Nifflas' Support Forum

Level Editing Support => Knytt Stories Level Editing Support => Knytt Stories - Custom Content => Topic started by: Mr. Macduggan on August 02, 2010, 23:08:52

Title: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 02, 2010, 23:08:52
I just picked up tileset design today, and it's still in progress, but I'm curious what you guys think about it.
My main mission with this tileset was to allow any combination of ground tiles with edges: any combination of the four edges on a ground tile are possible. The way the main orange grass works is very similar. (yes, I know that it doesn't work when you need the top and bottom or the left and right)
I tried making a couple screens with it and it worked ok, so what do you guys think?

[mod] removed attachment, as a newer version is in the topic[/mod]
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Salmoneous on August 03, 2010, 00:42:05
It reminds me of one of my tilesets: http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=1310.0
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Healy on August 03, 2010, 02:24:18
It's a bit plain. There's not a whole lot to it to stand out from other, similar tilesets.
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: AClockworkLemon on August 03, 2010, 02:33:25
Oh come ON people!

First off, welcome to the Nifforums, Mr. Macduggan  C)p
Secondly, it's good to see another person on the tilesetting business, it's always good to see a new face.

Onto the tileset itself...
Although i must agree, it is similar to alot of other tilesets that have been made, everyone has to start somewhere, and for this to be a first tileset, i'm very impressed! :D keep up the good work, i'm expecting much from you yet :crazy:
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 03, 2010, 02:41:00
Any ideas for what to fill the rest of the tileset with, to make it, you know, more unique? The part I have is simply the ground, some simple background and grass. The tileset could certainly use some character, so any ideas you guys have to add to it are welcome!

Since the first upload, I've added a little blue house, a three tile high set of bamboo, a one tile high bamboo set, and a three tile high bundle of harvested bamboo. I need more variation in it, but this is giving it its own sense of originality. Still, any more suggestions are welcome!

Attached are the modified tileset and a screenshot of a beta screen.
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Pumpkinbot on August 03, 2010, 05:50:54
Like the bamboo, but the house seems to stand out too much from the red. :/ Other than that, it looks good! Definitely added some diversity with the bamboo! Now you just need to make more bamboo. :P
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Healy on August 03, 2010, 09:41:00
Well, it's not a bad start. The harvested bamboo looks a little weird, though. Shouldn't there be rope holding it together? Also, as Pumpkinbot said, the house doesn't seem to go with the rest of the tileset.
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Grookie on August 03, 2010, 12:31:44
Yes, similar to Organac tileset by salmonelous.
But, a small inspiration donīt mind!

(and my first tileset was very ugly and horrible XD)
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Miss Paula on August 03, 2010, 12:34:53
I like things where people use more than just the primary colours. 9_9 (not "ohh red, ohh green, ohh blue, ohh yellow, all my kindergarten memories")

there's things like saturation and brightness that are useful for "interesting" colours too, you know, not just hue.
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: Hmpf on August 04, 2010, 23:03:38
Like the bamboo. :-)
Title: Re: My first tileset- The Hairy Orange Cave
Post by: minmay on August 05, 2010, 00:17:13
The style of this tileset is wildly inconsistent.  The ground is bright, straight, and anti-aliased; the hair is more "scribbly" and is plain, sharp pixels; the background and harvested bamboo are both quite smooth and blurry; the unharvested bamboo is in a style similar to that of the grass but is extremely bright, and the house is a mish-mash of all those things which is appears to be drawn in two different perspectives at once.  Inconsistency in style is never good.
In general, plain primary colors are bad, as are extremely bright and/or saturated colors.  There are plenty of exceptions, of course.

So, improvements?  Pick one style and one perspective, and stick with it for this tileset (and any other tilesets used in the same level).  Find some more subtle colors, and maybe give the ground tiles a more interesting texture.  If you want to add more tiles, I suggest more houses and bamboo, some other plant life, and a second set of ground tiles.
Title: Re: My first tileset- Scrapped in favor of a Bamboo Garden tileset
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 05, 2010, 06:49:03
Ok, so after the last day and in response to the criticism about the inconsistent styling of the tileset, I've decided I'll actually scrap the whole orange cave thing- and keep the bamboo place. (of course, I'll still save the old version, but it will not appear in the final version. When I started this tileset, I had no idea of the style objectives I wanted to have, so I'm probably going to change the tileset to a very grounded, horizontal, japanese-garden-like feel. I might salvage the bamboo, but probably I'm going to take the theme and run with it because it appeals to me more than the original vague theme for practicing making tilesets. I'm really excited to get started on it. 8)
I don't have access to my normal computer right now, or I'd start work immediately.
I'll post a picture of how it comes out.

On an unrelated note, how do you change the title of a thread? I need to change it to "My second tileset: A Bamboo Garden" :P
Title: Re: My first tileset- Scrapped in favor of a Bamboo Garden tileset
Post by: AClockworkLemon on August 05, 2010, 07:00:11
On an unrelated note, how do you change the title of a thread? I need to change it to "My second tileset: A Bamboo Garden" :P

Edit your first post, and change the subject line.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 06, 2010, 19:00:00
Ok. I've started work on the new tileset. I'm hoping that it's better than the last one so far.
Things I know are still problems: Needs more bamboo, maybe more ground, bamboo sort of clashes with ground.
Questions: Do you like the background tiles? I sort of think that they don't look quite right. Suggestions on them welcome.
also, If I do make more ground, what color?

I still plan on making some balanced rocks, a little shrine, maybe some cloud tiles, and more bamboo.

I need some expertise on this work in progress.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Miss Paula on August 07, 2010, 00:14:24
the bamboo could be a bit less yellow to clash less. examples of bamboo colour 9_9 (http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1408&bih=884&q=bamboo&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)
also, try cropping your screenshots (->cutting off the unneeded image areas).
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 07, 2010, 02:18:32
I made the bamboo a little greener, added some brown ground tiles, some new groups of bamboo- (it could still use a few more, with different numbers of stalks per tile and heights), designed a small stone shrine and added some white fog at the right of the tileset.
EDIT: now with a similarly themed house

[mod] removed attachments, as a newer version is in the topic[/mod]
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: bulbapuck on August 07, 2010, 03:36:16
I like this! Nice work :) Far better than the first one.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 07, 2010, 03:48:26
Thanks!  :D

Sorry to spam so much, but I have a new version.
I don't know exactly how to make the background bamboo look right, so.. any ideas? :oops:
Also, what else do you guys want to see in this tileset?
I actually still have a lot of space and I'm running low on ideas.

[mod] removed attachment, as a newer version is in the topic[/mod]
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Yonowaaru on August 08, 2010, 16:27:02
Make another kind of background hills, perhaps?
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Salmoneous on August 08, 2010, 16:33:27
I would make them same color as backround tiles.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 08, 2010, 20:16:18
yeah, that might help. I still am stumped on what else this needs though. Advice on changing/adding more background tiles noted.

Also, I'm not much of a level maker, so if anyone else wants to use it, go for it. I'm not saving it for a custom story by me.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Hmpf on August 09, 2010, 00:01:23
Maybe a variant of the house/temple thing? Something that would make it possible to build several different kinds of buildings from the available tiles?

Also, I'm a big fan of vegetation, so maybe some more (& different kinds of) plants? Flowers, bushes...?
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 09, 2010, 00:51:25
Cool. I'm on it hmpf.
EDIT: I've begun work on a modular pagoda. Roof and right wall still to come.  :P2
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Evil on August 10, 2010, 00:11:19
(http://www.ecodigital.co.uk/estore/images/A5N-bamboo.jpg)

add some bamboo speakers!  C)p
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: minmay on August 19, 2010, 19:44:03
I like the new ground and grass.  The background tiles would probably look slightly better if the contrast between the two colors was reduced.
The bamboo seriously needs to be darkened.  That's pretty much the only reason it clashes; it's way too bright.
I like the shading on the rocks, but the outlines need to be smoothed - you should almost never have four or more black pixels in one 3x3 area (this means all your lines should be one pixel thick at all times, and no two lines should be very close).  I know rocks are generally somewhat jagged, but you can't convey that much detail in such a small space, and trying to do so anyway will just make things look messy.
The door on the rock house would look better if it were either just a normally-shaped door or just a doorway with no door.  Not sure what those lines around it are supposed to be.  The window also needs to be more uniform in shape.  When you're carving houses out of trees or rocks or pretty much anything else, it's generally best to leave the unusual shape to the original material and make any added objects look like they would on a normal house.
If that big smooth rock thing is a part of the modular pagoda, it should be made slightly less smooth for consistency with the other rock house.  On the same note, a texture of uniform straight lines makes no sense for a rock.
The background bamboo should be decreased in thickness.  If it's far enough away to look shorter, it's far enough away to look thinner as well.

That said, looks great for a first/second tileset, and not too bad even independent of that.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on August 24, 2010, 21:56:35
Thanks for all of the specific advice and opinions!  C)
I've been away for a couple weeks, but I bet I'll fill up the rest of the tileset sometime this week.
The big smooth stone thing is a wall that you can set up any way you want, but it's supposed to have bricks. It's good for laying the harvested bamboo on.
Edit: I finished the pagoda. Any comments?
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: PeppyHare4000 on September 01, 2010, 19:21:33
Looks good. To expand it, Make background tiles for the orange version of the tiles.
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on September 01, 2010, 21:11:31
I scrapped the orange version. It didn't fit with the bamboo I made for it, and I liked the bamboo much more than the orange, so...  :/
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: minmay on September 03, 2010, 23:24:56
Bamboo looks quite a bit better, perhaps still slightly too bright and saturated.

The pagoda, however, sticks out of that screenshot like a sore thumb made out of lightbulbs.  Pretty much every color not on the frame or roof needs to be darkened greatly.

(Also, is it a pagoda if it's only one level?)
Title: Re: My SECOND tileset-a Bamboo Garden
Post by: Mr. Macduggan on September 03, 2010, 23:56:28
Re: one level
Yeah, I guess it isn't a pagoda. Oh well.

Re: colors
I'm on it