Custom Landscape Tileset

[Runouw]

I am planning to make a game, but I really desire that the game is 100% custom, and so I am trying to make the graphics for it. However, I'm not really an expert on making tilesets, and before I continue churning out more shapes in the same style, I'd like to receive some feedback on if I'm making them correctly. Overall, I'm basing them off of Pokemon.



EDIT: The above is outdated, scroll down for the newer version:

[Baegal]

looks good, but the mountain doesn''t fit well in style...

[CeeY]

The rock is too jagged at the edges, and does not fit with the grass. I'm not liking the dark color of the rock, and the light color of the grass. It doesn't fit with the setting.

[Kirbyfan]

I think he should have the rock lighter-colored, like CeeY said, and also have the grass cover up the edges or the rock.

[Runouw]

Okay, I gave the rocks a different palette and added a temporary shadow to see if it looks better (will carefully make one later). In my opinion, it looks better, but it is severely lacking a clear-cut rock shape.



So I quickly made another rock style with fewer colors so I can get a better shape; as of now, it needs more colors for shading to work, but overall, it seems like it would make better rocks than the previous ones after some work.



Should I work off of the latter rocks and add in more colors, or should I try and cut-out more simple geometrical shapes into the first one?

[MagikSage]

I like the simple rock better. It might help you out if you made a few tiles that converted from the mountain to grass (Idea: a square of grass with some boulders strewn about). The mountain bursting out of the grass looks wrong. Your shading almost makes it look worse, like it is floating....

An idea for you to toy with is picking a direction the sun is positioned. Take this FFTA map, Aisen Field, wait a second... none of the tiles cast shadows? This will not do.
Wow, pokemon games aren't much for shading are they? The diamond and pearl Pokemon Center has the best shading so far. Seems not shading mountains is pokemon's style. Like Ceey pointed out, your rocks don't match the grass. Either you need to blend the terrain or trade the rocks for a grass hill.
Kymotonian has found a good solution to the clashing rocks. Leave the cliff sides rocky, but have the top match the terrain.
Tiles for FFTA2 have better shading, but that isn't pokemon's style is it? Brightmoon Tor. Traveler's Way. Simoon Dunes.

[Runouw]

Okay, I gave the simpler rocks more detail, and I think it worked out pretty nicely, although it was a pain to make. I'm thinking that the transition from cliff to grass need to be longer, though.

Also, I created a few trees (heavily) based off of the ones from various Pokemon games. With trees, the area seems to look better.



Also, MagikSage, I was originally using FFTA2 to try and make trees and other objects before, but I ended up concluding that their style is too difficult for me right now, so I settled on Pokemon sprites as my examples (particularly since the game that my sprites will be used isn't viewed from that angle).

[Stooben]

It looks a little better, but the grass on top of the rock should be a different shade of green (darker, maybe?) than that of the grass on the ground; right now, it looks a little 2-dimensional...almost like the rock is just a wall around the grass, not an actually change of elevation.

[Baegal]

It looks a little better, but the grass on top of the rock should be a different shade of green (darker, maybe?) than that of the grass on the ground; right now, it looks a little 2-dimensional...almost like the rock is just a wall around the grass, not an actually change of elevation.

this

I hated how it was like that in every pokemon game. I always thought I was jumping over some sort of hurdle, and wondered why I couldn't jump backward :V

[Ekoi]

The base of the rocks needs some tufts of grass growing up it a bit, and the grass on top needs to be growing over the edges just a bit.

[Kirbyfan]

I said: "...and also have the grass cover up the edges or the rock."

I agree with Ekoi.

[MagikSage]

Yes, the area does look better with tree. Good work.

The FFTA2 tiles would be difficult to follow. I added them in as an idea for casting shadows, not for basing your style.
I don't have any idea how one would go about creating land in this style...makes me wonder what program they used?

[Runouw]

Sorry for the long delay since my last post; I've been busy...

I can't really seem to get the grass to grow a bit over the edges of the cliff; I think I'd need to redo the grass entirely for that to work. But I guess that what I have so far is good. With all the corners and walls, the elevation problem isn't as serious, especially once I get around to making rocky ground.

[Baegal]

wow that's really good...

almost looks like pokemon

[Maneko]

Looks good (the shadows really did the trick here) but I think the lower grass should be a bit darker than the grass on the upper level. That way is easier to discern what grass is closer to the sun and you avoid making the rocks look more like holes than an elevated place.