Iron Mapper IRONMAPPER Season 6: Trial 3 Early Game Route

Something that I truly appreciate about this map is how friendly it is to newcomers; it has the right amount of mandatory walkable grass tiles, as well as having plenty of room for re-exploring once the player obtains further HMs. The layout also being an actual mirror of itself is a very nice touch.

This map has a couple flows that can be easily fixed. The entrances to the route are a bit too long and uneventful, and can definitely be trimmed just a bit. I think the section down south – over the ledges – could use something else to attract the player to go there; as it stands now, there is no incentive for the player to explore there. I would also suggest pushing each item a bit further away from each other, as both items around the house area are visible within the same screen. I would suggest removing the item across the tall grass – the one in the middle – or making it a hidden item.

The concept of this map is very fun and has a lot of potential, however I don’t think that it was executed properly. It was a bit disorienting trying to figure out which water body was a lake or a puddle. I also have to question the use of the bridge on the big puddle with the tall grass, as it does look off in my opinion. While there is definitely a lot of room to explore, I would consider reducing and condensing the map a bit more.

That mountain must’ve taken you a long time, and I respect that! One glaring issue that I found with this map is that there is a lot going on, but the space is actually quite reduced if you truly look at the map closely, and it generates a lot of visual noise. Encouraging the player to come back later on is rather nice. I just feel like the mountain section could’ve had a bigger play on this route, since you’re already utilising caves as an alternate path. That part at the base of the mountain closer to the southern entrance is also a bit disorienting because it feels like something should be there; a staircase, a rock climb section, or something of the sort.

I couldn’t figure out where the beginning or the end exist in this map. It does give me a wild-area sort of vibe, but it’s hard to pull off those types of maps with a top down perspective. There is a large amount of what seems to be unused or pointless space, many of the areas on the edge seem a bit pointless for the player to traverse and are too similar to each other. For an early game map, this map is specially unforgiving because you’re (assuming you first arrive through either of the top gates) forced to either enter the other gate, or spend an ungodly amount of time figuring out the exit from this route, without being able to turn back. My suggestion would be to reduce the size of this map greatly and add some sort of path to guide the player through the route safely; as well as some way for the player to turn around and be able to heal. One-way maps do exist, however it feels very unforgiving for this stage of the game.

I thought this map was adorable; it’s also functional, at just the right amount of difficulty for an early game map. The space is well used and allows the player to enjoy strolling through the route, while also having enough room to explore. I like the addition of the water route entrance at the bottom, as well as how evenly spaced out the items are. Nice job!

I think the layout of the map is fun, but it could work perfectly fine without the whole bottom section; the map is quite large and could be condensed a lot. It may not seem like it at first but having paths as long as these can break the flow and annoy the player. I like the fact that the player is able to go back and heal to the nearby town if need be thanks to the ledge near the cave. Having interesting landmarks like the mansion is a very cool feeling while exploring during the early game.

The concept of elevation when it comes to mapping is a bit more complicated than adding a cliff and stairs and bridges, you have to utilise this elevation to create a dynamic route. Let’s just pretend that we have 3 levels of elevation and we’re calling them 1, 2 and 3. Elevation allows you to block paths and sections that can be accessed later by exploring its different levels. Say, you find yourself in 1, there is an item over the wall that you can’t access because that section is clearly blocked. But taking the staircase to 2, exploring and traversing 2 and reaching the end will lead to a staircase that brings you back to 1, to that area that was previously inaccessible. There has to be a reason as to why you have different levels of elevation.

Putting tile errors aside, this map has a lot of open spaces that make the map feel a bit barren. However, the map concept is super fun and I think that it’s executed pretty nicely. I do like the fact that you added two different paths for the player to take. Something that could benefit the map would be to use different tiles for your walkable and non-walkable cliffs; just for the ground. This gives clarity to the player as to what places from the map are accessible.

This map is very cute. It’s very grandiose for an early game route, but I personally don’t think it’s a bad thing; everything is evenly spaced out, there is enough room for the player to breathe and traverse the route without being overwhelmed with tiny paths or too much tall grass, and it overall has a very enjoyable layout. I just truly wished you could use the waterfall / route aspect for something. Having the cave be blocked by cut trees instead of incorporating it, say, at the base of one of the cliffs in the river is a huge missed opportunity in my opinion. It would be a great incentive for the player to come back.

Your maps have improved with time, and I believe you should feel proud about that! This map has some glaring issues that have a pretty easy fix. There is just too much going on. You have the sea in the bottom left section, a forest, a lake, a house, a hidden picnic area, a cave… While I don’t think that having too many focal locations on a map is inherently bad, these are just too many. I would strongly suggest removing that sea section at the bottom, as well as incorporating the lake within the route so that it has some value. As it stands now, the lake and bridge serve no purpose in this route. Small nitpick, I would also place the cave in between the two ledges, so that the player has an incentive to actually go through that path. The multiple paths are a very nice touch and I greatly appreciate them.

Tips for the future: Allow yourself to reduce the amount of ideas put into one map. Having too many things can be rather overwhelming and, surprisingly, forgettable for the player. Because you won't know where the cave you’re looking for is if there’s one cave in every route. Whenever you place a focal location in your map, think of its purpose and how the player is going to interact with it. You placed a lake in an early game map? Is the player going to be able to surf through it to reach another location or is the lake just existing there?

I appreciate the BotW reference, because this area is one of my favorites as well. This route is pretty cute and I do appreciate how small it is. It feels very welcoming for starting players and I think that’s important considering the theme. The section at the bottom – with the tall grass and access to the water – is honestly pretty boring considering it’s only there so you’re able to get to the pokéball on the other side of the water. This can easily be fixed by adding a staircase on the other end to allow the player to have another option when traversing this route. I also feel like the waterfall here has a lot of potential to give access to the player to new areas after obtaining HMs.

The concept of the route is very innovative and we thought that it was very creative and fun in theory. Having mazes in top-down perspective games can be tricky because you’re kinda allowed to see where the path is taking you. Another issue that I have with this map is how crammed together everything is. The paths (specifically the one on the left (and obviously not with the maze in mind, since the maze has to have tight paths for it to work)) are, well, a bit too tight and it makes them feel too small. The addition of the house at the top is very cool, and as I mentioned on another critique, finding places and interacting with places like these is very interesting for the player, and I believe it was a great thing to add.

I love the idea of using ledges as a way to trick and disorient the player on purpose. It’s a fairly easy route to traverse, but the player has to think what is the right path to take. I do think that it could be condensed quite a bit, I actually believe it’d work just fine without a big portion of the middle section, as it seems to only have more of the ledges. This is pretty solid and quite creative.