Help Thread: Map Rating/Review Thread

[Tobiasu]

^
Not bad - 8/10
The map looks a bit empty.That's the only problem.Otherwise,the tiles are great and the inclusion of NPCs makes the map look a little bit better.

 

[ganonrai]

Hello, I would love some feedback on one of the first maps I've made for my new hack!

Spoiler:

The hack starts out in your hometown (which in this case is a big city). The big tower is essentially a fancy apartment complex where you live. The big buildings in the bottom are home to some businesses, and the owners live in the houses at the top. The road at the top is kinda like a highway that connects some of the major cities. Anyways, I'm looking for ways to make it better so and criticisms/feedback would be great!

 

[Crizzle]

Spoiler:

It's not too bad. It does feel like it's missing something, like there's something more that could be added before the map is complete. Then again, I'm no map expert and it is the map for the hometown/starting town, so it's probably fine.

Rating: 7/10

 

[AwsomeMew]

Hello, I would love some feedback on one of the first maps I've made for my new hack!

Spoiler:

The hack starts out in your hometown (which in this case is a big city). The big tower is essentially a fancy apartment complex where you live. The big buildings in the bottom are home to some businesses, and the owners live in the houses at the top. The road at the top is kinda like a highway that connects some of the major cities. Anyways, I'm looking for ways to make it better so and criticisms/feedback would be great!

I am no expert, but here's my review.
What I don't like about the map, is generally the upper part of the map. The small house next to the Pokémart seems kinda... wierd.
And, if I am right, starter towns does not have either a Pokémart nor Pokécenter. But I that's just me.

Otherwise, I like the lower part of the map except the fountain. I think it should be placed more central.
I really recommend a more "natural touch"; add more trees and flowers and so on, which I believe is the "missing thing" that Crizzle mentioned.
Rating: 6.5

MY MAP:
As you've probably guessed, it is a starter town of mine. I do really like the map myself, but what do you guys think? Any constructive criticism is wanted :)



EDIT: Just click on the "?" :)

 

[Tobiasu]

MY MAP:
As you've probably guessed, it is a starter town of mine. I do really like the map myself, but what do you guys think? Any constructive criticism is wanted :)



EDIT: Just click on the "?" :)

Okay,here's the thing.The map is nice,clean and simple,but the left part (the grass) is useless.It's just a big patch of grass that shouldn't be there.On the other hand,the tiles you used are very good.

The final verdict : 7.9/10

Okay,my turn.

Name : Monschau Town
Hack of : Pokemon Fire Red 1.0
Hack name : Pokemon Rising Moon
Description : Well,I think it's obvious that this is the starting point of my town.It originaly had an exit to the north,but I thought that there is no need for two different routes that lead to the same city.

Mapshot :

 

[Christos]

Okay,my turn.

Name : Monschau Town
Hack of : Pokemon Fire Red 1.0
Hack name : Pokemon Rising Moon
Description : Well,I think it's obvious that this is the starting point of my town.It originaly had an exit to the north,but I thought that there is no need for two different routes that lead to the same city.

Mapshot :

I'm not going to give a rating but I will write some comments. There are a few errors with the tree shadows, and you're using way too many flowers. There are only three thin trees in random places and I think they don't really fit, maybe don't use any at all. The random ledge is also out of place and has no use. It looks like you're trying to fill empty space, but empty space isn't bad. You could remove the thin trees, the ledge and some flowers, and your map would still look good.

The paths are nice, I think it'd look better if they were the same width everywhere. I don't like how the path seems to go up but doesn't really lead anywhere. You could add something there, or remove the path completely. There can still be another route north that leads to a different place, and you can block access to it until later in the game. You're using R/S houses and they don't really fit the Fire Red style and the doors are taller. Is the white house different from the other two? If it's just another house it'd look nicer if all three were the same type. I think the lab's fenced area should be bigger with maybe a few thin trees and puddles or a pond in it along with some Pokémon (if there aren't any already).

The sand part is the part I like the least. It seems very plain and rocky for a beach near a town, and looks like it has no purpose. Is an event taking place there? Maybe you could add a dock. Also, it'd be much more exciting if you could use Surf on the water there, and have a water route connect to a different part of the region, or even a small piece of land with an item on it.

Overall I think it's a really nice and simple map, but you shouldn't worry about having too much empty space.

 

[Tobiasu]

@Christos Thanks for the advice mate.I will work on those issues.
PS. The original map had a dock.

 

[RanaldRoo]

Review of AwesomeMew's Starter Town Map

Spoiler:

+ The tilesets you used are awesome - the pallets kind of remind me of Gen 4
+ I really like the field and berry trees at the right - it gives the town a nice, traditional feel.
- Before you get running shoes the paths at the top and bottom would take a while to walk up and down but maybe the hack you are making gives you running shoes straight away, I don't know.

Overall, I think its an 8.5 / 10.0

My Map:

Map Name: Route 1
Map Game: (No name as of yet)
Comment: Its the first route - the player has to meet someone at the bottom of the route near the start of the game but will have to come back later, once they have surf to progress to another route/town. Credit to WesleyFG for tiles - I am only using these tiles whilst my hack is in development. I plan on replacing the tiles when I finish the hack, if I finish.

Spoiler:

 

[Lance32497]

I am no expert, but here's my review.
What I don't like about the map, is generally the upper part of the map. The small house next to the Pokémart seems kinda... wierd.
And, if I am right, starter towns does not have either a Pokémart nor Pokécenter. But I that's just me.

Otherwise, I like the lower part of the map except the fountain. I think it should be placed more central.
I really recommend a more "natural touch"; add more trees and flowers and so on, which I believe is the "missing thing" that Crizzle mentioned.
Rating: 6.5

MY MAP:
As you've probably guessed, it is a starter town of mine. I do really like the map myself, but what do you guys think? Any constructive criticism is wanted :)



EDIT: Just click on the "?" :)

comment
The map perse is beautiful, one thing I want to point out, the trees in yellow grasses seem to be pointless, as those grew on the top of yellow grasses. You should also add some details on the yellow grasses like small trees or others that won't make the grass patch look empty.
My rating is 7/10

My Map
I have nothing to show for now XD

 

[Le pug]

Spoiler:

Review of AwesomeMew's Starter Town Map

Spoiler:

+ The tilesets you used are awesome - the pallets kind of remind me of Gen 4
+ I really like the field and berry trees at the right - it gives the town a nice, traditional feel.
- Before you get running shoes the paths at the top and bottom would take a while to walk up and down but maybe the hack you are making gives you running shoes straight away, I don't know.

Overall, I think its an 8.5 / 10.0

My Map:

Map Name: Route 1
Map Game: (No name as of yet)
Comment: Its the first route - the player has to meet someone at the bottom of the route near the start of the game but will have to come back later, once they have surf to progress to another route/town. Credit to WesleyFG for tiles - I am only using these tiles whilst my hack is in development. I plan on replacing the tiles when I finish the hack, if I finish.

Spoiler:

The tiles look nice, you have distributed your trees greatly, the walking path is clear and seems to have no hassle on the player and also shows a clear direction for the player to travel in, and the wild grass isn't annoyingly spread out. I'm not going to judge the bottom water area since it looks undone. However for tiles, I think the log looks out of place. The palette is too light for this green saturated map ... maybe if the palette for it was darkened? Yeah, to be honest, I can't find anything else; this map is awesome. It's a big one so I hope that the player can run :P I'm going to give it a solid 9/10.



The map below is just a test map ... I'm currently switching over my hack Discovery to later gen-styled tiles so let me know if they look good or not and what I should change for them.
Credits listed in the thread.
Here's the map:

Spoiler:

 

[Deokishisu]

Spoiler:

I definitely think that the striped grass tiles drown out the map and make the trees blend in too much with the ground. My suggestion would be to get rid of the darker stripes, and just use the colors in the lighter stripe to make a pattern for the grass. The bushes look great, but I don't like the skinny trees, nor the log tile. Overall though, I think these tiles are really pretty and work well together.

 

[Le pug]

I definitely think that the striped grass tiles drown out the map and make the trees blend in too much with the ground. My suggestion would be to get rid of the darker stripes, and just use the colors in the lighter stripe to make a pattern for the grass. The bushes look great, but I don't like the skinny trees, nor the log tile. Overall though, I think these tiles are really pretty and work well together.

In terms of the grass, which do you think would fit better then? Image below

Spoiler:

I'm gonna change the log and the smaller bushes to look better as well

Edit: So how do these logs look? Good or should I find new ones?

Spoiler:

 

[chrunch]

In terms of the grass, which do you think would fit better then? Image below

Spoiler:

I'm gonna change the log and the smaller bushes to look better as well

Edit: So how do these logs look? Good or should I find new ones?

Spoiler:

C looks best imo

 

[reshilegend]

.

Small advice, that cave entrance shadow would look better if it was sprited like the forest entrance shadow. Aka lines and not these dotted pixels

 

[Deokishisu]

...Cut for brevity...

C is definitely the best one. The logs look better as well. Good job! Makes the test map look much better.

 

[snorlaxcare]

Map Name: Mt.Frost

Map Game: Ruby 1.0

Comments: The map takes place deep inside a frozen mountain. I wanted to create an elevated and quite steep-feeling canyon. What do you think of it? How does it appear to you? (I'm feeling lost in what I make of it because I have worked with it for a long time XD )

Mapshot: (press on the picture to enlarge)

Spoiler:

 

[nick5000]

Map Name: Quintial City

Map Game: Pokemon FireRed

Comments: This map is one of the first cities in a ROM Hack that I am helping with. You enter from the bottom while progressing through the story and leave through the top. It has the first gym, which is a water type. The house with the green roof is a pokemon daycare. The house with the gray roof is the pokemon school. Finally, the house with the orange roof is planned to be the mayor's house and he will give you an HM. All of the house tiles will probably change but other than that we will keep the rest of the tiles the same for the most part.

Mapshot:

Spoiler:

If you can't see the image, right click and click open in new tab, that worked for me. Thanks for reading and please give feedback.

 

[FSBS]

Map Name: Quintial City

Map Game: Pokemon FireRed

Comments: This map is one of the first cities in a ROM Hack that I am helping with. You enter from the bottom while progressing through the story and leave through the top. It has the first gym, which is a water type. The house with the green roof is a pokemon daycare. The house with the gray roof is the pokemon school. Finally, the house with the orange roof is planned to be the mayor's house and he will give you an HM. All of the house tiles will probably change but other than that we will keep the rest of the tiles the same for the most part.

Mapshot:

Spoiler:

If you can't see the image, right click and click open in new tab, that worked for me. Thanks for reading and please give feedback.

I like it by an large, but...
Those mountain edge tiles up at the top right corner where the mart is are ugly and out of place. I use the green water's edge tile (see the ponds in the bottom) in these sort of situations. Stairs never seem to go down in an upwards direction very well, so I'd simply make it a slope with the left and right waters edge tiles I spoke of.
It also seems a little large. Not that that's an issue, but are you going to script dialogue for every NPC in every house? If you are, that's fine. Personally, I'd remove the house in the lower left and put some wild grass there.
Speaking of wild grass, are you placing water encounters in the water? I see a waterfall, so Magikarp and later Gyarados would make sense.
Wild grass around the ponds would be good and give you opportunity to add waters-edge pokemon such as Surskit, Poliwag, some grass types, Zigzagoons, etc. Make the lower left and right sort of town parks. I know the main series doesn't do grass in towns, but I do for Nuzlockes and because in any irl town there's bound to be some place where nature is allowed to take its course.
Another thing is I'd make a bridged stream from the second level to the bottom low land with another waterfall. The daycare should also have its own dedicated area with the fence running around and behind it.
Altogether, if this was my map I'd say it'd need another overhaul. before I start scripting NPCs and items and such. I hope this has been helpful.

 

[ganonrai]

Map Name: Port Orre
Map Game: Fire Red
Comments: This is a preliminary map for the starting town of the hack I'm working on. The premise here is that the land was formed from a river delta, which is why the town is broken up by the river coming from the mountains and surrounded by water. The cave in the mountains gives you access to the power plant that takes advantage of the water fall, and will be blocked off by an NPC until later in the game. The dock takes you to a boat that will lead you to the next big city on your journey. Any critiques or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I've had mappers block recently...

Map

Spoiler:

 

[Jynz]

Map Name: Port Orre
Map Game: Fire Red
Comments: This is a preliminary map for the starting town of the hack I'm working on. The premise here is that the land was formed from a river delta, which is why the town is broken up by the river coming from the mountains and surrounded by water. The cave in the mountains gives you access to the power plant that takes advantage of the water fall, and will be blocked off by an NPC until later in the game. The dock takes you to a boat that will lead you to the next big city on your journey. Any critiques or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I've had mappers block recently...

Map Review:

First impression is that everything is way too square. Land is a lot more curved, especially a delta. The shape of the rocks is great and you should emulate the sort of pattern with the coastline and mountains. I would also recommend you use more flowers and rocks to break up the grass texture and make it feel less plain. My final suggestion is that you consider using a custom tileset. They can really bring maps to life. Good luck with your hack!

Rating: 6/10

My Map:

Map Name: Aroma _______ (Not sure. Too small for village)

Map Game: Pokemon Haze

This is the player's hometown in my new ROM hack of Fire Red. The bottom house is the players and the top is the rivals. Path at the top leads to route 1 which is around the edge of a forest. Not a whole lot else to say really.