building tilesets
when i tell people about spellbound, i get lots of questions as to how it works exactly. it’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have the same knowledge i have about the process, so i wanted to make a post about it here to help answer any questions.
when it comes to building levels, there’s lots of ways you can go about it. instead of hand drawing each level, i’ve opted to create tilesets. essentially what you are doing is designing each tile individually in an art program (i use aseprite) and creating a map of the art. you can then import this “art map” to a program like tiled and begin making levels.
imagine it like all of these objects become the paint brush. creating art to create the art. currently i have made about 500 different tiles, and that’s just for our little forest here. using tiled, i can set up an isometric grid for the level and import my tileset. from there, i begin fleshing out the levels. it takes layers and layers upon layers and layers.
some things i’m personally struggling with on this tileset is the water. i have been trying to create a waterfall but that has been quite the trial!! it’s one thing to make a repeating pattern, but one that i can animate as well. it’s not a huge priority for me right now but i know it’ll add a really nice touch to the scenery.
but now that we have enough tiles to make a decent little forest for our levels, one of my next goals is to create a playable character. i am very excited to update you on my progress for the sprites soon. our game will be 8 directional, so it’s taken quite a while to make. i’m hoping i can get the hang of it and increase my work flow. animation is really hard though ;(
