My 2D top down oRPG is finally coming to a point where i need to build atleast a test environment or preferably the first area of my game. Retiling the same spot in the world over and over to test features just isnt cutting it so i made an attempt.

I have made a town of 6 houses with some quest areas surrounding it, a graveyard, a farm, etc. As i run around my town testing my quest system it makes the town feel way to large not to mention its hard to look at. I spend longer walking to my quests than completing them even if the fighting balance feels great while doing it. It wouldnt be so bad if it was nice to look at, my detailing of the buildings and environment just sucks.

I google to find guides and tutorials to find very little, either my wording sucks or this just isnt a big problem in the 2d game design world? Ive been trying to use youtube which gives a mediocre feel to it or its not quite the topic i think i want. Can anybody help me based on this description of my problem? I'm not sure what exactly i need, how to map smaller? How to enrich my world through details? Ways to create balance through world development?

Its a few hours of world building so far, nothing i wouldnt toss and restart on. The rest of the features have countless hours and long nights put into them so its only right i make the world perfectly.

hey can i take a look at ur game

7 hours ago, kirito said:

hey can i take a look at ur game

Its not ready for players and as the only dev i havent made a way for anybody else to create the world for me. It would take quite the pitch to become part of this project since you would need source code.

I am still actively finding bugs and adding content to flesh out the work as a whole so the person making the pitch qould be working harder than they should. That said, a large chunk of the necessary systems are already in place for me to be at this step of needing a test environment. Art is open and i have been practicing my pixel art for a few months in anticipation of redoing these free sprites. The game as a whole is very much a work in progress, any multiplayer testing ive done was solo but successful.

I found a couple interesting articles that helped me remake my world tonight.

After roughly 4 hours my 6 blocky house town has become an 8 building metropolis in the same bit of area. Swapping out my building styles was a good change to fit more, i added a few large house sprites and went to town. The monster areas were condesed and i shortened the walks to several outlying areas to be used later. I added more variety in the trees, ground stuff, and village decor. I could still use more resources, seeing these mapping techniques will possibly drive what top down art style i go with ultimately, for now it uses the abundantly available rpg maker style.

I also listened to some Extra Credits on youtube. While basic they do hit some good points in world development which make me think differently while looking at certain spots of my game that served little purpose before. Ive found the best guides for the actual techniques i think im seeking on old visual basic oRPG servers.

How do you suggest we can help you without seeing your town in action? You can just take a couple screenshots, and post the process of improvement to get some followers on social media. At least give us some pointers on what type of style and angle you are drawing your world, there are plenty of tutorials around.

When it comes to world-building, if you have access to any Tabletop RPG game books (Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, etc), there's TONS of useful inspiration and tools in there to help you create.

Good Luck!