Cave Tileset - Need Criticism

[Kreator1990]

Hey guys!

I'm currently working on a cave tileset for an mmo I'm working on, and I'm scratching my head about how to transition the walls to black. Here's my current progress, with a shitty example to show what I mean-



As you can see, I'm aiming for a retro 16x16 look. I first thought about taking the pokemon approach like this-
http://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/GBA/Pokemon-E-CaveOfOrigin-B1.png
But I found it takes away that 'cavernous tunnel' feel that I'm striving to have.

I'd love a few tips and inspirations.

[Pix3M]

I wouldn't be able to tell that this was intended to be a cave, but maybe a cross section of a canyon. I wouldn't expect grass to be growing from a cave which presumably has a ceiling that blocks sunlight.

Caves are environments that geologists love to poke around for research because rock specimens are pretty much intact from most forms of erosion. If you're comfortable doing so, drawing harsher more defined rocks, and adding in stalactites will make it clear that it is a cave environment.

[Rosier]

I got caves pretty clearly, but mushrooms should probably take up most of the vegetation. Also, I associate blue hues with caves prolly cause of Mario.  Maybe something to note.

As for a fade to black, I would try either just using darker and darker shades towards the black, or try dithering to black.

[r4c7]

I think one of the reasons the black background isn't working is because your tiles are too bright. Also, the color next to the black is one of the brightest colors in your palette. It would be better To have a dark color to fade to. In these examples, you may see how they fade to black, although they're probably too dark for your game:
Spoiler

Here's my edit:

[cels]

I like r4c7's use of purple.

But I don't like the dark edge you guys have for the cave walls. They make the cave walls look like bushes or trees, instead of rocks that are rising out of the muddy ground. Also, things that are closer to the viewer, i.e. higher up, should be brighter. So the top of the walls should be brighter. Assuming everything is the same material, the cave floor would be the darkest and the tallest parts of the cave walls would be the brightest.

[Johasu]

That dark shading along the bottom does give the impression that the walls are sort of sitting on the ground instead of rising from it.  Much in the same way the solitary rocks look to be sitting upon the ground.  And the way that the dark color reaches up at an angle into the corner joints gives the walls a sort of pyramid tapering as well.

If some form of color bridging was done between the floor assets and the wall they would mesh together and look more realistic.

[jams0988]

I think it reads pretty well as a cave as it is. If you want to fade out your cave walls, though, take a look at Castlevani's art. I always thought they did a pretty good job with that. =)

[Decroded]

Kreator1990 are you aware your tiles don't fit inside single 16px grids?
Since they already bleed outside the grid why not make more use of the extra space for more blending?
I also think you should add some kind of diagonal wall tile assuming your engine supports this.

Did you make these tiles?

These rocks look nice enough (more vertical rock above cave entrance would be good) so you could adopt a similar technique for inside the cave.

things that are closer to the viewer, i.e. higher up, should be brighter. So the top of the walls should be brighter. Assuming everything is the same material, the cave floor would be the darkest and the tallest parts of the cave walls would be the brightest.

Not sure that particular point applies in this case.
That would be true if it was a canyon or if there were walls with a space between cave ceiling.
But in a cave it should probably have more light around the eye level area with some blending up to darkness at the top where everything falls into shadow.
And the bottom should be broken up with rock form rather than such a straight line.

[cels]

Not sure that particular point applies in this case.
That would be true if it was a canyon or if there were walls with a space between cave ceiling.
But in a cave it should probably have more light around the eye level area with some blending up to darkness at the top where everything falls into shadow.

Well, realistically, in a vast cave network where the outside world isn't the primary light source, then I guess it depends on what other light sources you have. Torches? Glowing mushrooms? Lava?

If you want the outside world to be the primary light source, then the cave opening kind of determines which parts are brighter. But at the same time, the eye is better at picking up light from stuff that is closer, so in a dark cave, stuff that is closer will look brighter. And in a game like this, you want to create the illusion that we're seeing things from a bird's eye view, not the view of the people on the ground. So things need to make sense from the bird's eye view perspective. If there's a fog, then the tallest objects are clear, the lowest objects are obscured. Even if the character may have the opposite point of view (clearly seeing the lowest objects)

Am I wrong?

[Decroded]

Not sure that particular point applies in this case.
That would be true if it was a canyon or if there were walls with a space between cave ceiling.
But in a cave it should probably have more light around the eye level area with some blending up to darkness at the top where everything falls into shadow.

Well, realistically, in a vast cave network where the outside world isn't the primary light source, then I guess it depends on what other light sources you have. Torches? Glowing mushrooms? Lava?

If you want the outside world to be the primary light source, then the cave opening kind of determines which parts are brighter. But at the same time, the eye is better at picking up light from stuff that is closer, so in a dark cave, stuff that is closer will look brighter. And in a game like this, you want to create the illusion that we're seeing things from a bird's eye view, not the view of the people on the ground. So things need to make sense from the bird's eye view perspective. If there's a fog, then the tallest objects are clear, the lowest objects are obscured. Even if the character may have the opposite point of view (clearly seeing the lowest objects)

Am I wrong?

Lol yeah the eternal question "where is that cave light coming from?".
Whatever the case if the top joins to a ceiling it would be darker and have more falloff than a sudden change from bright to black or the suggestion of some higher plateau areas.
The higher the ceiling the more falloff (we can think of exceptions but lets not), so using more blending might suggest a higher ceiling.

These tiles are a representation so it can make sense to have the more light around the area that is closer to the player object's eyes in some cases such as this.
I'm not saying this the THE right way to do it but its an option that should work.