Pixelation

General => Challenges & Activities => Topic started by: Peppermint Pig on August 12, 2005, 03:16:56 pm

Title: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on August 12, 2005, 03:16:56 pm
Hey everyone. We're bringing back the challenges! Its about time, too!

This is the Retro RPG challenge. Back in the day, for those old enough to remember, there were such classics as Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Warrior. For those of you who are not fossils of the Pleistocene, you're probably at least familiar with the franchises which lived on to grace Nintendo's Gameboy, GameboyColor, and GBA, not to mention the major consoles, along with the appearance of other hits such as Fire Emblem and Pokemon. This particular challenge will be asking you to develop some tiles and a mockup, done within specifications comparable to the Gameboy Color (GBC), but simplified for our purposes. GBC specifications are somewhere between the NES and SNES actually, with quite a bit more base power than the NES. The hope here is that you can do better than those ancient NES titles in terms of quality, which is quite likely if you give it your best effort!

You may team up with one other person, so this might be a great opportunity to work with a friend, or someone new to the forum! Feel free to ask them in the OT or use the PM system. This particular challenge is going to be fairly accessible to any skill range, so do not avoid this!

Your goal shall be to create a top-down tileset for a traditional RPG. Your subject matter may be a castle, village, overworld, or even a murky cavern, inn, or shop. Anything within the general stereotype of a traditional fantasy RPG is acceptable!

Tiles: There is no tile # requirement or limit for this challenge. Go mad crazy with tile work! While many GBC games have used 16x16 looking tiles for their unit grid, you're are allowed to work in 8x8's or 16x16's.

Mockup: The resolution of the GBC screen is 160x144. If you want to create a larger mockup than that, go for it (practically every GBC game had some method for panning to view a larger area), however you should create at least two mockups of said size.

Color: Tiles may only use 4 colors each. Your entire palette shall consist of no more than 56 colors of your choice. Consider one of those colors as a transparency. Each mockup you create may only use 32 different colors out of your 56 color limit (or 32 colors per 160x144 screen area). You may want to create a second mockup using different colors. The GBC itself has a little over 32,000 colors to choose from, but you can pick any 56.

Sprites: There is no requirement to create sprites, however if you choose to, sprites should be 3 colors, with 1 additional color always to be used as transparency. You may wish to create some static sprites... rocks, barrels, treasure chests. These should be no larger than 16x16. Provided this challenge is successful, we'll move on to a second or third challenge to help you flesh out your classic rpg design skills. :)

Because we can all learn from the good and bad that has come before us, I'm providing some samples of GBC game screenshots to help you:

Lufia: The Legend Returns
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.025..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.019..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.014..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.017..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.013..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Lufia%20-%20The%20Legend%20Ret.008..png)


Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's Adventure
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.052..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.047..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.044..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.020..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.014..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.001..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.003..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20Monster.005..png)


Dragon Warrior III
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20III%20(U).005..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20III%20(U).007..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20III%20(U).010..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20III%20(U).011..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20III%20(U).013..png)

Good luck everyone!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 12, 2005, 03:37:57 pm
Oh me jeez! Hawt!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Xion on August 12, 2005, 05:58:51 pm
Yay!
Freaking sweet, man!

Can we animate?
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 12, 2005, 06:30:52 pm
OK, i dug up some more information about gbc stuff.

in the 56 colour mode you actually have 64 colours, but 8 are always transparency colours D:

You basically have 2 sets of 8 4-colour palettes. One for the background and one for the sprites.

(http://ptoing.net/gbc.png)

If you look at the pic above you can see that the 2 tiles have actually the same yellow in them, but they are using 2 different palettes. That's how stuff works on gbc.
You can't just assign 32 bg colours and use any 4 on any tile. Same goes for sprites (I was lazy and did not do 8 palettes as you can see :P)

But basically you can have more than 32 colours on screen if using sprites as well and having clever palettes. But in most cases it would be hard having palettes with completely different colours.

Also the bitdepth is 15bit, with 5 bit per channel. I don't know any other pixelprogramm than promotion that can do that in fact. So most people prolly can neglect this for this challenge.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Crazy Asian Gamer on August 13, 2005, 12:19:17 am
Lufia and Dragon Warrior 3 looks so pretty.  :D
I'm gonna try this, and I'm gonna fail. But I'm gonna try anyways.
[edit] =( Nuts, homework. [/edit]
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 13, 2005, 12:19:57 am
(http://www.locustleaves.com/ass.png)

I PRESENT: ASS CLIMBER! HE WAS BORN TO CLIMB... ASS

(http://www.locustleaves.com/ass2.png)

ASS CLIMBER TAKE 2, 8x8

Too much ass for one day. Maybe I'll make proper tiles for this soon. I hate tiling, and it's too much work.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Schu on August 13, 2005, 12:26:08 am
Haha that's great, Helm xD But is he an asshat climber? I like the greener one. 'Tis soothing. 

Starting my week off of work, so I'm gonna try this challenge. I had a little walking guy done today but the email didn't send home grrr...
---Schu
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Xion on August 13, 2005, 02:13:11 am
BG:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/RetroRPGcrop.png)
BG+sprites:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/RetroRPG2.png)
BG+sprites+dialogue:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/RetroRPG3.png)

Fleh.

I probably broke some rules, but whatever. (We can overlay tiles with transparency, right?)

btw; Helm, that is awesome.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 13, 2005, 02:34:41 am
technically the sprites have too many colours, and if you go by strict gbc specs you can not overlay tiles. only one bglayer.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Xion on August 13, 2005, 02:51:27 am
I'll give it another shot.

[edit]
Is this better:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/RetroRPGlowcol.png)
[/edit]
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 13, 2005, 04:22:15 am
(http://www.locustleaves.com/ass.png)

I PRESENT: ASS CLIMBER! HE WAS BORN TO CLIMB... ASS

(http://www.locustleaves.com/ass2.png)

ASS CLIMBER TAKE 2, 8x8

Too much ass for one day. Maybe I'll make proper tiles for this soon. I hate tiling, and it's too much work.

btw. is that a gay reference? caves.. assclimber... ahahaha. sure does sound like it :D
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: BeL on August 13, 2005, 09:00:16 am
ahoey!!

count me in too...

one question though... that's not top down is it?  ???

Quote
(http://www.locustleaves.com/ass2.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 13, 2005, 11:32:23 am
An ass must be negotiated in many angles
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rox on August 13, 2005, 05:34:29 pm
one question though... that's not top down is it?  ???
Look at the examples. That's called top-down. If you wanna be REALLY picky about perspective and want something strictly straight-above, go play GTA instead.

http://www.gouranga.com/images/other/gb-gta.gif
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 13, 2005, 07:41:14 pm
That is Grand Theft Auto? That is repulsive.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 13, 2005, 09:41:57 pm
http://forevergeek.com/games/grand_theftendo_port_of_gta_iii_to_8bit_nes.php

like how the nes port is more beautiful.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 14, 2005, 01:14:05 am
Wow .. what irony!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rydin on August 14, 2005, 05:35:05 am
OMG, this challenge speaks directly to me. I am so in.


BTW: Yeah, that 8 bit gta 3 for nes is kick ass. I've been waiting soo long for it...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 15, 2005, 12:35:52 am
LESS CHITCHAT, MORE ART!!

(http://ptoing.net/gbc3.png)

rough draft, will prolly change some stuff tomorrow. off to bed now!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 15, 2005, 05:52:15 am
(http://darion.ptoing.net/sprites/rpgh.gif)

I know its simple, but thats how i like it!

I'm pretty sure I didn't exceed the limit.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Blick on August 15, 2005, 06:48:10 am
I hate you Darion. I spend all afternoon working on my entry off and on, and only come up with 4 tiles that I haven't scrapped. Yet. One of which is just a flipped version of another tile. Then you go and make something so simplistic that stills looks more interesting than mine.

Mine so far =\
(http://members.johnholdun.com/blick/wip/RPG_CHALLENGE1.gif)
Tiled... not much to see.
(http://members.johnholdun.com/blick/wip/RPG_CHALLENGE1M.gif)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 15, 2005, 12:56:58 pm
New -- Old
(http://ptoing.net/gbc4.png) -- (http://ptoing.net/gbc3.png)

I kinda like this one better, less cluttered. Will do more this evening.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Negative Gravity on August 15, 2005, 07:15:29 pm
This is my first real tile-based mock-up and I have run into a problem.

(http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2464/rpgchallengeprob3py.png)
I made the area (not including the black outline) 160x144 just like Pep said and my tiles are all 16x16. I'm pretty sure I didn't mess up but it comes up as though I did since there's that one spot that seems to be wrong. Any help appreciated.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darien on August 15, 2005, 07:42:17 pm
NG: Your tiles are all 15x15.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on August 15, 2005, 08:05:19 pm
Oh opps, Gba retro.... I started working on 4 color nes tiles... (I think it was nes...might be snes) Dunno, took the colors from a screen shot from some black and white game i think was from nes.  I only read the title and saw retro... then again I still play supernintendo with yoshi safari and N64s lego racers and star fox so retro is an opinion i guese.  Anyway ill post my retro stuff tonight...

(JIC FYI NES = Nintendo; Snes = Super nintendo) EDIT: Sigh... JIC = Just in case...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Panda on August 15, 2005, 08:10:00 pm
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/Hagane/rpgtiles02sofar.png)

This is what I've done so far, will add more eventually.
4 colors right now, though I will be adding more for the sprites etc
Will update as I add anything new
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Negative Gravity on August 15, 2005, 08:24:47 pm
NG: Your tiles are all 15x15.
That's impossible... :| I just checked. They are all 16x16...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Panda on August 15, 2005, 08:28:25 pm
They are all 15x15 though :P
Maybe you just added those black lines when counting
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Negative Gravity on August 15, 2005, 08:33:25 pm
No actually, I firstly made the canvas the right size then increased it by 1 on right and bottom and made the black outlines. I think I messed up when copy/pasting the tiles. I'll just start over.  :) Thanks for noticing that.
EDIT:
Okay, I redid the tiles and now everything fits perfectly, thus my first mock-up!  ;D

(http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/3999/rpgchallenge25rc.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on August 15, 2005, 10:24:08 pm
Ok heres a quick shot of mine, its not a standard RPG, its a Robot thingi... yeah...  It takes place in the 1950's.  Kinda like mech assault lone wolf, except its in iso, black and white, and only has 4 colors.... Yeah... Its not finished I still gotta add some kind of enimies and a text box at the bottom, and a life bar at the top. 
(http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/897/retro1mr.png) 4 tiles...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 16, 2005, 12:05:53 am
I did another one, and updated the old one. Little tid bits and what not.

(http://darion.ptoing.net/sprites/rpgh.gif)

(http://darion.ptoing.net/sprites/rpgh2.gif)

Blick: Thank you! Keep going with yours, I like it. Reminds me of some of the Genesis(?) rpgs.
Panda: This would benefit so much if the colors were less saturated and more vibrant.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rox on August 16, 2005, 02:04:18 am
Panda: This would benefit so much if the colors were less saturated and more vibrant.
Woah, contradiction...
But I disagree. Panda's tiles have that.. typical Game Boy feel to them. I love that. Then again, so do yours, Darion.. Which I also love. It's just, Panda's looks like it's viewed on-screen and yours looks like on an emulator, or something.

I should see if I can find the productivity to do something for this, it seems fun...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 16, 2005, 03:11:58 am
What I was really trying to say is that the color is 'dull' to me. If you look at Dragon Warrior Monsters, it is pretty bright, but it still has that gameboy feel to it. I wasn't trying to look COMPLETELY contradictory, I'm just saying it could be 'spiced' up a little.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: lief on August 16, 2005, 05:44:44 am
(http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6494/tileset1rb.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Silver on August 16, 2005, 08:22:08 am
Darion helm panda
nice work
ptoing : the older version better

I would Join If i know how to title in the right way (any one have link?)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on August 16, 2005, 11:41:04 am
The deed is done, 4 bit.
(http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8735/fantastyretrorpgchallenge8bp.png)
Edit:just read the rule and didnt just quick post then log, err it has tiles...meh, ill start something later that fallows the rules... EDITED: Now in not moving flavor!  Mmm... their chewy.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rox on August 16, 2005, 12:05:13 pm
What I was really trying to say is that the color is 'dull' to me. If you look at Dragon Warrior Monsters, it is pretty bright, but it still has that gameboy feel to it. I wasn't trying to look COMPLETELY contradictory, I'm just saying it could be 'spiced' up a little.
Yeah, of course, things have to be bright on an unlit mini-sized screen. I said "contradiction" because saturation is exactly what Panda's picture lacks. "Less saturated and more vibrant" is a contradiction that way;. It's a very desaturated picture. Still, that's what I like, gives it that playing-old-game-in-badly-lit-room feeling.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ehwhy on August 16, 2005, 12:54:23 pm
I do not like tiles.
(http://home.pipeline.com/~rati/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/rpgmockup.gif)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Ai on August 16, 2005, 03:16:20 pm
To be completely clear: Saturation is the strength of a color. The less saturated, the closer it gets to grey. The more saturated, the closer it gets to burning your eyes.

Panda: It reminds me very much of an old CPC game called Fairlight. Your pic and Fairlight share a certain atmosphere.. and maybe even drawing style.

Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Alex on August 16, 2005, 04:33:25 pm
The deed is done, 4 bit.
(http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8735/fantastyretrorpgchallenge8bp.png)
Edit:just read the rule and didnt just quick post then log, err it has tiles...meh, ill start something later that fallows the rules...

how about NOT making your image move. id like to see it.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 16, 2005, 04:59:42 pm
To be completely clear: Saturation is the strength of a color. The less saturated, the closer it gets to grey. The more saturated, the closer it gets to burning your eyes.

Panda: It reminds me very much of an old CPC game called Fairlight. Your pic and Fairlight share a certain atmosphere.. and maybe even drawing style.



Ok, see, I had it backwards. Thanks for explaining that.

And no one told me we could do isometric!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Panda on August 16, 2005, 07:54:35 pm
Well, when I started my tiles, I was using that brown palette I used for LOADS of pics :P
(which is by far, much more bright and vibrant I think)
But then I dont know, just changed into something that looked more old school.
And since the opinions are split, I'll just post both versions on the next update.
So er... yeah.

And I'll check out that Fairlight game, my curiousity is tingling  :O
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Dogmeat on August 16, 2005, 10:50:27 pm
Heres mine, so far, duno if i'm going to do anything else with it, just was bored and wanted something to do ha.

(http://www.mindcrank.com/port/tilechallenge.gif)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: NyanNyanKoneko on August 16, 2005, 11:12:50 pm
This is my first ever attempt at pixel art.  =P

(http://www.playingwithyarn.net/share/seaboard.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Dogmeat on August 17, 2005, 11:37:21 pm
Ok so i've redone some of my tiles and started actually making the mockup with the right specs and stuff, heres what I have so far, need to add props, sprites..

(http://www.mindcrank.com/port/tilechallenge.png)

- Dog
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Schu on August 18, 2005, 12:46:19 am
Waaah so many pretty entries~! I love yours, Darion. Especially the boss xD

Here's what I got so far... I kind of got lazy on the floor and didn't really tile it, so I'll probably trash it all later... Beware of slimes.
(http://www.eyegore-net.com/eyegore/art/mockups/RPG_01.gif) (http://www.eyegore-net.com/eyegore/art/mockups/RPG_hero.gif)

(http://www.eyegore-net.com/eyegore/art/mockups/RPG_02test.gif)
Battle, FIGHT! I was playing some Star Ocean Blue Sphere...

---Schu
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on August 18, 2005, 01:17:03 am

Ok, see, I had it backwards. Thanks for explaining that.

And no one told me we could do isometric!
No one told me either, I never read the topic until after I was halfway done and i wasnt going to restart... so...
(http://www.mindcrank.com/port/dm05.png) VOTE FOR THE DOG!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on August 18, 2005, 01:51:11 am
Great work Schu! Really love the floor tiles. The slimes are great too! :) I'd maybe suggest using cooler colors for the walls..





I will participate in this too.. just been so busy :P
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: AlexHW on August 18, 2005, 04:53:21 am
Here is my work in progress..
(http://www.finalredemption.com/stuff/gbc_mockup03.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darien on August 18, 2005, 06:46:20 am
(http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/5066/retrorpg0nh.png)

Yes, you play a quixotic old man, who reads chivalry novels and wants to be a knight.  Original, I know.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rydin on August 18, 2005, 07:29:22 am
(http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7554/rpgchallengeoverworld1nr.gif)
(http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9779/rpgchallengetiles9og.gif)

Okay, I hope I've been following the rules so far. I used 8 sets of 4 colors pallet thingy, and each tile at 8x8. I don't think I am very good at "eliminating the grid", but I am actually quite please with this, considering how it looked to begin with.  I went for an overworld tileset, because imo, thats where the most leveling takes place, and what's a console rpg without leveling, right?  I also made the main character's walking sprites, but I feel that I ripped off metal warriors ( I think its called that...) too much, so I'll wait untill that part of the challenge comes around to post it.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 18, 2005, 06:33:42 pm
Oh my god, Schu, I love that! And Kon, I can't see yours! :(
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Zolthorg on August 19, 2005, 02:26:52 am
<Spladger> make an underground scene with lots of lave
<Spladger> or a big fungus forest with glowing plants and big insects
* Noadi votes for the fungus
<Spladger> yeah fungus is elite
<Zolthorg> >____>
<Zolthorg> i'll try it

here it is, now that i've read back, i see i failed that mission, in some ways... it's only 10 colors though :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v124/zolthorg/ZolthorgsRetroRPG.png)

I like it. >_>
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: crab2selout.png on August 19, 2005, 04:09:42 am
Not bad, Rydin, I kinda like yours. It's charming in a primitive nes kind of way.

Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Schu on August 19, 2005, 04:56:37 am
Thanks Darion, Pep :) Here's a little update of that one, I wasn't very happy with the bulbous rock walls (slight colour change too)...
(http://www.eyegore-net.com/eyegore/art/mockups/RPG_01b.gif)

Alex, that's rockin' :D Can't wait to see the finished version.

---Schu
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: AlexHW on August 19, 2005, 05:37:36 am
Ok.. finally finished, unless someone points out something wrong..

(http://www.finalredemption.com/media/pixel/gbc_mockup10.png)

darion, can you see it now?  ???
schu, thanks. those blob things are slick.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Rydin on August 19, 2005, 06:06:28 am
AHW, I absolutely HAVE to see your tileset. Freakin' awesome job man. Very, very good.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ter-o on August 19, 2005, 07:21:26 am
Ok.. that does it Kon.. I can't boast anymore with my tiles so I'll leave 'em unposted :) damn you and your jedi skills :P
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 19, 2005, 09:01:21 am
Schu, that totally rocks. Perfection!

That's really nice Kon. But what with the igloo there?! Looks a wee bit out of place.

Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: jsmith71 on August 19, 2005, 09:24:07 am
I think it's some kind of stone igloo-like structure where those tiny red folk live. I can just picture them jumping around yelling, "Meerp meerp" or something. :P
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on August 19, 2005, 11:17:40 am
Not only is theres an igloo there is also a crashed space ship.  Or see that did you not?  I had to look a second time to see it so maybe you didnt catch it.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 19, 2005, 11:21:50 am
i've seen the spaceship and it figures that the guy in the spacesuit crashed on some planet with little monkey creatures. Still the igloo looks strange to me. Some wooden construction would be more suitable imo. But still ace pixels.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Dogmeat on August 19, 2005, 01:50:02 pm
igloo should stay, this is what kon always does, and it's called stepping outside the box, unkowing to himself, he is actually an artistic genius. The igloo itself has sublminial powers, and no i'm not joking, great job kon :D
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Zolthorg on August 19, 2005, 05:59:00 pm
I changed a few things and now i like it a lot better.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v124/zolthorg/zolthorgsforest.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on August 19, 2005, 10:43:23 pm
darion, can you see it now?  ???

YES. Very nice job.

This challenge was a really good idea.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Wolverine on August 20, 2005, 12:18:37 am
OK wasn't planning to be too active here but I felt like doing this for practice.  This is an early attempt.  Obviously needs tons more tiles for variation and scenery, and colors may change.  So far its mainly just Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck and Lady Marion standing up to Guy of Gisbourne and his men.

(http://www.2600comic.co.uk/logan/gbc-rpg-1.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on August 20, 2005, 05:46:33 am
How about using some of that darker color on top of the wall areas Schu? Darken those non-play areas so that the room stands out more. Could do some brick relief in there too perhaps.


Love your character designs Wolverine. A few more mixed stones and maybe a stump or bricks on the ground.. .. going to do a gate I assume? Stone decorations would be nice to see also.


Nice the see the final result Kon. Good lighting work on the path to show the tree shadows. Reeds and flowers are very shapely and nice to look at. Same with the leaves in the trees. Could have been nice to see more of a highlight at the tops of the trees, or something to more clearly define it. If you used that grass blade color which is just a shade lighter than the green in the background, you could have used that in more quantity to distinguish the tree top from the ground above. The igloo is odd considering the colors.  :P

Ey Zolthorg! I think the consistency of  your texture/pixel clumps and contrast make the scene a little hard on the eyes. The mushroom patches are great and I think your tree trunks and roots look good. The rocks are also nicely done. When I zoom in, things aren't so harsh, but there's alot of gridness to it.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: AlexHW on August 20, 2005, 07:16:12 am
Thanks for the comments, I appreciate your feedback.
Now I shall spend the time to return some..

Helm, I like the idea, but I feel the scenes are too barren. The first one has an interesting color combo which seems to make the area illuminated mysteriously. I almost expect to see some weird plantlife growing within the greenish light, or the darker/shaded areas.
As for the second one, I feel it is tiled better in that it is more seamless, but I think the composition is not as good as the first which had a multi-level cliff thing going on.
To fix the baren sense of it, I would suggest adding some water element to it and maybe some odd plant-life. Maybe a more creative character too.. But I get a sense you weren't enjoying the challenge too much, so it's alright.

Xion Night, I think the issue with your characters is that they blend into the background too much, and I think the orange floor isn't helping this issue. Keep in mind that if you want to seperate something, think in terms of opposites may help. For example, if the background is low-saturated, then an opposite slightly high-saturated character would help pop out from it. Or if the background is dark, then a lighter character will oppose the darkness and pop out. You don't have to apply the opposite forces to the whole subject, you could do it to the edges where they two conflicting things meet. And also keep in mind the amounts and length at which you apply the effect, because sometimes just a little is enough. You have to experiment.
Also, as for another example, look at the green seats, they pop out well on the floor because they have a dark outline which meets the bright orange. The seats are also very solid (not much detail on them, if any) as opposed to the detailed and 'broken up' floor (the floor has alot of lines all over).. So with that, you also get the sense of the busy floor opposeing the non-busy seat and so it is easily pops out.
I think the dithering in the wooden things doesnt work with the equally busy lines of the floor. When these two things are next to each other, they blend together, and you just see the busy-ness of it all.
I think to improve the piece, you should look into how to use compliments (how one technique or effect can compliment another) and such so that you can get a sense for what works with what.

ptoing, I like the updated one better, because you fixed the same problem that Xion Night had which was within your first one. The first one was very busy throughout the piece, and with the update, you got  rid of alot of it and went with a simple less busy floor in order to emphasize the different parts in the scene (the floor and the walls).
But, at the same time as you did this, you made the whole scene mono-toned whihc it wasn't in the first one (the first one had a grey-ish colors and a green-ish/yellow color, now it is all green-ish/yellow)..
So my suggestion is to add more variable colors..

Darion, yours has a refreshing simplisticy which is nice to see. It has some sort of exagerated surreal feel to it. The characters work great in the envirement. One thing which bothers me a bit is the floor in that it looks too grid-like. Some detail in different spots of the floor may be a nice addition in order to break the floor up a bit and make it more interesting. I like how you chose to introduce new colors through the use of character sprites, this really draws your attention to them.

Blick, Interesting start. I suggest reading over some of the other critiques or points i have made here, so that you are aware of these issues when you continue your mockup, because as of th emoment I notice a lot of dithering and busy-ness. It should be interesting to see if you can make it work.

Negative Gravity, the first thing which stand out to me is the colors. Everything just uses one color for each thing, for example, your grass is a very green-ish color, one type of bricks are simply brown-ish, and the other type of brick is simply red-ish, and your dirt is simply brown-ish. I dunno, it may be due to the limited colors you can use which is causeing you trouble, but I suggest trying to mess around with colors and lack of color and experiment with changeing the hues slightly of parallel colors. check next critique to get a clue..

Panda, I like the color theme. It is interesting enough not to be too mono-tonous-ish. Negative Gravity, take a look at the colors he used.. He has a somewhat dark turqiose/blue, a red-ish/brown, a tan-ish color, and a light white/blue/green.. All the colors are somewhat grey-ish as well (which helps in this case), but you get a sense of variable colors which are capable of working with each other nicely. I don't have too much else to say about this piece, it will be interesting to see how you take it further, if you'll stay with a mono-tonous theme (where you use the same 4 colors through-out the piece), or if you begin to add other colors.

BrotherInWar, omgxxor its iso, you arent allowed to do iso! hehe :)
hm.. I know you wanted to only use 4 colors, but I think it doesn't work too well in this case. it is just too grey for me. Maybe you can incorporate a bit of what Panda did. I'm also confused with how the tiles work.
are you stretching the rules?.. *pulls out the ruler*..

lief, you're going to blind me with those colors, hehe. That grass looks toxic. It is interesting though, I'm curious to see how it turns out (is it done?). The dirt seems too normal and brown next to the grass.. I would expect it to be equally un-normal like the grass, so that the style flows better throughout the piece. I like the flower details alot, it gives it a kinda playful attitude. Looks unfinished at the moment.. needs more stuff!

ehwhy, looks good so far. I think it needs more detail in various places in order to break up the flatness/solid look to it. The boxes also blend into the floor too much, try shadeing the boxes in order to make them stand out better. If you aren't sure how to do this, try studying how other people shade objects, in order to make them stand out easy, look at how light and dark interact (might be useful to find some tutorials online about this subject (how to use light and shadow and intermingle between them).

dogmeat, The update looks better. Looks like some sort of fighting arena with a pit on the outside. Should be interesting to see some sprites and stuff on it.

NyanNyanKoneko, Nice first attempt. I see that you have a sense of what you wanted to include in the picture (the water, the sand, some footprints, a crab, a shop, and such.. Now I think you should continue to focus on how those things look, and how you can translate the aspects of those things into art. What you want to do is keep building on it, and layering your discoveries. For example, with water, I see you know it is blue, and so you put blue color there, you also know that there are ripples and movement in it, and so you put those lighter lines on it. Now what you want to do, is go further into your investigation and observation, and ask how those ripple look, how they blend into the blue-ness. Find that out, and continue investigateing new things. Perhaps you will notice that the water makes the sand wet and darket where the water moves over it, so you may want to observe that phenomena and see how you can translate that into art. just keep going with this process whenever you work. Try not to settle for a simple solution, or else you work will seem simple.
But this is understandable for a beginner. I hope this helps you, I look forward to seeing more of your work to see how you improve.

Schu, I'm really liking this. The simplistic nature of it is similar to Darion's. The battle screen is excellent as well. Very zelda-ish. The slimes/blobs are my favorite part.

Darien, Looks good, I think you can improve the color of it though, but it may be difficult with how you designed the tiles. Anyways, the colors and objects seem very seperated. For example, you have the reds limited to your roofs, the greens limited to your grass, the blues limited to your water.. Maybe read some of the other critiques i gave to give you some ideas on possible ways to fix it. You're on the right path, you just need to take things further.

Rydin, that is pretty creative! It can be amazing what you can express even when limiting youself. Although the low number tiles does does make it look bland, you can still get a feel for the mountains, forest, grass, beach, and water, and castle. Pretty nice for what it is. It can only get better if you choose to push yourself and take it further.

Zolthorg, quite interesting!.. the update really immproves the trees, before I didnt know they were tress, but now i see them. I think one problem is that everything seems to mix together.. Everything has similar colors and everything is similarly busy. So by fixing that, i think you can improve the piece alot.

Wolverine, Lookin good so far. Basically a bit barren at the moment. Needs more stuff to fill the spaces up. I like the wall colors and the characters are nifty.


Pep, you mentioned a second stage in the topic post?..
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Dogmeat on August 20, 2005, 03:19:02 pm
dogmeat, The update looks better. Looks like some sort of fighting arena with a pit on the outside. Should be interesting to see some sprites and stuff on it.

WOrd to that kon, the whole idea behind my game is that it is an RPG but, instead of your traditional FF style fighting you're leaning more towards an advanced zelda, think between zelda and diablo, I want the player to be able to see whats on the screen and strategically use the correct moves to fight the monsters, so in zelda you had like 1 or 2 guys walking up to you attacking you, and in diablo you had hordes, if 4 guys surround you you're not going to attack 1 guy at a time, cause you'll be dead, so I would like to have special moves and stuff, area effect moves, etc.. I know this isn't real but being a former game designer, I'm always thinking about this kind of stuff.

- Dog
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: mysticaurora on August 20, 2005, 06:48:29 pm
One question before I continue work on my entry: Is the GBC capable of flipping tiles to reuse them? We've seen the GBC flip sprites, as seen in Pokemon RBY and GSC. Surely if it can flip sprites it can flip tiles...right? I'm just wondering so I don't have to flip some tiles and call them new ones.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 20, 2005, 06:51:59 pm
all gameboys can do x and y flips of tiles.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mori on August 21, 2005, 06:29:38 am
Well, since people are posting wips, I think I'll post this one since I probably won't be able to work on it again for several more days (moving into college and what-not).  Uses a total of 98 tiles and 16 colors (including the sprite).  I, for one, am fairly impressed with myself doing this in only about 3 hours. :\

(http://tfkyle.dyndns.org/~Mori/retromockup_02.gif)

I still need to add some of the overhead thingies, like, uh, health... also more sprites. :p
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: jsmith71 on August 22, 2005, 02:38:13 am
I give you... Pacing Pete the Profoundly Puzzled Lumberjack.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Frog32/GBCmock_a.gif)
(he's puzzled as to why the last part of his name doesn't start with a P. I was bored.)
For no particular reason I decided to limit myself to 8 (total) colors on the tiles. (more with the sprite's colors) That's why the roof is green. :)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Faceless on August 22, 2005, 01:48:29 pm
I was inspired to pick up the mouse again, and to actually sprite something by Schu and Darion's submissions.
So here's mine:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/thefaceless2003/PixelArt/GBCMock.png)

It's a little barren, and parts - like the hearts - don't really fit, but I think it's not a bad effort for the first pixels I've pushed since Panda_guy and I did a collab resulting in a cockroach. Perhaps he can remind me when that was.

All counted there's 9 colours I believe, 8x8 Grid.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: jsmith71 on August 23, 2005, 03:12:07 am
Faceless: My main complaint, if I may offer it, is that it's WAAAY TOO BRIGHT. :P Even on my monitor, which is far too dark, it still burns my eyes. Not necessarily saturation, just... it's all really... bright! Aside from that, it looks good, though it's hard to critique because of it. The only other thing I can really point out is the shoreline-- looks to be just straight and diagonal lines. Might look better if it looked more natural.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Negative Gravity on August 23, 2005, 04:52:07 am
Negative Gravity, the first thing which stand out to me is the colors. Everything just uses one color for each thing, for example, your grass is a very green-ish color, one type of bricks are simply brown-ish, and the other type of brick is simply red-ish, and your dirt is simply brown-ish. I dunno, it may be due to the limited colors you can use which is causeing you trouble, but I suggest trying to mess around with colors and lack of color and experiment with changeing the hues slightly of parallel colors. check next critique to get a clue..

Wow, you sure took time to critique everyone here. You most probably have helped many people so far. I know you have helped me realize my color problem.  :D I will try to work on it around my school schedule (not the actual schedule just the timing)

PS: You are Kon from original Pixelation, aren't you? I think I recognize you by your Oh-so-sweet website Final Redemption. Lots of inspiration there.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 23, 2005, 08:00:43 am
(http://www.locustleaves.com/moreass.png)

I figured, since I had so much trouble with these simple tilesets, I really needed practise. So I went back and did another one. This is some sort of ogre-battle type tactical rpg. The catch is, that when you go into a fight, your group behaves like in Tales of Phantasia let's say. Semi-independent while you control only one of them, in real-time action. This is a fight that occurs over a 'rift' map tile, hence the middle hole. The poor fighters just have to hang around while the archers arrow it out.

Specifics:

about 16 colours used, along with sprites and transparencies. The tileset uses 7 colours, most of the tiles are rightly 4 colours and no more. I am however using some imaginary technical trickery for the full white highlights, possibly a few rawdraw sprites. A waste of sprite memory, but then again, it's only one room, not a scrolling map. The white highlight 'sprites' are well within the limits of the sprite-per-tile-line limitations.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Faceless on August 23, 2005, 08:04:42 am
Faceless: My main complaint, if I may offer it, is that it's WAAAY TOO BRIGHT. :P Even on my monitor, which is far too dark, it still burns my eyes. Not necessarily saturation, just... it's all really... bright! Aside from that, it looks good, though it's hard to critique because of it. The only other thing I can really point out is the shoreline-- looks to be just straight and diagonal lines. Might look better if it looked more natural.

I don't mean to disregard your comments, but I'm really not seeing the burning retina thing... I asked a few other people for their opinions, and they agree with me.
Does anyone else here think a palette adjustment is necessary? ???

As for the shore line... you're absolutely right, it was a last minute inclusion because with only the tiles I had, the Mockup looked even more boring than it does now...
I'll probably update this with a house or something, and some reworked shoreline.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 23, 2005, 08:40:05 am
It's a matter of preference, but I think I'd go with something like this:

(http://www.locustleaves.com/GBCMock.png)

dunno how the GMC backlights, but your image would probably come out mostly dodged white so yeah, significantly less brightness, and I stretched your shades out from black to white quite a lot more.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Faceless on August 23, 2005, 08:46:59 am
The GBC had no backlight, but two votes against now; I think I'd better mess around with the palette afterall. (Still interested in others' opinions on the brightness (and on the tiles :P))

Edit:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/thefaceless2003/PixelArt/GBCMock.png) => (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/thefaceless2003/PixelArt/GBCMock2.png)
Better?
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 23, 2005, 09:50:05 am
much, much better in my opinion.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Xion on August 23, 2005, 07:12:42 pm
Thanks for de crits, Kon.

I made another, this time starring Terror Raven.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/RetroRPGTerrorravenmockup.png)

Played like Zelda.

I dunno what's wrong, but somewhere along the line, I must've screwed up with the vertical tilery because there's an extra 1px. line at the bottom.

Are the sprites more visible this time around?
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: G_Dragon on August 24, 2005, 12:26:24 am
I may start on a second one later.
(http://indreams-studios.com/g_dragon/gbcboat.png)

I'll post the tiles once I extract each and every one.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on August 24, 2005, 01:00:48 am
Current WIP, though it's looking done now...
(http://virtual.dyc.edu/~peppermint/temporary/retro_rpg_wip_005.png)

Tiles!
(http://virtual.dyc.edu/~peppermint/temporary/retro_rpg_tiles_001.png)

Nice wave work G Dragon.. the tile edge cutting into the bow isn't even a problem, looks nice. A bit busy, I'll review these all later! :)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 24, 2005, 12:23:19 pm
Excellent entry, pep. I like how you used 8x8 tiles to break up grids and 16x16 to fake the 'japanese rpg' theme. Probably my favourite entry so far.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on August 24, 2005, 12:41:51 pm
That is ace indeed, Pep. Crits would be:

- The mushroom tiles have a greyish background, why not green.
- The treetops look a bit strange, i think they are to small and to obviously mirrored. Maybe also to equally lit all over.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Pju Pju on August 24, 2005, 09:29:07 pm
[EDIT]

Wip, 5 tiles, 4 colors total including black for transparency. Must sleep now... *zzz*

(http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6001/mockup17tr.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Schu on August 25, 2005, 04:20:46 am
Kind of busy lately but managed a small new one before my vacation was up.
(http://www.eyegore-net.com/eyegore/art/mockups/RPG_03test.gif)
Its a new area where the hero is stuck walking in place. Looks kind of Game Freak-ish (makers of Pokemon and Screw Breaker). The green lights on the ground were supposed to glow but I guess the animation was eaten.

Great looking work from everyone :)
---Schu
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Sawtooth on August 31, 2005, 10:47:00 pm
(http://user.7host.com/sawtooth/images/pixelart/gbcmockup.png)

Right now I'm working on a small character to fight this mofo.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on August 31, 2005, 11:05:02 pm
excellent! Probably one of the best turnouts for a challenge ever in pixelationland. Hope part II of the excercise whatever it is, works just as well.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Pawige on September 01, 2005, 01:49:05 am
Whoof...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Pawige/MockupRPG1.gif)

Been looking at it too long now, and I need to get back to work. :P I'll do number two tomorrow or sometime soon. I'm pretty happy with the textures, not so sure about the color choices for the actual walls and floor. 20 colors total including duplicates in the three tile palettes and two sprite palettes. 16 unique colors. Never counted the tiles. Crits welcome!

Sawtooth: Very impressive! I love the grass and dirt. The little rocks on the wall of the cave aren't so good though, I think they look a little gridded, maybe if you made the outlines a bit less distinct and some of the higher rocks bigger it'd help. I like the monster and his texture too.

Schu: Looks good, I like the general desgin but something's nagging me about it that I can't quite put my finger on... Something about the sides. Sorry I can't help much.

Pju x2: Good so far, the edge of the trail does pretty well to not look gridded. The whole thing could use some highlight colors though, maybe try to emulate Sawtooth's dirt shading a little. The thin grass tile with the few dark pixels doesn't look too much like grass, it might be better to just use a flat green with patches-of-grass tiles.

Pep: Ditto to Ptoing's comments. The two red characters in the bottom could probably also use a bit more contrast. Haha! I just noticed that dark ninja hiding behind the wall, great stuff!  ;D

I would crit more but I gotta go. Great work all!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on September 01, 2005, 02:33:18 am
Another great entry! Excellent! I'm not a big fan of the dirth on the floor.. maybe something a bit more ordered? But otherwise great. Nice to have you around again Pawige. Please restore your awesomely animated avatar for posterity's sake!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Dogmeat on September 01, 2005, 02:49:25 am
Heres a screenie to inspire you guys, got this off gamespy for the new dynasty warrior game, supposedly it's for gameboy advance, but look at those grasstiles!

(http://www.mindcrank.com/dynasty.jpg)

- Dog
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on September 01, 2005, 03:49:58 am
Some more screenshots for reference :)

Legend of the River King 2 - A Fishing RPG :P
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Legend%20of%20the%20River%20Ki.002..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Legend%20of%20the%20River%20Ki.001..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Legend%20of%20the%20River%20Ki.000..png)

Harvest Moon GBC 3 - Not too spectacular as far as graphics...
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harvest%20Moon%20GBC%203%20(U).001..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harvest%20Moon%20GBC%203%20(U).002..png)

Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - DW1 shots:
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20I&II.000..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20I&II.001..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20I&II.002..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Dragon%20Warrior%20I&II.003..png)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone - Do not do art ike this! You can do better!
(http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harry%20Potter%20and%20The%20S.001..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harry%20Potter%20and%20The%20S.002..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harry%20Potter%20and%20The%20S.003..png) (http://pixel-arts.org/junk/Harry%20Potter%20and%20The%20S.004..png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: PixelPusher on September 01, 2005, 07:10:34 am
Sweeeet. This challenge is so sexy. Even if it's over, I want to get some tiles done.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Faceless on September 01, 2005, 12:56:40 pm
(http://user.7host.com/sawtooth/images/pixelart/gbcmockup.png)

Right now I'm working on a small character to fight this mofo.

 :o

It's so good you've uninspired me...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on September 01, 2005, 06:43:44 pm
Pawige, yours has so much contrast between the background and its characters, i love everything about it, man. I'm really glad to see you and that avatar back. Make more sprites!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Akira on September 02, 2005, 10:24:49 am
Heres some colours that will make your retinas bleed:
(http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/1047/muckup23no.png)
16 colour
Got pretty lazy in the end. Tiling isn't my favourite.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ShadowGuy on September 02, 2005, 03:02:16 pm
my first post here on pixelopolis:
Its not very spectacular, but I quite like it anyway.
The game is about a renegade necromancer who is trying to ressurect the 4 first evils, and defeat any competition/oppostion. In this screen, you can see one of the other necromancers performing some sort of ritual to ressurect a fire demon...which you will stop.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v156/tobbeagrenx/gbcrpgmockup2.gif)

I am not 100% sure I got everything right...well, its not that big of a deal anyway...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: mysticaurora on September 05, 2005, 11:27:04 am
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a229/mysticness/Pixel%20Art/rpg-mockup.gif)

There's my first mockup. It uses 17 colors excluding black and white. 16 is possible with optimization. I'm not too pleased with the cabin, but I couldn't come up with any other ideas. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the other mockup.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Pju Pju on September 05, 2005, 09:47:27 pm
Decided to post my update before going to sleep.

Studied Sawtooth's nice road tile and managed to get some nice results for myself. I used 3 colors and 3 tiles for the road and the results were beyond what I thought I could accomplish so I'm glad. Thanks Pawige for the tip and thanks Sawtooth for the technique and thanks to all for posting and keeping my inspiration and motivation up, I will keep working on this. ^^

(http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/7750/mockup12jt.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Darion on September 05, 2005, 11:25:43 pm
Pju Pju: Don't you realize that you can't see the lightest shade of the dirt when not zoomed in? If you can't see it, then don't even bother using it; brighten it until you can.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: PixelPusher on September 06, 2005, 06:46:33 am
I can see the lightest shade, and it adds depth.

Anyways, I still haven't gotten some nice tiles done. *sigh*
I can't seem to put them all together right.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: ptoing on September 06, 2005, 08:50:04 am
Darion is absolutally right about the highlight. I can see it if i look carefully, but still it is way too close. You should not be afraid to use colours that are more contrasting. The grass has the same problem as well to an extent.

Made a lil edit

(http://ptoing.net/mockup12jt_edit.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Pju Pju on September 06, 2005, 06:02:37 pm
Thanks guys! I choose those colors because it made the road look like part of the background, however I see the point about contrast and I think you might be right. I'll experiment with it, add some more tiles and post an update when I'm done.

And while I'm here ^^

Mystic Aurora: I like the nice clean style, how you kept the grass and dirt one color and added tiny details like the flowers to show that green is grass for example. Replacing the texture of wood on the cabin and making it brown with cabin details could probably help toward that style. A candle in the window, a rocking chair on a porch or something similar.

Nice work so far everyone!
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: eghost on September 08, 2005, 06:54:54 pm
Here's what I've got at the moment...Think I'm about 6-7 hours in on this...
(http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php?u=12254DDjsy&i=92901)

So far I'm at 78 8x8 tiles...Still need to put them together for my mockup though.  :-\
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Indigo on September 10, 2005, 06:50:20 pm
well, usually i dont like to post WIPs, but I just noticed that this thread has become un-stickied so i thought i should post before its too late.  Any C+C so far?

WIP:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/calypson/retrobeantiles.png)

yeah, i know.  I'm a scatter-brain when it comes to making tiles.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Mercury Rising on September 10, 2005, 08:20:28 pm
Its a little dark all around.  For the dirt, you got rid of the ability for me to find the end and beginning of your tile but its too repetitive.  Same with the low grass.  Add some random things to break it up.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: AlexHW on September 10, 2005, 11:29:08 pm
More c&c..

Mori: Nice work, those trees are playful. I would probably try and make the roots blend more into the ground, they seem to be resting on it at the moment. The rocks all look the same and with that blade of grass sticking up into it, it makes them all seem odd. The sprite character seems very well done. I find it interesting how you did your grass, looks stylish..

Josiah Tobin: Nifty idea, I like the feeling of the trees, feels very foresty. I noticed the house is very boxy, I would suggest making the shape of it more interesting by making it smaller and adding an addition to it's side or something, that way it wont be so square shaped. I also think the grass is too busy with such few colors it uses (2). Try looking into how to keep minimal patches and then scatter some details in different places..

Faceless: I'm liking this, its very vibrant. I'd probably prefer the new version since it has more color, but the other seems fine too because it has a sort of hazey summer effect with that one. I love the design of everything, though the trees like mori's seem to be also resting on the ground rather than penetrating it.

Helm: That is quite an interesting concept. Definately better than the first try. I like how you incorporate a sense of depth with the background, playing with the perspective yet keeping the rpg-like view, that's excellent.

Xion Night: hmm.. I like how you attempted to do some night scene. Unfortunately, it is very dark and difficult to make out everything at 1x. You could probably lighten everything up a bit, along with giveing it a blue tint. The blue would help give the impression that it is in the dark.

G_Dragon: I like the direction you went with keeping things small, looks very different from others. Only drawback is that you get a sense of the tiles and blockyness when you keep things small and tight/constricted like that.

Peppermint Pig: I like the rather lush looking scene. There is a lot of variety within the picture. I only noticed the hidden ninja while looking at it this time, haha.. The path could maybe use some varience in the texture maybe..

Pju Pju: Nice effort so far.. The grass is looking very neon, I'd suggest playing with the color a bit. The taller grass patches could be less spikey and more springy. As for the updated version, the sand looks better with a texture like that, makes it more interesting.

Schu: Interesting, its nice you went in a different direction in regards to theme, but alot of it doesnt have much form. There are random looking shapes and it is hard to understand it. I'd suggest maknig it more functional looking. The direction/concept is good though.

Sawtooth: hehe, is that thing stuck in a cave?.. The opening of the cave isn't that apparent, makes the thing look jammed in. Its very colorful, and the details are nice, such as the scaley skin.

Pawige: Very nice, feels very clay-ish/cave-ish.. The small details work well, and its not too cluttered. The sprites look rather small when standing next to the table though, dunno if that is a big deal to you or not.

Akira: yeah, strange sense of color. colorblind maybe? Despite the colors, the details within the image are great, the trees look excellent and the house is nice too. I also like how the road dissipates into the forest. nice work.

ShadowGuy: Nice attempt at a cave scene. Your cave is very straight and flat, i'd suggest more diagnals in the paths and have rockier walls. I also noticed the colors are rather desaturated, which can be good, but you have things that could be improved with a more contrast such as the fire and treasure chest. The characters also blend in with the cave because they are similar tones.

Mystic Aurora: Looks good. I like how you focused the details into the edges of the forms for the ground, gives a nice effect. The character also works nicely. Your house is like Josiah Tobin's, it is very boxy/square-ish. I'd suggest waht I suggested to him, uoi can also look for ways to make things have more form, like adding shadoe under the edge of the roof to make the roof look like its popping out.

eghost: nice looking tiles so far, should be interesting to see some scene constructed out of them. From what i see, things seem alright, hard to check though in this stage.

Indigo: Nice work, I like the choice of colors. The variety of the surfaces are excellent as well as the detail put into them. Everything meshes very well.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: pixel32 on September 12, 2005, 10:06:35 am
I never design "rpg background" before,so just for exercise   ;D
If I want to draw the perfect "rpg background",must need more and more exercise.
BTW everyone's work were COOL   :P I like all  ;D

That's my exercise:
(http://pixel.qq.topzj.com/attachments/m24//25/14/25145/forumid_7364/e_NJiHjK9dYHGC.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: AlexHW on September 12, 2005, 05:03:22 pm
Looks good pixel32, although it doesnt seem very tiled. For example, the water looks as if it consists of a unique tile for every space, and the trees are positioned in varying closeness to each other that I'm not sure how the tiles are organized if at all..
I'd just suggest organizeing the tiles more, and makeing optimum use of every tile, reuseing tiles whenever you can.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: pixel32 on September 13, 2005, 02:35:50 am
Looks good pixel32, although it doesnt seem very tiled. For example, the water looks as if it consists of a unique tile for every space, and the trees are positioned in varying closeness to each other that I'm not sure how the tiles are organized if at all..
I'd just suggest organizeing the tiles more, and makeing optimum use of every tile, reuseing tiles whenever you can.

Thanks,that updata now  ;D

(http://pixel.qq.topzj.com/attachments/m24//25/14/25145/forumid_7364/e_NoqrQdCJmtiB.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: eghost on September 16, 2005, 05:54:46 pm
Just posting a WIP...I need to make a few more transition tiles before I can call it finished...I'm assuming it's ok to use tile flipping as it's inherent to the GBC...?
(http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php?u=12254DDjsy&i=92900)
Still only have the 4 palettes...
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: istvan on October 09, 2005, 10:35:02 am
I've never tiled before, but I'm really enjoying this. Theres a whole lot left to do obviously, but I'd like to hear a bit of respone on what I've got so far! I can probably still fiddle with the colours a lot. Can't wait to do the characters and enemies.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/istvan/screenrpg.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: istvan on October 10, 2005, 12:09:44 am
Finished it this morning. I'm a little peeved about how limited I was with the characters, but thats what you get for working in 8x8! There is currently 22 colours used, plus transparancies.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/istvan/finished2.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Peppermint Pig on October 10, 2005, 06:10:01 pm
Too cute isvan. I like your vegetation colors. Your castle could have maybe used a SLIGHTLY hue shifted gray blue to tan?? How can I fear ninjas like that?

eghost, those are some great looking tiles. Water effect is great, though maybe too detailed at this size. What's going on under the bridge, btw? I hope you do a second scene with those tiles. Great work.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: istvan on October 11, 2005, 12:20:44 am
Thanks Pep! You're not wrong. I didnt quite make it tan coloured because I got distracted by this hue shift along the way. I think it really brings out the power of one colour change!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/istvan/finished3.png)

I think if I had more experience with tiling I'd be able to comment more effectively on other's work, but so far the stand outs for me have been Darion, Schu, Alex Hanson-White, Pep Pig and eghost. These ones just appealed to me as works that have been able to create interesting scenes and characters, put to use creative limited palettes and break up the repetitive nature of tile work. It's nice to have so much inspiration at your doorstep.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: eghost on November 04, 2005, 06:48:12 pm
 :o

Thanks guys!!  ;D

Thought I'd post where I'd gotten to...
(http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php?u=12254DDjsy&i=92899)
@Pep: I was trying to give the feel off the water being better shaded by the banks, decided to kill that effect out in this rendition...

I'll be working on the sprite layers next, liven this thing up a bit....Still haven't quite figured out what I want to do with my 4 remaining bg palettes though... :-\

EDIT: Image re-linked
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Xion on April 09, 2006, 12:41:51 am
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/GBCmockup.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/Mocky2.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/Mockywithsprites.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/MockyofMenu.png)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Zach on April 09, 2006, 10:06:38 pm
haha xion night that is the shit

love the style and the portraits, but that tree is iffy i think
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 0xDB on May 16, 2006, 03:09:16 pm
Hi everyone.
Judging from the dates of this thread this challenge is quite old and I'm not sure if it is even considered still active, but after reading this thread, I felt that I wanted to give it a try myself to train my uhm... 'skills'.

To the right is my first try which I worked on approx. 5 hours this forenoon.
To the left is the revisited first try, which took me *cough* another 2 hours in the afternoon after a short break.(Speed isn't exactly my strength.)
I'm still not happy with the result, so I'll give it another try tomorrow, maybe even completely start over, but I still wanted to share the current state, so here it is:

(http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7236/rpgmockup22bv.png)

I checked myself several times to make sure everything is within the color and size limits.
I made use of tile flipping horizontally and vertically but I didn't put the flipped versions in the tileset. The scene is still missing a hero, so far there is only some lonely old witch there.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Turbo on May 16, 2006, 04:12:17 pm
I like it, everything is very easy to read and the colors are nice, old-skool looking. Except the safe. It looks too washed out, when it should pop out significantly, being an interactable item. It was better in the inital version, but since you changed the floor color (for the better, looks more like a dark cave now), you should also pay attention to keep the safe popping. Maybe add some of that black.

Also, i think the tiles that show the cutaway of the walls (the black ones) should have the transition to full black more abrupt, i don't particularly like them as they are now.
Love the witch though :)

P.S: if you post you image using the [ img ] tags, we will be able to zoom on it by clicking on the mouse.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 0xDB on May 17, 2006, 09:11:36 am
((?) I did use the [ img ] tags and click zooming worked here.)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5416/rpgmockup36og.gif)

Thank you for your feedback Turbo, I hope the issues you mentioned are fixed now. I changed the colors of the safe to contrast the floor.(Didn't want to use black for no particular reason, I just felt the  violet looked funky.) On the transition tiles, I removed the gray color to make the brown go black instantly, but I'm not sure if that was what you meant or If you meant that the thickness of the brown border is too high.

I've also added some new content to the scene:
The hero has arrived now to rid the cave of the bug and the bat, who have without permission entered the witches home(the cave). Since living in a too dark cave can't be very healthy I also gave her home a few torches. Now if I could just remember why the witch has those corpses on her floor... maybe she eats people and doesn't have a trashcan.
The green things are supposed to be some fungoid stuff.

I'm going to try an outdoor scene this afternoon.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 0xDB on May 18, 2006, 03:04:56 pm
My apologies for the delay, the outdoor mockup took me longer than I thought.

This time the hero is facing a mutated crab-man-mud-monster and his snake minions out in the wilderness, who are guarding the only bridge over the river.
Again I made use of tile flipping and didn't put the flipped tiles in the tileset.
The tileset probably isn't complete, especially the river tiles as they are now, would not allow making lots of variations and different curves, because I only made as many tiles as were necessary for the mockup.

(http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/1189/rpgmockup44eh.gif)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 8bitty on May 18, 2006, 03:43:14 pm
heres what i have so far, not coloured though
(http://i4.tinypic.com/102p5eg.png)
some awesome entries here :)
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 8bitty on May 20, 2006, 08:42:01 am
(http://i4.tinypic.com/105tp2u.png)
update
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 0xDB on May 20, 2006, 09:38:20 am
There is a well visible too obvious black line going down between your 3rd tile when it's tiled.(I think it's located in the top left corner of that tile) Other than than the few tiles you've got so far do connect nicely.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: 8bitty on May 20, 2006, 02:19:57 pm
(http://i4.tinypic.com/1060960.png)
yeah i noticed that too after a bit :/

update
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: vierbit on May 20, 2006, 03:14:19 pm
Good to see that someone bring this old thread back.
(http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp57/vierbit/pixelation/gbcrpg_mockup.png)
(http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp57/vierbit/pixelation/gbcrpg_tiles.png)
hm.. I dont like the sprites at all.
maybe add some kind of enemy later.
Some nice other entrys here,
to bad that some images are deleted.
Title: Re: The Retro RPG Challenge 1
Post by: Helm on May 20, 2006, 03:17:57 pm
oh wow vierbit, whereas I like, there's a very strange 8x8 grid effect going on in there. What happen?