I'm not dead! HA HA HA!
Alright, status update time, since I've been quiet and lurking for a few months now. College has had me a little overwhelmed this past semester, but my summer is looking like it'll be a lazy one, which means I plan on putting out an awesome 1.1 update. I've steadily began working on things again a couple weeks ago, and while I don't feel there's enough to put out a proper update yet, I'd like to showcase some of the things that'll be coming.
Important notes off the bat: I'll be open to donations in the near future, to fund a personal RO-related project I'm working on with some friends, but everything I make will continue to be free. I don't plan on actually selling my maps now or in the future, and I'll be forthright in saying I can't give out any perks or compensation for that sort of thing. More on that another time.
Contrary to what I may have said/implied before, I'll only be releasing updates to this map package every few weeks or months, rather than more regular mini-updates. Don't fret, though, whenever I get around to putting out a new release, you can expect at least a dozen new things to sink your teeth into.
Here's a preview of what's to come!
Electric Town!
An amusement park and city of steel, built high above the clouds! I've not gotten to interiors yet, but there will be several, and probably a dungeon. This map uses no custom textures or objects, so you only need an up-to-date kRO patch to implement it on your server. Isn't that convenient?
The Dorado Badlands!
I've already shown some of this before, but it's a truly big region! Here are a few more admittedly work-in-progressy shots from a few of the dune fields, and the not-yet-done canyon village of Madelin, as well as a few of its respective fields!
Mapping tutorials?
So, this doesn't exactly pertain to my map releases, but I thought I'd pitch the question now to see how much interest there is. I'm considering starting up a series of mapping tutorials/guides, based of my methodology for putting a map together and making it look good. This series would probably be 85% design and 15% technical stuff- That is, I'm going to write it assuming that everyone reading already knows how to use all of Browedit's basic functions.
There are many, many great tutorials and guides out there on the technical side of Browedit, written by people who know that side of the program better than I do! So, this series would focus more on things like "Making a town market look busy" or "What should be in every harbor town" or "How to make your mountains look mountainous" and shit like that.
The point of the series would be to become a better mapper, and not just make maps that are "good enough." For this reason, I'll also be focusing on teaching how to become a better mapper without using custom models or textures, as I believe they make mapping too easy and everyone should learn good design before they start exploring that stuff.
Would anyone be at all interested in this? Let me know. If I start such a thing, I'll also be more willing to provide constructive criticism and advice for people who want to learn.