Tileset colors

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EJlol
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Tileset colors

Post by EJlol »

Bjørn denied the guidelines because of the following reason: ""Use the same color range for the whole tileset" is too restricting and vague"

Right now that is described as in the new guidelines:
"Use the same color range for the whole tileset"
The description of the old "guideline" is:
* Regarding color choice: Keep your color palette narrow. Don't use more shades per color than necessary. 3 shades of one color are usually enough for small objects. Even very large objects shouldn't use more than 5 or 7 shades. But how many shades you use is in the end left up to the artists discretion. Keep in mind that dithering is usually used for structure effects in TMW and rarely for blending one color into another. When a structure effect is not needed you shoud better add an additional shade instead of applying too much dithering just for color blending.
* Try to use the same color palette for the whole tileset. The selection of color is important for the feeling of the tileset. Cold colors with a low saturation are good for a sad and cold feeling for example while warm and saturated colors create a warm and cheerful atmosphere (but please don't overdo the saturation). Whatever atmosphere you choose, it should be consistent through the whole tileset. When you create new tiles for existing tilesets you should try to use only colors that are already used in the tileset. Otherwise your new tiles will stand out and look weird when next to the old tiles.
Which is kinda long, and a bit outdated IMO. As for the new guidelines I do not want to have such big text in it (It will make it look messy). If possible I just want to have a few sentences, if possible with examples. Those sentences must make it clear how a tileset should look. A bigger explanation can be given at the Tileset Development page ofcourse.

As for the restricting part, how strict should it be? If it is not strict enough the game will not have a consistant look, if it too strict the artist will feel it is to limited for him/her.

Please post your thoughts about this topic.
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Ces
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by Ces »

How about using a concise main Guidelines page and having a more detailed subpage for each concept that some would like read in a more wordy way? :)

If you know what the specific guideline is all about then you don’t have to read anymore, but if you don’t, you might want to see some additional examples or getting it explained in more down-to-earth terms.
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octalot
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by octalot »

A longer one that gives reasons is much easier to understand IMO.
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Rotonen
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by Rotonen »

Explaining why palette restrictions and pixel art goes hand in hand is a good thing to have in there.
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EJlol
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by EJlol »

I like to keep the explanations why it has to be like that to the tutorials if possible. If the explanation is really required then it should be done on the page "Tileset development", but not on the guidelines. The guidelines are just for how it looks, so that you can start drawing pieces of art without reading a lot of stuff why it is like that. Ofcourse this is more for the expierened pixelartist. Someone who just start in pixelart should read the guidelines AND some good tutorials.
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Platyna
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by Platyna »

You can do short headlines and below them longer explanation.

Regards.
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EJlol
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by EJlol »

Im thinking about changing it to:
"Try to match the brightness and contrast of the new forest tileset, except special places"

This still is a bit vague, but we can post a few good/wrong examples, and a better explanation can be given somewhere else.
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octalot
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by octalot »

Please use a name other than the "new" forest tileset, as "new" loses meaning rapidly. If currently it is only called the "new forest tileset", please give it a name.
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Jaxad0127
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by Jaxad0127 »

octalot wrote:Please use a name other than the "new" forest tileset, as "new" loses meaning rapidly. If currently it is only called the "new forest tileset", please give it a name.
Just forest? The other is woodland...
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EJlol
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by EJlol »

Right now the name is afaik "new forest tileset", the guidelines can easily be changed to display a other name for that tileset. What I want to know is what others think about describing it like that.

Please do not discuss the name of tileset here, there are other places where you can do that. Thank you.
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octalot
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by octalot »

EJlol wrote:"Try to match the brightness and contrast of the ~~~~ tileset, except special places"
I like that method of choosing one set and using it as the baseline. Depending on how the art direction should go, I suggest having adding two more standard sets - indoor and underground.
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EJlol
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by EJlol »

Because no one complained (yet?) about having it wrote down like that, I updated the guidelines with it. As for having more standards (indoor and underground), I agree with that.

I suggest to use the "new forest tileset" to use as outdoor reference.
As for the indoor reference I think the woodland indoor tileset is the best choice right now, but it IMO it lacks to much color variation to be the tileset reference (everything has the same brown, and I don't want to give the feeling that the artist has to use the same colortones for everything).
Well as for the underground, right now there are only 2 tilesets, the normal cave and the ice cave (which is actually just a recolour of the normal cave). Both cave tilesets feel brighter than the new forest tileset, because of that I do not want them to use them as reference tileset (IMO a underground tileset should be darker than a outside tileset).

Something else what we should discuss is the color of the ceilings in dungeons and indoor maps. I suggest to use the pure black, which is already used in every indoor, and cave tileset we have right now.
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Crush
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Re: Tileset colors

Post by Crush »

I was asked to make a bit more clear what guidelines I would like to have regarding color selection:

1. People should be discouraged from using colors with either very high saturation (pure colors) or no saturation at all (shades of grey). Unless it is for redying, of course. Very high volume or no volume at all (black) should also be avoided (except for chasms and walls).
2. Color Psychology: To maintain a consistent atmosphere on the screen artists should be aware of the effect of "cold" and "warm" color shades and avoid mixing them in the same environment to ensure a consistent look.
3. We should encourage people to follow the pixel art philosophy and use clearly defined color ramps instead of tools with unsharp borders and alpha properties which create mixed colors. Although the latter leads to great results in the hands of skilled artists like Len the classical pixel art approach is much more suitable for less experienced artists.
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