Sahara tileset

I played Tewniletes today. The desert section was so simple and beautiful, that I felt like making a companion to my savanna tileset. It's a Sahara type the Hoggar desert. I think it's looking good so far, but it's a tad boring. I'm not sure what I could add. Suggestions are welcome.

For a desert-type tileset, it seems kind of square-ish. Perhaps some more rounded tiles would be nice.

Maybe you could add some plant life to this? Depends on what kind of desert you're going for, I guess. Some rocks would be a nice addition too.

For a desert-type tileset, it seems kind of square-ish. Perhaps some more rounded tiles would be nice.

While curves would be more accurate, speaking purely as a player they suck to encounter

Maybe you could add some plant life to this? Depends on what kind of desert you're going for, I guess. Some rocks would be a nice addition too.

They're both pretty good suggestions for a desert in general but I think, given the Sahara-style theme, they could be a little too far from the concept. Any significant amount of plantlife would make it look more like the Kalahari or Mojave; any significant amount of rock (even rocky outcroppings, which was my first thought on reading your suggestion) would make it start to look more like the interior of the Atacama.
Looking at some images, I take that back. The Sahara turns out to be a pretty varied environment.

I guess the answer would be sparing use of any (or all) of the suggested possibilities and even water features;
How many features of these sorts one could fit in while maintaining the feel of it would depend on the total size of the desert area in any given level. Separating any of the "busier" areas with relatively desolate sections might help maintain the atmosphere you're looking for.

Ancient ruins are, of course, the classic videogame answer to "livening-up" an expanse of desert but might be incompatible with your ideas for it.

Exactly, rounded tilesets just don't work a lot of the time on Knytt Stories, and are as annoying for the designer as they are for the player. But I suppose ego chose the squared tileset stile to mach the savana tileset.
Really like the effect the shadows provide, and I'm glad my level/tileset inspired you.

I'm going to speak out in defense of curves. I feel they're totally achievable and would make a nice addition to this tileset. Wide diagonal slopes would be good too, of course!

Maybe it's a reflection of my preference for challenge over environmental levels but I don't think curves would really add anything to this tileset. While they are achievable I think the curving lines between the light and shadow on the dunes is enough to have them looking fantastic without adding the extra complexity implicit in using curves for the ground level aswell.

A tileset needs to strike a compromise between appearance, ease-of-use and readability for the player; in my opinion, ego's already got that perfect for this tileset.

*gives star to Widget*

Thankyou but, in that case *gives star to Healy*
It wasn't my idea, I just used wikipedia to support the case for it 

I'm sold on the Ahaggar desert images Widget posted. The desert palms will be easy to adapt to tiles. The grasses and bushy trees will help tie this set to the savanna. If designers want to add an oasis they can rely on the second tileset. The same goes for architectural features. *gives star to Widget*

Like the savanna set I want to keep the collision mask blocky, to the point of abstract, for playability. I attempt to soften this with the textures and foreground decor. I got stumped on the decorations because seas of sand are mostly just sand. But, as Widget reminded me there are many screens in a level, so decor wont ruin the setting if used sparingly.

Thanks to everyone else who weighed in. Many good points were made. I generally agree that curved collision tiles should not be counted out even for challenge levels.

Here's a little progress report. I've redone the distant dunes, and added some desert palms. In the example I've changed the gradient to demonstrate how I used the alpha channel. I still have grass and bushes to make.

Wow, the palms you've added look fantastic. It isn't easy to get that much detail at that resolution, I'm really impressed!

Thanks Widget. I impressed myself with those trees. They're pure pixel art, only 29 colors used in the entire tileset.

By the way, I finished it (see the opening post.) Criticism is still welcome.

Fantastic!  Brilliant use of the shadow.  I love KS.  Such a great creative demand for improvisation.