but I can't say anything about wires. :P

Music sheets, glass of beer (you know this is a high school, right ?), couch are all already in there.

This is how it would look like if there were people playing the instruments, at some point. Oh I forgot to take out the shadow...
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Glass od coca cola, chairs facing the orchestra..? and I think music sheets are allowed in high school XD you could have them on something actually. Doesn't matter about the musicians if no one going to be playing, you could put those guitars against a wall though, rather then sitting straight up in the air. Sorry but those 3 knatsacks forbidding any approach to the couch really don't work too well, how about along the wall?
The music sheets are on the table. :P

Well, the plan is too put the backpacks as close to the couch as possible like in the anime. Put the guitar on the wall, you meant like this ?



But then again, there is no point putting them on the top instead of the bottom if no one is going to play them. At some point in the game, I will have the NPCs practicing with those instruments. So I don't think this is going well.
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Yes, just like that, and it looks so much better. As for the loudspeaker and the closets they can't be that far back, they have to sit on the last tiles of the floor ( I have a hard time figuring out how your engine is made tilewise).
OK I am getting a real headache here... I could move them back on the wall, but like I said, at some point in the game those NPCs will be playing the instruments. What would I do then ?

I could just leave them on the floor, as if they were standing up. And one more thing, I still don't know how to make them impassable if your character is walking up.
OK, I have to move on to the other maps, so I will make quick work of this map.



The piano 's middle tile is impassable, but the right and left of it is a star. The guitars are passable as stars, but the microphone is impassable. I 'll see and add more decorations on the wall. ;)

If you guys have other feedback, please let me know.

UPDATE : OK ! I had to get lazy ass into Firework and modify the tilesets. This is the best I could do at the moment.

Moving on to the school interior... Phew !


Look, if you really want them to look better, open the tile in a graphics program and make the guitars, keyboard and microphone take up two tiles in height instead of one. This way you can have a part that goes over the NPCs playing (*) and the bottom part which will be set to same as hero (x)
That is exactly what I did. Those tiles take over 2 spaces now. But there is a small issue : The lower tile takes up too much space, so putting a (X) to stop character from moving there will be weird. I had to put a (O) instead, but they can't walk up to the upper tile with a star.

This results in the piano being a bit too far away from the rest of the instruments.



Should I leave it like the last picture ? The guitars also took 2 spaces, with the upper tile being an X and the lower being a star. The current one is a star and a circle. But the previous one is more likely to be leaning against the wall.