Castle Paradox

BMR

Greetings.

Please, be as scathing as you please. I'm open to any comments.

I'm making a tile map, and while it is very far from achieving a state wherein I would like to call it "complete" I was hoping for any critique that any of you could provide. I'm a bit iffy on many of the items here, not the least of which is the table.

The well is also a bit on the iffy side for me. I also have two different sets of torches. The one with a black background is the newest, but I'm still not sure which would be the best to include.

The upper right area are the support beams of the interior.

I also have a few screenshots to show how it all comes together. These don't really show any map-layout or actual design, just stuff thrown together to see how it all works.

This one shows why I don't really like the table. The well needs a bit of work too I suppose. "A lot" of work I suppose.

With the beds, I tried to achieve an effect that could be used both to place a blanket on a bed, and to provide a way to show a hero sprite as if it were in the bed. I'm not so sure how it turned out, any opinions would be appreciated.

And the last one shows the effect I was attempting with the overhead beams. Like the bed, I'm unsure of the effect.

That's all for now, cheers.

BMR
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The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

Mariel · Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 78 Location: In your dreams

You really have a good eye for details. Perhaps too good an eye--I counted at least nine different shades in the floor alone. One thing I had to learn was that more detail isn't necessarily a good thing. You can accomplish a lot with just a couple shades, but having too many makes things feel very busy and confusing.

If you keep everything at the same level of complexity, especially without any borders, it will all run together. Take the table for example--its top uses different colors from the floorboards, but the edges are ill defined and blend with the background, creating a flat look. The bottom of the table and beds are hard to distinguish at all. And the carpets, while beautiful, are distractingly bright and patterned. The background shouldn't be more interesting than the character.

My biggest advice would be to simplify, either the colors or the complexity or both. I like to use three to four colors/shades for floor tiles, a few more for walls, and then plenty of detail for things that stand out, such as plants and furniture. It also doesn't hurt to use outlines--a darker shade of color along the edges can really make things stand out without being distracting.

When I was first starting on graphics, a very cool person sent me this link:

http://mirror.motherhamster.org/tsugumo/default.html

I would definitely recommend reading through all the tutorials, and pay special attention to chapter 5. Although I warn you--after reading it, I felt pretty much obligated to remake just about all of my existing tiles. It really made a difference though.

The only thing that confuses me about your well is just how freaking huge it is. Why is it so large?

The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

Blue Pixel · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject:

that fountian is huge and uses more diverse shades of grey then the walls
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Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

NeoSpade · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject:

BMR · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:25 am Post subject:

Thanks for all the help. I'll check out Pixelation soon as I can.

Ah, and I've been through tsugumo's page before, most definitely one of the best tutorials regarding the subject that I have seen.

Regarding the high colour count, that's something I've been thinking of fixing. I may attempt to decrease the colour count to produce a more uniform feel for the entire thing.

As for the well, I originally intended that it could double as a column, but that plan didn't work out too well. (no pun intended) I may change it to a single tile for the well, thereby freeing up all of the tiles used.

I'm thinking of redoing the table entirely. I may edit it in such a way as to allow for it to double as part of a cabinet. I'll have new screenies up in a day or two.

Again, thanks everyone for the help.
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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Mariel · Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 78 Location: In your dreams

Don't get me wrong, your stuff is really good. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of it. :3

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

BMR · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:10 pm Post subject:

Hi, I've edited the tilemaps as per suggestions.

I changed the colour of the carpet and added some shadows in as seen here:

I'm still not sure about the colours though. The table was tweaked to be slightly more visible. I'm not quite satisfied with the shelves, but I just can't put my finger on what's wrong with them.

I've also added shadows to the west walls to add some realism to the image.

The red carpet has stayed the same mostly. I've added some banners to stick onto the walls. I'm not sure if it's just me, but they seem a bit... thick?

I haven't fixed the bed problem yet, I'm still thinking as to how to go about it without using more tiles than I already have.

Last is an empty shelf. I'm thinking of using the large shelves for miscellaneous objects, while this smaller one will be solely for books and scrolls.

I've also removed any trace of the well. It just didn't work. I'll make a new one soon that will double as a column of sorts as well.

Any critique would be very much appreciated, thanks.

That's all for now, cheers

BMR

EDIT: Hmmm.... I just realized the green carpet is still too garish.
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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Uncommon · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:04 am Post subject:

For the bed, if you don't want to use more tiles, you might try a pixel offset on the map, if that doesn't hurt the rest of the tiles.
As for making the banner less thick, it looks like you might be able to shave a line or so off the bottom, unless that didn't look the way you wanted.

ShakeyAir · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 93

I think the problem withe the shelves is that the very top shelf is still covered in shadow. Make it the lightest part.

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

The banners look so thick because they have such thick outlines on them, giving them an unintended geometric shape.

Basically, Uncommon's suggestion.
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Blue Pixel · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:53 pm Post subject:

A few problems I noticed:

Your saving the images as jpegs, rather then png.

The shadows dont really make sence when its indoors because there isnt a single light source, as there would be outside.

The wall on the last picture might confuse players because theres no floor tile, but i guess thats more of a mapping issue then a tile one...
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