Game & Map Screenshots 12

@Guardinthena a whole slew of maps like, whoa! :kaoswt: Don't know where to start, so Imma waffle on like a maniac!

Stuff looks burnin' overall, BUT, what's with the big vertical hallway? Like, I know that architecturally it makes sense, and as a youngster I knew I was all over it, but these days I'm like, MAKE IT GO AWAY. I dunno what it is. Just the thought of it having to walk up and down that thing makes me eggs go sour.

So. Not a knock on yo map as such. But just something to think about: what are we gonna do on the hallway map? There's only one long hallway map that I think is exciting, and that's the Kuzar Castle supar long hallway in Final Fantasy V, and it's exciting 'CUZ I'M ALWAYS POOP-FACE SCARED THAT EXDEATH GHOST GONNA POP UP AND GRIND MY NOSE TO A PASTE :kaoswt2:

Anyway sorry, I had a few too many and probably I'm not makin' a lot of sense, so Imma try and condense my point here:

Long hallways. What do we do in them?

@ATT_Turan and @Kes I don't know if there is a reason behind the green ice specifically here however it isn't uncommon to see green ice in nature l, especially in glaciers die to how light breaks on them. It's just not common out of the scope of extreme cold conditions

That said it does look weird even irl

XD

@Guardinthena I also second (third I guess) the diagonal icicles issue.

Thank you @Finnuval you beat me to it before I could respond. @Kes and @ATT_Turan , the green ice is caused in extreme cold environments and is created by a type of microorganism, if I remember correctly. It is simply there for visuals and to help break up the monotony of the white and blue palette. On a side note, I discovered about green ice last year when I played Subnautica Below Zero hard core and began looking up where they got the real life inspiration for the snow biome.

EDIT: I see what you mean by the crazy scatteredness, @Kes with the cult members. Honestly it is similar misgivings I had. The barricades was simply to help keep out intruders to make the place defensible. (Thinking about all those elder scroll games where I end up in cave dungeons and goblins have crazy unreasonable defenses scattered around for design purposes XP). I'll remove them then and rework the map with the intent on creating the remains of the White Wyrm again and move the cult outside. Thank you.

As for the diagonal icicles, I am not exactly sure what we are referring too. Is it the ice flows piled up on the frozen waterfalls? I was trying to mimic frozen waterfalls irl. I asked last year on the request forums for a frozen waterfalls and Avery was very kind in responding. I added the frozen ice flows to try to mimic the photos below better, but it does come off as a bit flat. I think the problem there is I need to add more shading and contrast to make them pop.

@alice_gristle - I believe you are referencing the long hallway entrance to the Winter Palace? Hallway was long for architectural purposes in the owner wanting to seem grandiose and powerful, so it's that long intimidating build up. There will be ice elementals roaming the palace when all is said and done.

@Guardinthena If you look at those floes, yours have diagonal strands going between the icicles, spiderweb-style. I don't know how the water would be going in that direction to solidify into ice going partially sideways.

Compare to the pictures you posted where all of the ice is coming straight down.

I am honestly confused. Which area are you referring to specifically?

EDIT: I feel silly. I realized what you were talking about right as I started reviewing the screenshots Id posted. So, the water flows weren't all completely straight vertical was because, when I made them at the time, I think I was also referencing that game Subnautica Below Zero, where they did a similar thing on their ice flows. I think the idea was that water flows in different directions based on interference in its path, and it froze in odd shapes and directions. I think that was the logic I had at that time. Been awhile. Some of the references I had from Below Zero also had it sloping and arching.

Reference of Below Zero if your curious, not what I was referencing at the time but just for an idea



Now that it's been pointed out how odd it is I don't think I can I see it. I'll definitely touch up the ice flows so that the flow better.

Here's yet another map. It is suppose to be the site of an old battleground, where forces of good and evil were battling and the evil White Dragon came out of his cave and froze both forces. In the present day of the players, the place is regarded as cursed. Bodies are still there, frozen in place, and ancient artifacts and ice elementals operating on final orders float about to harass the players.

This map leads to the Ice Caves I posted the other day, which lead to the Ice Palace...possibly. I originally envisioned this as a large open snowy field with a singular mountain set against it where the dragon made his home. I think empty spaces scare me though, I'm starting to realize that as I map, and focused on the cave entrance instead. I don't know how to feel about the color of the map, if the mountains are too warm and I should change the color to a darker shade? And some of the frozen bodies are still wip. Been thinking of expanding it or having another map that is the open plains, or placing this in more of a valley? Not sure and hoping the community can give some friendly advice again either on things I am missing/not seeing here, or to prevent me from making a mistake by expanding it.

@Guardinthena I personally would not expand it. It's already pretty big and you have to take into account the size of the maps which lie beyond it, not just treat it as a single, isolated map.

I'm fine with the colour of the mountains, it balances out the coldness of the other colours quite nicely without being glaring. The waterfall on the top left is not frozen like the others and it looks a bit incongruous. Though it might be out of sight of the player.

One thing I would suggest, though. Your stairs - one tile difference in height from the cliffs isn't really enough when they are so long. They still end up looking like ladders. I would bring the front edge of the entrance plateau forward a tile so that the stairs can be two tiles longer. You have the space to move the lake down one, so nothing on the ground will be lost.

@Guardinthena So again, I really like the looks of this. I think the frozen army people is a great idea and looks pretty cool. There are two things that stand out to my eye, which is not very technical.

There looks like there are 3 larger bodies covered in snow in the lower portion. I think each one looks good, but the fact that they are all exactly the same looks a bit strange. If they were angled differently or had different shapes, I think it would be different.

Near the bottom of the water flow, there is a rectangle (near the first branch) that looks strange, but because of the shape.

But overall, I think this is pretty cool. I might even add more frozen people. To give a grander scale of the size of the battle.

Great job!

Here is a part of the Aurora Forest I have been working recently, where the game will take place in the beginning. Some audacious bandits have taken over the ancient ruins of the forest, turning them into a fortress where they prepare their meals and gather to plan their attacks against those who dare to challenge them!



I appreciate the feedback!

@Lycanimuss yo map's mood is really awesome and portentous, well done, honey! :kaoluv: You done well on scale and design, too, overall a really strong map! At a glance the only thing I'd do is maybe make the hilltop, where the ruins are, a bit less rectangular? Mebbe break up or alter the top left or right corner?

Thank you for the compliment, @alice_gristle! I'm glad you enjoyed the mood and design of the map. I appreciate your suggestion about the hilltop and agree that breaking up the rectangular shape could add more visual interest to the map. I will definitely take that into consideration and make some modifications. Thank you for your feedback!

@Lycanimuss This is a seriously good map. I love the whole atmosphere of it.

I would, though, like to make one suggestion. This is a ruin - so where is the debris from the fallen walls? I would have expected at least a couple of little piles of bricks, the odd broken single brick scattered around, that sort of thing. If the new settlers had cleared most of it out (a reasonable assumption) they would just have chucked them outside, not carried them any distance away, so they should still be visible somewhere.

I haven't shown anything here for a long time. You guys are all so cool, I was happy to scroll through the screenshots branch.

Thank you for the compliment, @Kes! I agree that adding some debris from the fallen walls would help to enhance the realism of the ruin. I will definitely consider your suggestion, thank you for bringing it to my attention.

@Lycanimuss that is one seriously good map! Very moody and I just looooove the colors you picked!
Except for the things already mentioned one thing struck me...

I might be overlooking it entirely but I would expect a large campfire or something for this to happen.

And that's all the nitpicking I could think off xD
Really well done!

I know it's not a very complex map but... here it is.

@Lee Sang knowing the type of game this is from I think the art style and little weirdness here and there fit really well.

3 points is argue tho are:
- there is a lack of shadow underneath the flower compared to everything else, I'd definitely increase if there.
- I would also prolly create more shadow on the edges of the map to make it even more Grimm looking and to help draw attention to the center.
- I get the choice of color for the flower (I think) however as the trees also already have red leaves I would chose a different bright color for it to draw attention to it - yellow or maybe even an icy blue come to mind.

Other then that it's looking good :)

@Lycanimuss - Everyone keeps saying it and I am going to say it again, that map and the atmosphere of it is lovely! You did an outstanding job with it. I don't have anything to add that everyone else hasn't already said, but I wanted to put out that I love it a lot. And what tiles are those? They look oddly familiar but I can't think of it off the top of my head.

@LittlePIGGY - I love your maps too. So bright and colorful! I am in love with the stain glass and the stain glass reflection. Are those of your own making? I noticed that you are using Jesse's statues from PV Games, excellent blend of styles. I feel it slips in neatly.

@Lee Sang - Maps don't need to be complex, just serve the purpose of telling the story and this has a lot of creep vibes too it. All I can think of is: what were those children doing out in a creepy forest with man killing plants!?! Did they not heed the local rumors! XD

@Guardinthena The glazing is exclusively mine, yes)

Thank you for your feedback @Finnuval! I appreciate your attention to detail and I will definitely make sure to include a campfire, I actually forgot to add it. Thank you again for taking the time to provide feedback, I greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your comment @Guardinthena! I really appreciate your kind words about the map and its atmosphere. The ruins are from the RPG Maker XP RTP tileset, the cliffs are from the Celliana set in the Ancient Dungeon package, and the trees, boxes, fences, tables and barrels are original.