AuthorTopic: RPG tileset mock-up  (Read 7359 times)

Offline Tsugumo

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RPG tileset mock-up

on: March 14, 2007, 07:39:09 pm


took about 9 hours from scratch...not for anything in particular, just hobby stuff.  Haven't done tiles in a while so I'm seein' if I still have the groove haha

colors were a pain...I started out by having grass bright, bushes dark, it was all pretty gross looking.  Spent a solid hour tweaking colors until it clicked for me, how to get leaves to stand out from grass and dirt to stand out from grass and then it all just flowed.  w00t w00t.  I find initial colors are hard to choose sometimes, but once you have a solid set, all the rest of the new colors you introduce are based off the original scheme so they're easier to put in.

To make the tree top I took the bush and stamped it a bunch of times haha so lazy, but I like how it worked out, go figure.  Had to do a ton of touch-up to it.  The tree itself is like, 18 colors I think.  something like that.  Worth it though, I originally had a flat looking tree-top with like 5 colors, but there wasn't enough upper/lower light/shadow variation to make it feel 3d, so I overlayed solid darker colors then grabbed those chunks and color reduced it automatically so it'd be a low # of colors.  hard to explain, I can do up an example sometime if anyone's curious.  big time saver.

http://www.vgmaps.com/ - massively useful for anyone who hasn't seen it.  I went through a bunch of RPG shots for inspiration/analysis on how they chose their colors.

- Tsugumo

Offline AdamAtomic

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #1 on: March 14, 2007, 08:04:56 pm
I think these could use a lot of work still, to be honest.  The tiling is very evident across every individual element, and the super-dark grass clashes with the overly bright dirt.  I think your cliff edges turned out pretty solid, though they could use a smidge of AA along the bottom.  The trees need to cast shadows very badly I think, and they lack perspective across the roots/base.  I think you should emphasize the shadows cast by the cliffs a little more as well, they're almost invisible.  I'd like to see hotter colors at the top of the green ramp in the first set, I think you got the contrast better in the other two sets, especially in the tree.  You have some longish lines strung across the top of the trees that read more as errors as opposed to vines (at least to me).  I very much like the vines hanging out of the trees and would like those to be emphasized more (they completely lack outlines or other helpful definition, unlike the rest of the tree and the bush).  I know these only took a day to make, and aspects of them are pretty great, but I don't think they're quite there yet.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #2 on: March 14, 2007, 08:05:23 pm
i liek it, though i dont know if the pink water is working for you.  Also, i know this is jsut a WIP, but i would advocate closer map layouts so that it doesnt get so boring with all the repeated ground and straight ledges.
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Offline Crazy Asian Gamer

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #3 on: March 14, 2007, 08:19:45 pm
Oooh, brings back fond memories of Earthbound, the trees.

As for the water, I would go for more buffers of water, from the really sandy shallow white frothy waves to some nice deep blue.
I also argue against myself on this point, as the water goes stylistically with the rest of the stuff. But you know, that's up to you. :P

You know, pink water usually isn't a good sign for the environment . :D

Also, that's a really quick-n-dirty way of making a tree... but it still looks nice. Hrm.... where can I use this.... hahaha.

Offline Fry

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #4 on: March 14, 2007, 08:22:02 pm
I really love how the trees turned out, and the pallette choices all work nicely.  Makes me want to bring out some of the classics.  Fall Colors is my favourite.

-Fry

Offline Malor

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #5 on: March 14, 2007, 08:39:02 pm
ooh very GBC Zelda-esq. I like it :D
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Offline AlexHW

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #6 on: March 14, 2007, 09:49:24 pm
base of trunk is too horizontal, makes it look side-view.
vines cause a splatter look to the area under the leaves, probably due to the unexpectedness of vines being on such types of trees. its unusual because they aren't clearly defined or readable as vines

Offline Serena

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #7 on: March 14, 2007, 10:14:32 pm
I like it overall, but I think the green looks a bit oversaturated on the trees.  And like Alex said, the vines are hard to read.  From 100% they look like scribbles. Overall, the bottoms of the trees seem a bit rough to me.

Btw, looks like I will be working with you soon. ;)

Offline RhysD

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #8 on: March 15, 2007, 01:33:33 pm
Also, the water doesn't change to purple during fall does it??? hehehe :)

Offline Helm

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Re: RPG tileset mock-up

Reply #9 on: March 15, 2007, 02:20:03 pm
This is a tileset made by someone I'd guess hadn't read your tutorials. Which is crazy. My edit that follows isn't good, and i gave up because my neck aches and too much pixelling annoys. You use 38 colors for a tileset that doesn't need more that 24, and there's colors that are only used in 3-4 pixels on some tiles, various nears, generally a quite sloppy palette. There's a stamp in the middle of the trees, which is very odd. You use super-saturation to make up for some faults but in the end the tileset looks as if it's made out of candy and plastic. The lack of a cohesive palette separates each element of your tilemap into a separate entity. It looks as if grassland is swiming on an ocean of dirt, there's priority reading errors. Water is usually not opaque, therefore the color of the earth shows in the shallows. You need at least 3-4 different basic ground tiles to mix them so as it doesn't look like tilegrid, as your tutorial said. Darkest spots usually should be less saturated, not more, though there are exceptions. Do bushes need selout? Are they moving, so the selout theory comes into play where they couldn't read against a non-color-correct background? They're just sitting there. The bushes are too close to their tile limits, a bit square-ish.

When one works for a video game company, he gets used to working fast, efficient and with the tools that he needs, but here you're neglecting basics of pixel art, like a controlled palette and color reusing, and it ends up hurting your piece in a big way.



My edit isn't good, I'm tired. But I hope it helps a bit.