I love the dirt shadows, that looks really dynamic on its own, without the water, which is fun for mapping options. I think lowering the contrast between shades like you did in the fourth attachment is a good choice. The other ones look like clear shallow moving water, which is also very good, but I like how the low contrast one doesn't feel the same visually as the dirt. I think it fits the style a little better and doesn't try to fight with the ground texture for attention. For colors I really like the dirt test 3. The one above it is too green, it doesn't contrast enough from the color of the grass, but adding just a little bit of green instead is nice, I think it adds a nice calm feeling to the palette. It's a little less cartoony looking than the original palette for the water but I don't think that's a bad thing in this case. In the originals I was attempting something that was quite colorful but somehow a little muted too. The colors are just a little pulled back from pure, so they keep the energy from having a lot of fairly saturated hues but are just a little less loud than fully saturated, right where it hits relaxing. It's contradictory so I never managed to explain it properly, but I think the slightly greener blue hits the mark.
Oh, water is really tricky, you're quite brave to jump right into the deep end with it (pun intended). I look forward to seeing your progress with this. I can tell you've put a lot of thought and effort in so far, that's really cool! I really like the feeling in the animation of version 6, but it looks a bit computer generated then reduced. Whatever you end up with, I think you should have some sort of sparkle or shine at the point where the water meets the shore, it'll help sell it as water. Something else that helps it look wet would be to put some shine against the shadows, the high contract will help it look reflective.
I'm sorry that the original LPC water is something that needs improvement. Looking back at it, I should have done things a little differently, and been more purposeful in choosing what kind of water to represent with it. The default water was meant to represent flowing water, something fast and deep, which is why the edges are so . . . spikey and the center is much more calm. The only reason it wasn't animated was because I didn't have enough time. I should really go back to it at some point and give it the intended animation, I think that would help it look a little more wet.
LPC is pretty stylized, so I'm not sure how well going more realistic will work out here. Maybe it would help more in this case to look at existing pixel art with a similar style for a reference. It's been a bit, but I think Minish Cap was one of the inspirations, plus it has really amazing pixel art, so that might be a good place to start. Another thing that could work well in this style is to focus more on reflections. You can define the edges with tiles then have a parallax layer behind to show the sky. I also really liked how the SNES version of Tales of Phantasia did the water. They used shadows from a reflected tree canopy to give it both a reflective and deep feeling, it was quite clever. Focusing on the effects would probably have the greatest effect. It's amazing what some splashes or bits of moving wildlife can do to sell the realism.
Ooooh. I'm an art person, I don't understand the programming, but I do understand that it's pretty cool. Can you alter the tree generation to get them to clump together the way real trees tend to do?
Oh, naming cooincidence! I suppose it's not a particularly unique way to name a 16x16 tileset, but it still threw me for a loop at first because I have one with both the same name and some visual similarities. I was totally confused until I realized that the palette wasn't the same. You did a nice job! I particularly like the signs, fitting the stuff on there and still having it look like a sign and not a tile with words is trickier than it looks.
Would you consider showing off more of the set in the preview? I almost ignored it completely because it looked like all there was in it was some ground tiles.
Oh, this is cool. The angled corners make a huge difference in how scifi this looks, I may have to steal that idea for something. It's always really nice to see something that's LPC but also very differnet from what already exists.
This is a good set of stuff to add, I really like it. The LPC base assets were lacking a lot on these inconsequential bits, and this is a good mix of them that liven up the look of a map.
Wow, these edits are pretty clever! You didn't change very much, but you changed exactly the right things to make them look entirely different. Cool! These are the types of edits that are the most fun to see, the ones that use things in ways I wouldn't consider myself even if I were trying to make an LPC doctor's office.
Wow, what an impressive restriction. I honestly don't think you're going to find someone like that, it's like asking for someone who creates paintings for a living but doesn't show work at a gallery. Or an accountaint who isn't willing to work for a business. Making art for games is just how pixel artists make money. I suppose it's possible to have someone who has found a way to make pixel art for a living without making anything for video games, but it's a niché inside a niché. You are narrowing your chances even further by asking for this type of person at Open Game Art.
Here's my favorite pixel art article. I also like the Retronator Magazine, which seems to be more along the lines of what you're looking for. It should also help you find those pixel artists who focus more on non-game pieces.
I love the dirt shadows, that looks really dynamic on its own, without the water, which is fun for mapping options. I think lowering the contrast between shades like you did in the fourth attachment is a good choice. The other ones look like clear shallow moving water, which is also very good, but I like how the low contrast one doesn't feel the same visually as the dirt. I think it fits the style a little better and doesn't try to fight with the ground texture for attention. For colors I really like the dirt test 3. The one above it is too green, it doesn't contrast enough from the color of the grass, but adding just a little bit of green instead is nice, I think it adds a nice calm feeling to the palette. It's a little less cartoony looking than the original palette for the water but I don't think that's a bad thing in this case. In the originals I was attempting something that was quite colorful but somehow a little muted too. The colors are just a little pulled back from pure, so they keep the energy from having a lot of fairly saturated hues but are just a little less loud than fully saturated, right where it hits relaxing. It's contradictory so I never managed to explain it properly, but I think the slightly greener blue hits the mark.
Oh, water is really tricky, you're quite brave to jump right into the deep end with it (pun intended). I look forward to seeing your progress with this. I can tell you've put a lot of thought and effort in so far, that's really cool! I really like the feeling in the animation of version 6, but it looks a bit computer generated then reduced. Whatever you end up with, I think you should have some sort of sparkle or shine at the point where the water meets the shore, it'll help sell it as water. Something else that helps it look wet would be to put some shine against the shadows, the high contract will help it look reflective.
I'm sorry that the original LPC water is something that needs improvement. Looking back at it, I should have done things a little differently, and been more purposeful in choosing what kind of water to represent with it. The default water was meant to represent flowing water, something fast and deep, which is why the edges are so . . . spikey and the center is much more calm. The only reason it wasn't animated was because I didn't have enough time. I should really go back to it at some point and give it the intended animation, I think that would help it look a little more wet.
LPC is pretty stylized, so I'm not sure how well going more realistic will work out here. Maybe it would help more in this case to look at existing pixel art with a similar style for a reference. It's been a bit, but I think Minish Cap was one of the inspirations, plus it has really amazing pixel art, so that might be a good place to start. Another thing that could work well in this style is to focus more on reflections. You can define the edges with tiles then have a parallax layer behind to show the sky. I also really liked how the SNES version of Tales of Phantasia did the water. They used shadows from a reflected tree canopy to give it both a reflective and deep feeling, it was quite clever. Focusing on the effects would probably have the greatest effect. It's amazing what some splashes or bits of moving wildlife can do to sell the realism.
Ooooh. I'm an art person, I don't understand the programming, but I do understand that it's pretty cool. Can you alter the tree generation to get them to clump together the way real trees tend to do?
Oh, naming cooincidence! I suppose it's not a particularly unique way to name a 16x16 tileset, but it still threw me for a loop at first because I have one with both the same name and some visual similarities. I was totally confused until I realized that the palette wasn't the same. You did a nice job! I particularly like the signs, fitting the stuff on there and still having it look like a sign and not a tile with words is trickier than it looks.
Would you consider showing off more of the set in the preview? I almost ignored it completely because it looked like all there was in it was some ground tiles.
Oh, this is cool. The angled corners make a huge difference in how scifi this looks, I may have to steal that idea for something. It's always really nice to see something that's LPC but also very differnet from what already exists.
This is a good set of stuff to add, I really like it. The LPC base assets were lacking a lot on these inconsequential bits, and this is a good mix of them that liven up the look of a map.
Wow, these edits are pretty clever! You didn't change very much, but you changed exactly the right things to make them look entirely different. Cool! These are the types of edits that are the most fun to see, the ones that use things in ways I wouldn't consider myself even if I were trying to make an LPC doctor's office.
I saw the update on itch.io first. That's awesome! I'm glad you're still working on this, I love this tool.
Wow, what an impressive restriction. I honestly don't think you're going to find someone like that, it's like asking for someone who creates paintings for a living but doesn't show work at a gallery. Or an accountaint who isn't willing to work for a business. Making art for games is just how pixel artists make money. I suppose it's possible to have someone who has found a way to make pixel art for a living without making anything for video games, but it's a niché inside a niché. You are narrowing your chances even further by asking for this type of person at Open Game Art.
Here's my favorite pixel art article. I also like the Retronator Magazine, which seems to be more along the lines of what you're looking for. It should also help you find those pixel artists who focus more on non-game pieces.
Good luck on your paper!
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