Very simple Tileset, can't get textures to look nice

[Zolthorg]

Here is my latest tiling test:


and its accompanying tiles:


i rather like the shapes i managed to create, but i'm nto sure of the palette or how much detail should go into them

here's a previous mockup:


and my progress so far (the latest tileset was done in a nice editor as opposed to paint, which is useful for on the fly tesellation stuff)


i'm not sure wether i should tone down the texturing on the grass, use mroe shades, and how i should work with the dirt.
i doubt readability will be an issue on either tileset as i haven't started sprites yet.

For mood/tone
The game is a small brawler which will have bright colors and lots of action
think of it as a mix between bomberman and wizards (i just made this correlation and it's sadly very close)

[PypeBros]

http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo/chapter5.htm

that's a tutorial i found about that kind of issues a few month ago. I think it could apply very well to the kind of things you're doing.

If you want to keep things simple and not distracting for the action, i'd suggest you get a look at a chaos engine or Zelda: Minish Cap screenshot and try to identify what makes it both simple, nice and efficient ^_^

Hint: focus on the border between grass/dirt.

[Zolthorg]

I've forgotten several key basics from that tutorial, which i've read.
i've also forgotten to change my outlining style when adding textures.

edito: new version




step in the right direction?
i really like the dirt texture
i'm iffy on the saturation of the whole thing though
is the two tone dirt fine?

[im9today]

I think on the grass you could benefit from either a highlight shade or a cast shadow shade to add some volume to it. Personally, I'm not a fan of that dirt 'texture', it just looks like some randomly placed lighter pixels.

[RosenCrantz]

Done a little edit : , changed the colors, and added some light one the grass

[PypeBros]

your last grass tile does it much better ... the dirt is okay for small places, but imho, it is too dark and probably too contrasted for large areas such as the one on the left of your mockup...

Do not hesitate to have grass really "invading" the dirt on the border ...

probably you'll need something like "a patch of dirter dirt" so that you can break the monotony
don't forget to try what your character will look like on top of it, too ... *that* is what should dictate the contrast/lightness/saturation of your dirt.

[Faktablad]

The colors are great, but I really can't believe the outlines of the grass that you made.  Commenting not only on this tileset, but on many others, I can't see why people feel the need to create such defined borders between "grass" and "dirt".  Often there are weird transition points where there is dirty/patchy/dead grass, in between lush grass and straight dirt.  Like in this reference picture:

There are of course some instances where grass and dirt have a very sharp border, but you only see this in highly cultivated areas or dirt roads.  You can do a little bit of both to mix it up and add interest.  Bottom line, I encourage you to approach these tiles from an observational standpoint: what you actually SEE in the real world.  Because then your tiles will follow as being more lifelike.

[Zolthorg]

I tried to break up the monotony of the dirt (which is supposed to be pebbley, incase i  caused some confusion)
i'm about ready to scrap the grass tiles and start them over.
not sure if they're salvageable.
(only had time to try out some quick little changes)

[ndchristie]

what's "the one thing he hated!" ?

[Faceless]

Trees?

The dirt looks much better, but the grass doesn't seem to have any direction. It looks like somebody has come along and stomped all over it.
I've always been partial to the more simplified grass of SwoM: http://sdb.drshnaps.com/images/BGs/SwordOfMana.gif
You seem to have already taken this in a different direction to that though.

The border of lighter dirt around the edges of the grass looks a bit strange, and I have no idea why you would employ a tile in that way.
Use the lighter tile to mix up the dirt even more or get rid of it, as it isn't bridging the gap between grass and dirt at all, but rather making it more defined.

[Faktablad]

what's "the one thing he hated!" ?

All the noise, NOISE, NOISE!!!!!

[Zolthorg]

i took the highlights off the dirt because they were distracting, and changed a few things
overhauled the grass completely
there's still a few tiling glitches that i need to mull over and redraw a few times

that make sense to any of you?
  i only know what i'm doing because i'm beginning to memorize the order





seems squarish on the more realistic use mockup

[crab2selout.png]

It's still pretty noisy. Bring down the contrast some, especially between the grass and the dirt. Don't forget that it's not the grass and dirt you want the player to look at. They're the background and should stay in the back. I know it's hard 'cause you want the player looking at all the nice goodies you made, but you gotta resist the urge to make them pop too much.

On a more positive note, I like the new grass design. Have you tried using it as a buffer between the dirt and the old grass tile? It'd be interesting to see how it looks.

Keep going, Zolthorg, maybe post some new environment objects in your next update?

[AlienQuark]

I think the thing that's making it so noisy is the dirt. You could easily afford to tone that down, and leave the new grass exactly as is. I think that would work out best. It's looking really good either way though. Hopefully you can get it all worked out and such.

[Zolthorg]

I'm starting to second guess myself here

Toned down the dirt durther in two of these <- one of them is the first draft of the new tiles prior to any palette changes
one of them is radical and one is far more subtle
added stone pathing (yes the tiles on this kinda go in random directions)

[Xion]

What...what happened to the grass!? Why have you made all the individual blades of grass!? It not only accentuates the tiling but looks really, reallly...bad, IMHO. It just makes the noise worse and makes it look like the grass is like...well, let's just say I've only rarely seen grass like that, where each blade is separated by visible dirt. Usually - of the grass I've seen - it grows as either a carpet or in dense patches, most commonly. The only time I've ever seen grass like you've got there is near a swamp or something.The dirt is best in the first of the last images, but I preferred the old carpety grass. And the cobblestone roadway is too saturated and the cobbles are too tiny, which only adds even more noise to the noise.

[Zolthorg]

The only time I've ever seen grass like you've got there is near a swamp or something.

I think this is my main problem, i have no ideas what kind of grass/dirt/pathway i'm trying to acchieve, i need to start over from the beginning with a clear idea and not make it up as i move forward.

I've got short swampgrass
mountain path dirt
and a random cobblestone path
i 'can't get textures to look nice' because there's no coherence

[Draco9898]

You need alot of "variation tiles" rather then repeating the SAME grass tile over and over again, grass with dirt, grass with a stone, grass with a flower, grass where the blades looks a bit different, Grass bordering on dirt(buffer), etc.

Take a look at warcraft 3 tilesets, it's the same thing, lots of variation, if you are successful no one will be able to tell where your tiles begin OR end (which is of course hard, but hey.)