Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique

  • 13 Replies
  • 5767 Views
*

Offline Hmpf

  • 825
  • 15
  • Now with less rain.
    • View Profile
Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« on: February 16, 2010, 21:46:27 »
Just thought I'd share this thing I do sometimes to kick-start the creative juices... (though I'm not actually using it that much for Falling Water, as that level is supposed to have a rather 'real' look about it, for the most part, and this technique works best for levels that are a little on the surreal side).

1.) Build a screen using some standard tileset (better yet, two tilesets).
2.) Keep replacing the tileset/one of the tilesets simply by stepping through the tilesets in the editor; don't actually change the composition of the screen. See what serendipity comes up with for you.

90% of the time this'll produce random crap; ten or five percent of the time, though, it will produce... seeds of brilliance that, with a little bit of effort, can be turned into really interesting screen designs. See below for some examples of such 'seeds'.

None of these are actual screen designs yet; but I can see the concept of an interestingly surreal building/structure in numbers 3 and 4, and the potential for interesting 'landscapes' in 1 and 2... 1, especially, could probably make an interesting look for a nice little challenge level. I love the contrast between the black-and-white abstractness and the three-dimensional, bright-green vine. I could imagine a level with a white abstract background, black abstract ground, and floating vine 'blocks' to jump on etc. (Ignore the thatched hut; that would *not* be part of the challenge level's design.)
« Last Edit: February 16, 2010, 21:48:20 by Hmpf »

*

Offline Hmpf

  • 825
  • 15
  • Now with less rain.
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2010, 21:53:11 »
Here's an example of a screen (possibly not quite final yet; there's some details I don't like about it) from Falling Water whose basic look *was* created that way:

*

Offline Evil

  • 1112
  • 1
  • 1723
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2010, 22:13:05 »
I tried that with nurykabe's tiles, and it looked like a volcano exploded hard enough to rip space apart  :ohnoes:



but the first one when you scroll down, it flashes! :D

Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2010, 01:39:19 »
Lololololololololol.. shall I continue?
Lurk more.

*

Nakelyo

Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2010, 10:56:04 »
Interesting technique...some screens are very nice, I'll try for my next level  :)


*

Offline yohji

  • 664
  • 18
    • View Profile
    • Jashiin's Portfolio
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2010, 15:14:08 »
This technique was the original inspiration behind a couple of my levels :crazy:

*

Offline Hmpf

  • 825
  • 15
  • Now with less rain.
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2010, 16:58:46 »
What have you smoked, hmpf?

Nothing. I just went to art school. ;-)

*

Offline AClockworkLemon

  • 708
  • 2
  • -Inactive-
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2010, 20:57:22 »
Nothing. I just went to art school. ;-)
Art School = BONG! (at least in australia) XD
Nice concept... maybe I could just make a level using it and only it, and call it 'Thoughts f Art School'!
(sorry if this sounds detrimental, its 6 in the morning and I  have to go to school :oops:)
I'm not dead. Not entirely. And yes, I'm embarrassed by most of the posts I made here.
:hiddenstar: - From Pumpkinbot

*

Offline Hmpf

  • 825
  • 15
  • Now with less rain.
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2010, 03:52:38 »
Art School = BONG! (at least in australia) XD

Not in my case, honestly. Which may have to do with the fact that it wasn't a 'real' art school but a kind of mix between art school and trade school. Much more down-to-earth than your usual art school, I'd expect.

I'm really quite serious about this being a good technique for getting inspiration for new looks for levels/screens, btw. Of course, it will only give you a vague idea which you then have to work on to refine - but it's a great way to free yourself from some of your preconceptions regarding the tilesets. A way to think about not-so-obvious things you can do with a given tileset; not-so-obvious looks you can achieve.

*

Offline Gorfinhofin

  • Totally Sane Storyteller
  • 302
  • 9
  • Bugbears are cool.
    • View Profile
    • My World Famous Grilled Let's Plays
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2010, 04:35:45 »
I'm generally not one for the abstract style, but this is a really interesting technique. I might have to give it a try some time!


When something smells, it's usually my monitor.

*

Offline the Jack

  • 158
  • 12
  • not *that* Jack!
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2010, 16:45:52 »
I sometimes hunt for tilesets for a particular screen by starting with one tileset that, if it isn't definitely the one I want, is at least close, and then 'scroll' through the other tileset slot looking for something that will have the look I want.

Deliberately going for surreal effects, and finding them this way, hadn't occurred to me. Your example images are thought-provoking, indeed.

Interestingly, something I had thought of doing, maybe as a challenge format, was using an online random-number generator to generate two numbers between 0-255... and then using whatever two tilesets come up, no matter how incompatible with each other they seem. (Of course if you really couldn't make the first pair work, you could generate another set of numbers; the idea is to give yourself that little 'push' to get you started.

Throw 'custom', i.e. non-standard, tilesets into the mix, and things could get really crazy!

Actually, it's eggplant.

*

Offline Pick Yer Poison

  • 782
  • 3
  • One cool cat.
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2010, 19:50:55 »
I'll have to try this sometime; for Outer Reaches, I just looked at all the tilesets I could find until I got one that fit with the image in my head.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2010, 12:22:37 by Pick Yer Poison »

*

Offline Hmpf

  • 825
  • 15
  • Now with less rain.
    • View Profile
Re: Easy and effective (IMO) creativity technique
« Reply #13 on: February 25, 2010, 22:20:14 »
Just to clarify, I don't even think this necessarily needs to result in something surreal. And I mostly just use the results of the random tileset replacement to discover tileset combinations that might look good but which may not be immediately obvious, on the basis of which I then build a rather more deliberately constructed screen. Or to discover alternative uses for, and combinations of, tiles which aren't quite obvious at first. Basically, as the Jack puts it, I use it as a way to give myself a little 'push'.