Cold Desert

[GolvaeGames]

No, not ice cream, that's a cold dessert (sorry, I couldn't resist). I am unsure of how to go about mapping a this area. I know its going to be pretty barren, but I'd like to have some little bits here and there. Mainly so that I'm not just wandering around a big empty space. I have a few icy things I can use from the dungeon tiles, but they don't really seem to fit. I have the town and dungeon figured out, but the larger area is just so empty. Maybe some icy patches, or some snow?

If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd appreciate it

 

[mlogan]

I guess it would depend on what exactly you are going for. When you say could desert, do you mean like, frozen tundra? It's hard for me to picture, because in my mind, desert is sand and such, which, they can get quite cold at times, but that would still be mapped differently than say a tundra.

But, something like a tundra, well, it is full of vast empty space, to my knowledge. Perhaps you could put small cliffs here and there and like, what I would call "crags" - big cracks in the ice. Could even add a gameplay aspect, have to figure out some way to get across.

 

[GolvaeGames]

No, a desert with sand. Just cold. Its an area far north and it stays cold.

 

[JGreene]

Which engine are you using? If it's MV, then Yanfly's Doodads is very useful in helping to fill otherwise empty spaces. You can even tint and recolor those graphics. There are also plenty of resources available from fellow developers. You can even edit your tilesets to your liking with an external program.

 

[bgillisp]

Technically, deserts are hot at day and cold at night, due to where they occur naturally and the way the environment works. So realistically they would still have the same plants and such (like cacti and trees). Oasis would also exist still, regardless of temp.

 

[BrandedTales]

Also, be wary of icy tiles... A desert is not defined by hot or cold temperatures. A desert is defined by a lack of humidity (rain, dew, etc). As such, you won't see much ice.

Try making it the way you would a hot desert, but add a very low opacity blue tint to the screen. That might convey "cold."

 

[Tea++]

It sounds like you want a tundra. Look up the Antarctic tundra and it's features, that should give you some idea's.

 

[GolvaeGames]

Ok thanks, I think I have some ideas. This is kind of a strange area in that it stays cold always. I was thinking of adding some icy stuff but I think I have some other things I can use that will work better

 

[djDarkX]

I think they mean something like this:

http://www.pakistantoursguide.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Cold-desert-at-dusk.—-S.M.Bukhari.jpg

A desert that is sandy, yet still very cold with no snow to be seen except many in surrounding mountainous areas, only in the game world, without mountains.

I recommend using the RTP desert tiles you already see and just changing the hues a bit to reflect a slight blue coloration, but not completely oversaturating it to look like it's ice. Like a dulled, blue, sandy color. Add in edited snow/ice covered rocks and things and you should be golden.

 

[GolvaeGames]

@djDarkX Its funny you say that because I have snowy mountains directly north of this area! My biggest problem has been trying to find some stuff make it not so empty, and maybe give the player a sense of where they are so they wont hate wandering around.

 

[Henryetha]

Well... I would take a "dirt" tile, stretch it, recolor it and make it half transparent.
This various times and fill the desert with it.

- varied opacity (sth between 10-50%)
- x/y stretching no limits/restrictions)
- recoloring into different tones of grey, blue, brown

So you won't have "stuff" on ur desert, but it wouldn't look all the same aswell.

For even more variance you could even use different dirt tiles (in different original forms). But I doubt it's necessary, doing the steps mentioned before.

This edit is easily made with doodads, JGreene mentioned before.

 

[Eviticous]

Are you thinking of a tundra? There's usually very few and far between bushes and dead trees from a time long lost. There will be hills of sand or general land. It's basically barren

 

[Henryetha]

This as example, I only made this in a few minutes, to show what I mean..
When putting some effort into it (and recolering properly the RTP sand) it can look beautiful I think.
Anyway, only 1 dirt tile was used for it, opacity by 10-20%, mainly blue and brown colors.. tried grey, didnt look so well.

Spoiler

 

[GolvaeGames]

@Henryetha Thats so pretty! Im really set on using the regular sand though
I've been playing with the colors in gimp and I think I have a look to it

 

[Sarah79]

I think they mean something like this:

http://www.pakistantoursguide.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Cold-desert-at-dusk.—-S.M.Bukhari.jpg

A desert that is sandy, yet still very cold with no snow to be seen except many in surrounding mountainous areas, only in the game world, without mountains.

I recommend using the RTP desert tiles you already see and just changing the hues a bit to reflect a slight blue coloration, but not completely oversaturating it to look like it's ice. Like a dulled, blue, sandy color. Add in edited snow/ice covered rocks and things and you should be golden.

I agree with this post, and find it helpful since I had a similar question.