Graphics I seek your advice: 16x16 vs 20x20 sprites and tiles sets

gkri

Member
I have no experience in pixel art, but I tried to create some 2bit rogue like sprites... So I seek your advice here...
I created this 16x16 pixels fighter, but I noticed that if I use 16x16 tiles set for background there will be no space between 2 sprites if they sit next to each other.

If I position them on a 20x20 tiles set according to my opinion/eye, it looks better.

So, should I draw 16x16 background tiles set or should I draw 20x20 background tiles set and import the sprite as 20x20 by adding empty pixels around it?

Sharing wise; is the format 20x20 acceptable among developers if I want to share those assets or they would prefer 16X16?

Any advice/opinion welcome!
tiles_question.png
 

curato

Member
It is really up to personal preference, but in my project the tiles are smaller than the player. I am using 48X48 tiles and a 64X64 player sprite. It is really just a matter of what you need. If the tiles are less than or equal to the player size then hallways will need to be at least 2 tiles wide to give the player some wiggle room is all.
 

gkri

Member
It is really up to personal preference, but in my project the tiles are smaller than the player. I am using 48X48 tiles and a 64X64 player sprite. It is really just a matter of what you need. If the tiles are less than or equal to the player size then hallways will need to be at least 2 tiles wide to give the player some wiggle room is all.
What I am trying to achieve is something similar to this game (turn based, roguelike), but quite simpler:
 

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
16x16 is more common and if you intend to share it may be better. The reality though is that in these modern times you don't have to follow any such constraint and can really just do whatever you want and things will work fine. If you need that bit more space for more detail from 20x20, feel free. You could also go for 24x24, or even 32x32. You can also mix things up like some people do. The only catch is making sure pixels are the same size in all the assets.
 

gkri

Member
Thanks for the answer! I intentionally constrained my self to 16x16 sprite and 2bits color (1bit for sprites + 1bit for bg tiles set), because I realized that it is easier for me to get started. But I do not like the way they "touching" each other. So I seek advice here for design decisions, before committing myself on hours of work. I will try to create a few sprites on 24x24 and 32x32 as well and see how it will go...

Could you please explain me what do you mean here?
The only catch is making sure pixels are the same size in all the assets
 

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
Could you please explain me what do you mean here?
From this article... see this pic for what I mean.

See how the sprites have different sizes for the pixels. The different sized tiles wouldn't matter, it is about the pixel scaling in general being the same size overall.
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Most assets are in 16x16, the format has been around for a long time for technical reasons (16x16 is 256 pixels so it will fit nicely in X bytes). If you're making an asset pack your graphics will not work together with most existing tilesets on the market and could frustrate users.

You could avoid "touch overlap" issues if you give characters clear outlines, or make them 14x16 pixels etc (or just move around so much in their idle animation that they only overlap for a few frames instead of constantly)

I personally use the 16x16 grid mostly as a guideline, and make a lot of characters deviate from it... normal people are 16x24, really tall people might even be 16x32, small animals might be 10x8 etc. You really only need tiles and level design objects to be uniform size (so you can use them together easily) but organic creatures just look better if they're more diverse (of course under the hood you use a rectangular hitbox of the correct size...)
 

gkri

Member
@Yal Thanks for your input! I see where my thinking is wrong. I should based my design decisions on the tileset size and not on sprites! I'll try your tips, thank you!
 
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