At the request of Jeroak (and cause I honestly feel the maps are the best thing about Torayu. Sue me, I'm an egomaniac 
) I thought I'd offer some help to making maps in RPGM3.
First off, the most important thing: If you want to make a good map you are going to need to spend time on it. I spent 5-6 hours (and obviously none of the times include layout) but I was a bit of a perfectionist as Torayu has only one map. Three is a more realistic benchmark for each map you want to have thats high quality. Now, heres a basic step by step guide to making a map:
) I thought I'd offer some help to making maps in RPGM3.First off, the most important thing: If you want to make a good map you are going to need to spend time on it. I spent 5-6 hours (and obviously none of the times include layout) but I was a bit of a perfectionist as Torayu has only one map. Three is a more realistic benchmark for each map you want to have thats high quality. Now, heres a basic step by step guide to making a map:
- 1. Get a concept. Design with boundaries in mind. Start by going into V mode and hitting square (props to RD for this trick.) Go back to G-mode. See the red square? Thats the only walkable part of the map. This is a good feature in that you can make the world seem more "real" by making the map extend beyond reach, but this can easily kill mapmakers doing a rush job. Whether you want water, mountains, or an ingame explanation, whatever, but throwing them in later will kill your whole map. Trust me.
- 2. Save your map and go back to map settings. Choose your elevation, keeping relation to water in mind. Make sure to think about the water level as well. Changing elevation last can easily make parts of the map unwalkable. Is most of it going to be coastal? Low elevation. Mountainous? High elevation. Plains? Medium or low, depending on if you care more about rivers (low is easier to be adjacent) or more of a hilly place (where you go up for hills, down for valleys, and get a wide diversity of heights easily by using medium).
- 3. Go back to the editor and place all the water you think you are going to have. Water is the only always unwalkable terrain (you can walk over lava, but heaven forbid you know how to swim) and the only one that always changes elevation. (I have not yet found a trick to make waterfalls or the ilk. If anyone has let me know, please!) You need to make your map around the stuff.
- 4. Put down a "rough draft" of the other terrain types. Save, exit, and change the defaults (music, weather, etc.) As anything but water is just a "face lift" which actually changes nothing but color, you can do it last. However, you're about to spend at least two hours in V mode so you'll want SOMETHING to look at.
- 5. Preview the map. Preview mode is NOT like playtest mode and has accurate running abilities. (If anyone has found anything to the contrary, again, let me know.) So it's the quickest way to test. First off, when you hit "preview", you'll notice the edges of the map pulse red. If anything else pulses red, that is also unwalkable. When everything you think is walkable doesn't pulse red, just run around a bit, get to know what your map looks like so far.
- 6. Save, and copy if memory permits. If you screw up with V-mode you'll want a working base.
- 7. First, change whatever is supposed to be unwalkable. V-mode is the only dry way to make unwalkable parts of a map. If you've got a high or low elevation map, the simplest way is to make the unwalkable part at the other extreme. (Though high elevation map and low parts are a bit harder. You'll have to constantly check that no shorelines allow you to sneak over, while most ramps upward can only come with deliberate planning.)
- 8. Next, fix up all coastlines. If you ever want to be adjacent to the water, you'll want to generally create a beach for oceans (the game will sometimes do it for you) and just a method down for rivers. If you want a cliff overlooking the water, you can work that too. (However, a high elevation map with rivers digging gorges and everything else being like 250 with land bridges over the water is a no-no. That just looks like you drew rivers for boundaries and called it a day.) Your map's relation to water is a big step. Don't rush it.
- 9. Repeat steps five and eight as necessary. Make sure all the bridges work, the map touches water at all the right spots, and that you can only walk where you want to. Check ALL of the map. Again, this is a very important part.
- 10. Save again. Save over the old copy with a new copy if you're confidant in your map so far. If you're ending step 9, of course, it should be because you're confidant in your map. This is much of the "function" part of the map completed, but the next step could throw a monkey wrench in it. Having two copies is nice.
- 11. Go crazy with elevation. Of course, flat plains exist in nature and can exist in your game. But, honestly, there's a reason that "big empty field" games are in the garbage contest. If your map is flat and boring and you're relying on layout to make it look like anything, you shouldn't read this guide. Your map sucks. Now, if you want a rocky, mountainous place, do a lot of hills. If you want a flattish plain, it can still look good. Just be more gradual with the changes. But now, simply take tools of your choice and make some parts higher. some parts lower. Change the selector size often to avoid it looking too man-made. Make some gradual, some sharp. Try to keep it on average lower at coastlines and higher at mountains you built at step seven (if any) but don't be afraid to have some odd changes. Generally, there should be obvious downward and upward trends, but with lots of small exceptions.
- 12. Repeat step five. Spend at least twice the time you usually do. You need to know whats walkable, whats not, and generally what your map is after you exploderated it.
- 13. Change whatever needs to be changed for all walkable/unwalkable parts to work as you want again. The smoother is your friend if you want to make a map. Trust me.
- 14. Edit with a bit more thought this time. Is there a tacky looking 160 peak at the coastline? Make it a lower peak. A huge dip in a mountain range? It'd look better as a round crater. (What a coincidence, the selector is round!) A ramp that looks like it was built by people when you want it to be natural? Use a small selector and turn it into a winding path with switchbacks. Use preview as needed to remember what it looks like / check out the changes.
- 15. Work on G-mode some more. Now that your map is so much different elevation-wise, you'll probably have a few G-mode changes.
- 16. Save and exit. Make your map settings finalized. Remember NOT TO CHANGE THE ELEVATION OF THE MAP, but change anything else to fit your new idea of your map.
- 17. Tweak it. This is the fun one. Maybe you've got a little path that almost leads to an island. If it's walkable, why not finish the path? Can you almost get into a cool looking crater? Change elevation a little bit to let you do it. You'll find that you've inadvertently designed cool locations by messing around in V-mode with no plan at all. Now you just need to make them work. Just preview, find a location of interest, figure out what needs to be changed, and change it. Then preview to a different part of the map.
- 18. Run around one last time. Go in preview. Run to every location on the map. Walk everywhere you possibly can. Write down your thoughts. Then go back to step 17 and address those thoughts. Only when you have nothing bad to write down about your map can you go on:
- 19. Save and delete your copy. Show a friend if possible. Congrats, you have a map. This is your baby. With all that time, you'll probably be really defensive against any criticism to your map. Make sure to listen to whatever anyone has to say about it, though. Fresh eyes can really do wonders. Oftentimes, you will have held an idea about your map from step one that evolved as you edited. Someone who is seeing the final product first will not hold that idea, which might hurt your game. Friends are your friends.
- 20. Time to put events on that sucker!
A game-maker's work never ends (till their game is published.) Though, with all those cool locations you've designed in step 17, I'm sure theres room for at least one easter egg.
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