Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Mrwhitepantz on November 07, 2013, 04:37:22 am
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Hey there, I was hoping some of you could help me with a couple of my tiles.
(http://i.imgur.com/FIRCfr1.png)
For my grass, I attempted to follow Kiwinuptuo's texture tutorial, and I think I did a fairly decent job with it. My problems are 1) the grid is still kinda there, and 2) it doesn't feel like very realistic grass to me. As far as the grid goes, I think it's because I have two larger clumps almost horizontal with each other, and then smaller blades of grass below them. I'm not sure what exactly it needs to feel more realistic to me, but maybe it's the fact that my blades are more like leaves, which makes it seem like a caricature of grass, rather than real grass.
(http://i.imgur.com/lku77xg.png)
These are my wooden planks. I think that they look pretty good from a distance, although someone has said they look a bit more like bricks than planks. Up close is where they start to fall apart, I feel. It could just be too much noise, I didn't use any noise generators, but there are a lot of colors in there. I tried to give it some structure, primarily horizontally to give it a wood-grain feel, but I'm not sure how well I actually succeeded there. Again, I looked at Kiwinuptuo's texture tutorial for inspiration, but the planks there have the same sort of not-quite-realistic quality that bugged me about the grass.
Any help you guys can give me would be extremely appreciated!
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having similar problems with the same tuto and because of it I can't help with the color issues.
My sugestion is for the wood texture.. I think you could turn the planks longer tha this
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My sugestion is for the wood texture.. I think you could turn the planks longer tha this
Thank you. Unfortunately, and maybe I should have mentioned this, my tiles are only 32x32; so the planks are about as long as they can get. Perhaps if I made them thinner they would appear longer?
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Hey, just wanted to share an update, and get more thoughts if there are any out there. After some feedback, I decided to drop what was a very stylized look for grass, and instead try and make a rougher texture with thinner blades that don't stand out quite as much. Again, comments and criticisms are welcome.
(http://i.imgur.com/OVVl9Mk.png)
Thanks for looking!
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Hey, just wanted to share an update, and get more thoughts if there are any out there. After some feedback, I decided to drop what was a very stylized look for grass, and instead try and make a rougher texture with thinner blades that don't stand out quite as much. Again, comments and criticisms are welcome.
(http://i.imgur.com/OVVl9Mk.png)
Thanks for looking!
I like the new colors you have but I don't like this new grass have it looks a bit more like green noise than grass. Have you tried applying these new colors to your old grass image?
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I like the new colors you have but I don't like this new grass have it looks a bit more like green noise than grass. Have you tried applying these new colors to your old grass image?
You know, that was a good suggestion. Here I did just a simple color replace with, my first one only had 4 colors so I left out the darkest for now, but I think it looks pretty good, and with a bit more attention could actually look really good.
(http://i.imgur.com/J6d3O4C.png)
Thank you very much.
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The texture of your grass will feel differently depending on what you place on top of it.
The first version you had was large textured implying a much closer view of the grass blades. This works more on games with large close up sprites.
The more "noisy" grass tile would look much better with sprites that are much smaller scale, as if from very far away.
Also, you will find that a lot of the definition in a grass tile comes not from the actual texture and color but the separation of the grass with other terrains as well. Are you going to use simple square tiles to link the grass with soils, roads, water, and so on?
Or are you going to create more defined borders and transitional edges?
I am far from an expert on these things. I was just putting forward the ideas because you haven't really clearly expressed your purposes and your end goal does have something to do with the style you should aim for with your terrains.
~Things to think about~
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The texture of your grass will feel differently depending on what you place on top of it.
The first version you had was large textured implying a much closer view of the grass blades. This works more on games with large close up sprites.
The more "noisy" grass tile would look much better with sprites that are much smaller scale, as if from very far away.
Also, you will find that a lot of the definition in a grass tile comes not from the actual texture and color but the separation of the grass with other terrains as well. Are you going to use simple square tiles to link the grass with soils, roads, water, and so on?
Or are you going to create more defined borders and transitional edges?
I am far from an expert on these things. I was just putting forward the ideas because you haven't really clearly expressed your purposes and your end goal does have something to do with the style you should aim for with your terrains.
~Things to think about~
Thank you for the advice. This is just going to be used in a texture pack for minecraft, so basically it will just be squares separating things, no real edge tiles. It is definitely a point to consider in the future however, and I wouldn't have made the link between the distance/type of game and the texture myself, so thank you for that.
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Alright, one more update on the grass here, I've added some of my darkest shade now, created a bit more depth I feel like. I'm pretty happy with where it is I think, but I'm always open to more ideas or help or criticisms.
(http://i.imgur.com/0U0mk5v.png)
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Although I'm newbie myself, I think your last tile look good, except I think you can reduce brightness in some areas(so the distance between the ground and grass will be more). I think Secret of Mana 3 is really good example, if you want to go for better grass tile you can look at it's tiles.
(http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/5-1.gif) (Image from this tutorial page) (http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/sywtbapa_de-mystifying_greats_1.php)
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Although I'm newbie myself, I think your last tile look good, except I think you can reduce brightness in some areas(so the distance between the ground and grass will be more). I think Secret of Mana 3 is really good example, if you want to go for better grass tile you can look at it's tiles. ~snip~ (Image from this tutorial page) (http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/sywtbapa_de-mystifying_greats_1.php)
Thank you for the suggestion. I went ahead and tried just switching the major background shade with the darkest shade, and it actually worked out rather well. I didn't think I was going to be much happier with it than where I was, but this has a good effect, and I think helps lift the grass up of the ground a bit more.
(http://i.imgur.com/gx18YB9.png)
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Alright, after finishing a nice grass texture with your help, I've moved on to my wooden planks. I think they still need improvement, but they're less noisy and I think show the grain a little bit better than the earlier ones. I would really love any assistance any of you can get me on these bad boys.
(http://i.imgur.com/f752Sun.png)
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Sorry, it seems you're done with the grass, but I did this last night:
(http://i.imgur.com/iqNdWFj.png)
I really only did palette changes, and the two I did have only three colors.
The first is your second to last, which I really like.
The second was me trying to add more contrast to make the highlighted parts stick out, like in the Mana 3 example.
The third was me really trying to make it look like Mana 3. I think it would look better if you removed some highlights (like I tried on the left), but I was lazy and just messed with the palette for the most part.
Again, I posted this before you said that you're finished with the grass, but really, when is art ever finished? (:
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first:
why making a single tile and pasting it all over? The tile won't look good as long as you have just 1 variation. 3rd attempt goes in the right direction but should be emphasized a lot more and the tiles should look more similar, but more like variations.
second:
why making simple texture tiles without focusing on any world objects. Players wonv'yt look at textures, the will look at objects. If there are hints like color or small details you also can get away mostly with flat colors for textures.
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first:
why making a single tile and pasting it all over? The tile won't look good as long as you have just 1 variation. 3rd attempt goes in the right direction but should be emphasized a lot more and the tiles should look more similar, but more like variations.
second:
why making simple texture tiles without focusing on any world objects. Players wonv'yt look at textures, the will look at objects. If there are hints like color or small details you also can get away mostly with flat colors for textures.
Well, he did say it's for a Minecraft texture pack..
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well I read the beginning and the end of the thread. :ouch:
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well I read the beginning and the end of the thread. :ouch:
Well.. don't worry about it :lol: Mrwhiteplantz, do you have any other tiles done so far? Even if you don't you should post some in-action shots.
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Sorry, it seems you're done with the grass, but I did this last night:
~snip~
I really only did palette changes, and the two I did have only three colors.
The first is your second to last, which I really like.
The second was me trying to add more contrast to make the highlighted parts stick out, like in the Mana 3 example.
The third was me really trying to make it look like Mana 3. I think it would look better if you removed some highlights (like I tried on the left), but I was lazy and just messed with the palette for the most part.
Again, I posted this before you said that you're finished with the grass, but really, when is art ever finished? (:
That last one does look pretty good, I may try taking your advice about the highlights, but I'm also worried about making it look too flat. And you're definitely right, when is art ever finished?
Well.. don't worry about it :lol: Mrwhiteplantz, do you have any other tiles done so far? Even if you don't you should post some in-action shots.
I do have a few others done, yes. I hope it's okay if I just link to an imgur album, there are more images than I wanted to put into a post here.
http://imgur.com/a/d5T1r (http://imgur.com/a/d5T1r)
Please feel free to comment on or criticize any and all of them. I'm trying to go for a semi-realistic pack, hopefully that makes the world feel kind of old or aging, if you know what I mean. I am always very grateful for suggestions and help that can be offered.
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Alright, after finishing a nice grass texture with your help, I've moved on to my wooden planks. I think they still need improvement, but they're less noisy and I think show the grain a little bit better than the earlier ones. I would really love any assistance any of you can get me on these bad boys.
(http://i.imgur.com/f752Sun.png)
I made a post here about wood planks that can help you :
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=15378.msg140921#msg140921
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The grass and wood textures in your screen shots are the best of all the ones you've made. In MineCraft, it is very rare to see grass textures without grids. Not sure if it is an aspect of the way it is rendered, but you can see clear lines between the blocks, especially in Super Flat, even with the default texture (which is essentially noise). You can remove that horizontal line of prominent clumps of grass you have in your texture, but if you don't completely obliterate the grid, don't sweat it.
Your wood texture, although probably the best of all the ones you have showed so far, needs a lot of work. Use google images to look at real wood planks (not those fancy faux textures that are a buck a piece). Here is one I found:
http://versporttvonline.com/wooden-plank-background/ (http://versporttvonline.com/wooden-plank-background/)
Now, I know these are planks constructed for houses, not driftwood, but you get the general idea. There are clear lines that go the length of the wood. You have tried to recreate it, but it looks like Thor just went round and started bashing your walls. Not only do they have WAY too many colors, but you just threw random shadows and highlights. Wood doesn't shine, unless it is polished. Your texture pack doesn't seem to have that vibe. There are some lights and some darks, but these lights and darks are not lines, they are areas. Make maybe a few wood knots or darkened spots, and a few lighter spots. Use the darkest and light shade(s) VERY sparingly, and do not have any colors that looks like shadows or highlights, unless a board is really sticking out a lot.
Stone is not cobble stone, there are not chunks. Stone does have irregularities, but not enough to make it look like tons of small stones, it is a wall of stone. Here is another reference image:
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/160/a/f/Stone_texture_by_enframed.jpg (http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/160/a/f/Stone_texture_by_enframed.jpg)
(not inserting image because it is huge)
You can see there are a few places that jut out, and the surface is rough. Resist the temptation to go crazy with noise, if you like dithering, go with dithering. Have shadows, but light shadows. Tiling is a pain in the ass, removing the grid, all that jazz. It is hard, it takes hard work, time, and dedication. Make the texture share aspects between tiles. Don't just texture a tile as a standalone, and then try to make it fit. Maybe have a piece that juts out continue on to the next tile. Make sure the elements are even, not concentrated in any one place. Don't make a large thing that draws someone's attention directly to it, make the whole tile equally interesting.
Coal is especially difficult to do. Coal doesn't appear in nature anything like how it is represented in minecraft. There are usually giant deposits of solid coal. It isn't a ore at all, it doesn't mix with the stone like iron and gold do. Some texture packs try to represent these large deposits with just one chunk of coal, but, surrounded by stone, this has the most apparent grid without outlining each block in black. I don't see anything wrong with how you are doing it now, just be sure to fix the stone texture (I know this is not your current stone texture, but, as I stated above, stone is not separated into little chunks.)
Iron is not found in nuggets, and you have done a good job at distinguishing your texture from these "nugget" textures, but this isn't very realistic either, and the grid is horribly obvious. Having these "veins" is good, but try to blend them in with the rock more. The iron is at the same level at the rock, in your texture it looks as if it were a bit receded. Don't make all the veins terminate so close to the edge, maybe make them loop back or fade before they get so close to the edge.
Your cobblestone is excellent, nice variation in length, I like how some seem to be pushed out a bit. Maybe do the opposite on some, making them look pushed back (add a shadow to them). The moss seems a bit to green to me, as it occurs in dungeons, not exactly full of lively bright green moss that has tons of sunlight. Tone down the brightness just a tad. I can't tell with this little amount of bricks, but it seems that there might be a grid problem with this moss. Again, use the premise of spreading details among multiple tiles, not just one.
Just like the stone on the coal and iron ores, the dirt suffers from gridding, and smoothness. It looks to me as if it was a simply hue change and copy paste. Dirt is rough, it has clumps, tiny pebbles, etc. Again, don't draw attention to one particular space, spread the details out across the tile. The roots in the side grass tile are ok, but seem beveled (highlight all on one side shadow all on the other), and plastic. The grass also suffers from this plastic look. Just putting lines of highlights and shadows doesn't convey "grass", it conveys "green substance". Try doing something like your top grass. Also, the colors don't match, this side grass is bright and green, the top grass is slightly saturated.
Sorry for being so nitty-gritty, and some of my answers don't help much in how to fix it. Trial and error is key, try different ideas. If you don't think it looks right, don't settle. Keep working at it till is does. And that wall of text wasn't meant, it just kept pouring out.
Credit for Images
Wood Plank: http://versporttvonline.com/ (http://versporttvonline.com/)
Stone Texture: http://enframed.deviantart.com/ (http://enframed.deviantart.com/)