Some tree's and grass i made

[cruel]

Okay well, this is the first time i've properly tryed pixel art, but here's what i got so far:



Problem is, i don't like the way the tree's are shaded, and i'm not good at shading, how can i improve them? I'm also stuck with making the grass and dirt, i don't like the one i've made very much and i'm not to sure about making grass =)

Also, i've been trying to make a tent, i made a nice outline:



But i'm at a complete loss for how to shade it, can anyone help me =)

[araknidkid]

Welcome to pixelopolis, first off.

About your sprites:

The grass and dirt tiles aren't bad, they're just repetitive. Get detailed. Try to define the blades of grass, and make a few different grass tiles to randomly mix in with the other grass tiles to break up to monotony. Same thing for the dirt. Add cracks, rocks, divots and ditches. Make dirt spots in the grass, etc. It's easy if you make a base grass tile, then duplicate it and place it next to the first grass tile. Then, make a dirt patch that spans over the two tiles. Add blades of grass (2-3 pixels high) randomly in some dirt spots (or in the dirt tiles) to make it look natural.

As far as shading the tent: First, I suggest changinbig the door into the tent. Make the lips of the tent doors fold outward, to look more natural. Then, shade where you think the tent might have natural folds / wrinkles / creases and put highlights on the p[arts closer to wherever your light source is coming from.

That's all for now, my lunchbreak is over and I have to get back to my job!

[InvaderLupus]

I think the grass and the dirt would look a lit better if you gave them a texture other than random dots.

Also, the trees are in the wrong perspective: you're going for a 3/4 top down perspective, but the trees look like a side view, like they would be better suited for a side-scroller.

[Feron]

I think you used photoshop brush to make the dot texture because they have un-needed aa - which will boost your color count.

The tile transitions are also blatantly photoshopped.   Photoshop tools + pixel art = a BIG no-no.  Just use the pencil tool or even better - ms paint.

[cruel]

What do you think of these different tree's i made, i also changed the colours a bit:

[araknidkid]

You didn't change the perspective. They're just different types and colors.

[cruel]

I know i dident and i don't really plan to, they look how i want them to look in my game, it's shading and tents i have trouble with.

Anyways, here's a new shot with grass, that a friend did for me:

[eghost]

Lets see....Where to start here...
Looks like a drop shadow filter to me...

Also the shadows you dropped are inconsistent with the lightsource...

Just my opinion...

[cruel]

Yeah i releaise that i'm going to change it in a bit.

[Shifty McSly]

I made an edit of your basic green tree. I didn't change the lineart, as that part of it seemed ok, but I used the different green shades to better define the form of the tree. I also replaced the green highlight you were using with the highlight from the yellowy-green tree, as it was brighter and more noticeable. Some of the shading's still not fantastic but I think you could learn a bit from it. In your original version I thought the shading was a bit too randomly distributed. Also, using darker shades to make the lighter side of the tree seem more rounded wasn't really necessary in my opinion.

[cruel]

Woah! I like that tree much better than mine, i'll take a look and try to improve my original tree.

Edit: I had a go at it, and it just looks messed up =)

[Terley]

I think it'd be a better idea for you to work on a much smaller canvas.. You're just making it harder for yourself by making everything so big..

some screen sizes;
320  -  240
512  -  384
640  -  480
800  -  600
1024 -  768

I'd recommend you work in 320 - 240 for pc..



also for an rpg the angle's off, it looks like your viewing it more from the side than looking down on it.. I remember you saying 'well thats just how I want it to look'.. no one will play it.. 

goodluck with it

[cruel]

As for your post above, i think the tree's look worse if anything, and i know it would be easier but i cannot use a smaller canvas in my already well devloped (programming-wise) engine, so making smaller tiles would be useless to me as i can do nothing with them.

Also, ive started on a house:



Can anyone please give me suggestions for shading it and making it look better

[ndchristie]

i would say add a lot more simple texture and shadows, but most importantly add interest to the design.  straight angles and boring patterns are always going to be boring, so why not spice things up?

as a side note, when you dont take a _single_ piece of advice offered, it doesnt really make people want to take the time to offer suggestions.  nobody likes talking to a wall

[cruel]

I try to improve based on what people say to me, but alot of the things you say are hard for me to do, i've just started pixelling and when you say things like "simple texture" i have no clue what your talking about, so i can edit it to look better.

[InvaderLupus]

I try to improve based on what people say to me, but alot of the things you say are hard for me to do, i've just started pixelling and when you say things like "simple texture" i have no clue what your talking about, so i can edit it to look better.

not the best example, but look at this image: http://www.terrainosaur.com/dl_house.jpg

Now look again at yours. Which one looks more realistic? The world isn't made of plastic, it has texture. You need to manupilate shades so that they can show the texture of the wall (I recommend doing the same kind of thing to make the bricks look like bricks).

[cruel]

I shaded the house a bit more to make it look less flat and added colours to the brick's, now i'm not sure what to do about the cream coloured bit in the middle: