AuthorTopic: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds  (Read 11063 times)

Offline eishiya

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #20 on: September 27, 2017, 07:30:27 pm
I think the rocks look fine and non-interactive since the actual walkable surface is the bright grass.

I think gameplay clarity is more important than in-world logic (your rock tendrils aren't very logical in the first place ;D), so I think it's fine to have some separation, it still reads like the platforms are connected to it. You could tweak the decorative rock colours to be a little warmer so that they're not so far back in the background. As long as you keep the contrast there lower than the foreground rocks, it should be fine.
If you're worried about the rocks not feeling connected, are you sure it's a good idea to have some be red and some be brown?


Somewhat related:
It doesn't make much sense to me that the underside of the big blocky rock mass in the upper center of the image is as brightly lit as the top, especially if they're meant to be attached to the background rocks. You might get a more cohesive look if the bottoms fade off into the darkness of the background (or even have just the foreground dark colour on the bottom) instead of being so brightly lit.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2017, 07:32:14 pm by eishiya »

Offline Sersch

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #21 on: September 28, 2017, 10:16:01 pm
Thats what i'm settled on for now:



Added some more variations:

Offline eishiya

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #22 on: September 28, 2017, 10:25:25 pm
I think that's a good level of saturation, not too bright, not dull.

Posting this again since you never responded to it, just in case:
Quote
The outlines on the big rocks look good against the trees, but make the rocks look blurry against the dark dirt. Outlines should generally be darker than any of the abutting colours, or they create that blurry look. The solutions to this problem are to use your darkest background colour as the outline, or to not use an outline at all. I think the latter is the best option, since the other objects in the environment don't have outlines.

Are the light shapes near the bottoms of some of the plants forward-pointing leaves? They don't read very well to me.

Offline yrizoud

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #23 on: September 28, 2017, 11:34:22 pm
Sorry to point it out, but I feel this lacks originality at the moment. It looks like you specifically chose all the elements of a generic plaformer tileset: angled rocks used as borders of "cave", grass, pine trees background, summer light, white daisies...
The asymmetric lighting on the forested mountain is a breath of air however, and at least the main character does not look like a RPG archetype. But here's something you should consider when fleshing out a landscape : What makes your scenery / world different from every other nicely-pixeled platform game ? Can you give your own touch, your signature ? Are there details that you want players to notice, in order to make the player see this place as real, instead of a generic gaming background ? For example, carvings in stones and trees hint at a human occupation and culture. Animal tracks, burrows, nests, all hint at a population of wild animals.
The downside of giving more character to scenery elements is that the player may notice more the individual assets that you re-use in many places, but in my opinion, it's worth it, and you have the technique to pull it off.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2017, 09:18:13 am by yrizoud »

Offline Curly

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #24 on: September 29, 2017, 03:04:22 am
The plants don't have as much contrast as the rocks. It looks a bit weird to me when they are next to each other.

Offline questseeker

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #25 on: September 29, 2017, 08:46:49 am
Have you tried filling the platform interior with rocks, like the ones on the edges, rather than a void? You'd only need to draw some low-key rock variations, say 16 all-rock tiles with 2 horizontal edge types and 2 vertical edge types to be assembled randomly, to get pleasant walls.
Different rock shapes and different colors near the platform edges suffice to show platform shapes very clearly; you don't need to mask out and suppress a substantial part of your scene with the potential to look very good.

Examples of whole game series with massive solid platforms: Metal Slug, Wonder Boy, Super Mario bros., Sonic.

Offline Sersch

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #26 on: September 29, 2017, 10:31:33 pm
Thanks for the feedback!

@Curly: True, they could use a bit more contrast
@Eishiya: Forgot about that, removed those outlines at the top, looks definitely better!
update with both changes:


About the plants, yeah those should be kinda some more leaves or something :) i tried to make them more readable


@yrizoud: valid point, i'll keep that in mind when i'll be working on something new. I think i can balance it out with more originality in the gameplay :)

@questseeker:
Hm that's mostly a style choice, i kinda like the strong contrast you get from having certain areas of your screen covered by black. I really liked the those kind of cave areas in Metroid or Castlevania games (the newer ones).

Offline eishiya

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #27 on: September 29, 2017, 11:30:57 pm
I'm also a fan of having low/no detail in the ground. It makes it much easier for the player to focus on the important parts. Having detail all throughout the ground makes sense in games where the player interacts with the ground, e.g. in games involving digging, but in a game where it's dead area, it's best to use it as negative space in my opinion.

Those leaves look a lot better now! They look a little undersized and symmetrical, though. Here's an example of how you can pixel them larger:

I also made the middle lines lighter, which I feel looks less harsh and more realistic.

Offline Sersch

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #28 on: September 30, 2017, 08:26:19 am
that looks really good, will try to paint it in a similar way :)

Offline Sersch

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Re: [CC] Mountain Tiles & Backgrounds

Reply #29 on: December 03, 2017, 12:13:23 am
Worked on a house for that area. Not so sure about the current result, it looks a bit flat to me