Feb 8th
Something that has helped a lot for me is comments. I make a dummy event and a brief explanation for the purpose of a map and why it's in the game/what the player gets from visiting it. This also helps me keep focused without resorting to adding anything that catches my fancy outside of what the player needs.
As for the maps themselves I've redone the overall look and flow of town. I've decided to cut out the market place. Emmet will not be getting the ability to buy from the human merchants to make Ivan necessary and show a more powerful schism between the humans and beastmen. The people will be that unwilling to deal with Emmet making Willard and Shade that much more odd for doing so.
I will spare you the badly scribbled graph paper illustration of the town's new layout.(I'll see about making a proper clean copy for show).
I've worked very closely on the player's path, and the actions of the first 10 minutes to get the player into the main portion of the game.
I've begun to work on the Shanty of the beastmen. I used the RTP elements edited from the mine tracks and remade them into boards for the houses to fasten them together.
It's amazing what a few simple edits will do to spruce things up. This won't be too long to do and I can manage to place a few custom elements like a beggar or foul water supply.
I'll be adding a tent or two as well, which I will need to add holes and patches too to show they've been weathered and badly kept.
This screen shot is a WIP.
Mushroom staircase/ladder for the Druid area to add some flavor. Put those shelf fungus to work. (They look like failed pancakes)
I did a quick edit of Mack's pottery and Bougain's plants to make a gaudy waiting room piece. It brings back a lot of memories of 80s mall era with all the fake plants in gallerias.
Dad had to go to the emergency room today, so that's enough for right now. That article on game design really helped me put things in perspective. Let's hope I can enact what I've learned.
