[WIP] 8-bit ARPG old-school graphics

[Alícia F. R.]

Hi,

Nice to meet you all! This is the first time that I post any pixel-art here, so please tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I've read that it's important to explain as much as possible about the creation process so you can make better critiques. I'll do my best.

Fact is, I'm currently working on the graphics for a 8-bit, GBC/NES-inspired ARPG game, with a gameplay similar to that of the Zelda classics. The graphics themselves are meant to have a style resembling both Zelda and Pokémon, which are my main inspirations, but with a distinct personality (I'm still working on that). I'm using a GB/GBC screen size (160x144px) and working exclusively with the NES palette. I looked around for different variants of the palette that people displayed online and I found this one to be the most appealing to me, so I chose it for this:



I haven't worked much with 8-bit graphics before, I've always been more of a GBA-SNES kind of pixel-artist, and that's mostly why I thought that it would be useful to post some of my works here and see what I can improve on them.

Right now I'm mostly working on tilesets and sprites. My palette concept is relatively loose: sprites and transparent tiles have 3 colors + transparency, and background tiles have 4 colors, but I don't limit myself on the number of layers that can be used in a map. So the raw graphics themselves are meant to be a faithful 8-bit imitation, but the engine is not. I try to limit myself as much as possible, though, using as few palette variations as possible in the same tileset, so it looks more authentic.

I do the graphics by mouse directly on the PC using Aseprite. The eventual game will be meant to be played at least at a x2 scale, probably more, considering the small resolution of the screen and graphics.

And that's about all the relevant background info I can think about at the moment. If you want/need to know something more, just ask

Now, to the pixel-art! The game is divided in a Light World and a Dark World, such as some of the Zelda games, and each World has 10 different areas with different tilesets. The tilesets in the Light World will be more vibrant, obviously, and the ones in the Dark World will be darker and creepier. I'm currently working on the Forest tileset (Light world) and the Mountain tileset (Light world). Here you are:

Forest tileset (WIP):


Mountain tileset (WIP):


That's what I have for the moment. And here you have some test maps in-game, so you can see the tiles in action, as well as some of the hero sprites:



What do you think I should improve? Is my technique OK? Do some tiles have a wrong perspective or size compared to others? I've been wondering about it, but after looking at them for so long I kind of not notice those things anymore, haha.

By the way, the big strange tree-with-a-face thing is based on this creature I made, so you see more or less what it's supposed to be like:

Spoiler

The last thing I should probably point out is that the use of black outlines for tiles and sprites is kind of a stylistic choice, so I'd prefer not to change that. Any other suggestion or correction or edit or anything is absolutely welcome I want to learn and do this as well as I can. Thank you in advance for your help and congrats on the awesome community!

[lachrymose]

The dark world cometh!
I need to get ready for classes soon, so I don't have time for a full edit. But with respect to you wanting your own unique twist on zelda/pokemon gfx. I hope I could at least provide a bit of inspiration.



Be careful with large assets like your tree. Such large areas of a single color like on the trunk and top can be off putting visually, break up the monotony some. flowers, vines, mushrooms, black hole where the heart should be that bleeds the blood of your enemies...etc

EDIT:
On last edit, a thought on housing colors.

[Joe]

Welcome  That look great, how long have you been pixelling + drawing?

The only place I see a problem with the black outline is the flowers, it's very heavy on them. Maybe use the darkest green or the second darkest black.
Your technique is good. There are two things I think your tileset could benefit from:
1. Make the perspective consistent. The two big trees are projected almost head on, which breaks the illusion. Move the volumes over towards the center like your other sprites. Think of a cylinder turning.
2. Use asymmetry for the bushes. Right now they're visually distracting.

Only other thing I would mention is to watch out for banding. Just always think about where the ends of pixels line up, and shift them so that doesn't happen.

[Alícia F. R.]

Thank you both!

You definitely gave me some ideas, lachrymose. You're right, I should make bigger tiles more detailed, otherwise they look out of place. I will work more on the textures. Also, thumbs up for the creepy suggestions I'm definitely going to go for a creepypasta theme with the Dark World tilesets. I try to keep the Light World tilesets a little more ligther-hearted, though So no bleeding hearts for the moment, haha.

Thanks a lot for the tip with banding, Joe. It isn't a concept that I am very familiar with and I haven't been taking it into account.  I'll try to incorporate it into my workflow, it definitely does make the graphics look smoother. Also, what you've said about perspective is exactly what I had been hesitating about, thanks for pointing it out. I'll fix it.

To answer your question, I have been drawing since I was very little, mostly just cartoonish stuff and monsters. I did my first sprites more or less eleven years ago, when I was eleven, but I haven't been very regular with my pixels until these last three years or so. Even then, I took a break of five or six months this past year, due to eye fatigue. That's why I feel that I have to take a more conscious effort to improve my technique. Mostly my work has been focused on making Fakemon battle sprites; I used to have a very active deviantART account related to that (Majarath/Maiareema).

This all really helps. Thanks a lot, guys. I'll keep an eye out in case there's more answers, but I have enough ideas to start improving some of the tiles I've already made. I'll make sure to post them when I'm finished.

[Kazuya Mochu]

I made a quick edit.
I think you should use the warmer green for the grass and the colder green for the trees. and leave the midle one for flowers and bushes.
I think it would help separating them (ground and trees) . also pine trees are slightly into the blue green

I also changed the shading a bit on the tree (sketch) so it looks like its in shade, and changed the perspective on the "face" so it fits the top down view

[Alícia F. R.]

Kazuya Mochu: your suggestion for the grass color is a very good one, I'm going to change it, thanks! Concerning the pine trees, you're right about the color and I did actually use the bluish green in the mountain tileset, but I preferred to have a different tone in the forest tileset so both environments would be a little more different. In the end, the best option will probably be to get off my lazy bottom and create a different kind of tree for the forest area. Still, thanks a lot for pointing it out and for the tree sketch, it will definitely help me with texture practise.

Also, lachrymose, Thanks for the house color suggestion. It wouldn't actually be doable because of color limitations, and the house is supposed to be white with a red roof anyway (it's been designed beforehand), but you gave me a good idea with the different colored bricks in the chimney.

[32]

I think this is all wonderful, you've certainly achieved a distinct personality with it already . Definitely back Kazuya up on the green. I don't have a tremendous amount to say but if I had to make one general observation it would be to avoid single bright pixels on dark, they just look like noise, especially on the bottom halves of the little trees. Most of your dithering works but the greens on the tall trees specifically stands out as being too far apart to blend together well with a dither. I also cannot tell what the things in that tree's canopy/hair are, pinecones perhaps? Whatever they are they look like they're just floating on top of it, I don't read them as being a part of it. I'm fine with the perspective and shading being wonky on it though, makes it seem important.

[Alícia F. R.]

32: Thanks! Coincidentally, these past few days I've been reading a little on cluster theory and I had already removed some of the single light pixels you mentioned, I'm glad I got that right! I will keep working on it and probably remove some more. The things on the tree... I'm not sure about them myself. They are actually beehives that have evolved into a weird charicature concept, sort of? Some of the things in this game won't make much sense at all, haha.

I've been working on many of the things that you guys have mentioned and I've revised and improved the Forest tileset. I've removed one grass variant and the big regular tree, at least for the moment, and created a few more tiles. Some of them won't actually be tiles in the end, they will be sprites (items that can be retrieved or moved around, etc.), but design-wise it doesn't really matter, so I put them together.



I'm not entirely sure if I overdid the dithering in the monster-tree. I like it much better now than before, but still, I may redo the shading again. I've also tried to improve the house, which didn't really convince me at all. So far it's the tile I've had the most trouble with concerning the color limitations.

I've ditched the flower animations altogether. They didn't look very smooth and the flowers were way too big compared to the hero anyway.

The big grey tube thing is supposed to be like an old well or a water deposit that you can enter through, and the little pink and green grass tiles are carrots. The rest of the carrot is underground.

A random test map with lots of things lying around:



And the smoke animation looks like this:



What do you think?

[Kazuya Mochu]

I'm feeling tempted to sugest that you remover the black outline from everything not a character or interactive object. on your last screenshot, the character is almost lost among the trees because everything has the same visual strength. making the outlines on the trees a little less bold would help blend them back into the scene, rather than steal the show

[Friend]

old green in grass looks better to me.  suits your sprites more and captures better the feel of a gbc game.  the new green gives more a gba vibe, yet clash with your style.  keeping the new green might necessitate a change in the sprites. 

the mental clash for some viewers given by mixing the feel of two systems with different capabilities (gbc/gba)...could be something to consider.

[Alícia F. R.]

Kazuya Mochu: The black outline is something that I am not going to change, but I understand where you're coming from. Actually, one of the interesting sides to the game will be the fact that you won't know if you can interact with some elements in the map unless you try talking to them. Still, thanks for the input. It's something good to keep in mind, even if only to avoid unnecessarily dark/cluttered floor tiles, which is a problem that I will most certainly be facing with the Dark World tilesets...

Friend: I know what you mean about the GBC/GBA clash, even though, in my opinion, it's less to do with the grass color (any color in the NES palette is game) and more with the fact that I use multi-layered maps, which was impossible in the GBC and NES systems. Essentially, I'm working with a SNES/GBA-inspired engine, but using NES/GBC-inspired graphics. That does make for a rather weird effect, but I am not averse to it. I think it contributes to creating a recognisable style and that's something that definitely interests me

[rikfuzz]

I'd say the outlines are nicely done and a big part of the style/identity. There is already a hint of visual hierarchy, which I think is enough for a non-action game cropped at GB/GBC screen size.   

[Alícia F. R.]

rikfuzz: Thanks! Actually there will be some "action", considering that the game is an Action RPG, but I don't think there should be any problems making out the NPCs, enemies, weapons, etc. in the screen. They will be the only things that will be moving in a non-cyclic sort of way, apart from the hero.


OK, so the outdoor Forest tileset (possible revisions and last-time additions aside) is finished. I've added a water pond, some tree houses, the entrance to the a "rabbit hole" and a couple more details that I had forgotten:


Updated test map:


Water animation+decorations:



The game engine I work with has a very limited default compatibility with animated tiles. They can only have 3 frames (which can be ordered 123 or 12321), not 2 or 4, and they always have the same frame rate, which is approximately 250ms.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me improve I feel like I've learned a lot of things in a short time, which is awesome.

Edit: Whoops, I put up the wrong version of the big tree house, sorry. The complete version is here:

[32]

Really really great, the animation is awesome I also forgot to say before but the snow covered and snow capped trees are super pleasing to me.

Good improvements all round, only things I'd point out are: The well thing looks a bit out of perspective, I think you'd be well served making the opening and the bottom curve another tile deeper. The large mushroom is similarly off by a few degrees. The log looks a bit flat, I think if you just get rid of that one pixel on the bottom right corner of it you'll solve that problem. The question mark box stands out a little too brightly. Also there's a little spot beneath the water where the larger tree overlaps the smaller tree and you've got a tiny little negative space that really jumps out, if you're planning on tiling them like that a lot I would suggest finding a solution.

[Alícia F. R.]

32: I'm glad to read that I'm pretty happy with the snowy trees too. Concerning the question mark box... well, I wanted it to stand out because it's where the hidden items will be, and I thought it was important for it to be very visible. Also, it's supposed to be yellow, and I don't know which other color in the palette could work in this case. So I don't think I'll change it, for the moment. I'll keep thinking about it, though, and I'll make sure to fix all the rest of things you've mentioned. Thanks for the tips!

I'm letting the tileset rest for a bit and working on the game worldmaps instead.

(Light World - Dark World)


The tiles are 8x8px each and I've limited myself to only 4 palettes (which you can find at the top right corner of the pictures). The idea is also to use as few different tiles as possible. The red and white thing is a circus tent. The triangle is supposed to be a pyramid. Each tile will be linked to a small square playable map in the overworld.

The current place you're at will be highlighted with a red square box and the textbox at the bottom is where the name and coordinates will appear, like this:



I've been working on these two on and off for weeks and I quite like the current result, but I still would like some external opinion to make sure they're the best they can be. This style is very different to what I'm used to, even more so than the normal tilesets, and small tiles are hard (but fun, definitely fun).

[0xDB]

In a tight space like that, I think I would try to rely as little as possible on black outlines because they take away so much space and by that make everything appear very dark.

quick edit as I was curious myself whether less black would help (I think it does) at that scale:

[Alícia F. R.]

Dennis: That's a good idea, thank you. I don't want to give up the black outlines completely (as I said with the normal map tiles, they're part of the style I'm using), but I tried to make them a little less heavy and I think it improves the result.



I'll keep working on it.

EDIT: I fixed the stuff 32 mentioned about the Forest tileset, too.

So I consider both the Forest tileset and the worldmaps "finished" (as in "can be used and look half decent"). I will still accept critiques if you find more stuff to fix, though, and keep working on small details. Thank you guys a lot for helping me improve these I will be working on another pixel project for a while, but when I return to this you'll definitely be seeing more of me.

[0xDB]

Dennis: That's a good idea, thank you. I don't want to give up the black outlines completely (as I said with the normal map tiles, they're part of the style I'm using), but I tried to make them a little less heavy and I think it improves the result.

It does.