VG's misc custom content for KS/KS+

Direct links to all the stuff released here:

Animations (Characters/COs)

Heroine Juni (KS+ custom character)
Spinning Nacho
Rolling Cube
Colored Fireflies
Pompadour Knytt Dude
Simple Flags
Screen Raindrops
Happy Ball (KS+ custom character)

Gradients and backgrounds

16-color Retro EGA Backgrounds
Purple Night
Asteroid Field
Coral Reef
"Quake-like" Purple Sky
Palm Trees
Oasis

Tilesets

Orange Grass Reimagined
4-bpp EGA Dreams
Pointless and Swirly Tutorial Set
Almost Cursed Fields
Totally Not Cursed Fields
Gloomy Keep
Appreciate the Art, dangit!
Sandy Beach (regular & sunset editions)
Hunt for the Red Rock Rover
Marble Vines
Yet Another CGA Tileset (alt. versions here)
Birdmen Fortress
Candy Cane Hills
Crystallium

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Sometimes, I get bored enough to start working on custom stuff for KS, but not enough to actually build a level that would put said content to use. Instead of just letting these tilesets/gradients/COs collect digital dust in my hard drive, I thought it'd be a much better idea to start a topic here and post some of this content from time to time, so they have at least a chance to be useful to somebody else. All the stuff posted here will be released under the usual "KS Use/Edit OK" license.

I'll start with this mod of Juni's default template that I named (in a sheer display of originality) "Heroine Juni", complete with tiara and flapping cape, intended for use in a KS+ level. Here's a preview of the running animation:



Below is the modded spritesheet. Feel free to use it in your level and/or make any edits you want. I also have the .XCF (GIMP) file with all the individual layers, which makes it extremely easy to change the dress and cape colors. If you're interested in a recolored version (or the .XCF file itself), feel free to ask.

Nice cape movement there. I grabbed a copy, though I doubt I'll use it. 

Thanks. Basically, I just wanted to try my hand at drawing a caped character, even if I didn't have an idea for a game at that moment. Capes are cool

There's a minor issue I forgot to mention, though. I made the cape pretty long, so it overlaps a little with the umbrella sprite when Juni's falling, which may look weird to some people.

For reasons I cannot even begin to comprehend, I had the sudden urge to animate this little guy here:



The consumption of copious amounts of tortilla chips may or may have not played a role in the creation of this random sprite.

If you want to use it as a decorative critter in your KS level, feel free to grab the attached ZIP file containing the PNG animation strip and the CO code.

More random critters: a blue rolling cube and a glowing firefly. They can be used in vanilla KS levels.



The firefly is similar to the CO I used in Exploring the Golden Land, but this one has a different movement pattern and is somewhat more detailed. The ZIP file contains multiple colored versions (yellow, blue, green and pink), and includes code for two different objects based on the same animation (this is so you can mix up multiple fireflies on the same screen without all of them moving at the exact same speed).

A blond knytt dude with a pompadour. Because.

I started drawing this tileset during an evening of pure and unadulterated boredom a few months ago, while having nothing particularly in mind except the vague idea of creating an alternate take on the original "Orange Grass" tileset (Default set #10). I wasn't 100% happy with the way it was shaping out, nor could I think of any level idea to put this set to good use, so I decided to fill in most of the few remaining tiles and post it here. Feel free to use it in your levels and/or cannibalize any parts you like for your own KS tilesets.


(Obligatory, hastily-made demo screenshot)

Beautiful tiles. Everything has this faux ambient occlusion effect that looks gorgeous. I really like the concept of 're-imagining' classic KS tilesets. Might steal use borrow that for my current project

Thanks   I "remastered" some of the default tilesets for my last level, adding a texture layer and some extra shading/shine to the original tiles, but then I thought it'd be more interesting to actually try to re-draw one of them from scratch, giving it my own spin. Problem is, I started this on a whim without any plans for it at all, so I ran out of inspiration quickly. Feel free to use the set in your KS projects in any way you want!

Nicely done! I especially like the rolling slopes.
I made a screen to try it out.

Thanks   Originally, I was going to make a single set of slightly-rounded corners for each wall, but then I thought it'd be a better idea to feature both regular straight corners (with no transparent pixels) and slopes as a curved alternative. I think this approach makes the tileset a bit more versatile.

Inspired by this level by Flarry, I decided to make this retro-style tileset using the classic 16-color EGA palette that many old DOS games used back in the day. It can be used to build temples, castles and the like, although it also has a few outdoors elements (intended mostly for backgrounds).

I made two matching sets with different colors for the wall blocks, and a similar retro-style night background to go with them. Below are a couple demo pictures:





A few notes:

• The stairs can be climbed just by walking/running.
• The torch/lamp thingy is designed to work with the small flame (Bank#8 Obj#8), and the bonfire is intended to be used with the big flame (Bank#8 Obj#6).
• The light/shading tiles have an invisible square collision mask so they can be put in layer 3 over any wall tile (or anything else you want to be treated as a solid block) without having to add invisible objects.
• Fun fact: If you use KS+ and slap an AND tint with the color set to light gray (#808080 hex, 8421504 in decimal) to your screen, you'll get a less detailed and more posterized version of the set, resembling the default color palette of the ZX Spectrum microcomputer.

Feel free to use/remix any of these graphics for your own retro-themed levels. I'll probably make some edits/tweaks and release an updated version in the near future, so any ideas and feedback on how to improve this set will be more than welcome.

Added a couple more EGA-like backgrounds to the previous set.

That sunset background is great! Or is it sunrise?

...Never mind, the filename reveals the truth! Or... does it?

That's amazing. I like the fade-in shading tiles.