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Graphics Can i get away with this in your honest opinions?

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fxokz

Guest
Basically im trying to merge my tiles so that they dont look like they came from different universes and so far ive got this



Now please dont say that the rock tile looks out of place because replacing that piece of #%$@ tile almost made me quit game dev all together.. Do you guys think its okay to keep it this way? Vote on this strawpoll if you cant be stuffed writing anything: http://www.strawpoll.me/12082443 , if you dont see an answer you agree with just type down below.

main question: do you think the tiles look okay together? Or is it completely disgusting?

edit: gameplay on how everything looks
 
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Qarak

Guest
In the first image that's a huge "jump" from the metal blocks to the rocks, it's a bit too abrupt. If you're using these tiles in not so many places, I'd consider doing some trick, or escamotage if you wish. Just add some other in-between tiles, a hole, or whatever you find is suitable.
In the animation the tiles look ok, although at the start again the delineation between rocks and metal blocks is a bit too sharp.

One problem they look and feel different is because they have a 3d shade: it's as if the block is popping out, while your other elements don't have this (the bricks, the rocks, the ground). So, whatever you do, they will always a different feel.

Now, are the graphics really important? Is this a game you plan on release? Etc. etc. Ask yourself some questions and you'll probably find the answer yourself.

EDIT So short answer is: of course they look weird and make the game look amateurish, but it's not gonna ruin the entirety of the game
 
sylvain_l

sylvain_l

Member
like Qarak said: its feels really weird. especially those metal block.
because they are using a very different style/perspective/light effect.
they have an heavy 3D shade, with a very bright light coming from spots on top left. (it feels like they are poping out the screen while the rest is flat, or nearly flat)

Aside your bricks seam to have a very soft/ambient light comming from top.
and your rock have nearly no light/shade effects (or a very diffuse light being in front!?), the crates have a small light comming from top left, the ?earth? block a small light comming from ?top?.

you need to be more consistent with your lightning/shades effect. Else when you put together your sprites, you'll have that weird feeling that "something doesn't match".

don't blame yourself, if its not perfect, nobody make everything right at first try, even 2nd, 3rd,... a lot of practice is required, failure is the most important part for learning and progressing.
More true for something like lightning. Because everyone is really used to observe light/shadows IRL, so anyone tends to feel weird when you mix material with different lightning source/effect.
 
RichHopefulComposer

RichHopefulComposer

Member
Mmm, they're okay. They're not bad, but they could use some more work. Don't get frustrated. Just work to improve. When the game is good enough to you, it's good enough.
 
JackTurbo

JackTurbo

Member
Like others have said, its good enough when you're happy with it/think its good enough.

but if you do want to improve it visually maybe it would help to think about it differently?

At the minute I get the vibe that you're approaching it something like this:
oh I need a rock texture lets find/make a rock texture/tile
Click to expand...
Maybe it would be better to think of it in terms of:
This level/game has a setting of _____, and this material needs to have _____ in game behaviour, so lets come up with something that fits these two criteria
Click to expand...
 
sp202

sp202

Member
Is this a setup built for demonstration purposes? Or an actual level in the game? Because if it's the latter, I'm not sure why the rock tiles make an appearance at all, would've been fine with just the metal blocks.
 
F

fxokz

Guest
I
sp202 said:
Is this a setup built for demonstration purposes? Or an actual level in the game? Because if it's the latter, I'm not sure why the rock tiles make an appearance at all, would've been fine with just the metal blocks.
Click to expand...
Are you sure? I dont want to be too repetitive with only 3 types of blocks. dirt, bricks and the metal block.. IDK...
 
RichHopefulComposer

RichHopefulComposer

Member
fxokz said:
I used gms sprite editor. Its not really that bad
Click to expand...
"Not that bad" is still worse than "very, very good," hahah! =D
Seriously, Pyxel Edit's tiling features will make your tile work probably.....five times faster? No exaggeration!

Edit: Here. It's not great, But this took just under ten minutes to make, start to finish, because of Pyxel Edit's tile building features. If I did this in GMS, it'd take me a lot longer:


I'd give the program a look! There are videos on youtube showing its features. =)
 
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F

fxokz

Guest
RichHopelessComposer said:
"Not that bad" is still worse than "very, very good," hahah! =D
Seriously, Pyxel Edit's tiling features will make your tile work probably.....five times faster? No exaggeration!

Edit: Here. It's not great, But this took just under ten minutes to make, start to finish, because of Pyxel Edit's tile building features. If I did this in GMS, it'd take me a lot longer:


I'd give the program a look! There are videos on youtube showing its features. =)
Click to expand...
That actually looks phenomenal for only 10 minutes... ill give it a go now and hopefully show you guys some results
 
RichHopefulComposer

RichHopefulComposer

Member
Good luck. I think you'll love the program. Makes doing repeating tiles like stone or bricks way easier! Check youtube and stuff to learn how to use the tiling features! =)
 
F

fxokz

Guest
Im trying to design a dirt tile that looks simple yet good. Good enough to use in all stages of my game. So far it looks like this which is pretty bad.






How should i go about redesigning it so that it looks better than it currently is?
 
G

Guest User

Guest
well, on the bright side, your blocks do look much better since i last saw them in that other thread.

personally, i'd focus on practicing your pixel art if you're not doing so already. maybe even doing it separate from your game. in that way you can just work out your style/lighting problems without the pressure of the whole "will this make my game look good?" question that seems to be haunting every artistic decision you make.
 
E

Ethanicus

Guest
fxokz said:
Im trying to design a dirt tile that looks simple yet good. Good enough to use in all stages of my game. So far it looks like this which is pretty bad.






How should i go about redesigning it so that it looks better than it currently is?
Click to expand...
The lighting looks upside-down there, you might want to flip that.
 
sylvain_l

sylvain_l

Member
fxokz said:
Are you sure? I dont want to be too repetitive with only 3 types of blocks. dirt, bricks and the metal block.. IDK...
Click to expand...
n++ for me is a great platformer game. It doesn't have fabulous graphic, but the different mechanisms, how responsive it is, how challenging, how the level are build make it shine :)

you have some simple and neat mechanism in your game (the platform you shoot on to activate them for a limited time, I like that!)
don't lost yourself trying to put more diversity with numerous tiles, if you struggle actually too much to create them.
actually you are more breaking the visuals with those unhomogenous lightning/shape/too different tiles then enhancing your game visual. (don't want to be too rude or discourage you. just being honest, how it feels for me)

A suggestion, if you want to give variety you could try using the simple trick coloring same tiles with different tone of colour/with some alternates just a little different shades, etc... (one tile a little more blueish, another darker, yellower, an other one with a llittle scratch or IDK, some pixel that differ that will just make it different and break the monotony while it's still the same looking tile... so you can have some variety between room, or part of room, without having to rely less on graphic talent, while your are practicing and learning aside. You can still use your actual tiles, they don't fit all well in the same room. but in different room you should be able to use them easly.
also game maker image editor, as some features to easly blend your color to a different one, and to easly build the full serie of gradient tiles between two tile so you can easly have a fluid transition. And good advise from RichHopelessComposer, some little programs are really well made to handle creation of tile and work faster. (I tried autogen/tile, it's impressive how it can easly create the set of tile required in platformer (floor, wall, corner, etc...)

build your game on your strenghts, not on your weakness ! :)
and when you rely on weaker skill, best way, is to use your limit at your advantage. (I'm not a great graphic illustrator, so I try to use some trick that allow me to have something that look good for me, with more iconic/conceptual style of finding the right tool, trick to help me ;) )

Ethanicus said:
The lighting looks upside-down there, you might want to flip that.
Click to expand...
thx for the enlightment. In my previous post I was confuse saying it was ?top? lightning, but was sure something didn't look right. But I couldn't put my finger on it. Now you mention it, I understand that's because it looks more like light is comming from bottom :)
 
RichHopefulComposer

RichHopefulComposer

Member
Another idea, fxokz, if you're having trouble creating art, is to go with a simple palette, like the four color gameboy palette, or maybe a 16 color palette you find somewhere online. A huge part of making pixel art look good is choosing nice colors. With that taken care of for you, things get a lot easier. If you need help making better rocks, just take a look at some real life references, or other games. Or the example I made for you, hahah!
 
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fxokz

Guest
RichHopelessComposer said:
Another idea, fxokz, if you're having trouble creating art, is to go with a simple palette, like the four color gameboy palette, or maybe a 16 color palette you find somewhere online. A huge part of making pixel art look good is choosing nice colors. With that taken care of for you, things get a lot easier. If you need help making better rocks, just take a look at some real life references, or other games. Or the example I made for you, hahah!
Click to expand...
Ive never really tried to stick to a colour palette. Mainly because i cant seem to choose a good set of colours. if someone gave me a colour palette i could definitely challange myself but i cant rely on me to choose 16 colours..
 
Ninety

Ninety

Member
EDG16 or DB16 are both widely available and quite good. In fact even if you just google "16 colour palette" or something to that effect you'll find a few quality ones. Pixel art forums sometimes have competitions to make palettes.
 
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