[WIP] 8-bit ARPG old-school graphics

[Alícia F. R.]

Kazuya Mochu: The black outline is something that I am not going to change, but I understand where you're coming from. Actually, one of the interesting sides to the game will be the fact that you won't know if you can interact with some elements in the map unless you try talking to them. Still, thanks for the input. It's something good to keep in mind, even if only to avoid unnecessarily dark/cluttered floor tiles, which is a problem that I will most certainly be facing with the Dark World tilesets...

Friend: I know what you mean about the GBC/GBA clash, even though, in my opinion, it's less to do with the grass color (any color in the NES palette is game) and more with the fact that I use multi-layered maps, which was impossible in the GBC and NES systems. Essentially, I'm working with a SNES/GBA-inspired engine, but using NES/GBC-inspired graphics. That does make for a rather weird effect, but I am not averse to it. I think it contributes to creating a recognisable style and that's something that definitely interests me

[rikfuzz]

I'd say the outlines are nicely done and a big part of the style/identity. There is already a hint of visual hierarchy, which I think is enough for a non-action game cropped at GB/GBC screen size.   

[Alícia F. R.]

rikfuzz: Thanks! Actually there will be some "action", considering that the game is an Action RPG, but I don't think there should be any problems making out the NPCs, enemies, weapons, etc. in the screen. They will be the only things that will be moving in a non-cyclic sort of way, apart from the hero.


OK, so the outdoor Forest tileset (possible revisions and last-time additions aside) is finished. I've added a water pond, some tree houses, the entrance to the a "rabbit hole" and a couple more details that I had forgotten:


Updated test map:


Water animation+decorations:



The game engine I work with has a very limited default compatibility with animated tiles. They can only have 3 frames (which can be ordered 123 or 12321), not 2 or 4, and they always have the same frame rate, which is approximately 250ms.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me improve I feel like I've learned a lot of things in a short time, which is awesome.

Edit: Whoops, I put up the wrong version of the big tree house, sorry. The complete version is here:

[32]

Really really great, the animation is awesome I also forgot to say before but the snow covered and snow capped trees are super pleasing to me.

Good improvements all round, only things I'd point out are: The well thing looks a bit out of perspective, I think you'd be well served making the opening and the bottom curve another tile deeper. The large mushroom is similarly off by a few degrees. The log looks a bit flat, I think if you just get rid of that one pixel on the bottom right corner of it you'll solve that problem. The question mark box stands out a little too brightly. Also there's a little spot beneath the water where the larger tree overlaps the smaller tree and you've got a tiny little negative space that really jumps out, if you're planning on tiling them like that a lot I would suggest finding a solution.

[Alícia F. R.]

32: I'm glad to read that I'm pretty happy with the snowy trees too. Concerning the question mark box... well, I wanted it to stand out because it's where the hidden items will be, and I thought it was important for it to be very visible. Also, it's supposed to be yellow, and I don't know which other color in the palette could work in this case. So I don't think I'll change it, for the moment. I'll keep thinking about it, though, and I'll make sure to fix all the rest of things you've mentioned. Thanks for the tips!

I'm letting the tileset rest for a bit and working on the game worldmaps instead.

(Light World - Dark World)


The tiles are 8x8px each and I've limited myself to only 4 palettes (which you can find at the top right corner of the pictures). The idea is also to use as few different tiles as possible. The red and white thing is a circus tent. The triangle is supposed to be a pyramid. Each tile will be linked to a small square playable map in the overworld.

The current place you're at will be highlighted with a red square box and the textbox at the bottom is where the name and coordinates will appear, like this:



I've been working on these two on and off for weeks and I quite like the current result, but I still would like some external opinion to make sure they're the best they can be. This style is very different to what I'm used to, even more so than the normal tilesets, and small tiles are hard (but fun, definitely fun).

[0xDB]

In a tight space like that, I think I would try to rely as little as possible on black outlines because they take away so much space and by that make everything appear very dark.

quick edit as I was curious myself whether less black would help (I think it does) at that scale:

[Alícia F. R.]

Dennis: That's a good idea, thank you. I don't want to give up the black outlines completely (as I said with the normal map tiles, they're part of the style I'm using), but I tried to make them a little less heavy and I think it improves the result.



I'll keep working on it.

EDIT: I fixed the stuff 32 mentioned about the Forest tileset, too.

So I consider both the Forest tileset and the worldmaps "finished" (as in "can be used and look half decent"). I will still accept critiques if you find more stuff to fix, though, and keep working on small details. Thank you guys a lot for helping me improve these I will be working on another pixel project for a while, but when I return to this you'll definitely be seeing more of me.

[0xDB]

Dennis: That's a good idea, thank you. I don't want to give up the black outlines completely (as I said with the normal map tiles, they're part of the style I'm using), but I tried to make them a little less heavy and I think it improves the result.

It does.