SOS cave tiles

[andy_w]

Hello Pixelation

I was looking for some feedback on some tiles I'm doing for a game called Super Obama Story
So far I've heard that it could use more contrast and I've given it slightly more contrast, and I believe they may have some minor tiling issues.

the tileset (the bottom right is an old tileset which i used for reference)

an example of them used in a level



I am also looking for suggestions on making further (back layer) tiles for the game

Any suggestions or critiques are appreciated

[PypeBros]

i love the "forbidden planet" look they have, and how you integrated larger rocks in the dirt.
i would just point out somehow a trailing horizontal line in the tiles right below the character in your mockup that you might want to fix.

oh, yeah, and about the "dirt-to-flat-color" transition, i find them to introduce a somewhat "squarish look". Maybe you want some 45° version of them for beveling angles
A      B      C      D      E      F      G


I'm talking about those tiles in E7, F7, E8, F8 that right now look like
##
#

While you could make them look
##
#°

HTH.

[andy_w]

Ah yes, I see the lines under Obama in the screenshot. I'll go fix that

I see what you mean about the squareness of the dirt-to-flat transition tiles
I'll do something or other to make them rounder. Making diagonal tiles wouldn't fit into one tile each with the current thickness of the transition tiles, so i'll try something else

Thanks for the feedback

edit: I added more tiles for the square corners on the transition tiles and fixed that tiling error

I also duplicated and recolored this tileset to make some background tiles.

[PypeBros]

I also duplicated and recolored this tileset to make some background tiles.

That may give you interesting effects, but my impression is that it isn't that sexy for a background.
I mean, that'd be great for having small places that are open space but that should remain somehow "hidden", like sub-caves to explore, but for the general, open-play area, i'd discourage this
 - because it makes reading of what's open and what's closed space harder (little contrast between both, no hue difference)
 - because whatever is further is also less detailed to our eyes.
 - because background is a unique opportunity to bring something that is absolutely not squary and tiled.

How about huge rocks instead ? or even some kind of oversized glowing mushrooms or whatever would fit your game's mood. My impression from those tiles you've done is that they are a stunning base for those kind of "exploring an hostile alien planet" game we used to have in the 8-bit era.

(http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/exile/exile-ish.htm could show you what i've in mind)

Now it's up to you. Do *you* think those darker tiles make a good job ? what kind of environment did *you* intend to have ?

 

[andy_w]

Okay, yeah, I think see what you mean about about them being a poor choice for open spaces.

How about huge rocks instead ? or even some kind of oversized glowing mushrooms or whatever would fit your game's mood. My impression from those tiles you've done is that they are a stunning base for those kind of "exploring an hostile alien planet" game we used to have in the 8-bit era.

(http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/exile/exile-ish.htm could show you what i've in mind)

Now it's up to you. Do *you* think those darker tiles make a good job ? what kind of environment did *you* intend to have ?

I definitely wasn't going for an "exploring an hostile alien planet" look, unfortunately. Though I do agree that they contain very much the same mood as those from such a game as Exile.
I intended to have a large open cave arena environment. Because this cave is where the violent democratic primaries will take place, I want it to look like a wide and open space while still having enough structural variation to make for interesting firefights.

I imagine that your giant rocks in the background suggestion would work very well, and I'll try that next.
I really need to finish these tiles up, though, because I hope to get some sort of a demo out by Tuesday.