1. Understand tileset formats
This can’t be said too many times. If you want to make a good map, you need to understand the tileset system, its limits, and more importantly, the ways around them.
For example, in MZ you can do a lot more than the default sets allow you to, since you can actually work with transparent autotiles.
I have also in the past turned things that are neither walls nor tiles into autotiles, because they tile, which can save tons of space on the limited tilesheets.
If you ever run out of space on your B/C/D/E sheet, did you realize your A5 in MZ now basically works the same as a half version of them? Maybe you got room there!
Understanding the basics is also key for some of the following things!
2. Learn basic editing
Another theme I wrote a lot about are basic edits that I expect/hope/wish everyone can learn and have the dedication to, it really pays out!
Tile Edits So Simple, ANYONE Can Do Them!
This one for example just contains things where skill is not really necessary, at least not to a level that requires many days of training.
Clumping helps to make maps that are less straight bound to the grid and layer limitations and being able to adjust small things on the whim allows you to add that little extra to any map.
The same goes for recolors, I think especially if you work with paid packs, you are super limited by default and it is very likely your game looks more like other games with that style than an RTP game does - since the RTP comes with a lot of variations through user additions.
Your paid pack has the same limited things everyone has to use if they use that style, so being able to recolor things or create more or less extensive edits to make them look more unique or to adjust them to more closely match the ideas you have in mind is crucial in my opinion.
You find a lot more tutorials here, and if there is anything you wished you could do to expand your tilesets to better fit what you have in mind and that I did not cover, let me know!
3. Build your own tilesets
I do it in all my making a map tutorials and I would really really want to underline this point three times.
Making the tileset to fit the pool of maps helps you a lot to not only have everything you need, but also to create a unique look (since you combine resources from multiple sources that might not have been used like that before) and the room for extra bits. This also counts for paid packs, here I’d fill the extra space either with extra tiles from other sources that are close enough in style and adjusted or with own edits and recolors that, as already said, can be simple, but will still give your maps a more unique look.
4. Draw inspiration from real life
If you are mapping a terrain or situation you are not familiar with, a little research never hurts. How varied was a village in the middle ages? What important buildings did a town have 1000 years ago? How do people adjust to life in a desert? While your maps don’t have to be 100% realistic, knowing what you doing can help a lot to make them look more immersive to the player. Little details that show you thought about your setting and looked things up can add that little extra to your locations.
For example: What were key features when choosing a location for a castle? Even if your castle is placed in a fantasy dream world, not putting it in a place where it can be easily overrun by default might be smart and help your players to picture it as a strong fortress.
5. Parallaxing =/= Good Mapping
I won’t pull any examples here, but I feel like a lot of people seem to think that parallaxing automatically makes their maps 100% cooler. It for sure makes it a lot more complicated and difficult, and while there are people who create real pieces of art that way, there are also many pitfalls, especially when it comes to color grading, blending tilesets into each other (because, for many the alternative to blocky autotiles means no autotiles and therefore no real border, just a soft eraser, and I know such things can be really difficult and fiddly…).
If you aren’t a good mapper already, I’d suggest that you rather improve your editor mapping first and enhance it with more and more edits, to really get a good feeling for color, style, placement and all those things.
6. Simple isn’t always bad
How to trigger me in one simple picture:
Who builds like that? Why would anyone build like that? Which house would have an outer shape like that?
And that is even a kinda mild example, there are a lot of worse things one could make and many that I have seen before.
As in real life, most rooms are just square, and that is okay. You can do a lot with a pretty tileset that includes enough options to make your houses look diverse enough without adding random corners and edges.
Another point where it can become bad is when every house in your village is made from a different material.
It can look quite weird and unauthentic especially in a fantasy setting, so while variation is nice, keeping it in a realistic frame can make a whole difference!
7. But sometimes it is
Now I talked about some cases where too much variation can hurt your mapping outcome, but of course there are many cases where the opposite it true.
Let me list some
Forests
Cliffs/Cave walls
Wealth - even in a smaller town, you will have larger houses with more property and smaller huts of people who own nearly nothing
…and so on.
8. Color grading is important
If you mix and match tilesets from different artists or try to recolor on your own, things don’t always look right. If you work with pixel art, you can usually color swap to a different color ramp from another object in the right shade and are good to go, but drawn stuff can be a bit… difficult.
Practice is key here, honest feedback, too. I have some tutorials about different ways to recolor in the already linked tutorial list, if you have further questions, ask. And if not: try it!
9. Size does matter after all
Large and empty maps can be really boring. So this point will be really short, but my rule of thumb is: I make a map as small as it can be to fir every aspect of the location and the room to move around. Noone needs a 200 square mile town with 5 houses in their RPG that the player has to visit one by one… prove me wrong.
10. Map with purpose
If you try to think about the story of the map, what impacted the location in the past, who lives there, why, how they make a living, etc. all those points already give you great inspiration to put details and unique things into every map. If every village looks the same your game might feel a lot more boring than it is, while such details can add variation, purpose and make each location stand out a little.
What did I miss? Where do you disagree?