HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY MAPS ?

Posts

Hm... No, I don't have anything like that.
I just notice something... The window in the classroom is too small compared to what we see outside the school. How should I change it ?

If I remove it completely, the classroom will feel bland. If I use a bigger window tile, I would need to increase the wall height to 3 tiles.





Oh yeah, the school screenshot is old. Those Mario stuff is gone now. :D
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Classrooms don't have windows behind the teacher anyway, the windows are on the sides or back of the classroom so that the sun is never shining in the student's eyes when they're trying to read the chalkboard.

That said, increasing the wall height to 3 tiles is probably your best bet if you really wanna put a window there.
Sure, removing that window and replace it with something else is not a problem.

Here comes the next thing : I am supposed to make a room like this



As big as the windows are, the wall needs to be 3-4 tiles high. This will make the room and the class inconsistent. I am wondering if this could be a real issue ?



Also, does the ground tile seem okay compared to the actual ones in the picture ?
Looks fine but that room could be cut in half. It's far too big. Look at the room you're 'copying'. It's as wide as two windows. For size's sake, make it big enough for three or four windows with no room between them. That should be plenty large enough for a table and side-cabinets.

Also, don't forget this:
Alright, so here are a few tips.
1 - Never underestimate the wall overlap technique. This makes your map look more realistic. You're looking at the map at a 3/4-ish view, so you won't be able to see what is directly behind the walls. Most walls are 2 tiles high, so there are 2 tiles worth of space behind them, hiding things from you.

2 - Shift Mapping. Holding Shift while placing auto tiles allows you to place the middle tile instead of the outer ones. This helps with edging issues, like with your carpets, how the design on the edges makes the carpet look like it's oddly cut. (Most carpets being square or rectangular.) Holding Shift while placing the carpet tile will make it look more like the red carpet has been thrown over the peach one.
The second part of Shift Mapping is this: When holding Shift you can copy an exact tile and if you hold Shift while placing it, it will remain the same. Shift+Right mouse click to copy, Shift+Left mouse click to place. This helps out a lot with autotile placement too.

3 - Learn how to conserve space. Give a rough estimate to your tiles and stick by them. I tend to think of tiles as equal to two steps. Others have different measurements. The deal is to make it consistent. Also, outsides vs inners. Make a concentrated effort to make them at least consistently the same size each time. (I like to make insides about 2x the sizes of the houses outer shell. It gives me room and helps when scaling all areas.)

4 - Don't decorate for decorations' sake. It's okay to break this rule sometimes, but putting pots and flowers and shit all over just to take up room means that you have too much room. If you're struggling to cover ground, or have 3 or more of the same decoration just to take up room, try cutting off a tile or two of space in your map.

5 - Keep in mind what the map is supposed to be and what is needed in it. Also, for inners, the people who live there and their personalities. If a Carpenter runs a shop inside his house he'll have carpentry tools around. If you have a sailor or fisherman they'll have fishing and sailing equipment indoors. If a bachelor, not likely to be flowers and cute stuff around.

6 - A bed for everyone! Or at least allude to it. If you have a house with a three person family, unless they are very, very close they won't just have one bed between them. You could have doors on walls that are locked or just won't open to show that there are other rooms to a house if you don't want to expand the inners too much, but remember the people who live in the house need to have places to sleep too.

7 - The outside =/= (DOES NOT EQUAL) the inside. If you're trying to make an outside that is the same size as your inside it will come off looking very dull and bad most of the time. (There are cases of this working, but not often and not likely with the RTP tiles.)

8 - Nature vs nurture. Nature is hectic, wild and untamed. The farther you go into lands that are unexplored, the less likely bushes, trees and flowers will line up in rows. Cliffs should not be unbroken lines, water should not be a long straight one-tile river, paths will not be just straight lines and grass does not grow in 3x3 clumps. Make things more random.
Whereas in towns you will usually find more structure. Gardens, while in some cases still a bit random, will usually be more carefully planned. Trees are found in rows, grass either mowed or cared for and streets run usually in straight lines.

A way to get better: Study/look at other maps in 2D commercial games. Not 3D games - they have more graphical shit to work with. Also, try to practice by recreating maps that you like in the maker. Experiment with things and find out what looks good and what doesn't.

The very best way to learn is to DO.


Also, asking for input is a great idea. Good job~
Don't copy your references exactly. Take into account the proportions of the characters to the backgrounds.
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
The ground tiles are perfect, I think, otherise, this room is longer than wide so cut it left and right (just put black tiles on each side, the one you find top left on the tileset with nothing on it), finally, maybe you could make the walls in this room slightly bigger by one or two tiles?
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The SOS club's room in your photo should be about 3x5 tiles :/

Also I strongly disagree with Liberty about point #7, I feel like you should have a consistent scale, since the sprites and objects are all the same size on indoor maps as they are on outdoor maps. Buildings that are magically bigger inside than outside are one of my big video game area pet peeves! I mean, it seems like doing that directly contradicts your earlier suggestion to make a consistent scale and stick with it. But aside from that, the rest of it is certainly really good advice.
I dunno, LockeZ. If you take his current outside houses, his insides are gonna be a 4x3 width all up. That's with all rooms included. (Usually I double the size of the inner. That way it has a constant size per tile, but isn't so small on the inside that you can't move or have anything, or so large on the outside that you have to walk miles to get from house to house.)
This is my initial layout of the room at the moment. :P



That said, increasing the wall height to 3 tiles is probably your best bet if you really wanna put a window there.


So if I don't put a window there, would people still assume that there are side-windows on the sides ?

@Liberty Yeah you posted that on the first page already :D
@Lockez I believe it is common for houses to seen smaller outside, and bigger inside.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
If people don't assume there are windows on the sides, it's because they don't think there should be. If they do asssume so, it's because they do think there should be. That's how the human mind works. Use it to your advantage and let the player fill in the gaps.
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Nice! maybe furnish it a bit more (any libraries in particulat, against any of the walls) and how about a table +1 tile long?
Okay, this is what I have right now...



Nice! maybe furnish it a bit more (any libraries in particulat, against any of the walls) and how about a table +1 tile long?


Thanks :D I tried your suggestion, but it didn't look right.
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
Hey, that looks quite nice! (Just one thing : are the dress and teatable very classroom like, even if they do look rather good?)
The dresses were supposed to be Mikuru 's cosplay outfits, and the tea table is just to indicate where she is making tea for everyone. Beside, it 's a clubroom, not a classroom. :P

Hm... Should I move the 2 shelves up 1 tile ? They look kinda odd. :D
I'd say move them down one. There's two spaces of room behind those walls. But yes, it looks much better. See, small can be nice, ya?
chana
(Socrates would certainly not contadict me!)
1584
I don't understand what you're saying Liberty, I'd move them up 1 tile as Mr_Detective says.
I dunno, right now it looks right to me, if you move them up one it will kinda look like the base is on the wall wouldn't it? As opposed to the floor in front of it?
Your walls are two tiles high. That leaves two tiles behind your wall border that you can use to hide things. For instance:

As you can see there are overlaps and it adds more room for the rooms. In the left room you can see the top of the wardrobe, showing that it's pushed up against the wall that you can't see. Same with the wardrobe on the right of the room. A part of the bed is also overlapped by the wall.
In the middle room, you can see the bottom of the table is overlapped, too. And the flowers in the kitchen and steps. Of course, I had to use edits, but re-arranging tile positions isn't hard and can look really effective.

If you move it down one - so that the side edge is hidden and only the top shows - it will look like the height is hidden by the wall below (which is two tiles in height, taking up/hiding the two tiles of wardrobe/cabinet).