@ All
I'd be more than glad to hear some ideas for other tiles (you know the rules, 16x16 and only black and white, nothing else).
What I have in mind right now is some dirt, pebble and rocks, some cliffs for cave entrances which are 1 tile instead of half a tile, and maybe some cliff that a player could jump or slide down, but not get back up (a one way door, if you wish).
Also I have some problem creating a water tile... Any suggestions?
@ Ashbad
Wow, thanks for your great reply!
As for the trees, I noticed that as well. I was trying to add more variation by placing flowers and grass below the trees - didn't work out, it seems. I'll try and create /real/ variations by hand I guess ; )
I'll try your suggestion with the flowers. Also I'll try my best with the stairs, the fact that they are straight lines makes them look damn regular when compared to the rest of the map. Maybe making the lowest stair broader then the ones above will help - we'll see how that changes things.
Concerning Screen Resolution: I'm not really making this for a game yet, rather than for myself. If I would make a game out of it, I would probably make something for the PC and go for 16x12 tiles (at 2x, giving 512x384 - which is unusual and no I don't know what to do with the border yet).
And now for the map looking plain: I agree, but there are two things to consider: 1. there will be objects placed in the map (like people and some items), this will help a bit. 2. I didn't want to spam the same tiles over and over... I don't have more tiles than seen here. I'll probably add some rock, some dirt, some pebble. That out to improve plainness by a lot.