Sickhead TGB Tile Pack #1
by Russell Fincher · 04/17/2006 (11:34 pm) · 25 comments
Sickhead Games' Torque Game Builder Tile Pack #1With a few weeks between projects here at Sickhead Games, I've decided to take on a Torque Game Builder content pack. The idea is to create a Level Builder-ready 2D sprite and tile pack covering a number of variations of terrain, props, and animated tiles, all presented in classic top-down viewpoint. It will ship with pre-defined image maps, animations, and brush sets which drop right into your current project, documentation on how to use them, and even a small, working demo. The general list of what will be included, and a first pass at the art:
edit: see the subsequent blog post about the tile pack here.
Terrain Tiles:- various types of grass
- rock and gravel
- dirt, sand, and mud
- transitions between most of the above.
- animated water tiles for lakes and rivers
- [li]stone and wooden fences
- hedges
- crevasses and cliffs
Structures:
- tents
- shacks and barns
- [li]animated trees
- small plants
- decorations to break up tiles (grass highlights, pebbles, puddles etc.)
- rocks, logs, stumps, barrels, etc.
So the main reason for creating this plan is to get opinions, suggestions, and criticisms from the TGB community about these screenshots, and about anything you'd like to see included in this pack. There will be a very short development cycle on these, just a few weeks, with further packs beyond that if time allows, so I'm trying to get any input as soon as possible. So check these out, and lemme have it!
A few technical points I'd like to hear about...
- 128x128 tiles... sufficient? (click on any image above to see tiles at full-size)
- any suggestions on maximizing the versatility of this pack... we want this to be appropriate for RTS, RPG, anything!
- criticisms about style, size?
About the author
Art Lead at Sickhead Games, focused on dev tools and prototyping, instructor/advisor at several Dallas colleges and universities, Associate Developer with GarageGames, champion of avant-garde game art at uncommonassembly.com.
#2
04/18/2006 (1:03 am)
Now that is just plain cool! 
#3
04/18/2006 (3:36 am)
WOW really cool, i like it !! 
#4
If you just have premade grass->sand, grass->snow, rock->grass type transitions, it makes it so you only need one tile-layer for the basic terrain. However, if you also include grass->transparent, rock->transparent, etc transitions, it would make it easier to integrate the pack with existing tiles that don't come in the pack, although it would mean using more tile-layers. It would also reduce the number of tiles that you need to store in memory.
I guess if you include a PSD file for each terrain type the user could pretty easily make new transitions, but including transparent ones might be a nice thing anyway.
By the way, these look really nice. A pack like this would be extremely useful to a lot of people.
04/18/2006 (4:01 am)
Just a random thought, but how are you handling terrain transitions? If you just have premade grass->sand, grass->snow, rock->grass type transitions, it makes it so you only need one tile-layer for the basic terrain. However, if you also include grass->transparent, rock->transparent, etc transitions, it would make it easier to integrate the pack with existing tiles that don't come in the pack, although it would mean using more tile-layers. It would also reduce the number of tiles that you need to store in memory.
I guess if you include a PSD file for each terrain type the user could pretty easily make new transitions, but including transparent ones might be a nice thing anyway.
By the way, these look really nice. A pack like this would be extremely useful to a lot of people.
#5
Looks like it would be a lot of fun to make a game with.
04/18/2006 (7:40 am)
Welp...looks like I am just gonna have get TGBD. Your art just sold me on it.Looks like it would be a lot of fun to make a game with.
#6
Whether it be in the same pack or in an addition pack: a set of animals, characters, monsters, etc. would be nice to go with the same artistic design as the terrain.
All in all, your work is very inspiring.
04/18/2006 (8:18 am)
What about some dungeon/cave tiles? With an entrance tile that can be placed on the surface map?Whether it be in the same pack or in an addition pack: a set of animals, characters, monsters, etc. would be nice to go with the same artistic design as the terrain.
All in all, your work is very inspiring.
#7
Drew: yes, we've considered having transparency in the transitions. It would make for a slimmer tile set, and if I can get the tiles to work that way and look good, that's most likely the way these will be created. It will be a little more difficult to create, but your point about integrating it with existing and future tile packs is a strong one. Thanks greatly for your input.
Chris: if time permits and the interest in this pack is high enough, we do have plans to create more packs that will work alongside this one, including dungeon/cave, snow/ice, etc. I'll add your suggestion for the mouth of a cave into the list. :)
04/18/2006 (8:20 am)
Jon: we'll let you know when and where these are available when the time comes. The short answer is that they will be available soon, most likely well under a month, and we have been discussing with Garage Games the possibility of selling them here.Drew: yes, we've considered having transparency in the transitions. It would make for a slimmer tile set, and if I can get the tiles to work that way and look good, that's most likely the way these will be created. It will be a little more difficult to create, but your point about integrating it with existing and future tile packs is a strong one. Thanks greatly for your input.
Chris: if time permits and the interest in this pack is high enough, we do have plans to create more packs that will work alongside this one, including dungeon/cave, snow/ice, etc. I'll add your suggestion for the mouth of a cave into the list. :)
#8
Definately need a character, maybe some enemies, whether its the orc or not... and how about some weapons, powerups, etc...
04/18/2006 (11:47 am)
this is totally what TGB needs... I cant wait for it to release. Awesome workDefinately need a character, maybe some enemies, whether its the orc or not... and how about some weapons, powerups, etc...
#9
04/18/2006 (1:54 pm)
Retroh, I can say with some confidence that we won't be doing a TGB character pack, just converting the orc to 2D for this one. But there are plenty of great artists here that could do that! Anyway, never say never, I suppose. ;)
#11
Transitional Tiles
* Shouldn't all be perfectly straight or at right angles. To break up the straight line look you have in your screen shots you should make 2 - 3 transitional tiles for each ground type that aren't straight down but wavy. You can make them tileing properly by keeping the top and bottom on the area.
* Your right angle tiles should curve around rather than going 90 degrees.
* Water tranisitional tiles should lap towards the beach
* Dirt generally doesn't splatter through paved roads like in your screen shots above
Normal Tiles
* White caps in the water generally head towards the land mass. Going straight up makes em look funky :-)
* Different intensities for your grass. The grass colour above is fairly dark and if you had a lighter version of the same sort of grass it would benefit people with darker sprites (People could lighten themselves, just being picky !)
Feature Tiles
You could also add feature style tiles. For instance, four different views of some of the following idea's:
* Rocky Outcrops
* Waterfalls
* Cliffs
* Ruins
Although you may make a few generic ones for this pack, you may be able to make addon theme packs with just feature tiles for things like medieval settings, WWII settings, western settings etc. Feature tiles don't nessesarily need to be standard sizes either and could take up say 3 x 4 tiles, or L shaped feature tiles etc. As an example, look at some of the "feature" style tiles that are part of C&C.
Any just my 2 cents, hopefully the above gives you some idea's.
04/18/2006 (2:42 pm)
Just a couple of "comments" that I would have with your tile pack to maybe make it a little more adaptable to most projects. Some of these sound really harsh / picky but may assist in taking a really excellent base tile set like you currently have into something fantastic for a lot of projectsTransitional Tiles
* Shouldn't all be perfectly straight or at right angles. To break up the straight line look you have in your screen shots you should make 2 - 3 transitional tiles for each ground type that aren't straight down but wavy. You can make them tileing properly by keeping the top and bottom on the area.
* Your right angle tiles should curve around rather than going 90 degrees.
* Water tranisitional tiles should lap towards the beach
* Dirt generally doesn't splatter through paved roads like in your screen shots above
Normal Tiles
* White caps in the water generally head towards the land mass. Going straight up makes em look funky :-)
* Different intensities for your grass. The grass colour above is fairly dark and if you had a lighter version of the same sort of grass it would benefit people with darker sprites (People could lighten themselves, just being picky !)
Feature Tiles
You could also add feature style tiles. For instance, four different views of some of the following idea's:
* Rocky Outcrops
* Waterfalls
* Cliffs
* Ruins
Although you may make a few generic ones for this pack, you may be able to make addon theme packs with just feature tiles for things like medieval settings, WWII settings, western settings etc. Feature tiles don't nessesarily need to be standard sizes either and could take up say 3 x 4 tiles, or L shaped feature tiles etc. As an example, look at some of the "feature" style tiles that are part of C&C.
Any just my 2 cents, hopefully the above gives you some idea's.
#12
I agree the dirt is too uniform to look natural. That's definitely something that will get some attention. With this kind of stuff there's always a balance that has to be found between a very natural looking set of tiles that is rather bulky and a slimmer set of tiles that tends to have a bit more uniformity or obvious tiling. I'm not shooting for photo-realism here, but obviously the player will enjoy more variety in the environment where possible.
I'd have to say water is the most difficult part of this process, and will take a relatively great deal of effort to get right. Both Tom and I still don't think what's here is quite right either, heh. We'd envisioned a transparent layer of ripples that the user can lay over other tiles, the tiles underneath being used to describe the depth or color of the water. We'll see how that turns out. You have to remember that each animated tile is really a set of seperate static tiles, in this case 6 frames per tile, so that can add up fast.
Excellent idea for the WWII pack! Already making lists about that one. I'll have to check out the feature tiles you've mentioned in Command and Conquer.
04/18/2006 (3:35 pm)
All very good observations and suggestions Glenn. Thanks! I agree the dirt is too uniform to look natural. That's definitely something that will get some attention. With this kind of stuff there's always a balance that has to be found between a very natural looking set of tiles that is rather bulky and a slimmer set of tiles that tends to have a bit more uniformity or obvious tiling. I'm not shooting for photo-realism here, but obviously the player will enjoy more variety in the environment where possible.
I'd have to say water is the most difficult part of this process, and will take a relatively great deal of effort to get right. Both Tom and I still don't think what's here is quite right either, heh. We'd envisioned a transparent layer of ripples that the user can lay over other tiles, the tiles underneath being used to describe the depth or color of the water. We'll see how that turns out. You have to remember that each animated tile is really a set of seperate static tiles, in this case 6 frames per tile, so that can add up fast.
Excellent idea for the WWII pack! Already making lists about that one. I'll have to check out the feature tiles you've mentioned in Command and Conquer.
#13
04/18/2006 (4:10 pm)
Russell, your doing a heck of a job. =)
#14
04/18/2006 (5:58 pm)
Very nice work, just what TGB needs! 
#17
I totally agree with most of Glenn's comments. I would only have a couple of suggestions to add:
* I love the wind animation in the trees but I would suggest that it be even slower and more subtle. That way it won't be as obvious that it's an animation looping over and over. It would feel more like ambient movement.
* I'm not sure how you're creating these tiles (are you using Photoshop or a 3D app and then rendering from there?) but would it be at all possible to include side views? Think of something like the tiles in Lemmings where instead of looking down on the world you're seeing it from the side. Maybe this is another tileset altogether but if you're rendering them in 3D it wouldn't be too difficult to just change the angle on some of the tiles.
* This is more of a suggestion for a future content pack but I'd love to see a tropical/Hawaiian/Mayan theme. Maybe more of a side view that could be used for puzzle or action style games.
Can't wait for this! Thanks for putting the time and effort into it.
Dennis
04/25/2006 (12:19 pm)
Awesome. I will be buying this the day it's released. (Which I hope will be very soon! ;) I've been looking all over the internet for 2D content packs (TGB and non-TGB specific) and, surprisingly, there's not much of anything out there. It seems to be all 3D.I totally agree with most of Glenn's comments. I would only have a couple of suggestions to add:
* I love the wind animation in the trees but I would suggest that it be even slower and more subtle. That way it won't be as obvious that it's an animation looping over and over. It would feel more like ambient movement.
* I'm not sure how you're creating these tiles (are you using Photoshop or a 3D app and then rendering from there?) but would it be at all possible to include side views? Think of something like the tiles in Lemmings where instead of looking down on the world you're seeing it from the side. Maybe this is another tileset altogether but if you're rendering them in 3D it wouldn't be too difficult to just change the angle on some of the tiles.
* This is more of a suggestion for a future content pack but I'd love to see a tropical/Hawaiian/Mayan theme. Maybe more of a side view that could be used for puzzle or action style games.
Can't wait for this! Thanks for putting the time and effort into it.
Dennis
#18
Yes, all of us here at SHG agree the amount of wind in that animated gif is overkill. But that's just the kind of observations that prototypes are for! :)
I'm pretty certain this content won't be released in a side-scroller type view. It's likely that you'll eventually be seeing this pack in an isometric view (see what neo has been working on), but not side view.
Russell Fincher
Lead Artist | Co-owner
Sickhead Games
04/25/2006 (1:39 pm)
Hi Dennis, thanks greatly for your suggestions.Yes, all of us here at SHG agree the amount of wind in that animated gif is overkill. But that's just the kind of observations that prototypes are for! :)
I'm pretty certain this content won't be released in a side-scroller type view. It's likely that you'll eventually be seeing this pack in an isometric view (see what neo has been working on), but not side view.
Russell Fincher
Lead Artist | Co-owner
Sickhead Games
#19
Any idea on release date and cost?
The shots look great by the way, can't wait.
Edit: And I really like the wind on the trees and the water in the animated gifs up there. :)
05/23/2006 (7:14 pm)
Fantastic, just what I've been waiting for! You can sign me up for this for sure.Any idea on release date and cost?
The shots look great by the way, can't wait.
Edit: And I really like the wind on the trees and the water in the animated gifs up there. :)
#20
06/05/2006 (7:40 pm)
@Chris - We expect to release this thing early next month if things go as planned. Still a lot of unknowns we're dealing with being the first content pack out for TGB. Cost we cannot say just yet, but it will be very reasonable for the amount of quality content and code that you'll get. 
Torque Owner Jon Frisby
MrJoy, Inc.
And where do I sign up to buy this thing?!
-JF