Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Dusty on March 30, 2011, 07:08:23 pm

Title: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Dusty on March 30, 2011, 07:08:23 pm
I've been learning Java lately and I thought instead of just ripping tiles it would be fun to make my own stuff. So I started making these. Right now their purpose is something to use while I learn, but I eventually plan, if they end up going in the right direction, to finalize them and actually use them. Right now I'm kind of stumped with colors. I also think I've got some contrast issues as well. The BG is just placeholder until I get something else happening. I think I may need to revisit the blocks, I don't think they look too swell when they're not embedded in the stone.

(http://i.imgur.com/pHGZx.png)

Level mockup:
(http://i.imgur.com/j93vI.png)

And old colors:
(http://i.imgur.com/9HhuQ.png)
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: JJ Naas on March 30, 2011, 07:50:57 pm
I also think I've got some contrast issues as well.

The dark bg feels more contrasty (even though it may not be), so it looks a bit like the lighter tile areas are seen through a hole cut through the dark area.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Perihelion on March 30, 2011, 08:15:25 pm
Nice start! A couple things jump out at me. The background just being a resized and palette-swapped version of the foreground makes the whole thing look monotonous. Try a different texture for the background, such as the square blocks. Also, your rock tile looks good on its own, but when you actually use it in an environment, it looks weird because the lighting is flat. Try shadowing the undersides of big rock clusters so it actually looks like a chunk of rock. I also think you could integrate the squares in better with the rocks, like have the edges of the rock go into the square tiles more.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: yrizoud on March 30, 2011, 11:06:46 pm
I just noticed you said it was placeholder, but my first impression was that having big rocks in background and small rocks in foreground gives the illusion that the background is closer than foreground. Whatever you'll adopt, make sure it gives the right sense of scale and "3d".
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Dusty on March 31, 2011, 04:29:55 am
I just noticed you said it was placeholder, but my first impression was that having big rocks in background and small rocks in foreground gives the illusion that the background is closer than foreground. Whatever you'll adopt, make sure it gives the right sense of scale and "3d".
I'm actually contemplating whether I want to do something more like Cave Story with a simple pattern repeated, or do something more natural, like an actual cave scene. I don't know yet, I'm not limited to copying Cave Story, I just thought it'd be a good base for it.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: HughSpectrum on March 31, 2011, 04:47:20 am
The only thing breaking the illusion of the tiles being father than the background is the grass.  I think the edges would benefit from some extra volume (on top of everyone else's suggestions) because right now it looks like either a paper cutout or even a larger mass that's behind a hole.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Mathias on March 31, 2011, 06:49:27 am
You are a tilin' fool!

This all looks really nice. I agree with the depth perception issue. While not a huge problem, I think it better resolved than ignored.

I love Cave Story.

Been wanting to ask you for a while - what is your tile creation work-flow like? What program/features of said program, etc? I'm finally trying top get into some organized pixel art tile creation.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Dusty on March 31, 2011, 05:32:06 pm
The only thing breaking the illusion of the tiles being father than the background is the grass.  I think the edges would benefit from some extra volume (on top of everyone else's suggestions) because right now it looks like either a paper cutout or even a larger mass that's behind a hole.
The issues with the grass is possibly just another problem with contrast, and the shades I have not doing their job. I could possibly add a dark shade in there, so I'll look into giving the grass more depth.

You are a tilin' fool!

This all looks really nice. I agree with the depth perception issue. While not a huge problem, I think it better resolved than ignored.

I love Cave Story.

Been wanting to ask you for a while - what is your tile creation work-flow like? What program/features of said program, etc? I'm finally trying top get into some organized pixel art tile creation.
Sadly I'm not the person to look to for such advice, heh. My workflow involves a large canvas in MSPaint and... well, MSPaint.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Gamer36 on March 31, 2011, 05:58:15 pm
I LOVE it, like love like I love ice cream (And let me tell you, I LOVE ice cream) BUT I don't really see how the tiles fit in with the rocks, they need something like a 'transaction' between them. Also, I think a fore-back round might be cool (but not needed) because I think the bright rock to the dark rock is quiet noticeable.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: what on March 31, 2011, 07:01:08 pm
imo the background is very monotonous. you probably want something to break it up.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: HughSpectrum on April 01, 2011, 03:01:05 am
Quote
The issues with the grass is possibly just another problem with contrast, and the shades I have not doing their job. I could possibly add a dark shade in there, so I'll look into giving the grass more depth.
What I meant was that the grass was the only thing making the lighter platforms read as platforms, meaning that they're fine.  It's the rocks themselves that don't disconnect from the background very well.
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Decroded on April 01, 2011, 11:38:51 am
I think it looks cool man :-)
I say stick with the Cave Story theme for a while, do up a background tile in the same/similar colours and see where it goes form there.
You can always do other tilesets in other styles later.
I agree with the comment about the scale of the background conflicting with its depth so be interesting to see what you come up with.

Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: Helm on April 03, 2011, 01:28:53 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/j93vI.png)(http://locustleaves.com/j93vI.png)

More darkness, instant cave!
Title: Re: Cavestory inspired tiles
Post by: big brother on April 05, 2011, 08:48:00 am
Are you trying to reinterpret the original? If so, I like the darkness. Playfield tiles could be a bit darker, too.

In the game, the tileset was used for "friendly" villages, so I guess he kept the colors light so it'd be cheerier.