Help Thread: Map Rating/Review Thread

altariaking said:

Map name: Route 401
Map game: You aint getting outta me that easily...
Map base: FireRed
Credits: Alistair, Calis Projects, Chaos, VorteX, Zein and if I forgot anyone please tell me
Comments: First route, you come in from the right, up will be the next town you go too, and after that you will be allowed to progress through the left to the next route. Don't worry about the lack of wild Pokemon grass, there will be Pokemon in the sand.
Map: [MAP]

Click to expand...

At first glance, I really like this map. I like the design of the cliffs, and the fact that it branches off to the north there is nice.
However, this map does seem to suffer from something: it's too cramped. There's too many places which are one tile wide, and the places that don't suffer from this problem are either inaccessible (that large patch of dirt on the lower cliff) or just path tiles.
The lake is nice, but something should be put in between the bottom of it and the cliff face; it looks odd otherwise.
It would do wonders if you gave it ledge just a bit more space. It looks nice as is, and I doubt that that slight edit would significantly hurt it.
The straight cliffs don't really bother me, as most of them aren't actually going to be seen by the player (and the only one that is would mess up the trees below it too much).
So yeah; very nice aesthetically, but just get more space in there and you'll be set.
Grade: Put in more space / 10.

MEANWHILE:

Game: SMWCmon
Map Name: Midas Falls
Map Base(?): This one was made originally in a FireRed rom, but it's going to be remade in RPG Maker XP. Where does this fall in terms of this thread?
Comments: Given the nature of the project this is from, name-dropping something was a must. In any case, this is the middle leg of the river island area past which is the town the third gym is in.
View attachment 57731

Comments? I'll put in some more maps that I've made later on, but I kinda like these ones the best.

MEANWHILE:

Game: SMWCmon
Map Name: Midas Falls
Map Base(?): This one was made originally in a FireRed rom, but it's going to be remade in RPG Maker XP. Where does this fall in terms of this thread?
Comments: Given the nature of the project this is from, name-dropping something was a must. In any case, this is the middle leg of the river island area past which is the town the third gym is in.
View attachment 57731

Comments? I'll put in some more maps that I've made later on, but I kinda like these ones the best.

Click to expand...

The falls are a little strange (especially the left one, it just seems wrong).
Overall, a good map, but it would be better for late-game
another thing: maybe some flowers would do some good to the map
6.5/10


about my map:
ROM: Emerald (BPEE)
Game: (still unnamed)
Map: Deathly Road
It will be somewhat of a replacement for Victory Road. This is the deepest floor (added to the other [modified] floors of the original VR. It's still missing trainers ATM (haven't scripted them yet, it'll be 8 or 24 trainers in this map, still not sure but probably the latter.

chriskid198 said:

My Map:

Map Name: Route 1 V4
Map Game: I kept putting FireRed here, until I realized it was for the name of the hack xD. The name for Hack is yet to be finalized...
Credits: GameFreak.

Spoiler:

Comments: Yet another Remake of Route 1. I removed the flowers, since they looked odd. Filled up space with trees, edited the pathways. Tried very hard to try and get the tree shading correct. Please show me which ones are incorrect so I can fix them and hopefully learn something.

Click to expand...

Comment :
I myself am not to good at tree shades either so I don't really know if they are right.
The paths have a very nice shape, i'm not sure if you are using the same tree placement
style as GameFreak but if you do you've done it right and the grass is placed neatly.
I myself would make it try and look more "natural" or random.
Well there isn't much more to comment about ;D

Verdict :
Not much to say, maybe make the grass a bit more "natural" or random (not if you're using the GameFreak style).

Rating :
8.2 / 10
_____________________

Map name : No name
Map game : Unknown
Comment : This is one of my first maps, please give constructive critism so I can learn from it.
Credits : Mitchel1 for the ROM-base editted by me, the tile makers who's tiles I used, i'm really sorry I don't remember who made the tiles please let me know if you see your tile(s) so I can add you in the credits.
Map :

Spoiler:

Remove the *, because I can;t post links ;)
http:*//i53.tinypic.com/*2rmm8mc.*jpg

altariaking said:

It's empty. Really, really empty. Add some flowers and a path, and definitely some more houses, even gamefreak don't make cities with only one house (then again Cinnabar never had any...but that was just a small island with a ym), which makes the town pretty pointless. Also, I don't like the way you have the fence going all around the house, it just looks really bad. And the water, it also looks really empty. Add some rocks into it.
Rating: 2/10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now mine:

Map name: Undecided
Map game: Ya aint getting it outta me that easy...
Credits: Alistair, Calis Projects, Chaos, VorteX, Zein and if I forgot anyone please tell me
Comments: First town in my hack. There is a route upwards, which leads to the Pokemon League, to the left is the first route, and there is the rivals house, the players house, another house with a random npc, the lab, and a small "Pokemon play area" within the fence. I'll add some post boxes soon ;)
Map: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2...on_and_stone_town1_by_altariaking-d32hxl4.png

Click to expand...

This map seems very cool for a starter town
That fence was a little strange in the bottom part, it may be justified if it's because of a hidden item or such, but it's not a serious issue.
The postbox in the center of town would be better placed in the small green area, IMO, but again it's just opinion clause.
and last but not the least, the ledge in the road upwards, that seems misplaced, even pointless. I know that just taking it makes that area empty, but I guess one more tree and floor adjustment would make it better
Overall: 9/10

And as I love having my posts ignored [/sarcasm], i'll submit the same map again.

about my map:
ROM: Emerald (BPEE)
Game: (still unnamed)
Map: Deathly Road
It will be somewhat of a replacement for Victory Road. This is the deepest floor (added to the other [modified] floors of the original VR). It's still missing trainers ATM (haven't scripted them yet, it'll be 8 or 24 trainers in this map, still not sure but probably the latter).

chriskid198 said:

My Map:
Map Name: Route 1 V4
Map Game: I kept putting FireRed here, until I realized it was for the name of the hack xD. The name for Hack is yet to be finalized...
Credits: GameFreak.

Comments: Yet another Remake of Route 1. I removed the flowers, since they looked odd. Filled up space with trees, edited the pathways. Tried very hard to try and get the tree shading correct. Please show me which ones are incorrect so I can fix them and hopefully learn something.[/SPOILER]

Click to expand...

First post! Hope to be making a few more here soon.

Eh... I personally like it. Simple but nice. The bushes next to the signs look a bit awkward though :\ I couldn't see
any tile errors, so nice job.
8/10

Ok... first map
Map: NEW1 (no real name)
Hack: (don't have a name for it, just a test one)
Credits: GameFreak
Comments: My first real map, cooked it up a little while ago as a test map. Hope to put into my hack I'm starting on
Pic: attached

Reviewed Map:

Omega Zero said:

Name: Avan Village
game: Pokemon Serran

Spoiler:

First map i've done in a while i've tryed shading, yes i'm aware of the one at the top the tree bottom part i've already fixed it.

Click to expand...

Review: It isn't that bad for a map you have made since a while, Although it's pretty empty... And the tree shadowing is good, so it's nice to see people who now how to use FR tree tiles. C= The mountains are... I dunno why but they seem out of place, in my opinion. But I like how you added rocks to accompany the mountains. And the trees in the middle of the map look too straight. Maybe randomize the placement a little?
Suggestions: Add more stuff to the map to make it look less empty, make tree placement more natural, maybe make the grass path a bit more wider, remove that ledge-bush thing north (it looks random a little), and maybe add one more mountain edge... And you said you fixed the tree shadowing at the top, so I guess I don't need to mention fixing that. :)

Omega Zero said:

Name: Avan Village
game: Pokemon Serran

Spoiler:

First map i've done in a while i've tryed shading, yes i'm aware of the one at the top the tree bottom part i've already fixed it.

Click to expand...

Pros: It has a very natural flow to it; very much village-like. The paths aren't straight, the flowers look as if they sprouted naturally. Plus the different trees are a nice touch.
Cons: It seems a little too empty, even for a village. It seems like there is one too few houses. Also the large patch of trees in the bottom left corner seems too... unnatural. I was never a fan of Nintendo placing trees in that pattern, though.
Errors: Not very many; the patch of dirt on the second ledge seems out of place, as does the one to the right of the trees in the upper right corner, and you already mentioned the tree shading.
Suggestions: Vary the trees in the lower corner and add another house or so. Remove the two mentioned dirt patches.
Overall: I like this map very much. It flows well and seems easily playable. However, it's just a tad too empty for its size.
Rating: 8/10

And I'll post my own map for rating.
Name: Oraile Mountain Pass
Hack Name: Voer Gems (Dead due to large and irremovable glitch)
ROM Base: Fire Red
Map Comments: There are many exits to this route (North, South, and East) as well as entrances to caves. The ladder entrance and the entrance to the east of it lead to an underground city (Oraile City, hence the area name); to the northwest of the ladder is an exit from the city and the farthest north cave entrance leads to Mt. Voer. Yes, some areas are inaccessible; I believe that a barren scenery didn't quite fit until the higher points on the map.

wingman11 said:

And I'll post my own map for rating.
Name: Oraile Mountain Pass
Hack Name: Voer Gems (Dead due to large and irremovable glitch)
ROM Base: Fire Red
Map Comments: There are many exits to this route (North, South, and East) as well as entrances to caves. The ladder entrance and the entrance to the east of it lead to an underground city (Oraile City, hence the area name); to the northwest of the ladder is an exit from the city and the farthest north cave entrance leads to Mt. Voer. Yes, some areas are inaccessible; I believe that a barren scenery didn't quite fit until the higher points on the map.

Spoiler:

MAP HERE

Click to expand...

Review: Well I don't have much to say but you map looks really nice.
I can't find any tile errors and such so i'll give you 9.5/10


----------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Guys just came down to show you my first map of my first town.

Map Name:Working on a name.
Map Game: Working on a name.
Comments: Well for me it seems pretty good but it feels like somethings missing.

Well here it is .

wingman11 said:

And I'll post my own map for rating.
Name: Oraile Mountain Pass
Hack Name: Voer Gems (Dead due to large and irremovable glitch)
ROM Base: Fire Red
Map Comments: There are many exits to this route (North, South, and East) as well as entrances to caves. The ladder entrance and the entrance to the east of it lead to an underground city (Oraile City, hence the area name); to the northwest of the ladder is an exit from the city and the farthest north cave entrance leads to Mt. Voer. Yes, some areas are inaccessible; I believe that a barren scenery didn't quite fit until the higher points on the map.

Spoiler:

Click to expand...

Review: I diagree. I think you've done a good job of representing a mountain slope in this map through the barren scenery - You can see the terrain change the further you go up which really adds to the feel of the place. I'm just going to start off by saying this: You are going to have a ton of border errors. On the left side you have chosen to use grass/ ground tiles on the top of the mountain, while on the right you've used the generic rock top tile; this will inevitably lead to border clashes somewhere on the map.

I kow you are trying to convey the sense of being on a mountain, but you don't have to use 'one-tile paths' to do this. One tiles paths really restrict the ability of the player to move around the map, so it is usually best to give them more space. The area around sign on the right path heading north is an example of wherea one-tile path could and should have been avoided. Carrying on from that, the single steps up the mountain could do with a second tile to make them wider.

Its a nice map, but those little aspects are holding it back a bit :3

Suggestions: Make sure that you have no border errors on your map. The vast majority of one tile paths are unecessary and cumbersome, so their removal would make you map all that much better.

.Fury. said:

Hey Guys just came down to show you my first map of my first town.

Map Name:Working on a name.
Map Game: Working on a name.
Comments: Well for me it seems pretty good but it feels like somethings missing.

Click to expand...

Review: The town centre on the right side of this map is looking very nice - You're giving the player a good degree of movement and there is nothing overtly wrong with its construction. I see the left side as not living up to the other side's expectations. It is barren and there is little to entertain the player. Beyond the tall grass, flowers and occasional rock, what is there? It is just a far too open space with no distinguishing features and a long mountain wall which, in my opinion, should be broken up so it isn't a continuous line for that distance. You were right when you said that there was something missing, as it seems to be the entire left side of your map.

Suggestions: Fill up the left side with whatever you can think of. Big trees, small trees, bodies of water - whatever you can thing of to give the area shape and something to amuse the player rather than a field of grass. Mould the cliffs into a shape other than a long straight line; it will help to liven up your map and make it 'less empty'. Flowers are generally is bunches of three or four, where each is diagonally placed to another, so I'd suggest doing the same here.

You've got a good map on the right side, but the left needs a serious facelift :D

wingman11 said:

Pros: It has a very natural flow to it; very much village-like. The paths aren't straight, the flowers look as if they sprouted naturally. Plus the different trees are a nice touch.
Cons: It seems a little too empty, even for a village. It seems like there is one too few houses. Also the large patch of trees in the bottom left corner seems too... unnatural. I was never a fan of Nintendo placing trees in that pattern, though.
Errors: Not very many; the patch of dirt on the second ledge seems out of place, as does the one to the right of the trees in the upper right corner, and you already mentioned the tree shading.
Suggestions: Vary the trees in the lower corner and add another house or so. Remove the two mentioned dirt patches.
Overall: I like this map very much. It flows well and seems easily playable. However, it's just a tad too empty for its size.
Rating: 8/10

And I'll post my own map for rating.
Name: Oraile Mountain Pass
Hack Name: Voer Gems (Dead due to large and irremovable glitch)
ROM Base: Fire Red
Map Comments: There are many exits to this route (North, South, and East) as well as entrances to caves. The ladder entrance and the entrance to the east of it lead to an underground city (Oraile City, hence the area name); to the northwest of the ladder is an exit from the city and the farthest north cave entrance leads to Mt. Voer. Yes, some areas are inaccessible; I believe that a barren scenery didn't quite fit until the higher points on the map.

Spoiler:

Click to expand...

I think this map is wonderful. You had a good time emphasizing the slopes and the inevitable change of the terrain.
Other than border errors I don't see much else wrong with the map. Fix this and it will be even better.





Now time for my map...


Map Name: Summerbridge town
Map Game: A secret hack I'm working on
Comments: It's my first map in a long while and I thought I did pretty well.

It's practically a town just so the professor can study pokemon explaining the grass...

Map:



Please put pros and cons and a number rating.

The Final Watchman said:

Map Name: Summerbridge town
Map Game: A secret hack I'm working on
Comments: It's my first map in a long while and I thought I did pretty well.

It's practically a town just so the professor can study pokemon explaining the grass...

Map:

Spoiler:

Click to expand...

Your first map in a while? You put this exact same map in for a review back in August :/

Review: This map is far more spaced out than it needs to be. It is strongly indicating that you have so much much space you don't know what to do with it, leaving it empty and (to be frank) very unappealing. While it is good to give the player room to move around, too much room can be distracting and isolating, especially when there is nothing to break up the monotonous grass tiles. You have flowers/ tall grass/ trees elsewhere in your map - Why not use them on the empty right hand side?

Just by looking at the bottom, you can tell that you are going to have some pretty dramatic border errors as you have both mountains and treetops lining the border. The mountain tiles also don't seem to be stacking up well in the bottom left of their area, so that should be fixed when you get the chance. I generally don't see long grass as having a place in towns, much less a starter town - But its your map.

Suggestions: Fill up all of your empty space with whatever you can think of - Large trees, small trees, rocks, paths, water - Anything to remove that excess space. Ensure that you aren't going to have any border errors around your mountain, while also making sure that you stack each mountain layer correctly.

The Final Watchman said:

Map Name: Summerbridge town
Map Game: A secret hack I'm working on
Comments: It's my first map in a long while and I thought I did pretty well.

It's practically a town just so the professor can study pokemon explaining the grass...

Map:

Spoiler:

can't spoiler yet :x

Click to expand...

Rating: I'm gonna give you a 3.5.
Reason: Your map has waayyy too much space and you have some errors on the bottom left area of the mountain.
Suggestions:You should try adding more tree ,water ,paths etc and try fixing up the mountain .

-----------------------------------
My turn now .

I'm back again to show the same map but only upgraded.

Map Name:Working on a name V2. Lol
Map Game: Working on a name.
Comments: I'm not sure if I'm missing anything.

And please leave a rating .
I hope to become a great mapper one day.

Rated Map:

Rating: 9/10

Reason: I like the tileset. It looks nice. :) Some parts of it don't look very natural (e.g.: the trees ina box shape.) The most obvious one is the group of trees above the blue house near the lake. Apart from that, it looks AMAZING!Suggestions: Make the group of trees above the house look more natural.
I fail at reviewing. XD
-----

Map Name: Veteran Village

Map Game: Ruby

Comments: Sadly, there are no fancy tilesets. :( The starting town. I used the tileset for Littleroot Town, so that is probably why they look quite similar.

Mapshot:

Reviewed Map:

Retribution said:

Map Name: Veteran Village

Map Game: Ruby

Comments: Sadly, there are no fancy tilesets. :( The starting town. I used the tileset for Littleroot Town, so that is probably why they look quite similar.

Mapshot:

Spoiler:

Click to expand...

Review: Honestly, I can easily tell this is a Littleroot Town edit by the looks of the map. The houses are in the same places, including the signs. The only difference is more flowers were added, a mountain north with a waterfall crashing down into the pond, with an entrance to the town east.I honestly don't like the shape of the town, either. The placement of the flowers aren't that bad, actually, in my opinion. But the map is too empty near the center... Maybe add a path?
Suggestions: Add ocean water instead of pond water below the waterfall, add a path leading to the houses, add more decorations such as more tiny trees/bushes, make the mountain north bigger in size, change the placement of the buildings and signs. Good luck. ;)

Funnily enough, I actually didn't edit Littleroot (I edited the size etc.), but I managed to place the buildings in very similar places. :\ I'll try editing the positions of the houses, and maybe adding something to the centre (I also thught it was a bit empty.)

EDIT: Here it is, updated. Hopefully it looks better. ^^;

Retribution said:

Funnily enough, I actually didn't edit Littleroot (I edited the size etc.), but I managed to place the buildings in very similar places. :\ I'll try editing the positions of the houses, and maybe adding something to the centre (I also thught it was a bit empty.)

EDIT: Here it is, updated. Hopefully it looks better. ^^;

Spoiler:

Click to expand...

When we say "edit the positions of the houses", we don't mean "swap one or two around". At any rate, with the path it looks much better. Even though it's still the same basic layout as Littleroot, it does look significantly different (see what even a swap + path can do?). It is much better than before, though. :D

Although you still need to put moving water under that waterfall. It'd be a bit weird to have a waterfall then a still pond, no?