[WIP][C+C] platform tileset

[japie81]

I'm working on a tileset for a platformer, and so far i have this:



Any thoughts on how to improve it? The shading on the tree is horrible, but i wanted to expand the tileset first before improving that. I would like to make some kind of distinction between a background layer and a foreground layer (where the player would be able to walk) with those rocks, but i'm not really sure how.
Also i had the idea that the player could jump/walk on the trees or maybe use them to bounce on or something so they could have a cool animation (probably not as cool as i'm hoping for since i'm very much of an amateur), so its alright for them to stand out so much.
Any tips and ideas would be very helpful.

[Skaz]

To give you some advices on achieving background / foreground distinction, you can use atmospheric perspective. In a nutshell, the further, the less saturated, the lighter.


Or go the other way, light foreground, dark background. The only thing that matters is contrast. Never should you fail to tell if something is on the same plan than the character, or if it is in the back.

As far as walking on top of trees is concerned, a good way to show the player where he could walk is, again, contrast. Look at this DK country screen shot, it summarize the dark background / light foreground, as well as showing a clear path. Ground is very light, trees you can walk on are also lighter. It's all about contrast. Close your eyes barely entirely until you only see the lighter part of the image. What did you notice ? then do the same on your tile set. What stands out ?

[japie81]

Thanks for the advice. I was actually a little inspired by (the colorfulness of) donkey kong country, so great reference.
I was also thinking about something like this, what i ment with having a foreground and background layer of rock tiles. I notice what you pointed out about saturation here as well. I wouldnt know where to start if i wanted to turn my rock tiles into something like this though.


Heres a little mockup of what i started out with.

[Skaz]

Well, you can see it clearly on your reference screen shot, the actual ground is lighter than the rock itself. So you feel the path. I'd say, work a bit on the rock, make it darker, less contrasted, and make the grass on top of it stands out. I faced the exact same problem, for what it's worth, I can show you what was my attempt at solving it:



My background rocks were still too light. But the actual ground stands out, so when navigating you can't get confused, you know where walls, ceiling and ground is.

[japie81]

I see how that could work, and it definitely works in your game, that looks great, i like the dwarf too.
I'll have a go at it and will update how it turned out, thanks.

[japie81]

I'm quite happy with the grass now. Not sure about the background, perhaps a different pattern would work better, as this is just the same tile positioned slightly diferent. I would also like to make transitions between foreground and background so it would look more like it's all belonging to the same rock.

[Seiseki]

The rocks are grabbing all the attention now, the top of the platforms should be the important part because it's where the player will run and jump on top of.
The pattern itself is also quite overwhelming..

[japie81]

what about something like this? (quick edit)

[CelioHogane]

fix the grey pixel in the center of every square, and, hmmm, ¿maybe add a second layer of rocks a little more dark to make the transtition less abrupted?

[Seiseki]

That's a lot better! 
You should look into simplifying the background as well.