AuthorTopic: Molten Foundry tileset  (Read 7140 times)

Offline untiedgames

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Molten Foundry tileset

on: April 25, 2016, 07:11:14 am
Hello! First time sharing work here. I make pixel art tilesets regularly, and this is my newest: Molten Foundry! It's an industrial-themed area with lava everywhere.
I also record the making of them! Here's the making of this tileset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGta6XvFNJ8



Hope you like it! If you're curious, I use Pyxel Edit and a little Photoshop.

Offline Gil

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #1 on: April 25, 2016, 07:37:51 am
Looks great!

Just a small nitpick: you need to work on readability a bit. It's probably a bit too hard to distinguish which platforms can be walked on and what's background. For example, I can't figure out whether the hook assembly is something I can jump on (it has a bright edge) or not (it uses the same palette as the background). The green platforms are better, because they use a distinct palette, but I still feel like the background is so busy, it makes even the green platforms a bit hard to read.

I'm sure these work in a game, but making it clearer reduces eye fatigue and makes the game faster (it's easier to make split decisions, so you can make the gameplay faster in turn).

Offline untiedgames

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #2 on: April 25, 2016, 07:55:16 am
Thanks for the feedback!
I did intend for the hook objects to be something a player could stand on. I think both issues might be solved if I darken the pillars in the background slightly. That would bring both the hook and the green platforms into the foreground a little more.

If some parallax is used, it also brings them to the foreground:

Offline Gil

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #3 on: April 25, 2016, 08:10:03 am
Yeah, the parallax does help a fair bit and I agree that simply darkening the background a bit is probably the way to go.

Offline Cherno

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #4 on: April 25, 2016, 09:06:41 am
It would also be possible to place an object or enemy on the hook platform the first time it appears, that way the player knows it is not part of the background. Of course, this is not the ideal solution for a tileset meant for other developers.

Offline aamatniekss

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #5 on: April 25, 2016, 09:50:51 am
Really cool tileset man! I agree that the background could be a little darker, and maybe the lava could have a bit smoother animation.
Do you have a place where I could see all the other 28 tilesets as pictures? :)

Offline Neophos

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #6 on: April 25, 2016, 10:42:30 am
I think the lava is very busy. It might not matter depending on what kind of game it is (if the game is fast enough, you probably won't spend much time looking at the lava animation), but I can see it sticking out in a slower game or slower segments.

Offline Gil

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #7 on: April 25, 2016, 11:27:00 am
For the lava, to make it a bit smoother, the trick is to make several lava animations that all tile together and randomly use them. Even two or three would work probably. I always show these as a proof of concept:

Offline eishiya

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #8 on: April 25, 2016, 01:57:00 pm
The "lava" being transparent makes it look like boiling tea rather than lava - it looks almost like you should be able to swim in it for a little while before it kills you, rather than the insta-death that it probably is.
Molten rock and molten metal are opaque. Plus, they're that colour because they're glowing, so even if they were translucent, the glow would still make them effectively opaque because it would drown out anything darker that's seen through them.


Edit: This it off-topic, but I love the crane as a level design element, since it gives the player both a quick pathway that requires control finesse, and a slower way that doesn't.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2016, 01:58:36 pm by eishiya »

Offline Chadtech

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Re: Molten Foundry tileset

Reply #9 on: April 25, 2016, 05:18:41 pm
What Eishiya said regarding the lava being too bubbly. It looks like water. Maybe if it had fewer bubbles? Maybe if it 'peeled' open like lava does? Or, what if the lava moved in larger motions, since lava has very high viscosity?

Or maybe its not worth it being realistic. Being realistic isnt that important

PS great description Eishiya re opacity of molten metal and rock. A+ would read again.