Surlaw asks about maptiles

The Wobbler · Post by **The Wobbler** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:35 pm

Reposting this here because my own forum FAILED ME.

So, I need some help. I'm satisfied with most of my maptiles in Surlaw Armageddon and my MYSTERY PROJECT, and the ones I'm unsatisfied with I know what needs to be changed and, for the most part, a general idea of how to improve it.

What I can't figure out is a decent way to do maptiles for a desert location.

I've tried before and hated the results. I like Vikings of Midgard's desert tiles, but don't want to rip them off.

If someone could give me pointers/a base to work from that would be rad and would ensure that the next SA update gets finished faster.

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:21 am

well for a desert map tile, you can do 1 of 2 things.

1. airbrush a bunch of shades of tan/yellow together

or

2. make a wavy line that connects from tile to tile. (in vikings I noticed they didn't connect and it seemed weird) So, If you want to go for something like that, just doodle a wavy line and then shade outward in descending of ascending colors.

EDIT:

the hard part is making the desert objects like the ever famous cactus. and perhaps some animal bones. but to even start on those you'll have to pick out a base first.

thats my take on the whole desert maptile creation thing anyways

Post by **Mogri** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:47 am

I'd love to help you but you know.

FWIW, I think Fenrir would help you, but he seems to be offline this week.

Uncommon · Post by **Uncommon** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:02 am

I've never been a clever tilist, but I've seen done them the same as water only brown, waves and such. I thought twice about saying so on Surlaw Forums because that advice sounds basically useless.
Last game I can remember making a desert tile was Magnus 17. I took one base brown then added a bunch of specks of other brown all over it. It had a distinct lack of dunes, though.

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:51 pm

Eww, airbrushing.

Ewww, too much contrast and gradients. That's an eyesore.

=========

There are two kinds of ground you could have, cracked or smooth. I've been looking at desert references on Google Images, and a lot of deserts tend to appear flat looking, so dunes should not be very dark since they aren't very deep holes.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:06 pm

Newbie Newtype wrote:

The first one is really cool!

Just add a few tiles for "racing rocks"

<img src="http://www.livingwilderness.com/patterns/racetrack.jpg">

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:18 pm

Just add a few tiles for "racing rocks"

These are just examples, but yeah, variations in tiles is always good.

I can't see the image you are trying to show, though.

The Wobbler · Post by **The Wobbler** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:09 am

Those look great, NN. I was talking to Fenrir about this a few hours ago and your first example is basically what we discussed, only yours is brighter. Having a visual to look at makes it a lot easier to figure out what I'm going to do.

Mystic · Post by **Mystic** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:09 am

i'm going to be honest

i don't see racing rocks

i see

sand sharks!

GLOW · Post by **GLOW** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:27 am

make it like old game deserts with no varying tile changes, just light brown or do what most us others do airbrush

Newbie Newtype · Post by **Newbie Newtype** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:27 am

Those look great, NN. I was talking to Fenrir about this a few hours ago and your first example is basically what we discussed, only yours is brighter. Having a visual to look at makes it a lot easier to figure out what I'm going to do.

Glad you got some help on this, especially from Fenrir.

sand sharks!

Brilliant!

The Wobbler · Post by **The Wobbler** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:39 am

YTFK wrote:make it like old game deserts with no varying tile changes, just light brown or do what most us others do airbrush

No.