is oldschool and legitimate if it's done consistently. try playing sadlark5 or 8 and see what kinds of things are possible in such a style. 

I'd say there might be something interesting in contrasting between tight spaces and huge open areas in a single map. 

And it just looked horrendously sloppy. But my tight spaces were just alcove-like detours. I guess it could work more effectively if you were in some large expansive space and then unexpectedly thrust into a smaller space that had a good reason for being smaller (i.e. falling through a hole in the floor, climbing into a rocket or hilltop structure, etc. to proceed to the goal) 

It's something I want to experiment with myself, after the green marble map I'm doing now (which is more traditional). Especially extreme height/width ratios like super tall but narrow passages or wide open but low ceilinged rooms. 

Tight player locations should not be frowned upon, they perfectly contrast large open locations and can be used for 'down time' when the player is just exploring or recovering from the last fight. Not every space in a map should be filled with combat. 

http://i.imgur.com/bGPH9.jpg

It's not obvious from the picture what map this is based on, but that's because the original dimensions were not right for what I plan to do with it. Which might be obvious from the picture...

Yes, it's the main atrium of dm6rmx. Hopefully my take on cthon gameplay will be different enough to still be fun. For DM I will probably widen the top platforms a bit to get back some of the original feel. 

Texturing is a little plain at the moment, but I like the structure. Is this your Escher map? Also, no idea what you'd call a balcony with a roof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balcony#Balcony_names 

I want to avoid players confusing it with other balcony-like areas, e.g. the one on the left there (although I'd consider it more of a 'terrace' or a 'porch'). But, indeed, using any more specific architectural names probably wouldn't help in this regard.
Another thing I'm not quite sure about is which floor it's on. The building is elevated, so the floor at the bottom of the stairs is actually basement level. Then there's the 'ground floor' on top of the stairs, and one above with the balcony - would that make it the "second floor" then? IIRC there's some difference in the English way of naming.

The map is very tight and cramped. It's acceptable for the most part, because gameplay is supposed to be slow anyway. Tight rooms and corridors aren't that much of a problem in general, but there are some bits, the narrow (64 units) doorways in particular, that make movement at run speed very awkward.

It's the Escher map, yes. That's why I kept the texturing simple. Well, and because I've had enough of battling the limits for one map.

Nice one, than, except a bit too clean and bright in my view. 

the 'first floor' is usually the one above the ground floor

could also be specified with direction? eg. 'south-facing balcony' 

I believe that numbering of floors is not the same in the UK and the US. Stateside, the numbering begins with the floor at ground level, the floor above the ground level is the second floor, and so on. In the UK, the floor at ground level is just called the ground floor and isn't numbered, then the floor above that is the first floor etc. 

Rj - in England yes. In various other countries floor 1 is the ground floor. 

Yeah, like Preach says. 

there's a very visible gold key in there just call it the bloody gold key balcony. :P 

 

but it seemed a little too obvious, so i presumed the context was a message stating something like "the gold key is located on the balcony" 

when you realize more than half of the people who will ever play the map have already seen this screenshot 

let's make up a new word for this architectural feature. it will be our own jargon for awhile, but eventually, the whole world will know of it.

I submit for consideration:

Front Roofcony

Due to it being a roofed balcony in the front of the building. 

From Indian archtiecture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimanza/8279944986/
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/britishrule/jharoka/jharoka.html 

"the room from the screenshot that was discussed on func"? We'll all know what you are talking about then. More than if you use some weird word that nobody understands like "Jharoka" :) 

Don't make maps where you have to tell the player the result of a button press with a message. 

gets my vote. From this day forward, every map or game I make will contain a Front Roofcony. 

The roofcony is actually on the rear of the bulding. GK balcony would make it very obvious, too obvious in my view, besides sounding kind of silly. Well, and I suppose even if I called it that, you'd still not find it and stumble about lost and confused, so posting this screenshot as a hint was probably the optimal solution already! 

If naming is still an issue; is there any special view/landmarks opposite the balcony, some kind of purpose it was made specially there? "Ocean View Balcony" or "Garden Side Balcony" ?

I prefer Negkony myself, actually. B) 

It's called a fucking cupola.