Create your first map

The fastest way to get a playable map is to start from the blank template shipped with the base project, rather than from an empty Tiled file. This page walks through the whole loop once, from duplicating the template to walking on the map in game, so that the reference pages that follow have something concrete to attach to.

Nothing here needs to be understood in depth on the first pass. Follow the steps, get a map you can walk on, then come back to the pages that explain each piece.

Before starting

Three things must already be true:

• You have a PSDK project, created in Pokémon Studio, and you know where it sits on disk.
• Tiled is installed.
• Its path is declared in Studio. If it is not, start with Install and configure Tiled: without it, the map update at step 5 cannot run at all.

1. Duplicate the template

In your project, open the folder Data/Tiled/Maps. Copy and paste 000 Blank_Template.tmx, and rename the copy after your map, for example My_first_town.tmx.

Starting from the template rather than from a new Tiled file saves you the whole layer setup: the layers are already named, already ordered, and the two reserved layers this guide uses, systemtags and passages, are already there.

Watch the extension while renaming. On Windows, if file extensions are hidden, typing My_first_town.tmx produces My_first_town.tmx.tmx, which Studio will not offer you.

Because the file is already inside Data/Tiled/Maps, Studio will use it where it is instead of copying it again. Note that dropping a .tmx in that folder is not what makes Studio aware of it: the next step is.

2. Create the map in Pokémon Studio

In Studio, go to the map list and click New map:

1. Give it a name.
2. Leave Steps average at 30 for now. That field controls how often wild encounters trigger.
3. In the Map made with Tiled field, select the .tmx you just created.
4. Click Add the map.

The map now exists in your game, empty but real.

3. Paint something

Still in Studio, right-click your map in the map list and choose Open with Tiled. Tiled opens on the right file. The entry only appears on maps that already have a .tmx attached, which is why step 2 came first.

Tiled's panels can be moved and docked anywhere, so find them by name rather than by position: one panel lists the layers of the map, another lists the tilesets it has loaded. To paint:

1. Pick a layer whose name ends with 1, for example Grass_1. These are the ground layers, the ones drawn under the player.
2. Pick a tileset and a tile in it.
3. Draw on the map.

Do not rename the layers and do not delete them. Their names are what tells the conversion where each one goes, and the reasons are on Layers and superposition priorities.

4. Block what should not be walked through

A map where the player walks through walls is not finished. Select the passages layer, pick the passages tileset, and paint the blocking tile over every tile the player should not cross.

This layer is not decoration: it is read as a property of each tile, not drawn on screen. That is why it must only ever receive tiles from its own tileset.

5. Save, then update in Studio

Save in Tiled, then come back to Studio. Studio notices the file changed and offers Update modified maps. Run it.

This step is not optional. Studio re-reads the .tmx and rebuilds the data the engine loads. Skipping it means the game keeps playing the previous version of the map, which is the single most common reason a change does not show up.

6. Make the map reachable, then test

Your map is in the game, but nothing leads to it yet. A new map is not connected to anything, so launching the game will not take you there. Two routes exist, and both live outside Tiled:

• Link it to a neighbouring map. Studio's Maps link editor places maps next to each other so the player walks from one to the other. This is the route for an outdoor map that extends an area you already have.
• Teleport to it from an event. In RPG Maker XP, an event can move the player to any map. This is the route for an interior, a cave, or anything reached through a door. See the RPG Maker XP section.

Once you can get there, walk on it. If the ground carries you and the walls stop you, the loop is complete: edit in Tiled, save, update in Studio, test. Every map you build from now on is that same loop.

What to read next

Now that the loop makes sense, the rest of the section fills it in:

You want to	Read
Draw things above the player, or add tile behaviours	Layers and superposition priorities
Use your own tile sheets	Create a Tiled tileset
Understand where files live and why	The Data/Tiled folder
Add maps in batches, or attach a file to an existing map	Create a map and link it to Studio
Animate water, flowers or grass	Animated tiles

Conclusion

• Duplicating 000 Blank_Template.tmx gives you a ready-made layer stack instead of an empty file.
• The map is created in Pokémon Studio, and the .tmx is selected in the Map made with Tiled field.
• Layers ending with 1 are the ground; the passages layer decides what blocks the player.
• Layer names must not be changed: they are what the conversion reads.
• A new map is reachable only once it is linked to a neighbour or reached by a teleport event.
• The loop is always edit in Tiled, save, Update modified maps in Studio, test in game.