Trickster Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) So I recently started mapping and I was wonder if people could help by critiquing my map any tips that might help me (and others) to make more atheistically pleasing maps. Edited June 23, 2012 by Mageknight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klokinator Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Who are you and why did I think you were MK404 for the briefest of moments? Also, maybe it's just me, but I can't see the image at all. Edit: I managed to get a view of the picture. I'd say it'll look, uhhhh just fine... if you put a few more forests in there. Yeah, we'll go with that. Edited June 23, 2012 by Adolf Klokler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinKuma Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Follow this tutorial it will make things seem a look more interesting/better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Who are you and why did I think you were MK404 for the briefest of moments? Because Mageknight404. I'd say it'll look, uhhhh just fine... if you put a few more forests in there. Yeah, we'll go with that. Klok, I know you can troll critique better than that. First off: Use .bmp or .png .jpg images are a bad idea when presenting any kind of sprite/map for critique. Here's the stuff that immediately jumped out at me: Red: General Empty space Green: Cliffs are not straight edged... at least in natural settings. Use more variation. Orange: The elevation change with those inland cliff tiles... looks very awkward Brown: Water tile spam. There are variations for what you should to make the water look natural. Yellow: A dirt road shouldn't be that cleanly straight. I suggest you go look at Primefusion's tutorial for some ideas. Click here to be taken there Edit: Blazing Soul beat me to linking you. Edited June 23, 2012 by shadowofchaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jubby Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 <should be in spriting> Basically, too many straight lines. Everything is a straight line. Make things curve and such. Check out Primefusion's mapping tutorials in the Spriting resources thread. Looks very blank, as well. You should also not use the same tile for everything (i.e. your water should not all look the same, your cliffs shouldn't all use the same cliff tile) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Also, If the village has a dirt road in the bottom left, shouldn't the castle? I would think they would be linked or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eCut Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 <should be in spriting> Basically, too many straight lines. Everything is a straight line. Make things curve and such. Check out Primefusion's mapping tutorials in the Spriting resources thread. Looks very blank, as well. You should also not use the same tile for everything (i.e. your water should not all look the same, your cliffs shouldn't all use the same cliff tile) Always beating me to things... :( Moved to proper section. As for the map, I have to agree that there are way too many straight lines. You also need more variation; dirt patches, darker grass patches, forests, forts, etc. And yeah, spamming the same tile (like the water) is never a good idea either. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Yellow: A dirt road shouldn't be that cleanly straight. Wrong on two marks: the first, the path is stone, not dirt. Second, an artificial path has no reason not to be straight, and if anything, more reason to be rigidly tracked-in. They are, often, planned pathways, especially leading out of a village. You're going to make the map be just as jarring with them purposely-jagged as making the natural landmarks purposely linear and artificial. The largest issue is it's obvious you drew the map, and that nothing about it has natural formations. Try to make the map layout less artificial and more like natural forces created the landscape. Your overall design is fine--you need to detail it in now where you flesh out the map in that natural way. Right now, it's like you're passing off the preliminary blueprint as the final version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Wrong on two marks: the first, the path is stone, not dirt. Second, an artificial path has no reason not to be straight, and if anything, more reason to be rigidly tracked-in. They are, often, planned pathways, especially leading out of a village. You're going to make the map be just as jarring with them purposely-jagged as making the natural landmarks purposely linear and artificial. Wrong wording on my part. Take the initial map that Primefusion works with and refines in his tutorial. I meant simple, straight, and thin paths like that in an FE map look damn unnatural. Aren't those stone tiles that the OP used supposed to be used in the village tileset? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I feel that the path is too short to really look unnaturally straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primefusion Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 The stone roads are in the overworld tileset as well (See spoiler; lower right). Though, IMO, their use is pretty situational. Like if you had a rather populated area or one of the tiles just simply works for the path you're trying to create. I tend to use them sparingly though. [spoiler=Overworld] As for actual critique everyone else has got it all pretty covered. Just don't let your geometry homework rule your life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Wrong wording on my part. Take the initial map that Primefusion works with and refines in his tutorial. I meant simple, straight, and thin paths like that in an FE map look damn unnatural. Aren't those stone tiles that the OP used supposed to be used in the village tileset? Well, yeah. But this map isn't running yards of uncanny paths that are inconsistent with the land formation. Its path is consistent, and thus, no problem. Shunning blindly is a pretty lousy way to learn good mapping skills :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dondon151 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Wrong on two marks: the first, the path is stone, not dirt. no it's not, nor does it have to be Second, an artificial path has no reason not to be straight, and if anything, more reason to be rigidly tracked-in. do you know how hard it is for a human to walk in a straight line Edited June 23, 2012 by dondon151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trickster Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thanks for the tips. I made another as an improvement but another question for any who make maps and use them into hacks: How many versions of the map do you make before it's finished? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) It depends on your map and how it turned out the first times through. Sometimes I draft as I go along, completing each part and building off that. Sometimes I'll draft the entire map, define it, and redefine it as the map continues. donship Paving a path is not the same as trudging it inwards. The species's tendency to spiral whilst walking doesn't extend to placing bricks, at least outside the bounds of intention. As for the stone/dirt difference, consult the tilesets. There are dirt paths, stone/dirt paths, and rigid-stone paths. The paths used in the map are not from the dirt path section of tiles, n'est-ce pas? Edited June 23, 2012 by Celice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primefusion Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Good improvement but those cliffs could still use some work. If you're trying to keep the tiers separated I suggest maybe taking a few tiles off the second tier so you can round it out some more. another question for any who make maps and use them into hacks: How many versions of the map do you make before it's finished? You'll probably find that as you improve, you'll go back and redo some of your older maps so that they keep in line with your new degree of skill. In my mod I've redone the majority of the maps at least once. Now I'm going through again a few months later and redoing them a second time. Some are even on their third revision. And that's without the fine tuning I do while developing a chapter. However, judging from the tileset you're using, it looks like you're using one of Feaw's expanded tilesets which can't be inserted into a ROM. Just a word of caution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Shunning blindly is a pretty lousy way to learn good mapping skills :/ Thank you, oh Celice the Great for evaluating my mapping skills. Good improvement but those cliffs could still use some work. If you're trying to keep the tiers separated I suggest maybe taking a few tiles off the second tier so you can round it out some more. You'll probably find that as you improve, you'll go back and redo some of your older maps so that they keep in line with your new degree of skill. In my mod I've redone the majority of the maps at least once. Now I'm going through again a few months later and redoing them a second time. Some are even on their third revision. And that's without the fine tuning I do while developing a chapter. That's pretty much what happens in any type of spriting endeavor, including mapping. However, judging from the tileset you're using, it looks like you're using one of Feaw's expanded tilesets which can't be inserted into a ROM. Just a word of caution. Not by itself anyway. It'll involve a little bit of work and experimenting with some help from Nintenlord's notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thank you, oh Celice the Great for evaluating my mapping skills. I wasn't evaluating your skills. I was talking about the process of learning how to make good maps. What's wrong with you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deranger Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 You still have a bit of tile spam going on there. If you really want your map too look natural in an outdoor setting and unspammed for sure, have every tile be different from the 8 surrounding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 eeeh that's not really necessary just make sure that not all of those eight are the same tile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jubby Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Yeah, that's kiiiinda overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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