What does a lvl need?

[Council]

Ok, I want to try to make a town, but I'm wondering, what does it need to look good? Original roads? Original house style?

Please help me.

[konidias]

Okay.. well I could sit here and write about 20 paragraphs about this, I will try to sum it up..

Make unique houses, but not so unique that they don't even look like houses, or that they look ugly. Don't use the same look for every house in your town.. especially don't just copy the house, paste it somewhere else on the level, and change a few tiles.

Make a nice path.. not brightly colored, not a vibrant confusing pattern.. even dirt paths work fine.. don't make straight lines for paths, but don't make them so jaggy they don't even look manmade. (just a little uneven)

Use things for decoration, but never make the decoration so overwhelming that it blocks important pathways or makes it hard to get around.

The most important thing.. take time, add details, make adjustments.. Add things like smoke from the chimneys, npc doors, rooftop patios, underpasses, etc.

[konidias]

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention.. never EVER put house or objects right near the end of a level if the player can walk in from the other side.. then they will end up on the roofs and stuck in things all the time.. and especially don't cut houses off halfway on a level (like the roof at the bottom of one level and the bottom of the house on the top of the level below), because it's really annoying..

Oh and one more thing.. don't put signs or doors so close to the bottom of the level that you accidentally walk into them when you come from the bottom.

[Council]

Thanks Konidias!

[yoshee15]

Originally posted by konidias


even dirt paths work fine.. don't make straight lines for paths, but don't make them so jaggy they don't even look manmade. (just a little uneven)

Ok, thats bad advice =\ dirt paths aren't man made, their from the wearing of the grass from constant friction...so they should be as jagged as you can get them

[Torankusu]

Originally posted by yoshee15

Ok, thats bad advice =\ dirt paths aren't man made, their from the wearing of the grass from constant friction...so they should be as jagged as you can get them

I, personally, don't take jagged steps.

[yoshee15]

Originally posted by Torankusu
I, personally, don't take jagged steps.

me too, but people cross over paths, and don't always walk in the same line back and forth

[OutlawP2P]

Originally posted by yoshee15

me too, but people cross over paths, and don't always walk in the same line back and forth

that doesnt mean it has to be super jagged, i cant stand paths when they are too jagged.


also to add something a good river with well detailed beach always makes a level look nicer, doesnt even have to be too big

[konidias]

Originally posted by yoshee15

Ok, thats bad advice =\ dirt paths aren't man made, their from the wearing of the grass from constant friction...so they should be as jagged as you can get them

Have you ever seen a real dirt path? LOL.. most dirt paths are made from heavily traveled areas... but the people walk along the same "path" therefore creating a worn out area of land known as a "dirt path".

Dirt paths ARE man made.. man walks on the ground back and forth until the grass is worn away. I remember a dirt path at my school that went from the school to the portables.. and it was made because the students always walked in the same area, and eventually a dirt pathway formed..

People tend to walk in the easiest walkable areas.. meaning flat land, away from bumpy rough terrain.. so if there is a small pathway starting, they follow that until it's a big pathway..

Thus completes my story of how a dirt path is born.