The Tilesets that come with MZ are making things difficult

[GusF]

I spent some time today mapping a dungeon. I went looking for doors for some of the passageways and there were none in the Dungeon tileset. I take that back, there was one, with prison bars. Stairways only went horrizontal and not up and down. Also, in another map, I went looking for a way to make outdoor stalls. I see them all the time in games. You got it, none.

The tile sheets are also not very well laid out. When you go to make a game, you usually stick to a single genre. You don't use science fiction tiles in a fantasy game, and vice versa. I know you can make, or frankenstein, your own tilesets, But I've never really used an image editor before. I'll have to learn soon at this rate. If anyone has links to tutorials on doing this in either GIMP 2 or Paint.net, please show me. Remember, though, I might have opened those two programs before, but that would be ALL i've done. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated.

Gus

 

[123edc]

When you go to make a game, you usually stick to a single genre. You don't use science fiction tiles in a fantasy game

oh, i wouldn't be so sure about that one ...

I see them all the time in games. You got it, none.

many assets come from DLC's
and on top of that, the different maker versions (vx, mv, mz etc) all have their own set of assets (also, this verry forums has a lot of free stuff)

also, in general the rtp (especially the mz's) feel kinda incomplete
[like ... with some dlc's you realy have the feeling, that they "cut out" a portion of the game - that should have been in there initially ... to release it later as a dlc ... well, at least that's the feeling i get out of it]

Any other suggestions would also be appreciated.

depending on how soon you'd need it [and if you want to stick with mz] it could be an option, to wait for unite ... there (if i understood it correctly) you would get the possibility, to mix-match tilesets more directly

 

[dragoonwys]

Most of the doors are in character sheets. You have to use them as an event unless you copy paste them into a tileset yourself.

But I do really recommend just learning how to frankenstine up tilesets, it will open up so many possibilities for you. Avery has many tutorials on making these things, here's one of them https://www.rpgmakerweb.com/blog/tile-sets-so-simple-anyone-can-do-them

 

[GusF]

Dragoonwys, I had forgotten that about the doors. I am very new here. I just found that tutorial you mentioned. Coincedence? I also found one that uses a plugin and RPGMaker itself to do it.

Thank you both for your feedback!
Gus

 

[TheAM-Dol]

You can also right click when editing events to quickly create doors, chests, or transfers (doors but without the "door" part)
I do recommend learning some basic image manipulation. For an example I came across with doors, there was the look of one door I really liked but it was too tall for the "entry way" part of the tileset, it just didn't fit. I had other doors that fit that entry way, but I didn't like how they appeared compared to the tall door. So with some basic image manipulation, I just squashed the tall door down to fit the entry way.

There's also a bunch of other things you can do to tilesets with some basic image editing stuff. I'm not talking about painting a tileset from scratch - that takes talent and years of practice, I'm sure (something I don't really have with visual art), but being capable of adjusting colors, rotating tiles, blending tiles together, basic stuff like that can go a long way to create an original look. Plus, sometimes you buy tilesets like the KR stuff that - while the quality is good - seem to be pretty sparse on tiles. But, merging them into another tileset can help give more diversity.

 

[Starbird_Resources]

Not sure that this will have what you're looking for, but I've created some outdoor stalls (and I made more for MV, so if you own that you can use those as well).

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/starbirds-mz-tiles-more.125842/

Also, Avery has made TONS of MZ tiles: https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/avys-mz-stuff.125711/

 

[ATT_Turan]

Also, in another map, I went looking for a way to make outdoor stalls. I see them all the time in games. You got it, none.

There are both crates and tents, so you can make something similar with the default tileset. Just because you see something frequently in games doesn't mean RPG Maker is under any obligation to have it in their included assets - if they did that for every item a person could point out is common in fantasy games, the RTP would be enormous. It's intended to be a starting point.

There are several tilesets you can purchase that I know have stalls, and I'd be amazed if you can't find some for free in the resource forum.

The tile sheets are also not very well laid out. When you go to make a game, you usually stick to a single genre.

So you delete what you don't need. I feel like this was discussed with you in a previous thread about what gets included by default in a new project and not - hitting New Project includes some of the material that MZ comes with. If you want to use enemies, tilesets, skills, items, characters, whatever that aren't included in that default setup, you'll have to add or create them. If there's stuff in that default setup that you don't want to use, just delete it.

It seems a bit silly to complain about that - you almost guaranteed won't be using all of the images in the enemies or characters folders, so there's stuff in a new project that you'll want to delete. Just how it is, unless you preferred that it start empty, in which case you might complain that you have to add everything you want

If anyone has links to tutorials on doing this in either GIMP 2 or Paint.net, please show me.

You can find a lot from just typing stuff into Google. There are whole tutorial series for both of these programs readily available. You should be using GIMP, not Paint.net for how it handles transparency.

But if you simply set the grid size, turn the snap to grid on, and enable viewing the grid, it's as simple as dragging a rectangle around the tiles, copying, pasting.

 

[StrawberryFlower]

You can find a lot from just typing stuff into Google. There are whole tutorial series for both of these programs readily available. You should be using GIMP, not Paint.net for how it handles transparency.

As a heavy Paint.net user, it handles transparency just fine. XD

 

[ATT_Turan]

As a heavy Paint.net user, it handles transparency just fine. XD

Cool! Perhaps the issues I've seen many threads about have been changed across versions.

 

[Shaz]

Perhaps the issues I've seen many threads about have been changed across versions

No, you just got Paint.net confused with MS Paint.

Paint.net has always allowed transparency. MS Paint was the one that didn't - I don't know if that's changed or not.

 

[ATT_Turan]

No, you just got Paint.net confused with MS Paint.

I've definitely seen multiple threads saying don't use Paint.net, but perhaps I got the reason confused in my head. Regardless, if it works fine for these purposes, I know not to spread misinformation.

With a quick search, maybe it was that Paint.net needed a plugin to have a grid, where GIMP has it natively.

 

[Shaz]

Yes, it does. And you can't snap to the grid so you have to be very careful about selecting within gridlines. I used Paint.net for years, but when I want to do tileset stuff, I go to GIMP solely for this reason.

 

[GusF]

From the standpoint of Frankenstiening tilesheets, RPGMaker MZ works pretty good. You load a tilesheet into a tileset in the database. Create a new map with 16 by 16 demensions. You then copy the tiles you want to the places on the map you want them to be, remembering to work in two collumns of 8 tiles each. Then you 'save the image as...' to a file and you can load it as a tilesheet.

The problem I'm having now is the passability rules. I am trying to make tilesets for different types of maps. Just so we're on the same page: A tileSHEET is the image file that you add to each of the slots in a tileSET.
If, as an example, you want to make a 'Vilage' tileSET, and you just want to change the B,C,D,E tileSHEETS. If you just add the A tileSHEETS in the database tab, you have to set the passability for those sheets as well as your own sheets. I understand the reason for a changed tileSHEET, but not for an unchanged one.
Is there anyway of moving one tileSHEET to anothe tileSET while keeping the passability rules unchanged?
Gus

 

[slimmmeiske2]

You have to add the graphics yourself each time, but in the new update MZ allows you to copy paste the passability from one tileset to another.

 

[GusF]

Great! How do you do the copy and paste? Maybe in the Database?
Gus

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Yes, in the database: