Small iso dump, need input [wip]

[elderPixark]

Hello forum!

This is not my first attempt at pixel-pushing as you might be able to tell, but I'm no expert, either. This is my first time doing isometric work, though. That's why I'm posting some of my work - I'd like some input on my work as I make progress. This is a small "dump" of everything I've made so far for this project.

Some goals I have for this are to improve my palette and develop my tile-making skills. Right now I'm at about 26 colors, and as I continue to make sprites and tiles, I want to develop my palette into a more limited color range.

[Grimsane]

i quite like this, the palette is actually pretty tight already  and the tiles are decent, although here's my crit and really quick edit, the yellow highlight on the dirt tiles makes it clash with the rest of the scene, so I'd recommend using another tone from your existing palette like this to diffuse it a bit, and also there was a dark pixel that also made the tile effect stand out more so removed that too, and the bald elderly guy looked slightly different to the others, due to lack of emphasis on their cube-e-ness which is reinforced with the others due to their hairline, so that kind of highlight would be my recommended fix.


digging it though, and those runes are rather cool too

[elderPixark]

Thanks for the suggestions. I removed the pixel from the dirt tile and that helped quite a bit. I still notice the grid but it's not much of a problem now. I tried using different color combos on the dirt and cannot decide which is best! I also noticed you removed the boss on the spearman's shield, so I'm not sure if it's all that readable.

Instead of a dump/mockup, this time I'm providing a sheet of everything I've got so far. An explanation is below the image. I must give credit to Dragon Warrior (NES) for the Latin and Russian alphabets on the image - the Runic and Celtic scripts ARE my own work, though.

Edit: disclaimer: some of the pixels on the elder sprites were messed up from my copypaste.



The rows of human sprites are as follows: normal, king, spearman, swordsman, bowman, woman, and child. The old man sprite on the far right is the original with a longer beard. Next to that are my bull/cow sprites so far. I'm working on other animals right now but decided not to post them yet. Below those is a simple tree. I don't think I'm going to keep the foliage as a solid block, but I'm wondering more about the trunk.

Next is a grubenhaus model. Those are one type of dwelling typical of Germanic tribes. I'm satisfied with the wood texture, but I can't figure out a way to do some thatching texture for the roof! The interior will be furnished later... right now I'm focusing on diffusing the dirt tile from the wooden walls - Grimsane, your edit doesn't go as well with that as the grass tile.

I'm starting to think in 3d now, since this is an isometric project; I've been working on textures for the sides of the blocks. Some of the dirt tiles go better with the side textures than others. Please tell me which ones you think work better - I've numbered them for this.

The scripts are as follows, from the top left. I made my own runic script based off Elder and Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. Some characters have been added to allow each rune to represent a sound in the Germanic languages. Next to that is my own invention of a Celtic script - it's influenced by the ogham inscriptions found in various locations. To the right of that is a more calligraphic and non-monospaced version of my runic script that is the size of Dragon Warrior characters.

Below that is a sample of my Celtic script, and underneath the Dragon Warrior scripts and my script are the first four lines of Beowulf in my runic script. Below that is the same phrase written in my Celtic script, but in the actual (and hard to read) Ogham script.

I bet you're wondering what all this is for. I'll explain in my next post. But for now, please add your input and suggestions!

[elderPixark]

This work is for a project idea I've had for a few years. Let's just call in Vestige. Vestige is a sort of turn-based strategy game that I'd like to complete for my own enjoyment. It is inspired by several games that I enjoyed in my youth, none of which satisfied me completely. Those games would be Civilization: Call to Power and Age of Empires II. The blocky style I'm using for the project is somewhat inspired by Minecraft.

Basically, CtP bothered me because all the advances/units/etc. in the game were a sort of bricolage of random nuggets of history, and the idea that you could be George Washington in 3500 B.C. is just silly. I wish AoE was turn-based and not so battle-driven. On the other hand, I adore the graphics of these games, and I admire how AoE has construction animations. I like CtP's economic and diplomatic aspects as well. There's also a game series called Anno (my favorites are 1404 and 1701). Those games have a remarkable infrastructure/economy simulation and expansion gameplay.

My idea is to have Vestige make accurate references to history, particularly to to Migration period with a focus on Germanic/Celtic tribes. The turns would take place between 50 B.C. and 800 A.D, and gameplay would be around a particular tribe/band of tribes. It'd be less focused on warfare and have more aspects regarding economy and diplomacy with other tribes and any empires that form. Advances would be quite different than those in CtP and AoE; for example, going into warfare would give you some technology points that would allow you to modify a type of weapon a little bit; i.e. make the blade longer or wider. There would be quite a bit more micromanagement in the game, like Dwarf Fortress, and I would also like to employ a class system in which the ruler of the tribe rises up out of success in warfare or some other manner.

I hope that gives you an idea of what I'd like to do with this.

[Grimsane]

sounds cool, also pretty ambitious, especially if you consider solo'ing such a game. Reminded me of Dwarf Fortress when I saw your original post,
I reckon It'd look good as graphical replacement mod for dwarf fortress, even a visualizer like Rocksense, or even I graphic mod for that.

but yeah looks pretty good as a game concept, pretty hardcore micromanagement too by the sounds of it and in retro style, quite a niche
although Dwarf fortress is open source, so possibly using that code as reference for some aspects but it'd only really help if you plan to have terrain/biome generation algorithms for a randomized world, and having all the mineral resources placed dynamically. or if you wanted to check out the micro management layers.

I don't mind games like anno but can't really stick with them too long, doesn't enthrall me, irony is in those games you manage virtual ecologies and infrastructure often better than modern governments

here's a self explanatory edit of some crits and suggestions