Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 12:49:17 pm

Title: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 12:49:17 pm
So, I'm making some tiles I'll hopefuly someday use for a game. And also just a bit for practice.
Here's the first one:
(http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9049/somerocktile4aq0.gif)

Basicly just a main stone with some grass tile.
14 colours if I'm correct.
I'll submit more, as soon as I finish them :)

Tiled:
(http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5751/somerocktiledne0.gif)
I know the mech doesn't really fit in. But I havent figured out what to do to fix it either.
Anyway, critique much apreciated.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: robotacon on May 09, 2008, 01:40:00 pm
That's a great tile.
Only thing that puts me off is the vertical dark area in the middle of the tile
that makes a clearly visible repeating pattern.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 01:54:35 pm
That's a great tile.
Only thing that puts me off is the vertical dark area in the middle of the tile
that makes a clearly visible repeating pattern.


Thanks for the crit man.
Does this fix it?
(http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1851/somerocktiled2tv2.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: PypeBros on May 09, 2008, 02:55:14 pm
impressive artwork, though there are still some places that clearly do not "tile" well.
i tried to highlight what seems the most problematic to my eyes :
(http://139.165.223.2/~martin/scene/somerocks.gif)

maybe bringing the edges of the pattern in the center of your picture would help to work on this ...
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Helm on May 09, 2008, 04:49:18 pm
(http://www.locustleaves.com/somerock.gif)

hope this helps with the tiling.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Arachne on May 09, 2008, 05:52:30 pm
Helm's edit is a step in the right direction, but it also gives you a much clearer horizontal divide between the dark and bright tiles in the middle, so I'd also break that up a bit. :)

(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/opacusedit.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Majoris on May 09, 2008, 08:05:24 pm
The only C+C I can give here, is that it miiiight need a little more contrast. Your tile kind of reminded me of this piece: http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/17613.htm (http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/17613.htm), and there you can see what I'm talking about contrast.

Although, I don't think it's a vital thing to change IMO

EDIT: Arhhg! I forgot to comment on how awesome I think it looks!!!! I do think it looks really good, great work!!
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 08:15:43 pm
Thanks guys.
(http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6866/somerocktiled3rq8.gif)(http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4108/somerocktiled3moarcontrxr8.gif)

Normal -------------------------------------------------higher contrast.

I hope I took care of the tiling isues. But I have a hard time spotting this shit exactly.
So if you see any more points please point em out.
Also, the holes in the lower part; too prominent?
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Majoris on May 09, 2008, 08:35:39 pm
Yay, you followed my advice!!  ;D

I can't really spot anything wrong with the tiling much...
And, what do you mean by "holes at the bottom"? If you mean teh white space, it will depend on whats behind it
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 08:37:22 pm
Yay, you followed my advice!!  ;D

I can't really spot anything wrong with the tiling much...
And, what do you mean by "holes at the bottom"? If you mean teh white space, it will depend on whats behind it


I'll be taking that as a 'no' :)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 09, 2008, 11:09:06 pm
(http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/136/somerocktilewithotherstji9.gif)
Update shmupdate. I added some foliage and started on a tree.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: buloght on May 10, 2008, 01:05:39 am
Hey opacus :) your work keep improving so fast!

There is one thing that I always see in your stuff, is that you always lack darker shades. It's not that you lack contrast (I think these might be contrasted more) but it's you don't have shadow colours  and this makes where light fall not "visible", i can see the litted areas but they don't look highlighted if you know what I mean. The difference between shadow and light is what gives atmosphere and life. So imo, make your darker colours way darker and play more with shaded areas and litted areas.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: EvilEye on May 10, 2008, 05:41:59 am
Personally I like the bright look. But you may have a problem later in distinguishing from sprites / background and foreground.

For instance the tree and shrubbery ( A SHRUBBERY! ), I assume are part of the background and I think need to have a different hue / lightness then the ground.

Example:

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/chris_6713/example.jpg)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 10, 2008, 09:59:29 am
So, I made an update. I hope this is a bit the direction you meant, Buloght.
Evil Eye: Yeah you got an interesting point too. I'll see if I can do anything with that.
I'm just gonna have to see how it works out when I have a base engine running.
Anyway, without further adue:
(http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3368/somerocktilewithotherstfe8.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Feron on May 10, 2008, 10:21:27 am
here is an edit....

(http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/5207/editzzforuav2.png)

mainly on colors and stuff.



Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: PypeBros on May 11, 2008, 01:26:47 pm
it might be a nice "graphical feature", but i think in your case i'd have avoid using the same colours for the tree and the rocks ... that would make us believe the tree is made of rocks too.

i'd also try using isolated pixels for the moss (or bring more noise in it) on the trunk, to make it clearly distinct from any sort of leaves.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: smiker on May 11, 2008, 01:30:43 pm
i have got impressed whe i saw those tiles ( :O )
i think the colors should contrast a bit more, not for all but for edges' colors.
do you plan to do a game? do you have coders for it?
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Fool on May 11, 2008, 02:41:44 pm
Thats some mighty rockin' rocks=)
But I'll go with PipeBros on tree issues, I would think of some different texture for it and/or different colors.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: philipptr on May 11, 2008, 05:48:28 pm
First of all: nice work, looks very promising :)
since Arachne already covered the line-problem with the tiling, I thought I could contribute with another small problem I saw in the tiling..

(http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6530/somerocktiled3moarcontrbw5.png) edit: (http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4712/somerocktiled3moarcontrup0.gif)

What I tried to show is that it seems that you have a bright area next to a dark area at the same height while one should try to avoid such areas. Of course you shouldn't pixel all stones which are at the same height in the same tones, but if they differ too much the tiling becomes visible.
My edit is pretty bad, but still I think one can see what I mean ;)
It's not extreme in this case, but I thought this might explain a little what to look after when avoiding visible tiling.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 11, 2008, 07:29:54 pm
Thanks for all the edits 'n stuff like dat.
Anyway, here's an update. I hope this fixes most of the issues:
(http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9270/somerocktilewithotherstrl1.gif)
I've also created an alternative, but still rough, tree:
(http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3593/somerocktilewithotherstow7.gif)

Which do you guys prefer?
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Willows on May 11, 2008, 07:40:47 pm
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y73/SaboteurGreg/PixelationTree.png)

I think the tree would benefit from some interaction with the rocks. At the moment that front root seems to be launching toward the viewer, which would put it in front of the rocks, but instead it just kinda disappears. I realise that in order to fix that you'd have to make more tiles, buuut I think it'd be worth it.

And I prefer the scaly (first, top, "old" )tree, mostly because the smoother one doesn't flow into itself and seems like separate objects.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Larwick on May 11, 2008, 08:27:48 pm
Ew those straight edged highlights on those rocks ruin it in my opinion. The softness of the original palette (or w/e) was much better i think.
Really nice piece tho, keep it up.  ;)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: smiker on May 11, 2008, 09:37:50 pm
i think the initial color limitation was right, less colors now...more colors later....

edit: i was talking about the tree. i think it was right with the original palette, but don't take me serious.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 11, 2008, 09:47:17 pm
Ew those straight edged highlights on those rocks ruin it in my opinion. The softness of the original palette (or w/e) was much better i think.
Really nice piece tho, keep it up.  ;)

Yeah it might be a little bit more appealing to the eyes, but this will help seperate the foreground from background later on.
Atleast I hope :)

And Smiker: I don't really understand what you mean. The initial colour limitation? Less colours now more colours later? Eh?

Anyway: Smoothness for the tree. I think I'm gonna go with the new tree. It just fits better, has more depth, and looks more interesting:
(http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/1585/somerocktilewithotherstbr1.gif)

There will by the way be interaction of the tree with the rocks, however, I'm gonna wait with that till I can completely call the rock tile finished.
Otherwise it will be alot of unneeded bitching if I change the rocks.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 12, 2008, 04:07:51 pm
Updaet:
Here is an edit of the stone tile with far more vegitation and a small waterfall.
Man I love waterfalls.
(http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1967/somegrasstilewithawaterkc8.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Willows on May 12, 2008, 04:45:49 pm
neic updaet.

I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the overly vegetative rocks, personally. It'd make sense if they were some sort of drawn-out transition between stages (viva la jungle level!) but other than that it looks like a lot of relatively unsourced vegetation living in a relatively hostile environment. Even with the pretty waterfall :D

Also, I'm not sure where the character would actually walk on, now.

And finally, no matter what I say it's pixel-delicious. Kickass, dude.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: chriskot on May 12, 2008, 04:49:15 pm
This is some really nice stuff!

My only real criticism would be that the tree in the first image looks a bit too smooth compared to the rest of the image and that the branches on the right side stick out a bit weirdly. I think that they should come out further back. It could also use a few more leaves.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Sohashu on May 13, 2008, 12:12:58 am
I also think the tree needs to Interact more with the rocks.  Maybe have alternate Tiles where Roots are exposed out of the rocks. 
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: I Am Uh on May 13, 2008, 01:00:04 am
Quick edit regarding the waterfall:
(http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7410/somegrasstilewithawatervt3.gif)

I think there isn't enough vegetation with the waterfall compared to the grass and rocks. Maybe some extra vines or something could help. I dont know maybe not, It just seems like the waterfall isn't part of the ground near the top mostly.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Doppleganger on May 13, 2008, 05:29:58 am
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/Timpac/C%20and%20C/mushedit.png)

I'm really sleepy, so I'll have to get you some CnC to go with the edit tomorrow. This was meant to be a demonstration of contrast and lighting and what it can do for you. It was also meant to be something fun to do before I go to sleep, which it was. These are really fun tiles and I can tell you've come a long way since you've been here. For a second I was almost intimidated by the thought of editing them.

P.S.
I edited the mushroom and plant area...XD
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: PypeBros on May 15, 2008, 02:46:05 pm
very nice pixels for the extra vines and waterfall, though i have a doubt on how water should "bounce" on the rock.
the shading of rocks as we go further away from the "grass line" suggested me that i'm seeing floating rocks that is large at its top and narrow at the bottom -- which wasn't disturbing me earlier given the SF look of your protagonist (after all, Tyrian shooter is full of floating rocks ;)

But the waterfall suggests something completely different: if the rocks were getting narrower, it could no longer affect water that falls from the "top edges".

hope it's clear enough, i cannot afford illustrating (@work).
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 18, 2008, 04:34:48 pm
Quote
neic updaet.

I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the overly vegetative rocks, personally. It'd make sense if they were some sort of drawn-out transition between stages (viva la jungle level!) but other than that it looks like a lot of relatively unsourced vegetation living in a relatively hostile environment. Even with the pretty waterfall Cheesy

Also, I'm not sure where the character would actually walk on, now.

And finally, no matter what I say it's pixel-delicious. Kickass, dude.

I was thinking the waterfall would be the cause of the over vegitation, no?
That was my idea anyway. It could also be usefull for deeper, or less deep in the jungle. Plus, the normal tiles could also just be used as normal rock tiles.
Currently the char would only be able to walk on the ground. The tree is only for decoration. Maybe I will later add more difference with a change of contrast.
And thanks man ;) I'm not sure what you mean by the transitions thing by the way?


Quote
This is some really nice stuff!

My only real criticism would be that the tree in the first image looks a bit too smooth compared to the rest of the image and that the branches on the right side stick out a bit weirdly. I think that they should come out further back. It could also use a few more leaves.

Thanks dude!
Hehe, yeah, I think I made the tree to smooth compared to the rest. I'll have to see if there's a good way of fixing it without making the tree look crap D:
Yeah I guess you got a point with the branch. I'll give it a fix soon.
And more leaves will certainly come :)


Quote
I also think the tree needs to Interact more with the rocks.  Maybe have alternate Tiles where Roots are exposed out of the rocks.

Someone asked me the same question earlier in the topic.
And yes, soon I will make the tree interact with the rocks more.


Quote
Quick edit regarding the waterfall:
[image]

I think there isn't enough vegetation with the waterfall compared to the grass and rocks. Maybe some extra vines or something could help. I dont know maybe not, It just seems like the waterfall isn't part of the ground near the top mostly.

I hope the new version looks better. I'll have to add some more rocks sticking out too though :)


Quote
I'm really sleepy, so I'll have to get you some CnC to go with the edit tomorrow. This was meant to be a demonstration of contrast and lighting and what it can do for you. It was also meant to be something fun to do before I go to sleep, which it was. These are really fun tiles and I can tell you've come a long way since you've been here. For a second I was almost intimidated by the thought of editing them.

P.S.
I edited the mushroom and plant area...XD

I'm pretty sleepy too, haha.
Thanks for the edit dude. And the thought that you, of all people, nearly felt intimidated definatly gave me some extra ego points  :D
But right, I hope I took care of most of the contrast issues in the new version.


Quote
very nice pixels for the extra vines and waterfall, though i have a doubt on how water should "bounce" on the rock.
the shading of rocks as we go further away from the "grass line" suggested me that i'm seeing floating rocks that is large at its top and narrow at the bottom -- which wasn't disturbing me earlier given the SF look of your protagonist (after all, Tyrian shooter is full of floating rocks Wink

But the waterfall suggests something completely different: if the rocks were getting narrower, it could no longer affect water that falls from the "top edges".

hope it's clear enough, i cannot afford illustrating (@work).

Yeah, I like, haven't really decided yet wether I wanna keep the whole floating rock idea.
Ah Tyrian. Dude. Memories, memories. That was one of the first video games I ever played. I remember always playing it over at a friends house because we had a crappy computer.
(A computer that can't handle Tyrian, haha, hilarious! I remember when we had a pc with 256kb RAM xD)

They aren't really getting narrower down the bottom. Well, they are, but only at the far bottom. But you do have a point now that I look at it.
It looks wrong somehow.

And now, without further adue:
(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2282/treeandshit2if2.gif)

And a early stage boss concept:
(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/2292/tesladestroyer3lh3.gif)
When I have an idea I quickly have to draw it otherwise it skips from my mind, hehe.

Thanks for all the crits & comments! You guys are awesome!
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Fool on May 18, 2008, 05:08:55 pm
Maybe something more dynamic for a tree? Perhaps, less dynamic than that to keep it in style you maintain - just an idea.=)
(http://www.foolstown.com/misc/treeand.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 18, 2008, 05:12:10 pm
Maybe something more dynamic for a tree? Perhaps, less dynamic than that to keep it in style you maintain - just an idea.=)
(http://www.foolstown.com/misc/treeand.gif)

Shit dude! That is completely bad ass.
I'll definatly have to give something like that a go.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: PypeBros on May 19, 2008, 06:52:16 am
(picked both in an editor to see how you got from 'before' to 'after' ... well, you just edited the whole thing. much to be learned here  :o )
just one thing that feels odd with your edit, Fool, is the thinner sub-roots on the right. That seems just too far from the ground to appear in my knowledge of trees.

But well, that's completely smashing me, so i guess i should better shut up and envy quietly  :P
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 19, 2008, 03:55:29 pm
Made the tree wilder. Succes or no succes?
Also started filling in the leaves.
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/229/treeandshit3ms5.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Reo on May 19, 2008, 06:20:19 pm
Succes ;D
I dont know about thoose two brances tho,they look kinda odd to me next to each other like that,I would move one of them a little bit higer up.
Other than that :y: :y: :y:
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Fool on May 20, 2008, 07:53:50 am
Foliage might have some volume - a bit messy edit with twisted greens, but just making a point. Somewhat out of style as well.=)
(http://www.foolstown.com/misc/foliage.gif)

I think you need tweak that dark shade on a grass so it will blend with a stones a little more.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on May 20, 2008, 01:52:19 pm
Man oh man, thanks once again for taking the time to make an edit! It seems you put love intro every single thing you create. I love it.
Here's an update:
(http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4609/treeandstuff2yu6.gif)
Better?

Reo: Thanks man. I don't know what exactly you mean with the branches, though?
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Presley on May 20, 2008, 04:49:59 pm
That right hand side with the water is tops. :D I think the left platform could definately benefit with some similar details.

You might want to look at how Fool uses the midtone and shadows to give the foliage depth. Really good technique.
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Fool on May 21, 2008, 11:02:17 am
Your stones are very clean and well defined and I think you ought to bring everything else to the same level of definition. Right now tree a bit off that level both the trunk and the crown. I'd get darkest shade on the tree a bit lighter and less saturated. As to foliage, if you work from back to the top you may get better control over it. Here is a rough example. Leaves shapes up to you, perhaps.

(http://www.foolstown.com/misc/treeleaves.gif)
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Reo on May 21, 2008, 03:29:28 pm
I don't know if its just me,but the composition of thoose two branches has been bugging me since the beginning.
Maybe move one of the branches a bit up(sloppy edit):(http://pici.se/pictures/mPKNessIh.gif)
but maybe its just me ???
Title: Re: Tiles
Post by: Opacus on June 24, 2008, 02:01:34 pm
Yes Reo you're right. I will fix that soon :)

Here's an update, refining the leaves.
It's not a major one, just showing, that now I have internet again, I am still working on this and I will finish it.
(http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9715/treeandstuff3xu3.gif)