Robotam's guideline to good maps - PART 3

[Robotam]

How important is maps?

To make a game look good you have to make the maps look good first. Everyone wants the places you go to in your game to have lots of details, their eyes want explore another world in your game and therefore mapping skills are one of the most important things in a game. A person doesn’t like to play a game when you're just walking on a simple path when they've got nothing to focus on but this one path. I've seen such mapping in a couple of games and I tell you now, that IS terrible map making!
Today I'm going to teach you how to make dungeons look very fascinating and special.

 Part 3 - Dungeons

Dungeons are the thing in a game that is supposed to make the player terrified. To make them afraid good map making is a have to. The dungeons are not to be made of some empty corridors all the way; it needs big rooms with puzzles and such. I'm not talking "Legend of Zelda puzzles" but at least some things that give the player a challenge to get through it all.
There are also some special kinds of rooms you have to have in a dungeon.
I'll tell you which they are.



As you can see this rooms gives you a lot of options because it has so many places you can choose to go to. But as we all know one of these places have locked door so we have to go and get a key for that room, classic RPG. And that's why you need such a room, to make the player a little lost so he feels that he must explore the dungeon even more to get that key.

Here's another room you should have.



This is the room before you meet the boss in the sewers. You should know that when a player enters a dungeon he always knows that he'll run into a boss at the end of it. And that is what makes the player terrified. As you can see this room tells you that when you go through that door it'll be boss time, and therefore this is the room where players gets most scared. It's also good to place a save point in such a room.

Here’s yet another super cool room/place you might want to add.



There's a temple kind of building in the top right corner, why you ask? After all, you're already in a volcano dungeon?
Alright, now I'm going to teach you a really important thing about dungeons. The player always want a dungeon to vary a little, looking at the same type of chipset through the whole dungeon makes them tired of them and therefore if you place a new type of dungeon in the dungeon you're making as  I have done here it will get a lot more interesting.
For an example, if you're in a mine make the player fall down to a new level were the mine turns into an Ice cave or something like that.
These are all very important things when you make a dungeon.

Let's move on to how to make them, shall we?
Like all other maps you begin with the lower layer.
Make a lot of different types of grounds just like you did in the previous village tutorial. If it's a cave make the area rocky, a spooky castle then do whatever scary things you can do with your lower layer.
The important thing is that it must vary a lot. And like you can see in all these maps I always made a small stairway up to a different place and that is for not making the map look too rigid.
Water is usually important in dungeons too, there should always be at least one map that has a little water to make the player thirsty.
No, but seriously water IS important.

When you're finished with the lower layer move on to the detailing.
Dungeons are a little special so you shouldn't make all room over-loaded with details, we don't want to make the player confused, do we? But other than that just do as I told you in the previous tutorials. Detail the wall and empty places with whatever things you see fit, and when you're happy with the map keep it that way. But keep in mind, not "too" much details in dungeons!

That's all for the dungeons, my friends.
I might have explained bad sometimes, but the best way of learning how to do maps is also to watch how others makes them.

Up comming Tutorials

Robotam's guideline to good maps - PART 4: Forests

[InsaneJP]

very nice robotam!! cant wait for the forest one!

[Dragonium]

Very, very nice. I believe I've learnt something.

Can't wait for the next one.

[Robotam]

Thanks, guys. I believe the next one won't be seen until next week since I'm going to be away for a week starting tomorrow.
Unless I can finish it sometime tonight that is.

[Ian'sRPGstuff]

that would be good but no rush man btw i luving it.

[Tomi]

Very Nice.

[Robotam]

Domo arigato minna! ^_^
And yeah, I'll think about what you mentioned Ian.

[Drace]

That second one reminds me of FFIX. Where you have to fight that big weird water guy.

[Linkforce]

This one is really good.  I cant wait for the forrest one.  (Thats my weak point)

[Drace]

If I want to see how to create a good forest I'll just play Jagged Alliance 2 for a while. Enough forest there.

[PyroAlchemist]

*claps and whistles* Once again I say good job Robotam:D

[Tomi]

Originally posted by Drace
That second one reminds me of FFIX. Where you have to fight that big weird water guy.

I believe you mean FFVII.

[Lighting Half Dozen]

Damn. you'r good with MaB.

[ivan mage]

 

[coasterkrazy]

Originally posted by Tomi

quote:

Originally posted by Drace That second one reminds me of FFIX. Where you have to fight that big weird water guy.

I believe you mean FFVII.

I think it's sort of like a mix of Gizamaluke's Grotto and the sewer that Don Cornio drops you into.

Very nice guide, Robotam. Looking forward to the forest guide!