Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: indiemaatheus on December 16, 2016, 06:20:07 am

Title: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: indiemaatheus on December 16, 2016, 06:20:07 am
Hello, guys! I've been trying to make some pixels for a game of mine and while I really like the actors and their animations:

(https://i.imgur.com/qy3yVRU.gif)
(https://i.imgur.com/1LC1vIo.gif)

I can't seem to properly make the tiles for the scenarios to fit the style, any tips?

(http://image.prntscr.com/image/70377202863d4da0b4d32bd689e25b22.png)

Thanks in advance!  :)
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: washk on December 16, 2016, 10:14:38 am
The village looks great, it is not clear what is bothering you ?
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: eishiya on December 16, 2016, 01:26:08 pm
The village looks nice, but there are a couple of issues that might be making the combination not work:

The sprites are side-view, but the village is 3/4 view. No easy remedy there.
The should be a background, but it has more contrast than the character sprite, so the sprite is difficult to read in comparison. Toning down the village's contrast and boosting the contrast on the character should help.
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: Achrileg on December 17, 2016, 02:33:21 pm
Yeah, everything looks great, but if you want perspectives to maybe mesh a bit better, maybe lower the character's right leg by one pixel, so there's depth.

The issue is that the characters are so small, that one pixel might change the whole look, better or worse.
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: indiemaatheus on December 17, 2016, 05:50:21 pm
Sorry to keep you guys waiting.

(http://image.prntscr.com/image/1949727b10cc464cb2ca10bffe1e0c85.png)

I tried to make another version with a different shade of green for grass but now that I added an actor with green clothes, I see that I need to change the grass. Even though that's notable, colors were not a huge problem for me (nor the perspective), what bothers me is that the actors seem to be made for a whole different game, I don't know. I even tried to make a new building texture but I guess it's something with the contrast of the colors used for the buildings.

(I need to find an tilemap engine with autotiles so I can prototype easier, it's been a chore to draw/make changes to the floor :-[).

By the way, I will try and make my procgen to generate maps like that:

(http://image.prntscr.com/image/7d3951beb6d44e24ba3cd30b7a3163d8.png)

So there will be few brown tiles.

Thanks, people!
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: MysteryMeat on December 17, 2016, 06:44:31 pm
Honestly I'd say they look fine. The resolutions match and everything seems properly sized, I think your only mismatch comes from something you can't really fix, IE, that the actor sprites don't have as much potential for detail as the background objects.
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: API-Beast on December 17, 2016, 10:01:45 pm
Small tip, never use the same palette for background and interactive game objects. If they aren't separated players will get lost, having trouble to discern between the two.

Here is your initial mock-up, but the background has had their saturation and lightness reduced, while the sprites have their contrast increased.

(http://i.imgur.com/dvz9FEh.png)

Another easy way to increase the separation is to add outlines.
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: eishiya on December 17, 2016, 10:46:40 pm
I'd like to add to API-Beast's comment: Using the same palette isn't a bad thing. Using different colours can make the characters (and other interactive entities) feel like they're not actually in the world. However, using the same balance of colours/values is a bad idea. Even if you're using the same palette, the characters should be using more contrasting colour combinations than the background.
A good example of what I mean is Final Fantasy Adventure for the Gameboy:
(https://marathonrecaps.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/ffa-2015-11-20-15h13m55s411.png)
It's limited to black, white, and two greys. The background uses all four of those colours, and yet the characters stand out quite well. Why is that? It's because the background uses mostly white and the light grey, and uses the dark colours sparingly, while the characters do the opposite - they're black with some grey, and only a little white (and they use a black outline for those things that can't otherwise be dark). You can apply this idea to larger palettes as well (but remember to take hue into account as well, not just value).
Title: Re: Getting the tileset to fit the actors' style
Post by: Runensucher on December 18, 2016, 11:07:45 am
I'd like to add to API-Beast's comment: Using the same palette isn't a bad thing. Using different colours can make the characters (and other interactive entities) feel like they're not actually in the world. However, using the same balance of colours/values is a bad idea. Even if you're using the same palette, the characters should be using more contrasting colour combinations than the background.
A good example of what I mean is Final Fantasy Adventure for the Gameboy:
(https://marathonrecaps.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/ffa-2015-11-20-15h13m55s411.png)
It's limited to black, white, and two greys. The background uses all four of those colours, and yet the characters stand out quite well. Why is that? It's because the background uses mostly white and the light grey, and uses the dark colours sparingly, while the characters do the opposite - they're black with some grey, and only a little white (and they use a black outline for those things that can't otherwise be dark). You can apply this idea to larger palettes as well (but remember to take hue into account as well, not just value).

There is another thing, that seperates the player sprites from the background. The sprites are shaded sparingly. They are build with big patterns of the same colour.

Look at the rocks of indiemaatheus first post. They even look more like player sprites than the real ones. It's the same for the poles and the grass.
I think it would help to build up the sprites with less shading what leads to using less colours.