GR#089 - Platformer Tiles

[PypeBros]

I'm having some trouble figuring out how the underside should be lit....

That should be the secondary (ambient) light source, imho, possibly slightly darker than the dark-side "wall".

[Facet]

It's very hard to judge tiles when not in context. Make a mockup

Seconded motion  , I think writing down or mocking up a solidly thought out idea of what it is you're trying to achieve and why will help you create better, more nuanced work as much is it will aid critique from others.

You've done a really nice job realising what you have, a big improvement on the previous set

A couple things look a little odd; the grass could be better integrated with the rocks and lighting is completely different between the grass and rocks.

[tehwexxl0rz]

Thanks for the feedback.

Here's a "mockup" of sorts (actually in game engine) but there's a ton of filler tiles and no other art for context, so I don't know how helpful it is to look at:

(You can ignore the black rectangle, it's a placeholder for the character.)

Facet, you mentioned integrating the grass into the rocks, but I'm not sure how I'd go about doing that with my tile restrictions...
Honestly, my enthusiasm for tan rocks and green grass is dwindling fast. I thought it would be fun to do my own take on a platform game cliche, but it turns out it just looks.... cliche.

Designing the character is something I still need to do, and I think that might give me some more specific inspiration for the environment.
I'm planning to base it on this character you may have seen me post recently:


(The ARPG concept from before eventually evolved into this sidescroller.)

[milleja46]

Well i think you need to finish off the right side of the platforms...it looks kinda odd just seeing it in one side but not the other...and for the center have it dark

[tehwexxl0rz]

Well of course it looks weird half finished! Thanks for your input about the center part--I agree.

Did a color edit. I think it helps:

[Facet]

At the moment the grass simply intersects the the rock tiles, try rendering some of the rock underneath it, have it cast some shadow and apply the secondary light source to the grass also. The coloured background is a step in the right direction

There's a ton of filler tiles and no other art for context, so I don't know how helpful it is to look at

Get inspired  look at a bunch of reference; your holidays photos, an image library etc and rough out a background and other game elements in as broad strokes as you like and refine from there.

Honestly, my enthusiasm for tan rocks and green grass is dwindling fast.

Don't let it! Keep working on them, these are looking really nice and you can easily play with colours later. Character is also well done and should translate well to the new perspective.

Edit - Read back when I'd written here and it sounded awful, sorry . Reworded entirely.

[Wes]

Well of course it looks weird half finished! Thanks for your input about the center part--I agree.

Did a color edit. I think it helps:

i looove this man. the colors are really sleek—the blue/purple really helps bring it together.

can you just flip your rocks for the other side? i mean you're not SUPPOSED TO but it could look fine and at the very least it will be a better placeholder.

also on the rocks where they touch the grass (the steps) you could ahve some blades overlap the rocks to give it more depth. now it sorta looks like the rocks are sitting on top of the grass.

[tehwexxl0rz]

Thanks for the feedback, Wes!

I'd like to avoid mirroring the rocks for the right side, even as a placeholder. I'm worried I would give in to the temptation of just editing them slightly to correct the lighting instead of drawing new rocks from scratch. Also, I'm definitely planning on having the grass overlap the rocks in the middle part (where it's currently solid dark color) I just haven't gotten to it yet. I don't have much room for the grass to overlap on the edges because of how the rock tiles run right into it....

I'm considering killing the perspective completely and going for a direct side-view instead. This would solve potential future problems with collision detection, and on the art side, it would allow me to contain the grass in one row of tiles. That would allow a lot more space for the grass and rocks to interact, and in the case of staircase-like tile placements, I wouldn't need to extend the grass under the rocks in order to line up with the tile below.

What do you guys think?

[Atnas]

Side view is worth it. Though to be honest your current grass does work for sideview, just render the player behind it rather than in front of it, though you might also need to make the top of it less dark - perhaps reverse it so the grass hanging down over the rock is darker.

What would be wrong with mirroring the rocks and editing them? If anything I think having a new contour would throw things off. Mirroring works in part because the full left side is tiled and consistent already, and so it's sort of expected that the pattern will repeat.

[tehwexxl0rz]

Thanks, Atnas. I'm going for side view.

Here's an update:


I think the grass looks pretty good, but the top could use some work.
The right side is mirrored for now... need to redo with ambient light source. Lighting on the bottom also need to be fixed.

(The rocks on the bottom need to be fixed in general; they're too flat.)

Due to technical restrictions, the fade-to-dark distance can't be as long as in the old WIP, but the way I'm dividing the tiles now will make level editing much easier.

Just a heads up: I'm probably gonna take a break from the terrain and work on the character. If anyone can help me with the ambient light though, I'll love them forever.... ;_;