Thoughts on RPG Maker games and map design

Before I started working on Invasion D, I played a couple of other Hentai RPGs based on different RPG Maker Versions.

The first one was Harem, which sadly is on Hiatus atm.
Harem was the game that inspired me to make my own game.
A simple to use Game Engine? With TDCG Graphics? I should try that!
And so I did.

And obviously I was not the only one with that thought, since a lot of RGG Maker games
appeared over the last 2 years or so.

I enjoyed Overwhored quite a lot and once the port to VXA is finished, I'm curious to see,
what's new.
This one does not have TDCG Graphics, but beautiful (and hot ^^) hand drawn images. I wish I could draw better than passable...

One issue that I encountered a lot in other games is bad map design.

So here are some tips on improving your maps:

- Often I see huge maps, without much detail. Which makes the rather boring to explore and
   difficult to orientate.

RPG Maker gives you a lot of resources to make your maps pretty. So you should use them. Plant a bush here and there, a tree, rocks etc. Think Landmarks.

- Don't make huge houses without windows and just a table and a chair in the middle.
   Keep them small and neat.
   Carpets are a nice touch. Hang pictures on those walls, curtains, shelves...

- Cracks in walls can point to a poor neighbourhood.

- Use cracks a lot in ruins.

- Make caves look like caves. They usually have stalactites and rubble lying around.

- Avoid squares! How often do you walk outside in the woods or on a grassy field and see
  tree groves growing in squares? There are no squares in nature, try to make it look as organic
  as you can.


Another thing:

- Make the edges of outside maps clear and do not just lay grass up to the last cell.
  Running into an invisible wall with no visible obstacle is annoying.
  Also, make the exits clear.
  Avoid to cover the edge of the map in green and then place a transport event somewhere in the
  middle. Nobody remembers where that one spot is.

  Mark the edges with trees, fences, water, mountains, rocks... Whatever fits.
  There a many possibilities.

Generally it is a good idea to know beforehand what kind of map you want to make and to have an idea, how it should look like.
Draw a rough sketch of your map before you start building.
You can still improvise and don't shy away from changing things around even if it deviates from your original ideas. You'd be surprised how many new ideas can come from that.
Like you made an island somwhere and next to it another one, just for decoration.

And then you'd think: Hey, why not hide treasures around the main landmass on smaller islands?
Oh and on that one island could be a boss, who drops that awsome weapon! This weapon should give you a special skill! But I already used all the standard skills... Let's make a new one! 
But I don't want it to have a stock animation, why not play around with the animation editor?
Whoa! I made a new animation! And suddenly you learned something that you can use later to improve your game.

So that's my 2 cents on map design.

Happy world building. ^^

Thoughts on RPG Maker games and map design

Before I started working on Invasion D, I played a couple of other Hentai RPGs based on different RPG Maker Versions.

The first one was Harem, which sadly is on Hiatus atm.
Harem was the game that inspired me to make my own game.
A simple to use Game Engine? With TDCG Graphics? I should try that!
And so I did.

And obviously I was not the only one with that thought, since a lot of RGG Maker games
appeared over the last 2 years or so.

I enjoyed Overwhored quite a lot and once the port to VXA is finished, I'm curious to see,
what's new.
This one does not have TDCG Graphics, but beautiful (and hot ^^) hand drawn images. I wish I could draw better than passable...

One issue that I encountered a lot in other games is bad map design.

So here are some tips on improving your maps:

- Often I see huge maps, without much detail. Which makes the rather boring to explore and
   difficult to orientate.

RPG Maker gives you a lot of resources to make your maps pretty. So you should use them. Plant a bush here and there, a tree, rocks etc. Think Landmarks.

- Don't make huge houses without windows and just a table and a chair in the middle.
   Keep them small and neat.
   Carpets are a nice touch. Hang pictures on those walls, curtains, shelves...

- Cracks in walls can point to a poor neighbourhood.

- Use cracks a lot in ruins.

- Make caves look like caves. They usually have stalactites and rubble lying around.

- Avoid squares! How often do you walk outside in the woods or on a grassy field and see
  tree groves growing in squares? There are no squares in nature, try to make it look as organic
  as you can.


Another thing:

- Make the edges of outside maps clear and do not just lay grass up to the last cell.
  Running into an invisible wall with no visible obstacle is annoying.
  Also, make the exits clear.
  Avoid to cover the edge of the map in green and then place a transport event somewhere in the
  middle. Nobody remembers where that one spot is.

  Mark the edges with trees, fences, water, mountains, rocks... Whatever fits.
  There a many possibilities.

Generally it is a good idea to know beforehand what kind of map you want to make and to have an idea, how it should look like.
Draw a rough sketch of your map before you start building.
You can still improvise and don't shy away from changing things around even if it deviates from your original ideas. You'd be surprised how many new ideas can come from that.
Like you made an island somwhere and next to it another one, just for decoration.

And then you'd think: Hey, why not hide treasures around the main landmass on smaller islands?
Oh and on that one island could be a boss, who drops that awsome weapon! This weapon should give you a special skill! But I already used all the standard skills... Let's make a new one! 
But I don't want it to have a stock animation, why not play around with the animation editor?
Whoa! I made a new animation! And suddenly you learned something that you can use later to improve your game.

So that's my 2 cents on map design.

Happy world building. ^^

Status

Happy Sunday everybody.

This week I finished another H-Scene.
This one is a bit interactive, meaning that you have to solve a very small mini game to proceed.
It's again similar to the Foo Snap scene.

Here's a Preview:

Solve this...

...to get to this.

I made 2 short CG Cut Scenes of which the optional one turned out pretty dark, so I decided to give Jeff a big EP boost if he chooses to... well, it involves fire (duh!).

I think he's pissed...

Made a lot of new sprites, mostly nudies, which sounds like fun but is really time consuming...

I extended the Fatienobel South map. It's now roughly double the size compared to the early design and I think I'm going add a dungeon level similar to the Berserker Tower.

Sunny Fatienobel South.

I noticed an increase in my Linkbucks earnings this week. So my last call to click the links with a fresh IP has been heard. ^^
Keep doing that.

BTW, all animation test gifs are going into my new gifpack, which will be released with the next update as a donor bonus. Most of them are not cropped like the preview gifs on this blog and around 1088*832 pixels. Donors will receive the link and password via email along with the code to unlock the game donor content.

See you.

Status

Happy Sunday everybody.

This week I finished another H-Scene.
This one is a bit interactive, meaning that you have to solve a very small mini game to proceed.
It's again similar to the Foo Snap scene.

Here's a Preview:

Status

Hello everybody.

Here's another Status Update.

The Show Bar and Casino Maps are finished and you can now play a slimmed down Version of Micromax at the Casino. There are a couple of pretty nice pizes to win, like the Battle Wang Combiner, in case you did not find it in the Asylum.

I completed a couple of interior maps for the Southern Islands, made a new Faceset for a new playable Character called Cheree. This is one of the pictures of her when you first meet her (and are a Donor).

Also, I made a new Bonus Pic. There are now 13 total already in the game. The Bonus Gallery allows non Donors to view 10 of them, if you found them. Every picture above 10 is forn Donors only.

Momentarily I'm doing a lot of detail work on the maps, but with most of the grapical stuff out oft the way (face sets, charsets, remaking the Portal sprite,etc.) the story is finally progressing again, which was about time!

I think with the next releases, I will be going away from uploaded the others and switch to mega.
Rapidgator and mediafire made it a habit to delete my files and uploaded is just so damn slow.
Also, I requested a payout from Uploaded a couple of months ago (50,something €) and I still got nothing, so I kind of feel scammed...

That's it for today, don't forget to click on the download links once a day and wait for the countown to finish.
Do it 50000 times and my uploaded loss would be evened out. ^^

Status

Hello everybody.

Here's another Status Update.

The Show Bar and Casino Maps are finished and you can now play a slimmed down Version of Micromax at the Casino. There are a couple of pretty nice pizes to win, like the Battle Wang Combiner, in case you did not find it in the Asylum.

Patch links

The rapidgator link was down for some reason.

I reuploaded the file.

The link should be working now.

Additionally I added a link to mediafire, just to be save.

These are the links to the latest patch:


Mirror1 Patch 0.4.2.2g
Mirror2 Patch 0.4.2.2g
Mirror3 Patch 0.4.2.2g



As always, copy them to the folder "Patches" inside your game main directory.
See the FAQ for details.



Also, the rapidagator link for the first part of the game rar is down. 
Seems Rapidgator is a dick ass cunt has problems with my files again.
Edit: Mediafire is an even bigger cuntasscockdickwhoregoodfornothingbitch troublemaker.
Replaced the link with a mega link.

Oh, and if you want to do me a fovor without donating, just click all the links once a day with a fresh IP. ^^

Patch links

The rapidgator link was down for some reason.

I reuploaded the file.

The link should be working now.

Additionally I added a link to mediafire, just to be save.

These are the links to the latest patch:

Status

Hello everybody.

Yepp, I'm back at work.

What I did this week:

-Playing again to get back into the game and to create clean saves

-added a basement dungeon to the Magic Item Shop

-inside this dungeon you can find a very powerful item

-created battle animations for said item

-added some more battler animations

-fixed a couple of minor bugs

-ran around naked in my apartment since the woman is away to see her newborn niece and to help her brother

-baked pizza all for myself *harhar*

-found away to create clean energy from thin air  got drunk with a friend again since forever

I hope to get back to main plot line by next week.
 

Status

Hello everybody.

Yepp, I'm back at work.

What I did this week:

-Playing again to get back into the game and to create clean saves

-added a basement dungeon to the Magic Item Shop

-inside this dungeon you can find a very powerful item

-created battle animations for said item

-added some more battler animations

-fixed a couple of minor bugs

-ran around naked in my apartment since the woman is away to see her newborn niece and to help her brother

-baked pizza all for myself *harhar*

-found away to create clean energy from thin air  got drunk with a friend again since forever

I hope to get back to main plot line by next week.
 

Patches, Cake and Pussy

Just a reminder to always install the latest patch and to read comments that were already published.



Oh, and I'm working again! Yay!

How do you motivate a man?
See for yourselves...

Patches, Cake and Pussy

Just a reminder to always install the latest patch and to read comments that were already published.



Oh, and I'm working again! Yay!

How do you motivate a man?
See for yourselves...