Iron Mapper IRON MAPPER: Trial IV

Deo · Dec 7, 2017

Can you handle the cutthroat and perilous trials set forth by the judges?
This is IRON MAPPER: Relic Castle's mapping competition!

Trial IV. Town & Route Duo Maps
Deadline: Wednesday, December 20th 2017
SEASON 3 DISCUSSION THREAD
RESULTS

Iron Mapper
Iron Mapper is a mapping competition on Relic Castle. Each mapping competition, otherwise known as a "trial", will have a deadline clearly stated, and you will have this time to complete and submit a map according to the theme and criteria of the trial. Once all submitted maps are judged after the deadline (this depends on the volume of entries, usually a few days), the judges will post the results, and prepare for the next trial.

For more information (overall rules, how judging works, a list of trials) please visit this thread.

Trial IV. Town & Route Duo Maps
Deadline: Wednesday, December 20th 2017
Welcome to the first ever duo challenge trial in Iron Mapper!

In this trial, you will team up with a partner and you'll both work on two maps that are directly connected. This means that if the player was to find your maps in a game, they could walk on to the other map without having to go into a house, cave, etc. The connected maps in this trial should be a town/city and a route.

Beyond that and the following criteria, have fun with this trial! Good luck, everyone!

The following criteria must be met:

Your maps can be made with any tilesets you want provided the tiles are public. You must include credits for the tiles with your submission if they aren't your own.
Each of your maps cannot exceed 90x90 tiles in size.
Your two maps cannot be one big map.
Your maps must connect directly; connections via anything other than a direct connection will not count towards fufilling the theme requirements.
You can only enter one group with another member. You cannot be apart of multiple groups.
You must work with another person. If you cannot find another person to work with, send me a direct message and we'll talk about the possibility of you entering solo. Please try to find a partner, though.

Your judges for this trial are:
@Deo
@Atomic Reactor

A tip from the judges:
"Delegate the work on the maps however you like, but make sure the mapping style on both of them is consistent!"

Finding a Partner
There's a few different ways you could find a partner to work with. Feel free to ask in the season 3 discussion thread, or even in the Relic Castle Discord!

Submitting Your Entries

Dawn Bronze · Dec 18, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Alpun Town

Route Map Name: Alpun Trail

Critique Requested: No thank you!
Mapper Duo: @Dawn Bronze and @CloonieKing
Credits: Fanking Omega, Magiscarf and Dawn Bronze for tileset:

We decided to go for a pair of wintry maps! This is the starting town and first route of a region during the depths of winter. The name 'Alpun' comes from the words 'Alpine' and 'Apun', the proto-Eskimo word for snow on the ground.

Alpun Town
The people of Alpun Town are warm and friendly despite the cold weather, except from the grouchy old man who live alone to the far south... Professor Larch's laboratory can also be found her, where she studies the weather and seasons, and the effects these things can have on Pokémon. She also occasionally gives young trainers in the region their starter Pokémon.

Alpun Trail
This route is well known for being a comfortable challenge for beginner trainers. It's gentle slopes and occasional light snow flurries provide just the right level of challenge, while not being overly hard to traverse. Whilst the river that runs through the route is frozen at this time of year, it's not thick enough to walk across, splitting the route in two. A variety of Pokémon can be found on this route, some of which are even quite rare:

(Credit to Elazulmax, Versekr Dark, xiechayghe, goranthegreat and leParagon for the Vulpix sprite)

We both had a lot of fun with this trial, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's entries by the 20th!

theAcecelgor · Dec 20, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Summit Town

Route Map Name: Riverside Path

Critique Requested: Yes Please
Mapper Duo: @theAcecelgor and @Jamais
Credits:
Magiscarf
Aigue--Marine
LotusKing
Kaliser
JesusCarrasco
SailerVicious
and everyone who contributed to this tileset

This map was inspired by my and Jamais' hikes we do with our explorer unit. Summit Town is loosely based on Ditchiling Beacon and Riverside Path is based on a river we walk over that has 2 bridges crossing over in the middle.

Radical Raptr · Dec 20, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Aurum Village
Town Map:

Route Map Name: Midas Way
Route Map:

Critique Requested: Yeah!
Mapper Duo: @bir al jr and @NuclearOmega

Tileset:

Credits: My own tileset
Notes: We decided to play to our strengths and work on a mountainous terrain style map. For this town and route it takes place on a mountain that has been settled for it's rich ore deposits. In the mines there are nuggets and evolutionary stones, as well as some fossils and other such items. These goods are mined and sold in town in the street vendors as well as shipped out to other areas. The town was originally an area with a few shacks built for the miners, but it eventually grew into a smaller village and town as time went on and people began flocking there. As the area was developed further, the foliage was chopped down, however on Midas Way there was a berry path that was planted on the rich soil that eventually grew into the grove that it is today and is tended to by the residents.
Also, design wise, the maps don't line up side by side, but rather match on a repeated texture (you can tell by the cut-off drill) They connect with the Town on the left side and the route on the right side at the path on the bottom of each map.

Streetie · Dec 21, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Barren Peaks
Town Map:

Route Map Name: Route 14
Route Map:

Critique Requested: Yes please! (we know some places are cramped up, so please critique other than that :))
Mapper Duo: @xThatOneGuy and @Streetie
Credits: https://midnitez-remix.deviantart.com/art/Pokemon-Map-Fog-Tutorial-320744056, https://br.pinterest.com/pin/651192427341152579/, https://chaoticcherrycake.deviantart.com/journal/Credits-for-Tiles-367931482 and Hek el Grande for the waterfall tiles
Notes: The Barren peaks are an isolated location mostly filled with steep cliffs. In the past, people worshipped a Lapras here, because the Lapras' ability to create flowing streams of ice helped the people not dry out. The Lapras seems to be still alive, which is why the peaks have water on top of them. The waterfalls in the town seamingly leading to nowhere end up in a "secret" map for the player to explore where the player can encounter this specific Lapras.
In the attachment is a picture of the maps joined together.

[/IMG]

Edit: I forgot to add some credits, but nothing else changed with the edit.

Chase · Dec 21, 2017

Trial: Town and Route Duo Challenge
Town Map Name: Overgrown Hamlet
Town Map:

Route Map Name: Reclaimed Freeway
Route Map:

Critique Requested:
Mapper Duo: chase and Mashirosakura
Credits:
Some ripped Gen 4 Tiles by: https://thunderdove.deviantart.com/art/HGSS-Tileset-Mountains-Rocks-201086066
Some more ripped Gen 4 Tiles by: https://akizakura16.deviantart.com/art/4th-gen-Outdoor-Tileset-613857695
Some new tiles by both Mashi and I

https://imgur.com/a/wuSEk

its a lot of empty space mostly cause I didn't know how many new tiles we would need to add.

needless to say, i may have had too much space.

Notes:

We both decided to try something more unconventional by making our maps post-apocalyptic!
At this point in time of the map, nature has reclaimed this abandoned area.

In regard to the order of the maps, the route is below the town.

Hope you like it ;)

aiyinsi · Dec 21, 2017

Trial: Trial IV. Town & Route Duo Maps
Town Map Name: St. Iniro
Town Map:

Route Map Name:Thirasian Delta
Route Map:

Critique Requested:Yes please.
Mapper Duo: @Arma, @leilou
Tileset:

Credits:

We made the tileset using:
dawns tileset
dawns credits:

Dawn Bronze
Spriter's Resource:
Heartlessdragoon
DeviantART:
TheDeadHeroAlistair
Calis Projects
Cilerba
Magiscarf
DaNerdyDude
XDinky
KyleDove

We also used Heartlessdragoon's Emerald Outside tileset

Also I ripped some stuff from Emerald edition so credit to Gamefreak, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo

Also Arma and me recoloured and edited some sprites.(Arma did a dang good job with colors)

Notes:
Story:
Welcome to the city of St. Iniro, a tropical haven in the southern seas. The white stone it is built on does not allow for any natural plant growth. Instead, its citizens are world renowned gardners, taking great pride in the vibrant atmosphere the flora provides. Southeast of the city is the Thirasian Delta, striking a stark contrast against the St. Iniro's lazy atmosphere. The ancient ivory bridges aren't easily crossed, as footing on the slippery rocks can be extremely treacherous. The river Thirasis deposits rich soil particles on the entire bay area, resulting in ample biodiversity.

Something more personal:
We had a blast doing this trial. We really spent a lot of time on the tileset this time. It was also intersting taking turns with mapping on the same map. We both learned a few things by doing this.

HollowGap · Dec 21, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Kristle Town

Town Map:

Route Map Name: Route 32/Indan Falls

Route Map:

Critique Requested: Yep!
Mapper Duo: @Presley and @HollowGap
Credits: Johto tileset compilation. Presley added the christmas tree and loot boxes.
Notes: If you slide off the cliff, it's instant game over in the game (jk).

Venus · Dec 21, 2017

Trial: Town & Route Duo Map
Town Map Name: Rosche Town
Town Map:

Route Map Name: Kreffy Path
Route Map:

Critique Requested: Yes
Credits: Dawn Bronze, Kyle-Dove, Dewitty, ThunderDove, UltimoSpriter, WesleyFG, Magiscarf, Peekychew, Zeo254, LogiedanT-T, Gigatom, Heavy-Metal-Lover, Lightbulb15, DonLawride, 0NegaXFMP0, Tratas.

Deo · Dec 21, 2017

Thank you for your entries! We'll be reviewing them within the week and announcing the results when we've reviewed all options!

Deo · Jan 1, 2018

Trial IV. Town & Route Duo Maps
RESULTS
Submissions: 8
Deadline: Wednesday, December 20th 2017
SEASON 3 DISCUSSION THREAD

Thoughts

This was the first duo challenge, but hopefully not the last! It was cool to see people partner up and make some maps with a friend; working with others really can bring forth new ideas! From what's been said with the entries, and on the Relic Castle Discord, most of you had a really good experience in this trial and learned something new while working with another person. That's what we love to hear!

As always, thank you to everyone who entered!

Trial Champions: Streetie & xThatOneGuy and leilou & Arma

Streetie & xThatOneGuy's map shows off a unique idea for a town and a route high up on some steep cliffs. These two maps look fun to explore, and would definitely be memorable in a fan game given how striking they both are. leilou & Arma's map shows off what some pretty solid mapping can do for an area; both the town and the route are mapped extremely well. We're big fans of the aesthetic of both maps, and would love to explore both areas in a fan game one day!

Kudos to both groups!

Streetie & xThatOneGuy's entry - leilou & Arma's entry

Critiques

Town
- Map feels too open. There's a lot of empty space and it could be a bit more streamlined.
- There's enough buildings to warrant there being roads.
- Having some extra tiles would go a long way; a slight ledge for between the land and water is much needed.
- And on the note of tiles, there's a lot of different styles going on here. You have buildings with outlines, without outlines, trees of varying colors... While not every building has to look the same; cutting down on the amount of different buildings might be an idea and lead to the map having more of a consistent aesthetic.

Route
- While not as open as the other map, this one still feels pretty open. It could use some tightening up in the bottom half.
- The bottom half of the map doesn't really have a lot going for it. It's not very memorable. Despite there being different patches of grass, the player only has to travel through one tile of it. You could cut it in half, fix a few things, and the map would feel relatively unaffected.
- Walking behind a waterfall is a nice touch!

Town
- Town feels very open; it could use some tightening up.
- The layered mountains have some tile errors. The mountains with shadows are being used, which they shouldn't if they're stacked on other mountain tiles.
- A nitpick in the same vein as the above: the mountain tiles around the hole in the middle probably shouldn't use a shadow.

Route
- Same issue with the mountain tiles as the town map.
- Some of the fences have the wrong tile under them; or just aren't transparent?
- It feels a little strange having the pavement road here, especially considering it's just for a portion of the map. Having it be a dirt road would be more interesting, since you could also break that up with the tall grass a bit better and force the player to go through it.
- The area by the cave entrance feels a bit underwhelming; perhaps move the ledges around a little bit and add a few more rocks?

Town
- Sorry, but despite your request, we are going to mention that it's a bit cramped on the map. ;)
- While we're guessing it's done because you don't have sideways ladders, it is a bit strange seeing staircases and ladders both used. Especially because the ladders are in some high traffic areas. (By the Pokemon Center, for example.)
- While not something that counted against you; some of the tile choices. There's buildings with and without outlines, which clash pretty awkwardly. It may also be worth it to look into a waterfall tile that flows into the bodies of water a bit better.

Route
- Not much to say here that wasn't said in the critique for the town, honestly. Maybe slightly adjusting the tall grass color to that of the tree would look cool?
- The illusion of depth with the waterfall by the old man is a nice touch.

Town
- It feels a bit cumbersome to have this path blocked by this tree in the middle. Consider moving it up out of the way a little more perhaps? https://i.imgur.com/WFAHDaM.png
- In the future, please try to see if you can post full size versions of the maps! It's a shame they're at 1/4th the side...

Route
- The one umbrella by the entrance to the town feels a bit out of place when it's just alone. Maybe add a beach chair with it? A very very minor nitpick, but it's all we got!

Town
- The town layout is pretty solid; apart from a few trivial nitpicks.
- The sign by the lab should probably switch places with that tree, it feels a little off having them arranged the way they are now.
- If it's inaccessible, we'd advise against including tall grass on the sides of the cliffs. It doesn't really add anything, and might give players the impression there's wild Pokemon in them or something.
- Feels pretty odd to have bodies of water that have frozen over, and then a completely melted body of water at the bottom of the map.

Route
- If you're exiting from the town on the right side and jump down the ledge, the player could be trapped if they don't have Surf.
- This was mentioned with the town but it feels especially strange here: having some bodies of water completely frozen, and others not at all.
- The really big stretch of grass with the two Rock Smash rocks could be broken up a little bit more.

Town
- The edges of the trees have been cut off.
- The layout of the town is nice and simple.
- Does the battlefield not get used that often? Seems pretty odd to have flowers growing there, untouched.
- That's a bit heavy handed on how many street lamps there are.
- Why does the road continues past the area with the battlefield if there's nothing there other than the one bench? With two street lamps? That feels more like an area for a map exit, or another building.

Route
- The edges of the trees have been cut off in some places.
- The trees in the bottom part of the map feel a bit restrictive to the player's movements, which contrasts with the top part of the map having a fair bit of open space. Even taking the bottom tree off the group of five trees by the sign would help remedy that a lot.

Iron Mapper IRON MAPPER: Trial IV

Deo

Ex-Staff

Dawn Bronze

Trainer

theAcecelgor

Novice

Radical Raptr

Bug Maniac

Streetie

Novice

Chase

Spriter/Writer -- Eevee Expo Host

aiyinsi

A wild Minun appeared!

HollowGap

How am I still alive

Venus

Fragment of a Forgotten Past

Deo

Ex-Staff

Deo

Ex-Staff