Maptiles and Layers

So I do not spam the pump up your game thread...



This is how I arranged some tilesets, it is by no means perfect or very organized. If I felt like I was getting tight on tiles I would definitely organize it like I did the bottom right, but my main concern was to create a vast and expansive overgrown forest. This being my first attempt at making something with so many layers it is sloppy and because I know what to expect now, a second run would be a lot smoother I think. A lot of tiles became obsolete as I progressed and are still in the database just no longer in use.

I used a base maptile for my default layer, basically just grass.
Layer 1 I used the grass again, since the shadows are in the same set.
Layer 2 I used the rock formations.
Layer 3 I used the tree's outline/bridge
Layer 4 I started using flavor tiles, like shrubs, big leaf things, fruit thingys.
Hero Layer
Layer 5 I used the tree's leaves.
Layer 6 I used the flavor tiles again.

I drew everything in MS paint using the palette's colors. I like doing this because I can copy paste easily and not worry about 20x20 with any props or planned overhead tiles. I use one big file for all my maptiles before transferring them into custom.

Eventually, it will layer very nicely and you will get a nice looking place



Oh and this area isn't finished I wanted to animate some stuff. I am not sure if I want to animate the water because that is just an enormous time consumer but maybe...

You use layers much more effectively than I do, and your tiles have SO MUCH DETAIL.

I use 8 layers of one tileset to create an entire map, and focus more on the arrangement of the tiles themselves to create detail, rather than the pixels within the tiles.

This:



Created this:



I'm not suggesting my way is better (I might start experimenting with your method, actually); I'm merely sharing my method for discussion sake.

Also, It's curious how your tilesets look so unified in the editor, but when they're on the map there are little inconsistencies poking-out. It looks like you have lots of tiles left-over to shore them up, though. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do once you rearrange them.

And yeah, water animation is a b****.



However, I do remember Sword of Jade animating only the edges of the water on most of its maps, which was effective and would take much less time...

Love your work. Great Job

Good god, all those graphics leave mine in the dust.

Practice, practice, practice, then post it and let everyone see what needs to be improved. Then LISTEN to their suggestions.

Be willing to put in the effort, though. People drool over good graphics for a reason.

Also, I just realized that the majority of my water animations were edge tiles... rendering one of my previous suggestions invalid.

G-wreck those are very good. They match the style I wish I had. It takes me all day to draw a single tile that I like.

Yeah, I really like what you did G-Wreck, it looks solid.

I scrap a lot of stuff I don't use and my map isn't even complete still, it is my current project. I can always polish more and more. A lot of time once I have drawn say, leaves, water, grass I move on. If I dislike it later I re-polish it. Moving water, more animation, tree leaves are things I have considered re-doing.

I also do all my tiles on one bmp file. Its like a 5000x5000 map with the palette and I design everything in there.

I guess I'll throw mine up here too.

I really hate the tree tiles in Flanat Village in Wandering Hamster, and this thread is making me feel inspired to try and make some better ones :)

When it comes to layers, I don't have a plan. If the tile matches, leave it. Although, I try not to get my layers confused. I usually have some ground layers, and overhead layers.

Ha ha, I remember a few years ago when I first found the OHR trying as hard as I could to get my trees to look as good as the ones in Flanat.

You have some really cool textures, Spoonweaver. Is this from Legendary Heroes?

Indeed, those are most of my tilemaps from Legendary Heroes.

I might as well post my maptiles too. But they're kinda unorganized and not very detailed.

God, everyone on this thread is so...artistic. I feel my map graphics are passable to nice.

Re-did my tree leaves, F that process. Maybe still not the best but it looks a lot better to me.

I have no room to talk, since all of these put anything I draw to shame, but just visually I noticed in your tree I think the only thing that stands out as not great to me would be that while the dark shades are made to be rounded (like a, you know, tree) the light shades are almost rectangular so they look like just a random overlay rather than part of the tree. But I dunno those graphics in general look pretty intense. Along with no artistic talent I don't have the patience to do anything that detailed or whatever you wanna call it (fantastic?)

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You can't fix stupidity.