AuthorTopic: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG  (Read 18484 times)

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio
Hi everyone! This is the Hearthstead art thread. I'm looking for constructive feedback and help with making my game look as good as possible!



There is a devlog @ TIGForums covering all aspects of dev, so I'll keep this one focused on posting art updates and receiving feedback to improve the assets of the game.

Overview

Hearthstead is a farming/town life Simulation RPG set in a fantasy world developed by myself, with help from my brother. We're using Unity to implement the game and are currently working on a v0.1 build. For more specifics about the game feel free to check the devlog or follow us on Twitter.

Art for feedback

Test walk cycle in four directions:



Some tiles and sprites for our first prototype





Someone on imgur mentioned that the graphics are too similar to Stardew Valley. While Stardew is one of the inspirations I see plenty of differences when shown side by side. What do you think?



I appreciate all constructive feedback, I just want the game to look as good as possible and improve my skills!

Thank you so much for your time <3 See you around!
« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 01:13:26 pm by Keops »
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline falz

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 71
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #1 on: August 04, 2019, 04:23:56 pm
I would second that opinion that it looks too similar to Stardew Valley. There are subtle differences, but to a certain point, if a game appears too similar, it can be distracting for the audience and the identity of your project will be lost. Maybe try altering the color pallet? It seems almost identical to Stardew Valley's

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #2 on: August 04, 2019, 04:41:43 pm
I think the palette is actually quite nice, more pleasing to my eyes than Stardew Valley's. The similarities, to me, are mostly in the (large amounts of) textures in elements like the grass and bushes. The tress look great and not SV-like, though, so consider making the other textures more in line with those - simple, with only suggested textures.

The character faces and poses also resemble SV, and not in a good way - they're rather lifeless, characterless, the characters all look like they're posing for a passport photo. Give them more personality and you'll kill two birds with one stone!

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #3 on: August 04, 2019, 08:13:40 pm
I would second that opinion that it looks too similar to Stardew Valley. There are subtle differences, but to a certain point, if a game appears too similar, it can be distracting for the audience and the identity of your project will be lost. Maybe try altering the color pallet? It seems almost identical to Stardew Valley's

Interesting suggestion about the palette, perhaps since we're this early in dev I could experiment with some unusual color choices.

I think the palette is actually quite nice, more pleasing to my eyes than Stardew Valley's. The similarities, to me, are mostly in the (large amounts of) textures in elements like the grass and bushes. The tress look great and not SV-like, though, so consider making the other textures more in line with those - simple, with only suggested textures.

The character faces and poses also resemble SV, and not in a good way - they're rather lifeless, characterless, the characters all look like they're posing for a passport photo. Give them more personality and you'll kill two birds with one stone!

This also makes me think a lot about the character desings, I will probably iterate plenty on them as right now they are quite generic, anime-inspired characters. Not that they wouldn't work but they would just be good enough and not too original. I also think you are right about the over abundance of texture detail on tiles like the grass ones vs say, the water, which looks almost straight from TLoZ ALttP. Plenty for me here to work with!

Thank you both for your feedback!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #4 on: August 05, 2019, 10:03:45 am
Just a quick note on the leftmost of your trees. It looks like you've taken a solid shape, shaded it with bands of color, then painted leaves on top.

With a little work you can create a more layered effect. Where you can see obvious bands of color "behind" the leaves, try breaking them up with partial leaf shapes. The idea is to create the effect of looking through the surface layer of leaves into the leaves inside, rather than at a flat surface.

Another way would be to build up your tree from the inside out, so you aren't fighting against the surface leaves when you're drawing the inner leaves.

I'll have a go in a few hours to show you what I mean.



Blimey, there's a lot of space in that png isn't there? :)
« Last Edit: August 05, 2019, 10:23:55 am by daramon »

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #5 on: August 05, 2019, 12:05:20 pm
My usual disclaimer: I'm still quite new to pixel art, and this is only what I can quickly demonstrate in my lunch hour!

In this first image I've tried to break up some of the obvious color banding by breaking up any straight-ish lines of color. I've added in a few more leaves and tried to give those bands a wiggly, leafy edge instead. You can go much further than this. The aim is to make it look more "bushy".



This next one is quite subtle, but really gives things more of a 3D effect. Pick a leaf you want to appear 'above' other leaves nearby, then take the green color two shades down and underline it from below. You may want to underline the whole leaf, or only some of the pixels (to give the impression of it lifting out from the surrounding leaves). The overall effect is of making the leaf "pop" out of the picture a little.


I would go a lot further with this. For example, taking some of those areas of block color and breaking them up with darker shades describing more leaf shapes. This is more important with medium color values, I think. In very dark areas and very bright areas you can get away more with areas of solid color. In the former case you're emulating the low detail you see in shadow, while in the latter you're emulating the low detail you get by being dazzled by the light I guess.

You can go as far as shading individual leaves if you have the time and the inclination. At this point you want to start telling a story with each leaf. For example, shading it darker where it's coming out of the surrounding leaves, brighter where it's angled towards the sun, and then taking notice of any shadow it may be casting over another leaf. However, I don't think your style needs things to be quite so illustrative.

Edited to add: although I haven't shown this in the edit, you can "double underline" a leaf to make it pop out even more. At this point you may want to give a little thought to the shadows that leaf may be casting though.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2019, 12:24:58 pm by daramon »

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #6 on: August 05, 2019, 12:51:27 pm
A very quick comment on the barrel. You're using a horizontal gradient to create the illusion of a cylindrical body around the outside. The way the top is shaded makes it look like it has a diagonal gradient on it as well. This confuses my brain about the 3D nature of the barrel top. It is meant to be convex or concave? Or am I looking at the inside? Nothing quite fits so I find it hard to process.

Unless the light source is very close, or unless you're representing a shadow being cast on the object, giving a flat surface an even shade from edge to edge may be a little more realistic while saving you some seconds in design.

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #7 on: August 05, 2019, 01:37:11 pm
Wow, that's a lot of good stuff in there for me to think about Daramon, thank you so much! I'll take note of it for sure, and when I do another polish pass, which will probably be soon, maybe even today, I'll try tweaking based on your suggestions!

Thank you so much :)
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #8 on: August 05, 2019, 02:10:41 pm
No worries. I forgot to say: I really like how you've made the leaves poke out of the edge of the tree. That kind of edge detail is really important for "selling" an image to the brain. :)

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #9 on: August 05, 2019, 06:25:50 pm
New stuff: Beach tiles and some sprites (seashells, coral fragments)



I'll try to take a look at previous assets using the feedback I've gotten so far. Thanks once again everyone.
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #10 on: August 06, 2019, 10:19:45 am
Your spume is beautiful! Please tell me you're going to animate it! ;)

Something about the shells in the sea makes me think they're above the surface. It could be the shadows and the spume opacity. I'll try an experiment later today, if it works out I'll post it.

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #11 on: August 06, 2019, 11:10:43 am
This is a 3 minute edit to remove shadows and increase spume opacity over the underwater shells.



Not my best work but I think they look more underwater now.

Especially the leftmost shell.

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #12 on: August 06, 2019, 01:19:00 pm
This is a 3 minute edit to remove shadows and increase spume opacity over the underwater shells.



Not my best work but I think they look more underwater now.

Especially the leftmost shell.

Oh yeah I think I see what you mean, thanks for the edit!

And yes! The foam will be animated indeed, someway, somehow :) I don't know how I will be doing it but I will learn or find someone who can aid me.

***

You know, I've been pondering a lot about the game and its art direction. Right now it's like this Stardew Valley inspired 16-bit esque pixel art with biggish sprites (using Suikoden scale) and I know I have already some work done, but I've been thinking about exploring other styles too. I feel a bit overwhelmed, because 1) I like how it looks, even if its a bit generic or common and 2) the game is already massive as is, I figured that if I work steadily on it it'll probably take at least 3 or 4 years, maybe more since I'm by no means an expert and I have to figure stuff out as I go, same for my brother who is helping me with implementation.

I will probably do some studies and end up sticking with something closely resembling what I have but polished a ton. It might be the best choice for this project.

Oh well, let's see how it goes. It is definitely going to be an exciting journey. Thanks so much for the input, I appreciate it dearly.

Ribs out!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #13 on: August 06, 2019, 01:46:01 pm
The noisy texture of the sand feels out of place with the style of all the other assets, which uses more solid colours and textures made out of larger shapes.

Here's some potential sand inspiration from Sword of Mana (I've edited the colours in this image to help with clarity, the original colours are washed out because the game was made for the original, non-backlit GBA).
« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 01:48:34 pm by eishiya »

Offline daramon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #14 on: August 06, 2019, 05:19:26 pm
About using different styles, be careful. If you use a consistent style throughout your game will seem tighter, more consistent and more professional. If you use different styles you run the risk of looking like a game assembled from asset packs.

The only game I've seen work with different styles well was one where each level was a different era in computer game graphics.

You're acting as de facto art director for this project, and as far as I can tell, one of the jobs of an art director is to maintain a consistent art style throughout the project...

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #15 on: August 06, 2019, 11:14:59 pm
The noisy texture of the sand feels out of place with the style of all the other assets, which uses more solid colours and textures made out of larger shapes.

Here's some potential sand inspiration from Sword of Mana (I've edited the colours in this image to help with clarity, the original colours are washed out because the game was made for the original, non-backlit GBA).

That's a GREAT reference. I have never played Sword of Mana :o I should probably take a look at more art from that game.


About using different styles, be careful. If you use a consistent style throughout your game will seem tighter, more consistent and more professional. If you use different styles you run the risk of looking like a game assembled from asset packs.

The only game I've seen work with different styles well was one where each level was a different era in computer game graphics.

You're acting as de facto art director for this project, and as far as I can tell, one of the jobs of an art director is to maintain a consistent art style throughout the project...


Yeah I'm aware of that. I'm not talking about mixing styles, I'm talking about exploring styles and then deciding which one to further develop. Considering the game is this early in development a switch in art direction is still possible.

The other option is to keep chugging along, iterating/polishing and see where it goes!

And to post some art updates, here are the new graphics I made today, some more beach stuff, but this is still heavy WIP and will definitely be improved with help of your feedback. Thanks so much for your input, it's very appreciated.





See you around. Ribs out!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Chris2balls

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 305
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Pixel Artist
    • ckelsallpxls
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/14966.htm
    • chris2balls
    • chriskelsallpixelart
    • View Profile
    • Chris Kelsall's Pixel Portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #16 on: August 07, 2019, 08:19:15 am
Ambitious project!
Though I have to draw your attention to the cliffs. They act more as a texture and less as a volume - you need stronger highlights  and a stronger sense of depth. The pattern itself is fine, it just needs to pop out more.

Edit:

The light's going to hit the edge of the cliff first, then spread from the direction it's cast from (in the edit it's centre-left).


Hope this helps and good luck with the game!
☑ Available for work     ☒ Unavailable for work
Check out my portfolio if you are looking for a pixel artist!

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #17 on: August 07, 2019, 03:21:31 pm
Ambitious project!
Though I have to draw your attention to the cliffs. They act more as a texture and less as a volume - you need stronger highlights  and a stronger sense of depth. The pattern itself is fine, it just needs to pop out more.

Edit:

The light's going to hit the edge of the cliff first, then spread from the direction it's cast from (in the edit it's centre-left).


Hope this helps and good luck with the game!

Yes! This is a really good observation, right now the cliff tiles are just a texture, no volume or form is implied for the cliff walls except for the top grass area! This will help me a lot. Thank you :)
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #18 on: August 07, 2019, 05:17:20 pm
So, on todays dev/pixel art stream I decided to take it slow and instead of pushing new tiles without a clear sense of where I'm going, I decided to do some studying! Using the good feedback I've been receiving here and elsewhere (thanks Yuroran on Twitter, https://twitter.com/yuroran/) I put some work into revisiting one of the characters, ALAN.

ALAN is an android and the first version was based on the same scale/template than the player sprite, and also it looks quite stiff. So I revisited the art for him using the 2nd iteration on his concept sketch. Here's the pixel art and below the sketches (left old, right 2nd iteration)



What I like is that I've broken the template so this opens more variety for characters. Mind you this sprite is not 100% pixel art, it's just a quick study, it needs tons of refining still but its me exploring different dimensions for each character, they don't have to be constrained to 32 px x 48 px.



Also made some experiments with a new grass tile, now studying some refs, including Sword of Mana as suggested by eishiya. I think SoM has beautiful pixel art and might use it as an inspiration.

I will continue doing more studies, cliffs too to put the great feedback by Chris2balls to good use.

Stay tuned, and keep the suggestions coming, much much appreciated!

Ribs out!

EDIT: The VOD of the stream is here if you want to take a look or listen to my dev talk/thought process: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/463874271
« Last Edit: August 07, 2019, 05:23:21 pm by Keops »
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #19 on: August 08, 2019, 05:44:41 pm
So, update on the studies. I kept looking at stuff from other games and I think I'm at a place I like more with the "core" tiles. I still need to iterate of the cliffs, so that's probably next.


(I know Pixelation has zoom feature but I had already uploaded it 2X for use elswewhere heh, sorry)

Also made some interesting experiments with maps for lighting the sprites. Of course this will require rethinking the "diffuse" or base sprite, but it's pretty exciting to me. I'm not looking for the game to be pure pixel art so I will probably explore this further, use modern shading/rendering pipeline and stuff like 3D, particles, etc.







I'll keep you guys updated and once again thanks for the feedback! It really opened my eyes.

Ribs out!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Lien

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 7
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #20 on: August 09, 2019, 12:04:17 pm
Your character moving animation towards and backwards from player`s perspective looks weird... I think? Or maybe this is ok and just adds uniqueness to the game (this comes to mind after argue about similarity between this game and Stardew Valley). Correct me, then, but my thought that this man`s legs moving too far to the left and right (cant explain this more precisely, sorry for my english).

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #21 on: August 09, 2019, 12:34:45 pm
Your character moving animation towards and backwards from player`s perspective looks weird... I think? Or maybe this is ok and just adds uniqueness to the game (this comes to mind after argue about similarity between this game and Stardew Valley). Correct me, then, but my thought that this man`s legs moving too far to the left and right (cant explain this more precisely, sorry for my english).

Nah, it definitely has some weirdness, some people have told me and even I think it looks rather strange. I was aiming for a bit over-the-top or cartoony walkcycle but it still needs a lot of work. I envision it having at least double the frames for fluidity, the shape needs tweaking and also requires 4 diagonals.

Animation is my weakest skill as far as pixel art goes so if you have any tips or edits, I'd much appreciate that :)

Thanks!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #22 on: August 09, 2019, 02:51:08 pm
The dynamic lighting is looking very flat right now, like you're just lighting up sticker rather than a 3D object. I'm not actually sure that convincing whole-sprite lighting can be done with normal maps alone.

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #23 on: August 09, 2019, 05:01:01 pm
The dynamic lighting is looking very flat right now, like you're just lighting up sticker rather than a 3D object. I'm not actually sure that convincing whole-sprite lighting can be done with normal maps alone.

Yeah for sure. It looks weird and it's going to require a ton of work, but that was just a quick experiment, first time trying it. Going to keep testing, as I'm sure I can make tweaks to the maps, there's an option called palette map that guarantees some colors so you don't get strange lighting artifacts, I'm sure it can be polished to a very decent state. However, even in the test I loved the result, so I'm 100% on board with it, it can always be an option in the graphic settings, so that people that dislike it can just turn it off and have flat colored pixels :)
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Chonky Pixel

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 222
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • tequila_ben
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/187855.htm
    • https://www.facebook.com/chonkypixel/?modal=admin_todo_tour
    • View Profile
    • Chonky Pixel

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #24 on: August 10, 2019, 03:09:55 pm
Part of the issue could be that you've been pretty extreme with the lighting in your examples. This is understandable as you're trying out a new effect and you want to see how far it can go.

Here's a random video on Hollow Knight. Not pixel art, but flat 2D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWM4J_FR7gM

I like how dynamic lighting is handled here. The background is quite dark except around the main character, but the main character stays well lit throughout. Of course, when your game isn't set in a world of bugs underground, this effect would probably be better used at night...

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #25 on: August 10, 2019, 03:34:34 pm
Part of the issue could be that you've been pretty extreme with the lighting in your examples. This is understandable as you're trying out a new effect and you want to see how far it can go.

Here's a random video on Hollow Knight. Not pixel art, but flat 2D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWM4J_FR7gM

I like how dynamic lighting is handled here. The background is quite dark except around the main character, but the main character stays well lit throughout. Of course, when your game isn't set in a world of bugs underground, this effect would probably be better used at night...

Interesting!

It's an option, use this effect only at night and maybe a subtle version at dawn/dusk. Still thing it is a good idea to include the option for those who like it and a way to toggle it off for those who don't like how it looks. Same for stuff like CRT filters and whatnot.

Thanks for your input! I still have to check out Hollow Knight btw :P
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Chonky Pixel

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 222
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • tequila_ben
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/187855.htm
    • https://www.facebook.com/chonkypixel/?modal=admin_todo_tour
    • View Profile
    • Chonky Pixel

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #26 on: August 10, 2019, 03:57:59 pm
Depending on the effect you're going for, a subtle vignette towards white around the edges at daytime could also be very pleasant. You could do this with a simple shader on the camera maybe...

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #27 on: August 13, 2019, 12:59:26 am
Quick question: What's the minimum viable tileset? I mean, transitions, corner tiles, dif. widths, etc. To make levels look varied enough and less grid-like.

I'm working on this and v0.1 at the same time and I've found it is way trickier than I expected. I've been tried searching for this as I'm sure someone has already cracked this problem but I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, like a checklist or template of tiles for these kinds of semi-top down games.

This is what has been done today:

Spring tileset for v0.1



Testing it on Tiled


Transitions for scenes implemented in Unity (WIP date and time system implemented too) with persistence


WIP inventory (still used old grass tiles)


Any and all help regarding optimal tileset configurations and templates/examples will be GREATLY appreciated :)

Ribs out!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #28 on: August 13, 2019, 12:59:57 am
Depending on the effect you're going for, a subtle vignette towards white around the edges at daytime could also be very pleasant. You could do this with a simple shader on the camera maybe...

Oh indeed! I will park this for the time being, but I will revisit it down the line for sure!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #29 on: August 13, 2019, 03:29:09 am
For tilesets of natural features like grass and water, I prefer to do tilesets focusing on diagonals instead of verticals and horizontals, i.e. every tile is basically a corner tile. This allows for a smaller tileset, and more importantly, its structure encourages organic shapes by making straight lines harder to create. The drawback to this style of tileset is most existing automappers don't work well with it, though it could be managed with one based on Wang tiles.

I also think those single-column tiles are kind of useless in most scenarios, as IMHO they create distracting shapes in the environment. They're useful for small-scale games to depict smaller features, but for a large-scale game where a tile is the size of a person or smaller, they're not needed. They're also nearly straight lines by necessity in smaller tiles, which doesn't look natural for things like grass.

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #30 on: August 13, 2019, 04:05:19 am
For tilesets of natural features like grass and water, I prefer to do tilesets focusing on diagonals instead of verticals and horizontals, i.e. every tile is basically a corner tile. This allows for a smaller tileset, and more importantly, its structure encourages organic shapes by making straight lines harder to create. The drawback to this style of tileset is most existing automappers don't work well with it, though it could be managed with one based on Wang tiles.

I also think those single-column tiles are kind of useless in most scenarios, as IMHO they create distracting shapes in the environment. They're useful for small-scale games to depict smaller features, but for a large-scale game where a tile is the size of a person or smaller, they're not needed. They're also nearly straight lines by necessity in smaller tiles, which doesn't look natural for things like grass.

Hmmm interesting. Do you happen to have any of those diagonal tiles example? Also, how would this translate to the square grid style of traditional farming RPGs?

As usual thanks for your input eishiya, very appreciated!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #31 on: August 13, 2019, 05:52:36 pm
Ah, I think you misunderstood. By diagonals, I just meant diagonal transitions, i.e. corner tiles. They're still square tiles. Here's a simple example using just 2 types of grass, with 4 diagonal transition tiles (in theory you could use just 1 or 2 with appropriate flips, but for organic objects it helps to have variety).


Typically, the chief drawback to using a tileset like this is the limits it imposes on the exact shapes you can create, but some of this can be mitigated with careful tile design. For example, you wouldn't expect to create "vertical" or "horizontal" edges that are an odd number of tiles in length (since they must be created out of pairs of diagonals in a saw pattern), but for noisy organic surfaces like grass, it's possible to make two diagonals tile with each other seamlessly too, allowing for such scenarios.

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #32 on: August 14, 2019, 12:16:37 am
Ah, I think you misunderstood. By diagonals, I just meant diagonal transitions, i.e. corner tiles. They're still square tiles. Here's a simple example using just 2 types of grass, with 4 diagonal transition tiles (in theory you could use just 1 or 2 with appropriate flips, but for organic objects it helps to have variety).


Typically, the chief drawback to using a tileset like this is the limits it imposes on the exact shapes you can create, but some of this can be mitigated with careful tile design. For example, you wouldn't expect to create "vertical" or "horizontal" edges that are an odd number of tiles in length (since they must be created out of pairs of diagonals in a saw pattern), but for noisy organic surfaces like grass, it's possible to make two diagonals tile with each other seamlessly too, allowing for such scenarios.

Oo this is enlightening! Thanks so much for sharing that



I was experimenting and made this geometric flat color tileset so I can start implementing maps in Unity and not waste time in final asset production. Now my tileset looks bloated haha but I think I'll keep it and also keep this in mind too :o

So much to learn. Thanks so much eishiya! I _really_ appreciate it!

Ribs out!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio

Offline eishiya

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1266
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/28889.htm
    • View Profile
    • Website

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #33 on: August 14, 2019, 03:21:16 am
Don't forget that what is "minimal" depends on what the tiles are. Some things just naturally need more tiles, or different kinds of tiles, so you won't have the same tile layout for different things. For example, you probably wouldn't need both diagonal and squared corners for terrain, but they could be useful for paved paths.

Since your game will probably have player-modified terrain, you'll probably need a tileset that can handle more weird situations than the diagonals-only one above. IIRC 16 tiles per required pair of terrains is the minimum that's procgen-friendly, which is similar to what you posted before - no isolated/narrow strips of terrains. In farming games, it's common for players to modify the terrain so a tileset where you can easily compute the proper tile for a given environment is probably more important than a minimal tileset.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2019, 03:29:39 am by eishiya »

Offline Keops

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 86
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • RibsChirino
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/189965.htm
    • View Profile
    • Behance portfolio

Re: [Feedback] Hearthstead - farming/town life Simulation RPG

Reply #34 on: August 14, 2019, 05:49:18 pm
Don't forget that what is "minimal" depends on what the tiles are. Some things just naturally need more tiles, or different kinds of tiles, so you won't have the same tile layout for different things. For example, you probably wouldn't need both diagonal and squared corners for terrain, but they could be useful for paved paths.

Since your game will probably have player-modified terrain, you'll probably need a tileset that can handle more weird situations than the diagonals-only one above. IIRC 16 tiles per required pair of terrains is the minimum that's procgen-friendly, which is similar to what you posted before - no isolated/narrow strips of terrains. In farming games, it's common for players to modify the terrain so a tileset where you can easily compute the proper tile for a given environment is probably more important than a minimal tileset.

Totally true and the main reason why I will slow down on art and focus on implementation and testing and then improving/polishing art. But your feedback has been invaluable so far. Thanks so much!
Hearthstead: Art thread - Website - Twitter

COMMISSIONS OPEN! Behance portfolio