[c+c] Rock tiles 32x32px

[Decroded]

After many failed attempts at rock tiles, here is my latest efforts.
I know some of them don't actually tile properly but besides that I'm open to any help on how to get better at this.
I keep getting stuck between wanting to do some larger shapes and then thinking that it will look too repeated when I tile to do that.
Is it better to stick with smaller, repeated patterns such as the diagonal chunks?
Or is it just that I need 3-4 different variations?
I have read the thread in the feature chest and looked at many references but I still find this difficult so any tips would be great!
Cliff face for mountain areas - those are not mountains on top though just random rocks which look odd now that I post it.

This is coming out looking like some sort of icey rock cave area.

I post this guy as a reference for scale. I think the rocks appear way too small??

[Seiseki]

Hm, I think those look great.
I've just done round rocks so far that didn't turn out that great..

The only key to not making it look too repetitive is just trying to avoid anything that stands out which in turn usually makes it look a bit bland.
Smaller chunks might just make it look too busy.
You can also try to make the upper surface a bit uneven, instead of straight as it is now.
So go with a few variations of the same tile.
And although you will notice where it loops, the players will likely be too busy with the whole overall impression.


And those rocks on top do look like tiny mountains.

[heyy13]

How many tiles can you use? Because i've found it's good to pick a relativly uniform pattern that tiles really well and use that for your basic tile/s then do some feature tiles you can throw in to give it variation and break it up. Also yeah the style of the rocks on top are totally differant then the ones on the face (though i figure you'll fix that) They appear to be in the background which wacks out your sense of scale.

How were these cliffs formed? Earth quake? Erosion? Artifically? Land slide(ice/mud/soil)? Volcanic? That kind of thing changes the way rocks form, colour, size, density, etc. Your best to just crack out google images and find some real cliffs or cave interiors that mirror the kind of conditions you wish to simulate and work from that. You can only go so far working from other artist's interpretations.

[ceddo]

If you can, make 2 different size rocks - smaller ones and bigger ones, that way the grid will be less obvious. The problem with small rocks is it turns to noise pretty easily, whereas big rocks will be much more obvious and clear, but harder to de-grid. The ones you have look fine at the moment, with a bit of refining I'm sure they'd work nicely!