Game & Map Screenshots 12

@Finnuval -Loving the custom graphics for the period! So eager to play 'M' when a demo is available!

@sirenianheart - I am really enjoying the cosmic scene, however, shouldn't there be more of the larger stars in the interior too, or is there a game reason they are only on the outskirts, like areas or events?

I am in a bit of a pickle. I have been trying to create a throne room for one of the major scenes in my game and I am having a hard time designing the throne room. Was hoping I could get tips and suggestions from the community.

The castle itself is carved into a mountain, so it is suppose to be one solid stone piece. That said, I started playing with different stone layouts in the second attempt and am honestly wondering if I should use wood or marble or other materials to spice up the interior. The usurper to the throne is a brute, so I was trying to lean on his personality of strength through a display of weapons, armor suits and in the last design I toyed with the idea of stuffed trophies from his hunts lining the audience room. In the first image I toyed with the idea of an upper balcony overlooking the throne, so the king could have archers on standby if need be, but not sure if this is really a good idea. No matter the design, there is going to be a secret door in the wall nearby the throne so the king could escape. Castles and secret tunnels, am I right? ;)

Some additional ideas I had was adding massive pits alongside the walkway to the throne, reflective pools of water, and even some vegetation or statues. Additionally, was planning on removing the windows and replacing them with stain glass ones.

I was actually considering whether or not I should add some more of the larger stars! You've helped me decide-- I'm gonna add some later!
I really like both the balconies and trophies! I'm not sure which design I like more-- I wonder if they could be combined while still looking good & making sense?

@Guardinthena all credit for those go to @spillycat :D

@Guardinthena The maps without the stairs and with the more polished floor look better, imo. Those very white, somewhat irregular stones for the floor in the middle set just don't say 'throne room' to me. If you wanted stone, I think it would be better to have some more regular blocks. That white hurts my eyes, the colour of the floor in the very first or the last set is much better.

I'm not convinced by the stuffed animals - especially the bear and deer which sit partly on the ceiling tile. The scale feels wrong and normally it would be either just heads or, if you wanted full animals, I think they would be parallel to the wall, not facing inwards i.e. turned up pose.

I like the armour in the niches in the last set. I'm not sure about stained glass in any of them. If the castle is carved into the mountain I don't see how you would have any windows at all, as it is far more likely that the throne room would be in the most defensible part of the castle i.e. the back.

@Guardinthena
Overall it look really good!
I think if you made the animals into 2 spirtes so they are acutally in the middle of the... podium? then it might work, but as of now they kinda look weird, since they are off to the top.
The armors/guys standing in the first two pictures are better in that regard.

Been in a while since I looked into this forum. I reworked a map of mine and wanted a bit of feedback if it got better and what could be further improved.

@eliaelia123 I like the overall fell of your map. Color palette is nice and it has a strong theme going, imo. Most the buildings also seem to be cinsistent. kuddos for that.
Few point i think that could be improved upon tho...

1) not sure what it is you're trying to achieve here (I have an incling but its not clear enough to say) so there might be something to be improved here.

2) The river ends level with sea level, however so does the entire coastline whch is on different heights.

3) assuming this is the mayor's house or the largest farme/landlord of the village having the field next to the house makes less sense as they would remove themselves further from the every day work and prolly would have ppl working for them instead of working the land themselves at the time they can afford a house this big. That ofcourse is also totally dependant on your setting/story so take this one with a large helping of salt :D

4) the washing lines seem a little too ordered compared to the more natural chaotic layout of the rest of the town.

5) this seems to be the main road of the town. I like the trade hub/wagon park and Inn on it but then it continus and just goes dead.... That's a little jarring. I suggest ending either at the stairs or having a small square/plaze at its current end for carts and wagins to circle back.

6)This fishing pier makes no sense to me compared to the size of the pond and town. I'd take out most of the side parts and make it a more simple T-shaped pier.


7) I am assuming this is the church? (or similar building) seeing as it is next to the graveyard. This building irl would most likelt be made of stone. And it would make it instantly recognisable and a landmark in game.

8) Love the forest and the clumping of trees and such however especially in the area i marked iof you zoom out specifically its very much in blocks making it look not that natural at all. Making sure there is a little more chaos in this would really help a lot, imo.

Anyway thats my two cents and... I dont know what im talking about either so keep that in mind xD

@Finnuval thanks for the feedback!

to 1. could you explain what exactly is bothering you there?

to 2. true, have to rework that.. no idea how yet but well thats my job anyway : D
To 3. The mayor has a few slaves which work for him, so thats why there are field nearby.
to 4. mmh yeah, it is. But not sure on how much "chaos" i want there but will keep it in mind.
to 5. will rework that part, the wagons were intended to circle back thorugh the 2 openings.
to 6. no idea about fishing piers tbh. xD but will trust you jugdement on that
to 7. Nahh stone is to hard to get and the church in villages is poor so it won't be stone.
to 8. yeah, the transition from village to forest seems a bit to squary now that you mention it.

@eliaelia123

On 2 - maybe edit in a small stone ridge? Or something to that nature

On 3 yeah that's a story explanation so that takes care of that :)

On 4 the chaos you have is good. It's natural chaos. Like the town grew and evolved over time. Too many rpgmaker gamed have medieval styled towns build on a modern grid xD

On 5 okay makes sense. Still my point of it ending at a weird spot stands ;)

On 6 lol xD

On 7 hard to get with a mountain being build upon by half the town ... Lol
And since when are churches poor?
In all seriousness tho, that's your decision to make however in that case I would make the church more like a chapel and thus smaller and a little shoddier... But again that's just me.

Now on point 1

It seems to me like you are going for a flooded forest idea the way those stumps are placed which is a little weird due to the lack of trees on the shore line and the way they are layed out.
Alternatively you're going for a more flotsam idea... Which doesn't make sense with how the water would flow at that area imo.

So in all honesty right now it looks to me like an unfinished idea that serves no real purpose (sorry if that sounds harsh) and it distracts instead of add to the map.

Knowing what it is you're trying to achieve could possibly help me give more helpful feedback tho

Haha
1. I was just placing things there because i was not sure if an empty sea would work, actually forgot they were there untill you metioned it. ^^

2, nice idea. Dutch and a good idea about the sea-land connection.. who would have though : D

5. yeah, will rework that

7. The mountain is more sandy and stuff, not really the rocks fit for building. Whatever, I'll think about how to make it a bit more natural for the player. Just wasn't sure if your critique was "all churches in rpg maker games are made of stone, why is there wood?" or if it was more about how much it fit in there : P
The church is poor it's not the christian church. period. And chapel are not a thing in the world.. at least I didnt meant for them to be, yeah, but since you can't see the worldbuilding through maps alone, I'll take your opinion serious on that nonetheless.

@eliaelia123 Finn already covered a lot of points, so Imma just add this: if we gonna spend some time in this village, runnin' around and doin' things, I'd see to it that there are really easy shortcuts from place to place. :kaoswt: Your reworked map already addresses a bit of that, but I'd totes add a second exit from the hilltop (the northern part of the map). Ideally this exit wud be somewhere near the stream?

The thing is, if I'm gonna hafta walk around this village, doin' quests and stuff, I don't wanna do a lot of backtracking or walk along a winding scenic path errytime, no matter how pretty it looks. :biggrin: Just an accessibility thing!

Overall I think yo map looks pretty nice, probably a great place to explore! :wub

EDIT:

Also don't listen to @Finnuval, listen to a Finn instead, wooden churches are legit! :biggrin::kaoswt2:

@eliaelia123

1) lol
2) weird isn't it? xD

Neither honestly.

My critique comes from historical and cultural reference actually which still is the base for many a fantasy game.
Regardless of what the religion, culture, time period, etc is usually the religious building is the most well build one in a settlement from the Neolithic to the early modern age.

As you say tho, worldbuilding can't be seen in a map (except for the environmental storytelling) and we all use different points of references too.

If it makes sense to you for your world and you are confident the player in general (not some weirdo like me lol) will believe it as is, by all means keep it the way you want and ignore my point on it.

As I said in my first post, I don't know what I'm doing either xD

@alice_gristle thank you for the feedback.
The hilltop will only be visited once, so no worry about that. Also I do not plan to make too much backtracking.. tho maybe a bit imporving that won't hurt either.
Considering that you seem to have rewied a lot of rpg maker games, I'll take your compliment serious that it looks ok! ^-^

@Finnuval yeah, seems to be the norm. Have weird worldbuilding, lets conclude it with that. ^^

Edit:
Update: tried to fix 4,5,6,8

You are doing a really good job with the map, @eliaelia123. Finnuval already covered most of the points, but there is a little I can add/help with.

* The concern about the coast front meeting the water when it is, in fact, coast. I work with the FSM tiles myself. There should be 'cliff' tiles on either B, C, or D. If it is not in the autumn tiles, it is definitely in the other packs. Or you can easily edit some cliff yourself. I am pretty sure the autumn pack has some though, they seem to be in all the packs.

*About the stone vs wooden churches. There are wooden churches in real life. The Norse had wooden churches, as most of their buildings were wooden too, but most of their structures deteriorated before modern times. That is, at least, what I've heard. Someone correct me if I am wrong. A quick Google search will bring up a reconstructed modern day wooden church from the Viking era. Also, wooden churches were a thing when the American colonies were being established and during the wild west period. Proper stone churches came later in prosperous growing communities. But that's American history, and I understand European might be different. Again, @Finnuval did point out it is your fantasy world, so what works best for your lore of this town is what you should go with. Once again, I know the FSM packs have some cool tiles to make a wooden church with a bell tower if you are interested in pursuing that.

The only thing I can add about map improvement is this: the forest can do with more smaller tidbits: rocks, pebbles, flowers, mushrooms, etc. I wouldn't overstress this, but dropping the occasional rock or pebble or other small items can help break up the monotony of the trees, even having some be under the shade of a tree can help make it feel more natural.

@Guardinthena yeah the Norse are an exception to the rule. American early history also had wooden churches for sure tho they were rather small in my experience (more chapel/missionary like in a sense). Early Christian places of worship in Africa had a similar phase in fact. However as I understand it (tho I could be wrong) the religion in this case is more established.

But as interesting as it is , this thread isn't the place to discuss that - as much as I'd like too xD

@Guardinthena yes, I just started mapping the forest trying to immitade @Avery 's last tutorial about forest, so i forgot that part, will add a bit of pepples/flowers and stuff.
Thanks for the feedback!


I added cliffs.. now I have the problem that my river starts higher than sea level.
Do I have to put the river elsewhere or is there a way to make that river like it is right now but with it making sense? : D

@eliaelia123 - Glad you found the cliff tiles!

About the river, my first immediate thought is to make it a lake at the top of the cliff where fresh rainwater gathers and the river pours from it instead of...is that a massive lake or ocean?

My second thought is you can turn it into a spring, I think that's the right word? Springs are 'where rivers begin,' sometimes. There is an underground cave, tunnel, network, aquifer, etc. When the underground water flows out, it breaks the surface and creates a spring where water flows and forms rivers.

Ohh right springs exist! ^^
Youre a lifesaver.

It would be a big sea/ocean above.


Net point:
I'm unsure if I am happy with my cemetery. Anyone done those bevor and know what I could change here? Or if I even need to change something.

@eliaelia123 the layout for it is very standard so that's good. as we already established the church is poor so ornamentations would not fit either.

Only thing I can think of is trees. Most cemeteries have trees for a variety of reasons - one of which is to block it if from view giving Grievers privacy and the townsfolk not to be faced with the dead so much xD

Other then that I think it looks good as is

Yeah I was thinking of adding high ..bushes? or how you would call it.
But since we agree that there is missing something, I'll go and find something to add.