Awesome forests

[Geoff Moore]

Hi all! I don't have much experience with the RTP and the various free and paid tileset resources, and I was wondering if those more experienced could help. If I wanted to map a really nice looking forest what would you recommend to use? I'm using VX Ace. The forest would need to have a serious vibe rather than being overly cutesy, and ideally have some fairly varied vegetation, or at least a few different trees. I'd also be interested in any screenshots of nice forest maps from your projects or others for some inspiration; ultimately I'm hoping to hire a mapper, so as well as knowing which resources to use it would be great to have some guideline examples.

Thanks for reading!

 

[mlogan]

I would check out Celianna's and PandaMaru's stuff, first, personally. I can post more when I'm on my computer.
 
Coming back, here are some screenshots of Pandamaru's fall tileset:

Spoiler

 

[Kes]

If you want to avoid cutesy, then I think you have to take into account tinting.  I know one should anyway, but I think it's particularly important in this sort of instance because it means that you could use tiles which otherwise might fall the wrong side of the line.  

Here is an example of what I mean.  It's a map that I posted in the June progress thread, and was really looking at the Tower tiles, but you can see some of the trees here.  The idea is to give the impression of an overcast and somewhat threatening bit of woodland around a strange tower.

Spoiler

 

[mlogan]

Yes, ksjp is right, tinting/overlays can really change the mood of a map.

 

[Farkas Ürdüng]

@ksjp17 Hmm. Those trees really feel like paper cutouts to me on that messy grass terrain, especially those branches sticking out of the ground with a shadow at their base feel unnatural.

 

[Kes]

@Farkas Urdung

Neglected/avoided places are usually messy, so yes, there will be a lot of patches of long grass, which is what I assume you mean by "messy grass terrain".

Dead trees over time lose branches , so that often all you are left with are parts of the trunk.

And in the story, 'unnatural', 'weird', 'odd' is precisely what is required.

 

[Farkas Ürdüng]

@Farkas Urdung

Neglected/avoided places are usually messy, so yes, there will be a lot of patches of long grass, which is what I assume you mean by "messy grass terrain".

Dead trees over time lose branches , so that often all you are left with are parts of the trunk.

And in the story, 'unnatural', 'weird', 'odd' is precisely what is required.

By messy grass I mean it feels like it was laid there by moving the mouse randomly, that's why there are long 1 line wide patches without thick grass. The whole thing feels unnatural to me.

 

[Kes]

I think pursuing this discussion this is going to derail mostly useless's thread, which is more general than looking at the details of one particular map, which was only a WIP provided to show the effects of a tint.

 

[Matseb2611]

I'd throw in recommendation for PVGames' High Fantasy packs.

I did a few foresty and swamp areas with it and his style is perfect for serious settings.

Here are screens from my game where I used it:

Spoiler

 

[Vinedrius]

I recommend you to try Celianna's free for non-commercial tilesets for more viarity than RTP. It is not any harder to use than the RTP and can be used alongside it comfortably. Here are two screenshots from maps I did for someone's demo to give you an idea.

Spoiler

 

[Candacis]

PandaMaru just made some new trees, maybe those will be helpful. They might work with Venere's or Celianna's trees, too.

Just be very careful not to mix different styles of trees together.