Searched, Googled, Still Confused about Autotiles

[DigitalAdhesive]

I know there are a few tutorials out there, and the one's I've looked at seemed to be thorough, so I think the problem is with me.  Like some aspects of math, or other disciplines, it just hasn't clicked in my head yet, and I'm confident it will when I look at it from the right angle, but for now, I don't really understand the differences between the A-tab, and all the others for custom tiles, how to make autotiles work, and at this point, it seems like it'd be better off if I just did it the old fashioned way with a slightly larger tileset that contained all the parts.

What am I missing here?  

This is a quick screenshot of some overworld tiles I've been working on:

So let's say I want to make this forest a "smart forest" in RPG Maker, so it knows where to put the trees depending on its surroundings, just like the default forest.  How does this work?  I have to put the tiles in a certain place on the sprite sheet?  It has to be a specific sprite sheet?  I know this must be frustrating for old hats at this program, or for the rest of you who just "get it," but I'm still struggling to understand!

Thanks for your patience.

 

[Lunarea]

Have you read this article? It explains how auto-tiles are constructed.

 

[DigitalAdhesive]

Ok, this is good - I have a few more questions though -- in the tutorial he broke it down to 16x16 pixel blocks - this is just for the purpose of showing what's going on under the hood?  

In my forest example, there are fifteen unique 32x32 tiles as opposed to six 32x32 tiles in his example (or twenty four 16x16).  I still don't understand really how I would arrange the tiles on the sheet for RPG Maker to understand and make correct auto tiles.  I think I'm halfway there, I can see what the person writing the tutorial did, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out EXACTLY what he did, and how to apply it to my own work that is both larger and different.

Does this make sense?  I'm sorry again if I'm being a PITA, I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around what is probably very simple at its essence.

 

[seita]

autotiles work only in the specific way that it is introduced in that link, so you have to tailor your trees into a pattern that works within a 16 x 16 tile. I'll see if I can work something out for you

 

[Andar]

The autotiles use special blocks in the size of six regular tile as described in the linked article. In the help-file of Ace you can see examples on how the five different A-Tilesheets are put together with those blocks (and filling material between them).

If you want to use the autotile functionality, you have to use those blocks exactly as described - because that is how the engine processes the A-Tiles.

However (and that is the reason for the 16x16-split) the engine uses those six tile blocks to create much more than six different Tiles on the map.

This topic shows the different combinations that are possible with autotiles:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/14387-shiftclick-mapping/

So no, you won't be using fifteen 32x32 tiles in autotile - because you cannot change how the autotiles work internally.

But you should check whether you can make the 24 16x16-parts of the autotile in a way that your forest can still be created in the intended way by an autotile...

 

[seita]

here's a quick 10 minute test of your trees. I had to shorten each one by 1 pixel. It works but it isn't pretty. The problem with your trees is that the width and height are not good denominations to use for a 32x32 tile. Look at the size of the current trees in the field autotiles

edit: well, either that or I suck at making autotiles. It's usually the latter, this is the first ive made ;p I just know how it works.

 

[DigitalAdhesive]

I'm curious as to whether the trees are bad or it was your sucking (I kid, I'm sure you're far better at this stuff than I am). I just want to know where the problem lies and if there is one, how to fix it. Do I even NEED autotiles or are they just an inconvenient convenience? Thanks for trying to make them with my trees.

 

[Celianna]

You don't need autotiles. If you want to stick with regular TileB-TileE tilesets, be my guest.


The only thing you wouldn't be able to do is animated tiles, which are only an option in TileA1. Also, you wouldn't have a bottom layer anymore, meaning all other tiles you want to put on top of your lovely ground tiles, would need to be an event graphic.

 

[Andar]

Do I even NEED autotiles or are they just an inconvenient convenience?

Yes and no.

It is possible to map without autotiles - but that would limit your tileset options even further.

A-Tiles are the bottom layer of a map - and most of the A-Tiles are autotiles. A5 contains only regular tiles, and there are a few filler tiles between the regular autotiles. Without autotiles, you would be limited to those few tiles as the bottom layer of your maps - wether that would work or not depends on your game and its graphics.

As another problem, the use of boat and ship is hardcoded into the autotile - you can't use those vehicles without using autotiles.

You might want to search for "parallax mapping" if you have problems with autotiles but can't map with only the limited other tiles.

Parallax mapping is more difficult and needs more time to make the maps, but it allows for maps without the limits of the regular grid.

 

[DigitalAdhesive]

Well, that makes it simple. This is going to be something I'm going to have to learn. I hope you'll all have the patience to entertain some of my inane questions regarding autotiles though. I really want to figure this out and it almost feels like I'm autotile- challenged.

 

[Shaz]

Export the RTP resources and take a good look at them. If you want to create autotiles, you have to build them the same way the RTP tiles are built, using the link above as a guide to how an individual autotile is formed.


The short answer is, you can't customize autotile layout to match your tiles. You have to build your tiles with the autotile layout/requirements in mind.

 

[Celianna]

Here's a little guide to help you out with basic autotiles:

Corners are 16x16px and don't repeat, but they will latch onto the sides seamlessly. Sides are either 16x32 or 32x16, and are seamless every 32px either sideways or vertical. The middle is a 32x32 regular seamless tile (like Tila5), and thus can be repeated from all sides.