That's looking better already! BTW, the vertical I-beams should be flipped the other direction, the part that sticks out is the part casting the shadow so it would be on the opposite side of where the shadows are on the barrels.
Oh, just saw this. I'm a tileset artist, I can totally help here!
Okay, so when I first start making a tile set the #1 first thing I do is make a sprite. Make it however big or small you want, smaller being easier to animate, bigger is easier to see details. If you're not really a spriter you could also find one you like, Redshrike's LPC sprite for instance. Once you have a base sprite you'll know how to scale everything, and scale is a really important thing to know when making a tileset.
The second thing I do is make sure I have a plan of what I'd like to have done for the set. If you just sit down and try to make stuff you'd like to see in a game you'll be at it forever! Get an idea of what style you want to use, what setting, how complex you'll allow your tiles to be and then scale back wherever you can. Too often people just make a grass tile and expand up from there and end up with something extremely generic and they run out of steam before they get done. Tilesets are just as prone to feature bloat as any sort of game making. Knowing where you'd like to end up when your done will make a huge difference.
My third task is to make a mockup. This is where I start making tiles, but it's a little more freeform than what will end up in the actual tileset. I use Photoshop or Pyxel Edit for this stage. I use a grid so that turning the results into tiles isn't as hard, and I never forget that it has to be divided up and used with other tiles, but I'm more concerned with making something that looks interesting than I am in getting edges matching perfectly. I won't actually refine this mockup until later. The mockup is important because if you don't see the tiles together as you work on them you'll end up with conflicting visual priorites, negative space issues, and colors that don't work together.
Step four, I start making the actual tileset and refining it. One of the things I do here is recreate the mockup but in the actual editor this time. I work out all the tiling issues, make sure all the options work together, iron out kinks or funny bits, add whatever is needed to make it feel complete. What the actual tileset will look like depends entirely on what engine you're using. If you're using Tiled you can organize your set pretty much however you want as long as it keeps the same grid size for all the tiles.
I think I know why you found a suggestion of 96x96. If you're making something like a wall tile you'll need 1 tile for each corner, 1 tile for each edge and 1 tile for the middle. That's 9 tiles each 32x32 set in a square. Now, if you're doing something like a grass tile you'd need a few more for the corners that turn the other direction.
Creating tiles is pretty confusing at first, but it'll make sense later as you get used to it. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about how it all works.
If you have an artistic starting point it's a little easier for an artit to understand what you're going for and if they can live up to it. Also, artists like art so having a good mockup will draw good artists to you. Personally I think you need some levels worked out, proving you can make a working engine is different than showing you have what it takes to finish a game.
@Bertram: Yeah, probably, but not now. I made it high because I'm scared of having to a lot of them at once and not having time for my job. I hate disappointing people.
@Bart: Oops, I knew there would be, I should have done that yesterday. On now.
Duion, you don't have to feel like artists are getting used or shorted because the money isn't going to us specifically. You see, this site is a fantastic place for artists and good paying clients to find each other. The clients I've found through this site are much higher caliber than what I've found elsewhere, there's a respect for the artwork and a willingness to be fair that you don't find in any of the other communities I've posted my work in. I see the artwork I put up here as a type of investment in advertising, and one that has such great returns that I'd gladly have paid for the privilege to post here if I knew what it would do for my career.
Bart is a huge advocate for treating artists fairly and with respect and that attitude permiates the whole of his site. In all my dealings with him he's been kind, friendly, generous and has always had my back when things stop being fun. If he says he can make this site an even better community I believe him and back him 100%.
Go for it! Let's see, let's say 20 and it should take at most a month from when I get the reference image? I mean, it should only take 2 days for each one but I'm worried about all 20 going at once. It's not completely selfless, I intend to use the pieces I make to enhance the character generator I'm making in this style. :)
I'm cool with that. (sorry about the late reply, didn't see your question until now)
Game jams never have prizes.
Here are some from my favorites list that look auto generating friendly to me.
Ortho:
Iso:
Top down:
That's looking better already! BTW, the vertical I-beams should be flipped the other direction, the part that sticks out is the part casting the shadow so it would be on the opposite side of where the shadows are on the barrels.
Oh, just saw this. I'm a tileset artist, I can totally help here!
Okay, so when I first start making a tile set the #1 first thing I do is make a sprite. Make it however big or small you want, smaller being easier to animate, bigger is easier to see details. If you're not really a spriter you could also find one you like, Redshrike's LPC sprite for instance. Once you have a base sprite you'll know how to scale everything, and scale is a really important thing to know when making a tileset.
The second thing I do is make sure I have a plan of what I'd like to have done for the set. If you just sit down and try to make stuff you'd like to see in a game you'll be at it forever! Get an idea of what style you want to use, what setting, how complex you'll allow your tiles to be and then scale back wherever you can. Too often people just make a grass tile and expand up from there and end up with something extremely generic and they run out of steam before they get done. Tilesets are just as prone to feature bloat as any sort of game making. Knowing where you'd like to end up when your done will make a huge difference.
My third task is to make a mockup. This is where I start making tiles, but it's a little more freeform than what will end up in the actual tileset. I use Photoshop or Pyxel Edit for this stage. I use a grid so that turning the results into tiles isn't as hard, and I never forget that it has to be divided up and used with other tiles, but I'm more concerned with making something that looks interesting than I am in getting edges matching perfectly. I won't actually refine this mockup until later. The mockup is important because if you don't see the tiles together as you work on them you'll end up with conflicting visual priorites, negative space issues, and colors that don't work together.
Step four, I start making the actual tileset and refining it. One of the things I do here is recreate the mockup but in the actual editor this time. I work out all the tiling issues, make sure all the options work together, iron out kinks or funny bits, add whatever is needed to make it feel complete. What the actual tileset will look like depends entirely on what engine you're using. If you're using Tiled you can organize your set pretty much however you want as long as it keeps the same grid size for all the tiles.
I think I know why you found a suggestion of 96x96. If you're making something like a wall tile you'll need 1 tile for each corner, 1 tile for each edge and 1 tile for the middle. That's 9 tiles each 32x32 set in a square. Now, if you're doing something like a grass tile you'd need a few more for the corners that turn the other direction.
Creating tiles is pretty confusing at first, but it'll make sense later as you get used to it. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about how it all works.
This would be really awesome. I'd be happy to help.
I'm a fan of this one:
http://opengameart.org/content/castle-platformer
and I think this one could match it:
http://opengameart.org/content/temple-sidescroller-tileset
If you have an artistic starting point it's a little easier for an artit to understand what you're going for and if they can live up to it. Also, artists like art so having a good mockup will draw good artists to you. Personally I think you need some levels worked out, proving you can make a working engine is different than showing you have what it takes to finish a game.
@Bertram: Yeah, probably, but not now. I made it high because I'm scared of having to a lot of them at once and not having time for my job. I hate disappointing people.
@Bart: Oops, I knew there would be, I should have done that yesterday. On now.
Duion, you don't have to feel like artists are getting used or shorted because the money isn't going to us specifically. You see, this site is a fantastic place for artists and good paying clients to find each other. The clients I've found through this site are much higher caliber than what I've found elsewhere, there's a respect for the artwork and a willingness to be fair that you don't find in any of the other communities I've posted my work in. I see the artwork I put up here as a type of investment in advertising, and one that has such great returns that I'd gladly have paid for the privilege to post here if I knew what it would do for my career.
Bart is a huge advocate for treating artists fairly and with respect and that attitude permiates the whole of his site. In all my dealings with him he's been kind, friendly, generous and has always had my back when things stop being fun. If he says he can make this site an even better community I believe him and back him 100%.
Go for it! Let's see, let's say 20 and it should take at most a month from when I get the reference image? I mean, it should only take 2 days for each one but I'm worried about all 20 going at once. It's not completely selfless, I intend to use the pieces I make to enhance the character generator I'm making in this style. :)
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