Game & Map Screenshots 12

I think I am where I want to be with my forest map, time to write down the matching tutorial ;D
...unless I missed something and you point it out in time ;3

@Avery post it already!!! XD

Okay thanks for feedback = map too dark aka lighting issues :) should ha turned the lighting up (which is easy to do :)

next: please give your opinion on this waterfall, had to upload video

and what do you think of custom animations in general as opposed to the more traditional mapping ?

@Avery I don't know if you've started your tutorial but there does appear to be an issue on your map which comes up quite a bit. It's this bit here

where the 2 middle trees are next to each other.

I often find it difficult to see how there is enough room for the branches at the back of the trees. When they are as close as those 2 are it makes it look like the trees are flat - which of course they are, but ...
I think the same sort of thing is happening to the group of trees to the left.

Those two trees are of a different size, that is how that comes to be ;3 The trunks are offset, just the crowns happened to line up.

@Avery Ah, that makes sense now.

@mMarix The waterfall looks completely unnatural. Part of the reason is the way that the water in the pool/lake/whatever remains totally unruffled, not even the smallest wavelet in response to a lot of water coming down. This makes it look like the waterfall is just skating across the surface. The movement of the waterfall is also jerky. It also looks as if there is a fair bit of ground between the edge of the water and the cliff so where the waterfall appears to be hitting the ground (as well as the pool) that should be flooded out, but it's not.

EDIT
I forgot that you had asked for opinions on custom animations.
Custom animations, when done well, can add a lot to a map. When they are not done well they undermine it considerably. Although custom, they need to blend in with the style of the other assets on that map. Blend in does not equal being the same as; it does mean that it is necessary to avoid two clashing art styles.

you are absolutely right :) my motto is, less work is better (which is dumb :) However bubble animations brings us to the other subject below
I've been thinking... but not voicing it out.. its completely possible to make entire maps animated from smallest detail to highest functioning ..functions.. i think a hero should take up the mantle since i'm working on (ehm secret stuff now and unlikely to resume on this style). Ie bubble animations, wind, frosty wind, steps literally dust...

Still early WIP (needs more detailing, shading, etc) but I thought i'd share anyway :D

@Finnuval I love the attention to detail for the period feel to this. I do have a query. This may be solely as a result of the particular patterns around the life door and on the wall at the bottom of the map, but it looks like the lift wall goes up one tile higher than the one at the bottom.

Probably due to the plants there and the lack of shading as I can assure you all walls are (well should be as they are all custom made - so I'll double check) the exact same height.

Okay first, i know, i know so unproffessional however, i really really like this style :) its a minory minor area, what do you think ? (hand drawn stuff is just awesome to me + it looks like an area from baldur's gate 2-coincidence i'm sure)
Second one could get me in trouble cause its so dumb as a 3d attempt , (bring it on)

@Finnuval It must just be my eyes with the rug pattern on the floor, but I swear that it looks like the rug keeps narrowing in spots. I don't think it is, but it is a weird effect when I look at it.

Does anyone else see that? It doesn't really narrow in spots, does it?

I'm pretty sure it doesn't do that... But I will admit that the pattern is one that messes with your eyes. Even I have moments I see things that are or aren't there xD

@mMarix : On the really dark map, the issue is in my opinion that darkness is sadly just not fun in most cases. That is probably what the real problem is.

Also the other issue is many forget that ambient light exists. I grew up in the middle of nowhere where we didn't have streelights and such and after dark you could see a lot more than that map showed. So your eyes will naturally pick up more than most dark overlays show, as unless you are in a cave you will see a lot farther than hand in front of your face.

But overall I think you will want to decide which is better. Dark, or fun for players but maybe unrealistic in some cases. Usually the 2nd is better.

Aw yeah. The overlay turned out bad + its really dark, the flashlight from community lighting don't even make a dent, i checked :) + the resolution was set on lower which looked lighter when i first tested this map, these are later 1920x1080 res's which looks a bit darker :) Its a mix of unfortunate coincidences, despite me addinga some ambient lights as well as light sources. Well, its not a problem, as the map size in mb's is huge, which is more of a problem, despite being relatively normal. If there were 100 of these areas, game would be 10-20 gb..

The day/night mechanic also makes a difference, this is the day-portion,its a bit seeable :)


other screens:

i just have this strange urge to mix RTP with parallax, and later maps look generally better

@mMarix : Yeah those lighting plugins and overlays their dark is like *super* dark. I had to tell mine to use something else just to get it half decent, then cheat with a tint screen. It worked, but feel hacky.

Glad you got it sorted out!

@mMarix Could I repeat a suggestion made in the responses to your profile post? I think you would benefit a lot from working through Avery's mapping tutorials. At the very least, have a look at the recent one on mapping rivers because the last screen shot you have posted contains a number of errors.

@ATT_Turan
The left building is a library, so it has bigger doors to go along with that.

The house on the right is just smaller than the others, as there is only one person living there. That also comes with it being less tall.

I should probably add chimneys, though.

Okay - but what is the typical wall height for your game? Most people do two tiles of wall, then a ceiling on top.

If that's what you're doing, the right house sticks out as not actually full height.

If you're doing just one wall high then a ceiling, then the right house and the library on the left make sense (if the library is two stories), but then the house to the north is a bit incongruous because it's two tiles tall and you have windows bridging the two tiles, which makes it look like one story.

The one map I made for my One Map Challenge game-- featuring Dororo's awesome space tiles and a parallax from Joel Steudler's Comic Frontier Backgrounds!