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.
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.