Hey guys,

Ive been programming basic games in java for a while now, and when notch posted the Minicraft game, i thought about a pixel engine. I have designed one, that works well, and im looking for ideas on what to add into it.

Below is a screenshot of what my current levels look like, and i will happily agree, they look bad. So im asking, what sort of stuff should i add to the environment to make it more interesting.

At the moment everything is based off 16px tiles, but i can increase that to 32 if you think it would be benneficial.



Thanks,


Matt.

Looks like you have a good start. The simple graphics have a nice charm to them.



Notice there are two major landscape object here: stuff that players will run into (trees and large rocks) and stuff that players will walk over (grass, flowers, and rocks).

The large objects need to make barriers of sorts. This forces the player to navigate around them. So trees need to be clumped together and cliffs make natural walls.

The smaller objects need to be more plentiful so it looks like you're in a forest instead of a parking lot of green cement.

Take references of what you are trying to represent.

Currently, i am looking at a park full of zombies. Since most of it is greeen grass but there are street lights. Appart from the rocks and bushes it does not show anything more. So i sugest you add, bins, benches, ponds, trees, stone/dirt paths, fences, etc. Take a walk through a park and you will get plenty of ideas automaticaly and for free.

I also sugest you make different versions of each tile. If you make 5 different grass tiles the tiling gets less obvious and it will start to look more interesting.

Look at some pixel art forums like pixelation.com they are very willing to help you out and point you to good tutorials. It's just a matter of practise, as with everything.

Good luck with this!

Thankyou both!

I have taken what both of you have said and have updated the graphics a bit

www.sparkedstudios.co.uk/Legenda_Scintilla/blog/builds/Playable_v3_2.jar

(sorry if in not allowed to post links to the game)

do you need some zombie music?

do you need some zombie music?

If you are offering, i would love to accept!

do you need some zombie music?

Sorry ignore my last post, I am communicating with a composer at the moment.


Side note: If you are interested in playing the game with the updated graphics (again) then you can play it at:

www.sparkedstudios.co.uk/page13.php

I am also moving towards a medieval theme so any tips would be appreciated!

There is plenty of medieval content to use as reference. To name some popular ones: final fantasy and chrono trigger.

This learned my heaps about spriting and covering up the tiling. http://www.petesqbsi...umo/default.htm

Appart from getting a little stuck now and then the game plays well, i owned with that wooden sword . although its funny to kick some clumped up zombie buts at the edge of the screen, add some AI so they prefer to stay away from the edge.