Maps To Do List (old)

[SirusD]

Okay, so I've finished Enhasa and the Cursed Woods.

If someone could please provide me with a To Do List for maps, I'd really appreciate it.  For now, I'm just going around and randomly selecting my projects.  However, this isn't an effective way to get progress.  We should all be moving toward one goal.  I noticed in Gleenleo's bug reports that Truce Canyon is out of whack.  I know how to manipulate maps almost completely.  I haven't messed with Layer 3 yet, but only because Layer 3 is so bleak.  But even still, I don't see that being difficult.  Layer 3 is just a layer that appears over everything, including sprites.  Nothing big or special about that.

I am quite capable of fixing Truce Canyon or whatever else that needs to be adjusted to fit our standards.  I just need to know where to start.

A little direction goes a loong way

[Glennleo]

Z mentioned Maps that needed to be done in another thread. Just give me a min to find it and link it here.

EDIT: http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,3971.60.html

Just read through Z's 2-3 posts he made. I know it's not an exact list, but he gave you "some" stuff to work on.

[SirusD]

Yeah, but I'd like to work on what we need now.  For instance, we're not up to Zeal yet (as far as I know) so working on those areas right now is like putting cheese on a pizza before you've put the pizza sauce on it.

[Glennleo]

I understand, but if you don't have anything to do why not work ahead.

I don't think it matters all that much which maps are done when.
I guess it only matters for beta testing reasons. Other than that it doesn't.

[Zakyrus]

I understand, but if you don't have anything to do why not work ahead.

I don't think it matters all that much which maps are done when.
I guess it only matters for beta testing reasons. Other than that it doesn't.

True. We can always import the maps later on.

As for an exact list:


Offical Areas: (that we know we can have for sure)

Truce Canyon 2.0
I have this about 80% done. (this is the only one of these maps that I have really worked on)

*Expaded Magic Cave Map
-Make this a 40x40 map rather than whatever it was. Also, the entrance should be on the south.
Make map with small rooms with winding passages the connect to them, the room that exits into Heckran Caverns should be in the upper right corner (right wall)


*Expanded Dactyl's Next
I leave this up to you Sirus D, just expand the width of the map x2, and expand both "sides" (required moving over the right side) also, the peak should be much bigger.


*Expanded Laruba Village
SirisD, I may need your help redoing this, I expanded the map to a 20x40 map.
The right half is the trashed version, that gets pasted in with CopyTiles
if you are getting there for the first time.
After the Black Omen rises, this area will be rebuilt various sidequests
can be attained here for Ayla. (she must be leading the party to do the sidequests!)

I can't think of the best way to turn this into the best style for outdoor village...


Expanded Enhasa, Kajar, and Zeal
(I leave this up to you Sirus D, just make sure you follow the design specs)

Enhasa: Looks good!

Kajar: Expand the size of the Magic Labs and Kajar Study
...

Zeal Palace:
Expand map (bottom can be larger)

Expanded Alghetty
Expand the width of the main "town" x2. Then rearrange and add more "houses".

Expanded Beast's Nest
(I leave this up to you Sirus D, just make sure you follow the design specs)

Specs: Must be 3x larger, winding passages;
northwest corner still leads to Mt. Woe
~blocked after fall of Mt. Woe

northeast corner will have a cave entrance that leads to Sunken Zeal Palace
~accessable when doing Sunken Zeal Sidequest



Expanded Forest Ruins (Sealed Pyramid Forest)
will have level 50 mobs
(Maybe I'll add the Pyramid as a dungeon, but I'd rather use the space to make the Cleft of Dimensions)

Mystic Mountains - upper areas
Level 70-75

Must talk to Laruba Cheif (after Laruba Village is rebuilt)
Climb to the Mountain Peak.

*** I have the basic layout for this map done, when you get a few more maps complete, I'll give you this map.



Oh, Glennleo. Can you forward the e-mail of the newest CT+ to SirusD. (the one I sent about a month ago or so)
That way he can check out the newer Truce Canyon. (and hopefully finish it)

[Glennleo]

Oh, Glennleo. Can you forward the e-mail of the newest CT+ to SirusD. (the one I sent about a month ago or so)
That way he can check out the newer Truce Canyon. (and hopefully finish it)

Yea. That's no problem.
Give me a sec to fine his e-mail and such. I hope it's listed on his profile.

[Zakyrus]

Oh, Glennleo. Can you forward the e-mail of the newest CT+ to SirusD. (the one I sent about a month ago or so)
That way he can check out the newer Truce Canyon. (and hopefully finish it)

Yea. That's no problem.
Give me a sec to fine his e-mail and such. I hope it's listed on his profile.

Ok thanks, Glennleo. I figure if he's going to do maps, he might as well take a crack at the Truce Canyon that I never finished. That way I can spend more time doing the cut-scenes and event code.

[Glennleo]

OK Sent!

To be honest I forgot about doing that til right now, when you posted.
Oh well. He should get it soon nonetheless.

Anything for me to do Z? Little stuff would be good, considering school is kicking my ass right now with HW.
Sometimes I really hate being an Engineer.

[Zakyrus]

OK Sent!

To be honest I forgot about doing that til right now, when you posted.
Oh well. He should get it soon nonetheless.

Thanks! (I didn't want to have to re-upload it)

Anything for me to do Z? Little stuff would be good, considering school is kicking my ass right now with HW.
Sometimes I really hate being an Engineer.

Not really that I can think of at the moment.
If I ever get motivation I'm gonna make some more mapping tutorials, hopefully I can get them done within a week or two.

[SirusD]

Honestly, I didn't know anything about making maps until I started working on Enhasa, and look what I did with that.  The easiest thing to do is look at the original maps (I used an unedited version of the game) and copy the style Square used.

First, there's a difference between Layer 1 and Layer 2 and the manual says that the top half of the tile palette is for layer 1 and the bottom half is fore layer 2.  Honestly, they seem interchangeable.  In order to manipulate Layer 2 (and 3 for that matter, which I haven't really had to do), you have to turn off Layer 1 first (otherwise everything comes out on layer 1).  The difference between the two is how they react with sprites.  For the most part, Sprites walk "above" Layer 2 and "beneath" Layer 1.

Two things you absolutely MUST pay attention to:  Solidity and Z-Plane differences.  These effect how characters walk about the maps.  For instance, do you remember the original expansion to Cursed Woods?  The room was a mess.  You couldn't navigate the room clearly at all.  The reason for this is because of Solidity.  If you push CTRL + 6, part of the map will be covered in red.  The red layer indicates areas that are "solid" to PCs.  In Cursed Woods, that whole area is out of whack and random areas are shaded red, being solid.

Z-Plane also works with solidity.  There are two Z-Planes, Plane 1 and 2.  If a character is on Z plane 1, the Z plane 2 is solid to him and vice versa.  Enhasa actually uses Z-Planes almost exclusively to create the boundaries between one layer and another.  In order to get from Plane 1 to Plane 2, you have to use the Transitional Plane, which allows passage between the two layers.  It's kinda like height, although if done correctly you can have multiple "levels" by alternating between Planes 1 and 2.

The other type of solidity works with NPCs during battle.  Some NPCs move around, meaning you have to put steps to make sure they don't do something stupid, like walk right through a tree or wall.  I haven't actually fooled around with this because I believe NPCs also respect the other solidity as well.  I'll only know if I set up a demo room and port myself into the various maps I'm changing.

Beyond that, it's just a matter of setting everything up the way you want to.  I have my own style, which is a little different than the one Square uses (even if it does mimic Square pretty closely).  Most of the fine details I didn't realize while playing through the game I become acutely aware of when editing the maps.  One thing I haven't quite really messed with (which I'm sure I'll have to go back through and fix) is the options for things to appear over sprites.  Haven't messed with that much, but I also haven't really needed to.

Eventually, I'd like to set up a demo room that'll let me go through and explore each room I'm editing on my own within the game.  That'll let me test things myself to make sure they're all peachy and nothing is working completely different from what I'm expecting....

[Zakyrus]

Well said.

As for Cursed Woods, I just Explicit Pasted areas from other forests and "merged" them together. In doing this I haven't even got close to doing solidity and z-plane fixes. The only officially complete area (99%) is the expanded Millennial Fair Parts: Blackjack/Gato Exhibit, Telepod Exhibit, & Pre-historic Exhibit (only because the fair is VERY easy to do when I slightly expanded them)

As for Layer relations I am still learing how Layer3 fits into all of it. Mostly I have been mimicking other people's styles.

Oh yeah, Medina Square needs some cool details aswell. Maybe a few trees and stuff.

The bottom part you see (off the map) will be CopyTiles'd into the game after Ozzie is defeated. This "upgrading" area, will be a small fair - the only real difference from the top is that there is a water fountain replacing the statue pedestal and maybe a few tents, booths, and tables here and there (with decorations like Pie! on the tables)

[Zakyrus]

That reminds me, I am going to make a demo rom that will include all maps I expanded so far (most far from complete) with the exeption of the newer verisons of the Cleft of Dimensions areas (those are a surprise to EVERYONE - hehe)

This will be uploaded sometime shortly... say 90 mins?

I'll add:

Truce Canyon

You should probably redo this map, I did the bottom half all on an entirely different layer then Explicit Pasted it in.
You can do this however you want, just keep reuse the way I did waterfalls (or modify the falls to your own liking - as long as there are a few 'small waterfalls' here and there it's all cool. After all, it is the base of a canyon so you should have that feeling of traveling downwards/feeling of height to the area.

If you are up for it, you should make this a 40x40 map(rather than a 40x20) - with a hidden shortcut (or two!)
also a pond in the very center would be awesome! The shortcuts; have one hidden that connects two areas together quickly, maybe have some bushes that you can walk under, the other shortcut I can code in. It will be an earthquake that causes the path to shift. Though this won't happen until you are taking Frog to Spekkio -- which is now a story required event (unlesss NewGame+) ...and quakes are very common in all eras... I wonder why?

Mystic Mountains
Total Choas. However, this is the basic way I want this area expanded. The original parts are still there, but I expanded them alot by cheating with Explict Paste.

In Mystic Mt. Portal, there is a new area on the other side of the portal, this will have a boss so we should set this area up so it looks like a perfect place for a super Dactyl to roost upon.

Mystic Mountain Base & Gulch areas, the new area to the right in both cases(I just ripped of Denadro Mts)

Basically there is a pre-historic viller(which I'll add) at near the bottom of Mystic Mt. Base. He won't let you through without permission (which doesn't happen until after Laruba Village is rebuilt)
after you get through here you climb up the path that leads down to the upper-middle part of Mystic Mt. Gluch, you travel around then back up the far right side. This leads to the far right side of Mystic Mt. Base that leads up to the right side of the portal area.

All 3 these areas are in serious need of work (I'd say completely redo them)
This area should have ALOT of waterfalls (style that I used in Truce Canyon, plus a few larger ones)

Laruba Village
Map style is just like Medina Square, CopyTiles after a certain point in the game.
Bascially we need to figure out how to make this look like a town (for rebuild and trashes version)


North Peak (maybe you can help me beautify this area a little?)
The backround ocean/sky scrolls as the player moves.
This is used for West Cape(Toma's Grave) also because they share the same map.

Cleft of Dimensions: Magus Castle Void
Sneak preview of this area, I have a version FAR more complete - but that's got so many cool effects, it's a surprise!



Note: when I do get the Cleft maps 100% I will show them off ofcourse!
Let's just say that the Magus Castle Void area is a "Shifting" area, you step in certain places and the tiles rearrange around you (with complex position checking and CopyTiles events)... sometimes tiles fall away or paths re-arrange infront of you - anything can happen here. After all it's the Void.