AuthorTopic: Terrain tiles  (Read 12248 times)

Offline Snippa

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Terrain tiles

on: October 13, 2006, 09:46:20 am
So, I suck with terrain tiles... especially grass... but just wanted some input on my latest attempt at some grass & dirt.


(2 seperate grass tiles, 2 seperate dirt tiles: tiles are 32x32)

Curious just how bad you guys think I am with this... I'm semi-satisfied with the dirt... I mean, it is just dirt right? maybe could use another shade of brown, but i dunno.
I'd like to get this down & get better if possible so I can get to work on more important & detailed art...
This IS all I have for tiles at the moment, haven't attempted sand, water, ice, snow, mountains, or any other misc terrain yet...

Anyways, have at it.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #1 on: October 13, 2006, 10:38:13 am
i think, in gerneal, your work needs less contrast.  the dirt texture is nice, but the shades are rather far appart.  if you were to lighten the field to be more of a mid-tone and work in some darker color as a shadow, you may find yourself with a much more pleasing textures and level of interest without being so harsh.

The grass, it is difficult to say what to do here, i cannot even really see what is going on.  try using only 2 shades first, and really gettign the shapes of grass, then adding either a highlight color for hard, dry grass or a shadow color for soft, moist grass and i think you will find yourself more pleased with the result.

here are some grass tiles ive done in the past:


a less-like tileset of mine, the grass here is very simple, allowing the few details te create a real texture without being overwhelming.  the drawbacks of this is that it is not completely convincing and looks like a field of needles

this tileset of mine came under harsh criticism for the grass tile's resemblance to the grass seen in Sword of Mana, a game which i was influenced by in terms of gameplay, and apparently also in terms of art (the similarities were unconscious but in the end undeniable).  It is simple and fairly pleasing, but unfortunately bears the stigma of looking like a squaresoft game.  it also, after a while, was not very fun to work with, because it lacks character.

not going to lie, this one is recent and SHITTY.  it has too much contrast, ugly texture, and no style or character to it.  I'm embarassed to post it as anything but a complete failure.

Isometric tiles are something tha i find difficult.  These grass tiles (only 2 so far, lit and shadowed) though are ones that i am quite satisfied with.  they are simple yet i think attractive, and so far as i know do not resemble any other specific game.  They are also fun to work with, which in the end is what really matters.

theres no two ways to say it - this is just boring.  nothing specfically wrong with it really, it's just incredibly boring.  it needs better colors, and better shapes; really it just needs to be redone.

an oldie, it looks a bit like yours actually. too many colors, too much contrast, and not enough style.  at least it tiles fairly well :P

well, thats all the work i can find in the few minutes i had, my furthur suggestion is to look at other people's work and stufy your pixel technique.  out.
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Offline .TakaM

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #2 on: October 13, 2006, 11:10:52 am
Quote
hehe, I have to say its nice to see you make something shitty for a change :P

and about your grass tiles Snippa, it looks like youre just drawin random shapes and then pillow shading them to one side, try spending a fair bit of time with each blade/clump of grass, although ofcourse there are other ways you can do grass.
in my rpg tiles I should really get back to working on, my grass tile (32x32 (sortof)) was relatively simple:

but I made some extra overlaying tiles that break up the repitition and add a bit of detail, also I always made my shadows add some texture to the grass, you can see the edges of the shadows give off the impression of a coule stray grass blades

I like to think my approach is kinda simple but has a nice effect, and take away from it what you will ;)
« Last Edit: October 13, 2006, 11:22:38 am by .TakaM »
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Offline Gil

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #3 on: October 13, 2006, 12:23:29 pm
Yeah, these are great examples guys! Rock on!

Offline Sherman Gill

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #4 on: October 13, 2006, 05:28:35 pm
I love the way your grass looks, TakaM. The subtle shapes in it make it look wonderfull. :sigh:
Oh yes naked women are beautiful
But I like shrimps more haha ;)

Offline Snippa

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #5 on: October 13, 2006, 10:42:04 pm
Thanks for the examples guys, I'll see what I can do tonight...
TakaM, love your tiles, don't really care for the color choice, but they're interesting. Seems like alot of extra work though when it comes to shadows & objects on the grass, don't think thats something I'll be working towards personally.

Offline Snippa

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #6 on: October 13, 2006, 11:29:25 pm
This is what I have so far after looking at the examples and listening to the advice given, it's still a little random, but no more pillow shading... at least not as bad as it WAS... o.O


It could probably be a bit better... guess I have some fine tuning to do with it still...

Looks a little tiled, of course not what I want, but thats where most of my fine tuning will go...
Any thoughts on this one?

Offline BadMrBox

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #7 on: October 13, 2006, 11:35:50 pm
I looks good but as you say but tiled. Have you considered using more than one tile for your grass?
Quote
this tileset of mine came under harsh criticism for the grass tile's resemblance to the grass seen in Sword of Mana, a game which i was influenced by in terms of gameplay, and apparently also in terms of art (the similarities were unconscious but in the end undeniable).
Critism for looking like SoM? Eh... damn. Rough crowd or what?

Offline Snippa

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #8 on: October 13, 2006, 11:38:42 pm
Yeah, I'll definately be using multiple grass tiles, probably 3 or more... this is just the first one.

Offline BadMrBox

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Re: Terrain tiles

Reply #9 on: October 13, 2006, 11:41:59 pm
Yeah, that'll break down the tileness of it. You should also think about having border grass tiles for the connecting muddy tiles.