Hey guys, I'm kinda new to this whole mapping and stuff but I've created this little piece of map. Would gladly take any critique. :D
If you are new to mapping, this is really well done!
But, I have some critique for you.
1.
You have way too much decoration in the map. You have 3 different small trees, 3 diffwewnr big trees, 3 different tall grass, 7 different kinds of flowers, and the lots of water decoration.
I think the appropriate word here is moderation. You have WAY too much details and too many different kinds. Use only 2 or 3 different flowers, and try to group them more. Flowers tend to grow in groups, in towns. Don't use tall grass for decoration. And try not to use different trees in the same map, unless for a REALLY specific purpose. If you want to have different trees in your game, make the tree border have a mix of them, or change when you cross a sea or mountain, like in DPPt.
2.
You are using to small spaces for the player to walk. The map looks good as just artwork, but for a game, you have to consider that the player needs to have room to move. The red-roofed house only has a 1 tile wide area between the lab and itself for the player to go through. That is bad map design. Secondly, who would build their house so that they can barely reach it? It doesn't make sense. The same goes for the top right house. The flowerbox limits the tiles the player can walk through to 1 tile wide as well. Same problem.
3.
The map flows bad. There is no since of direction. Everything feels random.
When designing a map, you want the player to unintentionally walk towards things.
This is can be done by making the roads flow well, so the player wants to follow the roads, and they lead the player to the right area/house. It can also be done by interesting things, attracting the player towards the area or simply forcing the player to go that way.
Your map, has no sense of flow at all.
You need to make the roads more clearly lead to the buildings so the player can easily go there without having to think about it. You need to remove unneeded areas which distract the player for no value. For example the top left cornere behind the red house, or the empty area beneathe the lake. You also need to move the beigeroofed house, or the stairs behind it.
Right now, you are literally "hiding" the stairs behind the house, which is bad flow design. You want the exit to a town to be blatantly obvious and easy to get to.
Still, I give the map
6/10, because you have the basics on mapping down. You don't have empty space and you know how to use your tiles properly. This is still good, but it could be better!