Freshening a near finished 32x32 map

[jrhetf4xb]

Map name: Undead Onslaught
People you are looking for: terrainer
Name of the creator(s): jrhetf4xb
Summary of the map gameplay/objectives: A mini arena with trash mobs & boss fights
Map features: HSS, CSS, fast and entertaining gameplay

I'm looking for someone to add a finishing touch to the terrain of my map.
I feel it's somewhat weird and not that pleasant to watch.
That's why I need a few modifications to make it better.
I'll give full credit for the terrain to whomever produces something really nice.

Here's a screenshot so you can get an idea what I've accomplished so far:
http://oi46.tinypic.com/1035wev.jpg

Or maybe you feel it's good already?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Xonok]

Map name: Undead Onslaught
People you are looking for: terrainer
Name of the creator(s): jrhetf4xb
Summary of the map gameplay/objectives: A mini arena with trash mobs & boss fights
Map features: HSS, CSS, fast and entertaining gameplay

I'm looking for someone to add a finishing touch to the terrain of my map.
I feel it's somewhat weird and not that pleasant to watch.
That's why I need a few modifications to make it better.
I'll give full credit for the terrain to whomever produces something really nice.

Here's a screenshot so you can get an idea what I've accomplished so far:
http://i46.tinypic.com/1035wev.png

Or maybe you feel it's good already?
Thanks in advance!

What's making it look weird to me is that there are no transition doodads. That term doesn't really exist, so I'll explain.
Basically to make a map look more polished you place some tiny little doodads, like shrubs and bushes. If you place them well, then it will look more natural. They are especially useful and needed when making transitions, such as where a tree meets ground(which normally looks awful).

 

[jrhetf4xb]

I don't have the feel for these things, that's why I was hoping someone could give a hand and change a thing or two.
Nobody's interested, eh?

 

[Noctunex]

i think it looks good, just playing it later will help in perfecting what is already there. the best games didnt start awesome you know
i suggest u search for doodads in hive there are some doodads that can change a map from bad to good. ex: trees plants rocks

 

[Sick]

Terrain is really weak, but the doodads look decent, however terrain and doodad layer need to work together.

[-] Way too flat.

The terrain height needs to fit the doodads. The view looks awkward when there are often rocks or large doodads like that in the middle of a flat area. Good playable terrains have clear defined terrain structures that create areas for where doodads can be placed without seeming as though they are in the way of the playable area. Take a look at and decent RPG map and you will realize what I mean.

Example

Terrain

With doodads

The large doodads are placed in areas that are clearly identified as unpathable to the player by the cliff structures of the terrain, and tiles are also used to reinforce this elevation difference.

[-] Bad Tiles

Tiles seemed spammed and don't serve much purpose. Tiles should be used to either look good or signal the purpose of an area in a playable map, meaning rock, or poison tiles look best on cliffs and if only used on cliffs players will be able to recognize this and cliffs will become easy to identify pathing indicators.

[-] No Borders

If you want the playable area to be 32x32 make the map size 64x64 and set the camera bounds to say 48x48 so that you can create borders for your arena rather than straight up black mask.

[-] No Flow

A good playable terrain has a sense of flow meaning all the elements lead to something, weather it be a hillside sort of downhill flow or a concave style where it sinks inwards in the middle, because just a bunch of random hills on a flat plane is ugly.

[-] Limited Transition doodads

The areas where you have good doodad placement you do not have very many well placed doodads to hide some of the sharp edges to make the transition from doodad to tile smooth.

[+] Decent doodad variation

 

[jrhetf4xb]

Hey, thanks a lot for the great review and tips.
Actually, I overhauled the whole thing because I got another idea.
Could you comment on this newer piece of terrain: http://oi46.tinypic.com/14d10g1.jpg
I don't know what to do with the terrain around the borders so that it doesn't look so restrictively lame...

 

[Sick]

same exact tips as my other post apply here.

You can use water as a fine border just make the bounds of the map larger so water takes up more space. Go to Options->Map and Camera Bounds, then check the "Modify Map Bounds" box and make the map bounds 64x64 then uncheck that box and move the camera bounds in more so you have a comfortable water border.

With this map the tiles don't look good. And the terrain is also flat. And there are again limited to no transition doodads.