Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Sharm on February 22, 2012, 10:56:17 pm

Title: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 22, 2012, 10:56:17 pm
Hello again!  I'm working on a new set of RPG tiles.  I'm still working on my other set, slowly, but this one is a paid job, so it gets priority.

(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/trees.gif)

So far I've got dirt, grass, trees and two different transitions between the dirt and grass.  I wanted the grass/dirt transition to have a darker edge as though the middle stuff is more compact, but it isn't looking right, so I made one without that transition.  The only problem is, it looks a bit plain which is why both kinds are in the preview.  I'm attempting a style that has detailed, contrasted edges with a simple and low contrast tile.  I'd prefer to keep things on the simple side, since I won't be the only artist working on this, and I'll need other people to be able to mimic this style.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: ErekT on February 23, 2012, 12:27:30 am
I think the grass/dirt transition is a good idea. The problem is that it doesn't take perspective into account. The viewpoint angle looks like 70 degrees or something so if the grass area is raised then the transition at the top area would be obscured by the grass plateau. Here's a quick edit to illustrate. Sorry about the filedropper dl, photobucket seems to be verboten where I'm at for some reason ???

EDIT: Replaced the link.

(http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz263/ErekT_Pixel/trees.gif)

Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: jams0988 on February 23, 2012, 02:56:32 am
I like the grass and the sand, but I don't like the transition. The sand looks like it belongs in a desert or something, so shouldn't the grass get patchy and brown before it turns into sand? Right now it looks like you just plopped the grass down on top of it...I agree with everything in ErekT's edit.

Also, sent you a PM!
Edit: Or maybe I didn't. Let me know? My outbox is empty for some reason, hahah.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 23, 2012, 03:42:55 am
ErekT: That's helpful.  I think the main problem with that transition is that it takes too much space to do so.
Jams: Got it, replied.  It's hard dirt, not sand.  I realize its very brightly colored, but I was going for a more stylized look.

There won't be any detail tiles for a while, not until I've got all the basic tiles done.  I do intend to have a few variations before I'm done though.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: PypeBros on February 23, 2012, 12:07:38 pm
I'd just avoid those vertical-oriented stones on the vertical dirt-to-grass transition tiles. It feels out of place given that the "natural" stone layout everywhere else is horizontal.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sakoshi on February 23, 2012, 05:55:47 pm
I really like the way the trees are done, I want to see the characters which go along with the style. :y:
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Facet on February 23, 2012, 09:09:13 pm
Lovely clean style, kinda Zelda-y :y:, OGA = Open Game Art?

Agree with Erik about the perspective, in addtion your drop shadow is much smaller than the tree canopy, the bush and some other detailing is so small as to get lost a bit and the scene as a whole could do with a shot of colour, particularly to differenciate the trees and bushes from the grass.

Also I'm not sure about the internal banks of grass, they look a bit strange in their current form. Messy example of some stuff:

(http://i.imgur.com/fZ4oX.png)
 
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: jams0988 on February 24, 2012, 06:51:32 am
Gorgeous edit, Facet. You did a great job making the grass look thick and squishy, hahah.
Thanks for the reply, Sharm. Very informative. =)
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 24, 2012, 04:12:47 pm
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/trees2.gif)

The changes aren't very drastic, but hopefully good.  Facet, I'm not sure what you meant when you were talking about the bush, I don't have any bushes in my mockup.  Did you mean that my tree's foliage needed to be less detailed and have more general shapes because it was too noisy?
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Facet on February 24, 2012, 07:07:49 pm
Ah, sorry I confused the little tufts of grass with Zelda bushes. I do think the leaves are a bit overdetailed but more importantly I think the tree could do with a different tint to the grass; the change in saturation is somewhat better but there's untapped potential there. Broadening the pallete of the dirt a bit would allow for more interest too, especially with the transition. :)  

Edit - The little internal highlights look great, I think the banks that you had before could look nice also, it was just the unresolved edges that looked strange to me; full 'tiers', perhaps with varying colours could lend a nice patchwork quality.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: API-Beast on February 26, 2012, 08:50:10 pm
some edit I did two days ago:
(http://files.mrbeast.org/ArtStuff/PixelDump/treeEdit.png)
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Phlakes on February 26, 2012, 10:50:44 pm
That edit actually brings up something pretty important, your lightest shades are midtones. Might want to put something with a broader palette in there for reference to get rid of the relativity.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 27, 2012, 07:37:45 pm
This is all I've made so far, so showing a good color range is difficult.  Hopefully this will help.  The sprite is one Redshrike made for the project.  I just pasted him on, he'll probably have a shadow later.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/rocks.gif)

Facet:  I've tried varying the lightest dirt color with other colors, but it ended up looking really weird.  Any where I put a different color it looked like just a patch and not like dirt anymore.  It also made it way too busy.  I'd love to find a way to vary it, but the only way I can think of is to add an alt tile.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 28, 2012, 05:37:36 pm
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/colors.gif)

Latest mockup with new colors.  Got the go ahead to do some nice stuff to the grass.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on February 29, 2012, 10:03:48 pm
Now with houses.

(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/house5-1.gif)

Hopefully the silence means it's looking good.

BTW, Facet, I tried to do a less detailed tree and no one liked the result.  We're sticking with this tree.  Though I did fix the lighting, your edit helped a lot there.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: jams0988 on March 01, 2012, 07:07:37 pm
Quote
Hopefully the silence means it's looking good.
Yup, looking pretty good. I like your other RPG set more, though. This one looks more like it'd be in a Facebook/Flash game, whereas the other one is gritty and grimy looking, like it'd be in an SNES game. They both look good, but my personal preference leans more toward the older looking stuff.
Quote
BTW, Facet, I tried to do a less detailed tree and no one liked the result.  We're sticking with this tree.  Though I did fix the lighting, your edit helped a lot there.
That only says that people didn't like *your* less detailed tree, though, not that a less detailed tree is a bad idea in concept. Facet's edit looks freaking beautiful, in my opinion, and I'd love to play a game that used that style. Very painterly and unique.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Facet on March 01, 2012, 07:30:26 pm
Definately looking good :y:

There are a few things which you could improve on; the rocks are very high key and quite globular, the roof doesn't overlap the walls and the left facing side (of the roof) could do with lightening up, the top of the windows is missing a visible ledge and perhaps the door a frame and the latest foliage pallete is very saturated, especially the lightest shade.

Some consistancy issues; the buildings cast shadow right whereas the trees cast straight down and the rocks, chimney and architectural details don't seem to cast any. Every tile on the roof is outlined whereas most everything else is treated with localised detail.

I made a (very) messy architectural paint-over. Also, I didn't edit this but you have tiles on a flat roof which I don't think would work realistically.

(http://i.imgur.com/GG0v8.png)

Thanks Jams, I must stress that I wouldn't put any of my rough edits in a game without cleaning them up a bit first :P
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Sharm on March 01, 2012, 09:36:08 pm
Facet:  Excellent points, I'll see what I can do about all of them except the roof overlap.  It's been decided that there won't be more of an overlap because of how many more tiles that would require.  I was worried that the roof would look over textured in comparison to the rest, I'll drop the lines.  With the lighting I was attempting a typical cheat used in RPGs, but I guess I'm not doing it right.  Hopefully adding a few shadows and moving the trees is all it needs.  Could you do a color edit for what you'd suggest for the palette?  Making the palette work is the hardest part for me.  As for the roof, here's the reference image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Silliman_College_from_SSS_roof.jpg  It appears to be some sort of brick, but it does match the roofing.

On a different subject, I would really love to see a tileset made by you someday.  Mostly I'd like to see your solution to things that seem to consistently bug you with my tiles.  I bet I'd learn a lot.  That and it'd be epic and beautiful.

Jams: Of course the problem was with my tree.  ^_^  I agree the concept is still sound, if I were doing this for myself I'd be posting the simplified one for editing and trying to make it work.  Unfortunately that method is only going to cost my client money and he likes what he's got.
Title: Re: OGA's new RPG tiles
Post by: Facet on March 01, 2012, 11:50:17 pm
Quote
I was attempting a typical cheat used in RPGs, but I guess I'm not doing it right
That's kind of relative, It's not really a case of right or wrong, I'm just trying to highlight inconsistancies regardless of common tropes. The previous tree palette (post #12) looked good to me and it looks like lead roofing on the flats from your reference.

Also thanks, I never seem to finish any of my own projects, likely because of a tendancy to do everything the hard way and lose all sense of scope (which I hope I'm not passing on in any critique I give :P) but I have been meaning to post something original here for a while.