Has anyone ever made one? I mean like good detailed maps just for the sake of the story of the game. I'm asking about my book of course but I'm pretty sure maps would help a game developer a lot as well. They can give the player a feel of where everything is. What I mean to say is, I find it a little strange that as soon as you end a forest level, the next level starts off in a desert. I think a map can serve as a good transition between levels and can help make the levels be more coherent.
Anyway, I got a little carried off. I was gonna ask about whether there's a good program or a good way to create Lord of the Rings-esque maps. I tried Bryce on a friends computer and but its good at generating landscapes and mountains mainly and it cant make LOTR like maps. Any tips?
Just get out the pen and paper mate!
Back when I was a kid and just drawing out games for fun, used to design large maps (both top and sideview). twas fun going off where the wind would travel and cause deserts, or how a river would meander its way down towards the ocean, and plotting where cities would go based on logistics/access to water etc.
I used to make maps when I was younger with the games, but now I feel its better to design them as they feel in-game, rather than on paper, in order to make them feel as natural as possible. I really hate translating levels from concept to game, instead of making them on the spot. It just feels like I'm making things artificially sometimes. But I think some of my games would have benefited if I'd given players *world maps* when I didnt, so that they couldn't get lost. For example, I wrote a program for gridquest that could export map images from any level, but I never actually posted or included it. But I like the idea of having a world map sort of thing so the player has a sense of direction, like what metroid or castlevania games have.
Btw, heres a little puzzle for you. You can only 'slide' along the ice in Gridquest, like chips challenge. So you can move from each platform left right up or down like a rook in chess, but only to the next platform. You can't change directions on the ice itself. And if you hit any of the black tiles on the sides, it throws you back to the entrance in the middle. This puzzle was a lot more difficult in game where you had a smaller screen and you'd slide blindly into the edges. Goal is to make it to the middle, where the purple warp tile and 3 super-duper treasure chests are. (the grey walls stop you from sliding when you hit them).
I think making in-depth maps like that really is something reserved for strategy guides, when the game should just hve a world map
@ James May - That's what I do too That's what I was asking though. How to translate from paper to PC in a LOTR-esque manner.
@ Pixelthief - I agree, world maps help definitely. And can you post a solution to that puzzle as well? I've been trying to figure it out for a while now. I can't find my way to the purple point.
Here's a map with 3 different styles that I created. Which one do you prefer? Criticism always welcome. Takes a while to load though.
Plain
Dark & Grainy
Old Style - I think this one looks a lot like an old map. Personally, I like this one better cause it seems a like a map from medieval times.
What the? Haha, I thought you could only go from platform to platform. I didnt know you could go to an ice area near the walls.
So that's one vote for the 2nd one. I wonder which one seems more medievalish though.
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That's what I was asking though. How to translate from paper to PC in a LOTR-esque manner.
Edited by Pixelthief
