Struggling with a tileset, need suggestions

The glow is greenish blue because naturally phosphorescent plants and amoeba here on Earth tend to glow that way. Juni's world doesn't necessarily have to be like Earth, but all the areas I've slated for this level are based on Earthly environments. That said the lighting helps create a mood as does the music. I'll have to see what kind of music I get from my collaborators before I make a final decision.

This picture experiments with a orange-yellow glow. Sorry, but I tested rocks on the red soil which will make comparisons more difficult. I intensified the glow because this color blends in with the background better. By the way, none of the screen shots I've released for the level are intended to be in the level. They were made to test the tilesets. This screen is primarily a test of transitions from brown to red soil.

Edit: @Salmoneous: I can't base the colors of the objects on the color of the soil, because I have two soil colors and the objects have to work with both. I'm glad my screen shots made you happy. If the level turns out as well as I plan, you shouldn't be disappointed.

That image looks blurred again...

Anyway, the flowers themselves don't seem to contrast as badly with the ground anymore, but I'm not really sure about the yellow glow as opposed to cyan.  I have no idea what colors might work better, though.

The yellow looks much warmer, more welcoming. Is that what you are going for in your level?

@Minmay: The blur is from antialiasing on the vines coupled with the intensified glow. That's how it would look in game. These vines are rough drafts. I plan to eliminate or reduce the antialiasing in the final cut.

@Pumpkin: I intend to go with the green glow, but I may change it to match the music. I'm trying to get all original tracks for the game. Depending on what people make I'm going to adapt the level to fit the music. The size of an area, the attitudes of NPCs; these are the types of things I'll alter to match the music. I start by releasing a screen shot. Then, hopefully, a musician will be inspired by it and create a song. As we both work on our parts, we give each other updates. In the end the music and the level should work together like... well... like they were made for each other.

I like the cyan.  It feels more realistic than the sunlight-yellow. 

Great natural ground by the way.  I'm glad to see tilesets going in this direction.

The way the edges of the ground seem to fade into the background also make it look blurry.

Maybe the areas where the edge of the tileset is flat could be a little different.  Everything looks natural until you get to the flats, then there is a fairly regular lego effect.

Making sure that Juni can run, climb, slide, etc. without snags is top priority. She is very particular about the size of curves she'll run over. And the smoothness of walls she'll climb. I could do a little more to erode the straight edges in this set, but I'm happy with them.

I looked through your vine pics again just now.  Are you satisfied with them yet?  I think the smaller ones are an improvement simply because when you have the long ones they stand out too much.  But, if you had a combination of thin and big bunches, like a moss or tangle of vines, I think the originals could work.

I planned to have non-glowing vines and tangles of vines from the start, but there isn't a lot of room left in these tilesets. Between the 2 sets I have 34 ground tile in each color, 28 invisible ground tiles, 65 shadow tiles, 34 glow tiles, 15 background tiles in each color, 8 rocks, 8 vines, and 2 solid black tiles. That leaves me with 7 and 10 tiles for everything else. I'm not sure it's enough.

I was very unhappy with the original vines, and wasn't going to put anymore effort in to them until I consulted the forum. I'm not completely happy with the new vines but I'm satisfied with the direction they're taking me. I would love the glowing vines to be part of a tangled mass of vines as you suggest. I want the cavern to be full of life: worms, grubs, roots, vines, mushrooms, rabbits, etc. I'm sure it will get there. It just takes time.

You might have to have a 3rd set you use alternately to create areas with more vines and life and less of... whatever you would have to cut out.

I'm soooo glad you brought me back to this thread, because I just found the solution! Its a bit ridiculous, but if I upgrade to 4 tilesets I can free up 17 more tiles for each color without sacrificing any versatility. Lovely.

My level design plan, is to have a base tileset for each area that can transition with any other area. Then, I make a filler tileset for enriching an area once inside. The red dirt is on my filler tileset, but I wanted to be able to use it as a base set as well. The solution is giving both colors base set treatment, and then making a filler set for each. I might be able to make just one filler set for both. I won't know until I try it.

Thanks.