Indoor Mapping - Asylum Style

[EvenAngels]

Introduction
Okay, firstly, if you're wondering why I call it "Asylum Style", its because all my RM work is done as part of two "groups"; Darklight Productions (a group I started with thebangzats on CreationAsylum about 1.5 years ago) and Angel's Asylum Productions (which is, in fact, just me).

Now, since DLP is an RMXP group (we were working on a mech game for XP) and this is for VX, it comes under the Asylum name. :P

Anyway, let's get started, shall we?

Oh! I should note that I use Mack's indoor tiles on my TileE for this! (I can't stand it when the sink is offset from the wall like in the RTP xD)

Beginnings
Now, indoor mapping in VX is actually really easy. Believe me when I say its so much easier to make an attractive indoor map in VX than XP!

However, it all depends on how you start. For example, if you were modifying a car, no matter how much you change it, a Fiat Punto is still a Fiat Punto. As such, a poorly designed map will always be a poorly designed map.

That's why its important to get off to a good start. Now, I do this by sticking with the normal map size (17x13) and planning out the area with the floor tile I am going to use, like in the image below.

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Once that's done, I add the fading tiles at the front, as well as making a bit to show the door, before adding in the outer walls.

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Moving Up In The World
Now, you may be wondering why I've got that little 3 tile wide section sticking out the back. Well, lets just say I like heights. ;)

Now, next I add in the inner walls to split the room into rooms, as well as adding a few of the fading tiles to add some levels and depth to the house.

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Now, this is where the autoshadow comes into play as an issue. From the screenshot you'll see that the shadow starts too far back. Well, this is simple to fix. :)



Now, its hard to see, but the tile highlighted is actually the same style of shadow as the one the autoshadow places. Both the RTP and Mack's tilesets have this, as well as another so you can an impassible one.

So, by placing it correctly, you can fix the look of the rooms dimensions. Also, by holding Shift and right clicking on one of the straight sections of the wall that don't touch another part, then shift+left clicking at the joins, you can make it look like the inner walls are seperate from the others!

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Ascendance and Creation
Next up, we need to add a way to get to the new floor. Now, personally I like to make sure things look "right" when it comes to stairs. Therefore, I make the stairs go back by two and add the shadow tile on top of them. This gives the impression of them coming up into the area, rather than just resting on the fading tiles.

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Okay, so you've got 3 rooms, a way into each, and you're ready to start filling the place with stuff? Great! However, do not just randomly throw anything in.

Make sure everything item of furniture, clothing or anything fits. And for the love of whatever it is you love, put them in places that make sense!

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The Next Level Layer
Now, I'm sure you've noticed that bits of the bed, the kitchen and the plant are missing. Well, they're only going to stay missing for a bit, since if we just place them normally, it'll remove part of the window and nonpassable shadow tile I put on the walls.

Instead, go to the event layer. When choosing an event graphic, if you scroll to the bottom, you'll see that you can select Tileset-B/C/D/E. Well, guess what we do next?

Within Tileset-E (or wherever the parts of the furniture you need to add are held) you'll be able to select the necessary tile, like so;



So, when you've filled them all in, you'll get something similar to the following image.

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Now all that's left is to test how it looks in game!

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And there you have it; a nice, simple house fitting in size and possessions of a wealthy medieval person.

If you're setting is a medieval world, the other thing to keep in mind is size. Most people were poor, and typically lived in single room buildings that housed upto 10 people, if not more. Best to stick to realism, in my opinion. ;)

And finally, I'll add a little animated gif to show the different layers I did. :)



Conclusion
Well, that's it for this. Let me know if it's at all helpful, or if there's a better way for me to lay it out. I'm going to do an outdoor, grassland/forest tutorial next (when I have the time), hopefully followed by a cavern one at some point. :)

[computerwizoo7]

the stairs that went into the room was the only mistake you made, do you have stairs that enter into your bed room?

[Yin]

I had an apartment where stairs led to my bedroom.

[computerwizoo7]

did the stairs go into your bed room?

[EvenAngels]

Funnily enough, my last 3 apartments actually did have stairs into the bedroom, as they were 1.5 floor studios. :P Each had a curtain that covered the bottom of the stairs instead of a door. xD

[Bolt]

I've got a couple of problems with this map.

1st:
The stairs leading into the bedroom have a shadow, but it is inconsistent with the elevation. It wouldn't be that hard to make a shadow that slowly angled toward the side of the tile to give the illusion of elevation.

2nd:
The lower wall tile for the bedroom entrance is the same used outside, which fades into black. Instead of giving the feeling of elevation, it gives the feeling of there being a hole in the middle of the house. Perhaps one of the other wall tiles would be best in this situation, or another custom tile.

Other than that, you made some good points with the mapping and made a decent house. The only thing I'd add to it is a single event that would hold a wall in front of the bedroom until you entered it. It wouldn't have much practicality, but it would show the player that it is a private bedroom, not just open to anyone inside.