Need some overworld creativity tips...

[Arathorn21st]

I've seen many great quests (Mr. Z's come to mind) that have simply fantastic overworlds. But every time I attempt one, it's downright horrible. I'm fairly confident in my dungeon abilities, but how can I create a better natural-looking OW? Any tips on the process of how you better ZQuesters develop an overworld would be greatly appreciated.

[Tsukuru]

A wealth of information on making good maps can be found in this thred:

http://www.armageddongames.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72930

I have a few tips to add. If you're making a full 8x16 overworld definitely plan out the location of dungeons and other important areas ahead of time.

Also, you can make an overworld look more natural by making it look random - instead of having a river go straight through your screen, make it curve. Instead of having a square block of trees, make their position to each other less uniform and plop trees in other random areas of the screen.

[Arathorn21st]

Thanks, I'll bookmark that. I think the problem is that my mind is so logical, it can't create anything except the most straightforward paths...:rolleyes:

[Tsukuru]

All it takes is practice, like everything else. The more time you spend making quests, the better you'll get.

[DeathLink]

about trees, if you ever have been camping or something, you might have noticed that trees grow in clumps of about 2 or 3 then about 10 feet away you have another group of trees, keep that in mind

[redmage777]

If you have the skill, customise a few of your tiles. Simply making a copy of your trees that are a slightly brighter or darker color can make the world seem more natural(If the cset has one more shade the tree is already using) .

Try mixing tree styles as well, some may work beter then others. Try the round tree from LA, with the double-decker looking tree from Oricle of Seasons, and maybe a dead tree here and there as well.

BTW These ideas assume that you are using Pureset, but the can apply to most any tileset if you know what you are doing.

[cccc]

Try adding different kinds of trees instead of just having one kind of tree.

[Mr. Z]

Arathorn21st, if you want I can send you some nice overworld screenies to get inspiration.
If I just knew your email adress... :p

[Arathorn21st]

Ok, I unhid my email address. Feel free to send me some screenies.

[Mr. Z]

I'm pretty stupid and can't find a way to sent you email, could you just give it to me here? :/

[Arathorn21st]

[email protected]

[Mr. Z]

I'm going to send them now, have fun.