Alright, so I made a very "ugly" swampland that will be unlocked when the player starts the Goo Hunt job. I made specific location for two reasons. The first being that the swamp region on the world map is quite small. Running around trying to get into fights with Slimes wasn't the easiest thing to do. With having an actual swamp that you can visit, getting in fights with them has become much more easier.
The second, was I wanted to add all these extra places for people to explore. I want the world to feel larger than what it appears to be and I wanted to add little mini-quests or character development scenes in these areas. The problem is that I'm still unsure how to go about doing that, as Timmy's Adventure, doesn't really have much of a story and I'm trying to keep it semi-short, so that I can finally finish it.
If I ever get a game company that's interested in making Timmy's Adventure into an actual game for Steam or like the Nintendo DS, I would totally add more things like this into it. I would also make sure that I flush out the characters a bit more, so that there is some sort of development and actual cutscenes.
Port Dayton, a fishing town located along the Southern coast. People here are always happy and quite friendly. It's one of the few places that haven't been overrun by hostile creatures, and so there's been an increase in tourists.
Since Port Dayton is a fishing town, it will only make sense to learn how to fish here. Perhaps an entire mini-game based around fishing? The possibilities are endless.
Emerald Village is located deep within the Emerald Forest. It's home to the Elves. Not many Humans visit this quiet village, but those who do tell tales of its wonders.
Lately, Emerald Village has been having issues with unusual monster activity. The magic barrier that usually protects the village hasn't been doing its job. Perhaps a young adventurer will be willing to take on the tasks of repairing it or maybe they're too busy delivering letters to do so.
Topi Village has undergone quite a few changes since I first created it back in 2001. Originally, it was just a small farming town, which was being overrun by monsters. You had to go into some old ruins and find an ancient sword and while doing so, you discovered the source of the monsters. However, at some point I changed that into fighting pirates and instead of a ruin it was a cave. This lead to a few issues storyline wise. The pirates didn't fit anywhere and it became a big hassle to try and connect them with the original story idea. Eventually, I ended up trashing the entire project. This is why when I decided to rebuild Timmy's Adventure, I made some major changes, took a lot of stuff out of the old version of the game, and reverted back to original idea as much as I could.
As you can probably tell from the screenshot, there isn't very many farms, ruins, or even a beach for pirates. So, what happen? Laziness. Borrowing heavily from an example map, I turned Topi Village into a hilltop village. This change ended up being for the better, as I have now used both the beach and ruin as new locations to visit. This makes the world feel much larger and not so cluttered, like it did before. They also serve as "extra" areas, as they really have no real part in the main storyline. Having side-quests and extra things for the players to explore and find, is one of the key features for a good JRPG.
As I did with the insides of the buildings, I've added hidden objects throughout the town. I also added monsters which will chase after you. This is to give the player a better idea of the crisis that has befallen Topi Village and the surrounding areas.
The current World Map, is a vastly larger than it needs to be. I had always invision Timmy's Adventure as a smaller based game, but I couldn't decide on what type of regions I wanted Timmy to visit. I decided to just make a map that has a little of everything, and then go back later and rebuild it into a more compact map that will have just the areas that I'll need.
Timmy's village is in the South, while the Kingdom's captial will be located to the North. A large majorit of the game will take place in the Southern regions where Timmy will be tasked with running various errands. Eventually, he'll have to travel up through the desert and into the Northern regions. This is where the last chunk of the game will take place. Once you deliver the King's letter, the game will end. Make sure you explore all the areas before than.