Map Rating/Review Thread

[Otter]

Brushing up on the topic again..

Okay thanks, I see your point.

Well hopefully this is the last time im posting this map, as too not spam the thread.

There are probably too many rocks in the water but im too lazy to change that now.

Map Shot:

Spoiler:

Apart from the tile errors which have already been pointed out (and I agree, if you're having that much trouble adjusting them to their surroundings, just take out those lumps entirely), you've made a huge amount of progress with this map. Due to what kind of map you started out with, it's difficult to take away the space and squareness completely without basically redoing the map. But you've done a good job with what I told you, especially the trees, paths, and rocks. Just a few last things I'll point out in particular, but otherwise I suggest you keep trying new maps, and always start as small as possible. Only increase size when you're truly running out of room to put something you want. Smaller maps that are well made are generally more appealing than huge maps, and you'll run into the space problem a lot less. It's a difficult idea to adjust to, and even I'm working on it myself, but do pay attention to your initial map size. With that being said, time to point out details!

Top Left Entrance. Winding paths are useful to put in routes, and are a good idea when you make them interesting with stuff, such as trainers and tall grass, and so on. Giving a city exit such an unnecessary twist? I don't really like it. Think about the purpose it serves for your city. Now if there really is one, then my apologies, but otherwise just try to simplify that. Having a big patch of trees in that spot won't kill you, so there's no big need to fill it up with something.

Elevation Levels. Make sure that when you pick a certain level (in this map, the grassy city) to be above another part of your map (the beach), stick to that relationship whenever you add those mountain ledges. Throughout most of your map, the city is two levels above the beach, but notice that in the top right corner, you put the mountain as a level above both, thus giving the impression that the city and the beach are at the same height. When you work on fixing the tile errors right before that, you should clearly see how that mistake works and you'll have no trouble fixing it.

That's just about it for this map. It's not the greatest map out there, but you made a tremendous amount of improvement. Use what you've learned from this map, and try applying it to brand new maps. If you ever need inspiration, try thinking about something I said in another topic about mapping. Your maps should try to portray a realistic location through the game, not just serve as an obstacle course for a video game character. Think about what you're mapping first. Once you have a clear image in your head of the kind of place you want to map, then go for it. Best of luck to you!

Final rating: 6.5/10

Moving on...

Iii thought i should post mah map here.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Comments: The palettes are not Wesley's! Anyway... i know time doesn't really matter but this took me 3 hours.
Credits: Saurav, Kyledove, Nintendo, Deviation, Linkandzelda <3, Zeikku and myself.

EDIT: OH and Alucus for the pond. ;D
bb

Well first off, I like the tiles. I realize this doesn't affect the rating, but the palettes go pretty well together imo. That being said, I actually can't find anything too wrong with this map. You have a large variety of trees and flowers, which adds nicely to the natural feel. Overall it's a fine map, so all I have is just suggestions and not even critiques.

The Pond. No, there's nothing wrong with it, but looking at the trees to the left of it, I thought of a perfect place to put a hidden item. I personally find maps to be more interesting when there are things to find, and I think an item could be placed by where that red flower is. Just move around one or two of the trees so that the player can walk through, and bam! I just think it's worth considering. ;p

Red Flowers. The ones by the house, specifically. I think you might've overdone it a little bit there. The red does have a sharp contrast with the greens, so while a few scattered flowers is fine, I think taking out one or two would be a good idea. I'm just scavenging for things to point out, so if you disagree, then that's fine too.

I don't think this map is worth a long rating since I can't find anything really wrong with it, so I'll stop here. The only reasons why I wouldn't give this a perfect score is that it doesn't have any "amazing" factors that go for it, and it's a bit small. But I'm not "marking down", I'm just simply not giving it the last boost up. It's a solid map nonetheless. Good job! And again, nice tiles.

Final rating: 9/10

 

[Rabbit]

The city is in the middle of a grassy valley. I'm taking heed of the advice and adding alot more. What else should be added? More buildings?

I guess I can see your point. If you want to create the illusion of open space in a map, leaving lots of blank space may seem like the way to go. But maps are not meant to represent reality like that. To turn a route into a field, try first increasing its width by two tiles, not ten. That small change may be enough.

Regardless, you are going to have serious connection problems with this map. It's best if connections between maps are only, say, five tiles in width/height. Yours are going to be...uhh...100 tiles high? You should fill up the sides of your map with trees. (Not rocky outcroppings.) A 30x30 tile treeless area is all you need to represent a treeless, grassy valley.

The city itself should always be quite dense, regardless of what's around it. You can fill up the space with buildings, fences, artfully placed trees, flower beds, park benches, and perhaps water fountains for show. Don't forget to put paths between the buildings. If you make most of the paths vertical and horizontal, the map will have more of a 'city' feel.

Your map is so big, though, that I think you should start with pulling the different buildings closer together, not filling up the space between them.

 

[~Teh Panda~]

Since my other map failed to get rated I did another test in a more "Nintendo" style.

Spoiler:

 

[~NeOn~]

~The Panda~

I liked the map. I see no error mapped.
It has some tiles that I did not like. As one of the floors, but the rest is good.
8.5 / 10

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

Game: Pokemon Eclipse
Map Name: Route 1
Credits: WesleyFG, Saurav, Zein, Zel!x, Xiros for Tiles
Map:

Spoiler:

 

[snap12]

@ Otter and Matteron

Yeah you guys are obviously right. I actually didnt think those lumps were actually considered errors as much as just bad improvising, but I see you guys know what your talking about as always. And that path I made was supposed to be inconvenient and annoying because the building at the end of it is a stereotypical haunted mansion haha.

Anyways, thanks for helping me through the learning stages of mapping. I really appreciate the time you guys take to help me out and give me advice. So yeah, thanks again!

@ Teh Panda

Thats a pretty solid snowmap you have there. Really good fundamentals, AKA no tile errors or bad stuff like that. Personally though, I don't like it when maps dictate the exact path the player has to take. I know that sounds kind of stupid but I like it when routes have things to distract the player from where they should eventually end up. But overall very nice map. 8/10

 

[TB Pro]

Damnit Panda, posted yours before I posted mine. Oh well, you stealed mah edits. Jkjk :P

Map Name: Chilly Way(inventive, I know)
Map Game: Test ROM
Credz: Kyledove, Alistair.
Mapshot:

Spoiler:

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

This is better than my previous map, I think. I think it's nice and playable. Do you think there's anything wrong with it?

It is way too big. D=

Also, give the mountains more shape. Square is a bit odd. =\

 

[Ven]

Sorry to bother, but I really would like a rating on this :x

Game: None
Map Name: Boredom Beach
Credits: Nintendo

Map:
Spoiler:

Spoiler:

@tehpanda
I really likeD this map, especially the variations of trees you used, the grass placement, and your map really emulates the nintendo style perfectly.
I do however think some of the paths are a bit too long running, maybe seperate them with some tall grass.

 

[TB Pro]

Alright, added some more tiles to my snow set. =D


Map Name: Showshire Town
Map Game: Test ROM
Credz: Kyledove, Alistair, Wesely FG, and Zelix.
Mapshot:

Spoiler:

Map Name: Icicle Path
Map Game: Test ROM
Credz: Kyledove, Alistair, Wesely FG, and Zelix.
Mapshot:

Spoiler:

 

[altariaking]

map name: nothing yet
map game: iron and stone
comments: I think I did ok
description: starter town in my hack

Spoiler:

 

[Otter]

Alright, added some more tiles to my snow set. =D


Map Name: Showshire Town
Map Game: Test ROM
Credz: Kyledove, Alistair, Wesely FG, and Zelix.
Mapshot:

Spoiler:

Map Name: Icicle Path
Map Game: Test ROM
Credz: Kyledove, Alistair, Wesely FG, and Zelix.
Mapshot:

Spoiler:

I can haz homework to do, so I'll make this quick, but I felt like pointing out a couple big things I noticed about your maps.

Space. They seem a bit big to me, with too much empty space. I think the second map, Icicle Path, doesn't suffer from this quite as much, but I suggest that both maps be filled in some more or otherwise downsized. (you might be shooting for a bit of emptiness to create the type of terrain/topography you want to portray, but I really do think the town could use a little sprucing up or squishing)

Cliff-into-trees thing. It's a really interesting concept. I've seen goon and several other mappers try it, and the effect was nice. I think the reason it looks iffy on this map is because of the trees. I'm pretty sure the other users of this technique had trees that overlapped and left very little ground showing, thus making it plausible that there may indeed be a cliff there just hidden by the trees. With the amount of snowy ground showing between each tree here, it kinda looks more like the cliff suddenly disappears into the tree. At least, that's the impression I'm getting.

Alright, I'll leave anything else I may have left out to other raters. I like the tiles in this map btw, the mix of trees is good, rocks, bushes, and small clumps of grass add a nice natural effect, and the paths are made in a way that makes sense for the expected path of people. Overall I like the maps, but they just seem a bit empty to me, especially the first one.

[Snowshire] Final rating: 7.5/10 (emptiness is a much bigger problem here)
[Icicle Path] Final rating: 8.5/10

 

[ben_pokemon]

Sorry for posting again, but I had some problems with the images. Ok, once again this is my map. The map is the starting place and is a revamp of Pallet Town. Other than that, I'd really like a professional opinion on this and how I can improve.

Map Name: Floweray Valley
Map Game: Test ROM
Credits: Xiros, Zeikku

Mapshot:
https://i46.tinypic.com/2mhy1bd.jpg

 

[amoliski]

map name: nothing yet
map game: iron and stone
comments: I think I did ok
description: starter town in my hack

Spoiler:

A major problem I see with this is it would be kind of difficult for the player to find the exit. An easy fix would be to move the lab and hill it is on back three or four squares, and continue the path to the right to guide the player out of the town.

Second, is the grass at the top right "tall grass." It could cause problems if the player wanders into it before he/she receives a pokemon.

Finally, you could add a bit more detail in the lower right corner, it is looking very bland, also can you vary your grass tiles a bit, you should have more than that one tile. It makes it look a lot more realistic.

I am not expirenced enough to give it a number rating, so here are three atta-boys and a kudos.

 

[snap12]

Sorry for posting again, but I had some problems with the images. Ok, once again this is my map. The map is the starting place and is a revamp of Pallet Town. Other than that, I'd really like a professional opinion on this and how I can improve.

Map Name: Floweray Valley
Map Game: Test ROM
Credits: Xiros I believe, sorry if I'm wrong.

Mapshot:
https://i46.tinypic.com/2mhy1bd.jpg

I think Amoliski is right about the issue of finding an exit. Other than that, just 2 things.
1. Why is the lake so big for such a small map? If you intended for it to be that way because of an event or something in your hack, make it evident.

2. The second and third layers of mountains on the top of the map fit on each other to perfectly. This is only a problem because you did a good job of giving the rest of the map a natural feel.

Other than that, I don't see any big tile errors. 6.5/10

 

[amoliski]

I don't think we are talking about the same map :P

 

[snap12]

Haha yeah you're right. I noticed that but I was to lazy to change it because I thought your comment weirdly worked for this map as well haha

 

[Ray Maverick]

Map Name: Floweray Valley
Map Game: Test ROM
Credits: Xiros I believe, sorry if I'm wrong.

Mapshot:

Spoiler:

Comments/Suggestions: When i saw this map at first, i thought it's an average map. But when i looked at it carefully, i noticed that something very important is very wrong: the border block. Plability is very important in a map, and is definitely needed.
If player has the HM Surf, they can surf across the pond and end up in the other side of the pond, where there is no map. In nowhere.
Also, if you go near the mountains. They mess with the border block too.
I suggest you prevent the player from going on the edges of the map; so he can't see what's beyond them [border block].
Also, i see some mapping errors in some of the tree's tops.
You need to credit Zeikku for the trees and the grass.

Rating: 3/10 because playbility is the half rating of the map.

 

[ben_pokemon]

Comments/Suggestions: When i saw this map at first, i thought it's an average map. But when i looked at it carefully, i noticed that something very important is very wrong: the border block. Plability is very important in a map, and is definitely needed.
If player has the HM Surf, they can surf across the pond and end up in the other side of the pond, where there is no map. In nowhere.
Also, if you go near the mountains. They mess with the border block too.
I suggest you prevent the player from going on the edges of the map; so he can't see what's beyond them [border block].
Also, i see some mapping errors in some of the tree's tops.
You need to credit Zeikku for the trees and the grass.

Rating: 3/10 because playbility is the half rating of the map.

Thanks Ray M. That heped me a lot. And I would have credited Zeikku but I didn't know whom to credit :/ Anyway, thanks for the rating.

 

[rokrdude]

Game Pokemon Sinnoh Quest
Event after elite 4

Map might look a little empty specially on shores but after trainers added it won't look empty

Spoiler:

So what do u think about map?

 

[Iacobus]

Map might look a little empty specially on shores but after trainers added it won't look empty

Spoiler:

MAP IMAGE <removed>

So what do u think about map?

I'm sorry, but this map is terrible.

• Border block?
• Unnatural looking.
• Land ends abruptly.
• The rock above the water is.. Wrong.
• Over 9000 caves?
• Tile misuse for path.
• Where do you enter/exit the map anyway?
• ...

EDIT: 'Terrible' might have been a little too rude, though this map needs A LOT of work.