Okay, the rest is really nice, but I have to say this. "The dungeon design stinks." It is really bad, however it is your first try and this topic is about improving it. Before you read my post further go to this page (
http://vgmaps.com/Atlas/GBA/index.htm#LegendOfZeldaMinishCap) and look at how Nintendo build their maps.
Okay, you are done looking. Then here are some pointers that you seriously need to take a look at.
1) Your dungeon is way to short. It looks like it is done in five minutes. That is if I have the route correct, because it is not very clear on that.
2) Where is the entrance. It is not clear where the entrance to the temple is, but I assume it is the part with the trees. However this means that you get the hookshot right at the beginning. And you don't use the boomerang to get in the dungeon as the GDD ask. But that is something to be debated if you have a better idea.
3) Where is the end. I see a room with a heart contair when you defeat the boss. However the room does not really lend itself for a boss fight. Something that I thought was lacking in MC is a backroom/vault/altar thing where you recieve the quest item, in this case the cog.
4) Your dungeon only uses the sword to defeat enemies and hookshot to pull things. In this dungeon you also have the ability of the Boomerang and a considerable set of thieving skills. Use them, because even with this short dungeon I thought things were getting repetitive. Work with switches (like ground, block and wall switches). Even though grabbing, pushing, pulling, rolling, lifting, ledge jumping, pitfalling and drowning are not mentioned in the GDD, I think no one would mind if it was added. Make use of different heights on the same floor.
5) Your areas are disconnected. You have several separate rooms which do not even line up propperly. You have drawn lines between doors, but I cannot fit them well together. Either it is the size of the doors that do not match or the tiles. You use different tiles in each room. Also some doors have stairs in them, but the connecting door does not. This also kind of makes it confusing which room is on what floor. Is each room a different floor? Or are there some rooms on the same floor? It really is a mess.
6) This I have to agree with the rest. I think making it more of a tree structure instead of a tower would be better. It is more Kokiri like and suits the area much more. If there aren't any correct sprites/tiles to use, make a placeholder sprite/tile and give a description of what that placeholder should be. Or try creating new tiles, whatever suits you best. For placeholder you could also use a colored square.
Some guidelines in creating a map:
- Miniboss and dungeon item are about half way the dungeon. Never at the beginning.
- Connect the doors of the rooms on the same floor. Every room on the same floor should connect with the walls. Only the floors are separated.
- draw only lines between connecting doors on different floors.
- Put numbers in the room and give in text a walkthrough of the dungeon,
* mentioning the room number,
* providing a description of the initial state when entering the room
* providing the puzzle to solve at that moment
* Changes that happen when solving the puzzle.