Okay, just because Kaz asked so nicely (even though I'm not first) and to prove I have a sort of solo community game going on, here's some of what I have. I'm using a mixture of default and Mack sets (with SwapXT) by the way. I may branch out passed this in later areas, but for now I'm planning to stick with these for the most part since it's my first project and I'm trying to get in the hand of consistency. These aren't perfect, but hopefully you will find something you like about these.

First up, we have AMerk's Treehouse. To start off, it must be stated that I had some gender confusion when I first began working on this game. The biggest example of this is that in my game X-M-O is a guy, as I never realized he was really a she until much later (again, my apologies, X). Needless to say, X-M-O has given me his (er, I mean her) blessing to appear as a guy in my game. Also, it must be noted that the in-game staff don't seem to think highly of AMerk. I mean, what a shocker!

Good thing Redd isn't around anymore to ban me.



Next up is Practice Woods, the first area of the game. Don't you like the Potato Head outfit Penguin designed for my sprite? Okay, he didn't give me much to work with, so I'm just using a bit of imagination, but he did give me a sort of goofy glasses and nose combo.



A shot depicting the island that the game takes place on. It's small, and it's... well, no easy way to say this without sounding profane, but the island is called Shitty Island. And thus here our three main misfits (er... heroes) stand: X-M-O, Jonnie19, and AMerk himself. Also, if you look close enough, you'll see that AMerk is wearing a red mini-skirt... actually it's a red curtain he finds and wears like a mini-skirt. No, that doesn't imply my game is about cross-dressing in addition to gender confusion, it's just something my warped mind decided to add.



And finally, just a random cave shot from the game as AMerk steps on a switch. No special lighting effects, I'm afraid, and I probably won't worry about stupid shadows until I get to Ace.

I don't really see anything to complain about here. It's RTP, and I see what you're doing with it.

There's not a lot you can do with RTP, and so it adheres to the general rules of using tilesets and proper spacing and quantities. It also doesn't clash with colors or fauna. Pretty standard I'd say.

I agree. Why are you using the RTP? I've used it, but I regret it because there are so many open-source tilesets that look much better and could make the maps standout more.

That said, your maps look pretty good. One thing I noticed is that on you world map, by where the snow begins, you have a tree that is half snow-covered and half not. It also looks weird for the terrain to go from greenery and forest to snow so abruptly.

Thanks. To answer the questions about the RTP, it's not just RTP, it's a mixture of using both that and the Mack... well, I guess Mack gets so overused it becomes considered RTP these days.

But as this is my very first project, I wanted to be more focused on the design of the game mechanics, and less so on the graphical output, while still trying to create maps that were somewhat decent. Mapping is not my strongpoint, and I fear I'd become lazy and quit before the game was done if I worried too much about the tilesets being used.

Also, it's a small (4-6 hour) comedy rpg, not quite the epic standards of a lot of games here. My next project, which won't be comedy, will probably have better resources beyond the RTP.

As for the half green / half snow tree, it doesn't come off looking very good, I admit, but that's actually going to be a forested area, and I wanted to convey the feeling of the forest going from green to snow-covered as they got towards the other end.

Thanks for the feedback, though, I appreciate it, and it lets me know I'm somewhat on the right track (even if it is RTP).

Ah, yeah that's actually a good idea I think. Good mapping is important but mechanics are the heart of any game, so it's good that you're focusing on that :-)

I wanted to offer a suggestion on your worldmap.

You're using quiet a fe mountains for a small area. At first it's not that big of a deal or too noticeable, but perhaps adding a beach or coast or island somewhere. Perhaps find another means of barriers besides mountains and try working with those. It may make it seem a bit more natural.

That is true, and while I've been building the game around what I have I've also been trying to modify this map a bit, even if it's places that won't be visited. The whole game takes place on this one island, but I may open up the beach around the oasis area, and add a couple non-accessible islands around the area.

Thanks for that idea!

Edit: Although this comment:

It may make it seem a bit more natural

Considering the abnormality of a bunch of staff members running around chasing noobs while one of us is in a mini-skirt, a bit of "natural" will be fresh.