Gypsy Forest (RPG tiles)

[TheInquisitor]

Hey folks. 

This must be my second ever topic on here. I usually get so stuck into my pixelly works that I don't bother to post progress shots. It's been a long time since I last properly pixelled but I just got that itch! I couldn't get the idea of a nice deep dusky blue forest out of my head recently. I wanted to make some eerie looking forest with a gypsy camp in it, so this is what I've cooked up with so far:





It's early days, I know. I'm happy that I've got the trees out of the way. They are the bane of my pixelling life. I'm hoping to make both gypsy wagons and canal boats. I want them to be colourful, but with that heavy dark blue global tinge. As always I take my main palette inspiration from my pixelling buddy Doppleganger. I do love his colour mixing. Hopefully he'll provide his usual insights here to help me along my way if there is any tweaking required. So far I'm pretty satisfied with the progress.

One question that arises is how do you guys think I should best tackle the grass tile? I did make a start on it in the first image, but I'm not so sure it'll work (the very faint grass above the long grass). I'm tempted to go with flat colour like in Zelda. I also think that the trees and gypsy look so much stronger over that temporary blue background in the first image. Does anybody else agree with that? If so, how do you think I should approach the grass colour.

Thanks guys 

[Redshrike]

I know it's kind of pointless to post just to say you like something... but I really like this.  I really like the colors overall and the tiltiness of the trees in specific.  I almost feel like the darkness of the ground should be emphasized even a little bit more (that is, yes, I think they look better on the blue bg), maybe a few patches of dark moss or something like that in the open areas between trees could get a similar effect?
The only thing I don't really get is the wheel/barrel thing at the top.  I can't really tell what it is, or what's up with the shading on the end of it.

[TheInquisitor]

Thanks Redshrike 

I like the idea of some darker moss at the edges of the map "tree wall". That should help bring out the best of the trees. I'll certain look into that. 

The object at the top is an early WIP shot of a gypsy caravan. It may go under massive revision before the end. Just a good starting point. That wooded front to it will probably have a door plonked on and a few gaudy colourful patterns.

[Lizzrd]

For the grass, a heap of grass under the trees and some in the open would brobably be best.

[TheInquisitor]

Hey ho folks. A litte more progress on my tileset.  Significantly I've altered the background colours to better match the what I hope to have by the end of the tileset. I still reckon that with this background the trees still stand out enough that they work.

Obviously the most significant new things are the little robed cultist, the WIP colourful gypsy boat and the WIP stone head. The stone head will be part of other broken statue pieces that'll give a nice ambience to the set and map locations ideally. I dreamed up the cultists to go with them just for the fun of it. I've always had a love for creepy looking, sinisterly robed villains. They are the coolest. 

The light reflection in the "water" is just a mockup. When I come to making proper animated water I'll be using colours similar to that. The stone head needs better colours, ones which match the others I've used already and will also require some more precise shading. However as it stands I think I've fleshed out a good shape that matches the tileset angle. It was obviously quite difficult as I wanted to get that slant on the object so that it looks like part of a broken statue. I'll add some crumbly bits too.   

This set is supposed to be set in a twlight/dusk sort of time. Do you guys think I have managed to convey that well enough? Or does it look more likely nightime? I'm happy with the palette as it is, although I'm struggling greatly with this extravagant boat. I'm interested to see if others read it as twilight. Unfortunately there's no sky visible to make it obvious. 

Comments and particularly critique welcome. I'd like to up my abilities in pixelling. 

[Rydin]

I would say you've got shape down spot on.  And your color choice is very beautiful.  The thing that bothers me, is that there's no texture. For instance, just by looking, I have no idea what the black and gold cylinder thing is.  The leaves of the tree look like they are made out of pillows and blankets--which is not how really are.  The same holds true for the statue of the head.  It's supposed to look like stone, but because of the way it's lit and colored looks to me like a plastic sculpture. Then again, the dark robe--the colors are awesome! But it seems to be made of the same substance as the stone head, the cylinder thing, and the trees.

Now, with everything having the same texture like this, you achieve an nice soft, fluffy atmosphere, and if that's what you're going for, more power to you. But I think it would help to add a little more detail to what you've got.

I think the answer is imperfections:

(yeah, I know, 1x pixels on 2x pixels, eww, but it shows my point still)

 

[CrazyMLC]

All I can say: best trees I think I've ever seen. Ever. Better than actual trees.

[TheInquisitor]

Aloha again, my friends. 

Made a slight bit of progress for this midweek. I've been working some more on that big stone head and here's what I've got so far. I've gone over and started shading it properly now giving it a lot more shape. There's one very obvious problem with it and that's that it's shadows are much darker than all the other objects made for the set. I'll have to go back over it and brighten it all up so that it matches. However I think I've got the actually shape and shades of the head down correctly now. It may just need that last touch of highlight to give it more of a roundness. I fear it might seem a little flat at the moment, especially if I layer it over the trees. I've added some cracks and roughness to the object to symbolise it's stone texture, Rydin. Is this more to what you had in mind?

The trees I'm actually happy with. They could possibly do with an extra shade, but I'll see how they look when I give this stone head a final revision. For now they're looking okay to me. I'm not sure I can add in too much more detail without making them look overly complicated. As you've suggested, the style I'm going for is quite quirky and light hearted, not too deep dark and evill.


Thanks for the compliment, Crazy, but you must be crazy if you believe that. 

C+C welcome

[Rydin]

That look a little more like stone now.   

[Jakerpot]

You got some really cool trees right there my friend 

The tileset it's getting pretty good, also, i love your RM tilesets
You inspired me to make my own tilesets 
Thank you!