I’m considering making a strategy RPG (not necessarily in a Fire Emblem engine), but while I have experience in some aspects of game design, I don’t know where to begin with map and area design. Does anyone have recommendations for good guides, tutorials, or other resources for this?
3 Likes
Speaking as purely a player here, but one that’s interested in game design theory; the best thing you can do to improve your map design, besides making maps and trying them out, is to play a lot of maps. Do it actively, and reflect on each one as you finish. What made it work? What could make it work better? What qualities did it share with other maps you liked/disliked?
Marky Joe has an excellent old video on the topic. Super quick and super informative. I know plenty of people who don’t agree with everything stated, taste is subjective, you’ll never please everyone, but I feel his advice is a really excellent starting point.
I’m still pretty new to map creation, but these are the two threads I’ve been referencing as I tinker with it. They’ve been pretty handy.
6 Likes
I wrote this before!
4 Likes
I’ve worked on a few SRPG projects (most of which have been abandoned) and one thing that helps me design maps is thinking about the player’s toolbox. If the player has recruited some bow units recently, you probably want to add some enemy flying units in upcoming maps. You can also design maps with one-tile wide walls that are perfect for ranged units to snipe at enemies or to get sniped BY enemies.
This thinking works in reverse too. Let’s say you want to challenge the player by placing a lot of high defense armor knights on the map. Have you given the player a way to handle them? If not, it might be time to hand out a couple of effective weapons or even a recruitable mage. How you design maps is limited by what the player has access to, so taking the player’s toolkit into account is important for creating engaging but fair maps.
1 Like