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aristrofl
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Quote aristrofl Replybullet Topic: Non-Artist seeking Artist advice.
    Posted: 21 December 2012 at 1:12am
Howdy,

I'm currently in the process of developing a 2d browser game utilizing the HTML5 canvas. I have a lot of experience with web programming and game logic but I have run into a bit of a block. I like to think forward when I code to make thing easy, configurable, and clean. The art for the game is going to be 2d Pixel, but I don't know what a good tile size would be.

So my question: If I were to build an engine that produced a tactical rpg style game (shinning force) what would you suggest for a tile size? Does too big reflect poorly on the art? Would the game lose out by being too small? Even pixel count for symetry? Odd pixel count to leave a unique line in the center?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Edited by aristrofl - 21 December 2012 at 1:14am
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yrizoud
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Quote yrizoud Replybullet Posted: 21 December 2012 at 9:08am
Even is more helpful because it allows dithering or alternating pixels of two colors to tile well.
Historically, square tiles of poxer-of-two sizes have been the most used (8, 16, 32) so artists are well used to them and there are plenty of games to get inspiration from.
For a less "flat" view, you could event use tiles like 32x24.

What should matter most is how many tiles are the maps, gameplay-wise.
If the maps are tiny, you may want everything to fit in one screen/browser window. Otherwise you'll implement scrolling, so it matters less. But there's always the question of visibility, the player will be annoyed if he always has to scroll around.
Here's an example of a map small enough to need no scroll on a large PC screen :
http://ffta.mimigyaru.com/medias/lieux/carte_2_1.png
From Final Fantasy Tactic Advance. The playfield is around 14x14 tiles.
Here's one that scrolls:
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/screenshots/images/00026/00026854_209.htm
From Fire Emblem on the SNES. Characters are very mobile (moves half a screen), the screen shows 16x14 tiles, and the map must like 3x3 or 4x4 bigger.


Edited by yrizoud - 21 December 2012 at 9:09am
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aristrofl
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Quote aristrofl Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2013 at 11:25pm
Sorry for the slow reply. I have been coding like a mad man. I took your advice on the 32 by 32. The game WILL implement scrolling in the map, but currently I have only included it to have what fits on the screen.

If anyone would like to look at the engine so far:

Click Here!

You will need to register and login, but don't worry, fake emails work at this point, so no need to worry about privacy.

Edited by aristrofl - 01 January 2013 at 11:27pm
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aristrofl
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Quote aristrofl Replybullet Posted: 05 January 2013 at 3:50pm
So, just realized I did an update that has some debug stuff still enabled. The engine is not running. heh. If you wanna see, just message me and I will turn things back on.
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