Poll

Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?

Futuristic
4 (20%)
Modern
10 (50%)
Combination
4 (20%)
Neither
2 (10%)

Total Members Voted: 20

Voting closed: December 24, 2005, 01:34:32 pm

Author Topic: Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?  (Read 3551 times)

ZeaLitY

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fxar99

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2005, 04:06:31 pm »
Neither. Sorry, I don't like the graphics.

Radical_Dreamer

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2005, 04:12:22 pm »
Modern, easily.

nightmare975

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2005, 05:08:27 pm »
The modern has a better feel, the futuristic seems too advanced. :?

Zaperking

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2005, 08:10:28 pm »
I think you need to combine the futuristic and modern. Those modernhouses don't look to much different. In the 1000AD Era, i'd expect to see them by 1050AD.

But the roads etc. look alright. It's to Sailor Moonish for me :P I like the futuristic houses, but I like the modern interiors.

Kazuki

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2005, 09:06:05 pm »
Modern, though I have to agree with Fxar a bit.

Mystik3eb

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2005, 03:46:26 am »
The modern is preferrable, but I do agree with Fxar. I don't like the style. It doesn't look "Chrono" at all.

Zaperking

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2005, 03:49:41 am »
^
That's because it's from Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon lol.

Lord J Esq

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2005, 07:48:22 am »
I say, make the effort to design original graphics! Two or three good tilesets per era can make all the difference in the quest to make the game look better than amateurish. Whoever said "style" was exactly right: Those graphics don't mesh with the Chrono style at all; they look unwholesomely generic and lifeless. The future tiles are too heavy on white--very grating on the eye--and lack any indication of human culture. It's all much too sterile and devoid of subject matter. They also suffer from not being designed very well...too few colors, and poor use of color. The modern tiles don't have the problem of lacking culture, but they do suffer from the color problem, and they are grating on the eye in their own way.

Sprites and upper tiles have to stand out with some form of distinctiveness. This isn't apparent in the tilesets shown. To achieve distinctiveness you need to use colors more creatively so as to achieve shading and bordering effects that create space on the image (like making fire with red and yellow and orange instead of just orange), and you need to use very bold colors (like the while pixels in Crono's hair) to sharpen the overall representation. Lower tiles, meanwhile, have to stand out not with distinctiveness but with self-continuity and completeness--that is, you ought to be able to see what it is you're looking at just by looking at a single tile. This applies to surfaces like roads, walls, grass, and such.

You prolly already know this, but the reason RPG areas and dungeons have such personality to them, with respect to one another, is that they have their own tilesets. In this way, settings can make use of limited colors and tileset space. Pastoral settings can go heavy on pastoral colors, and can splurge on multi-tiled constructs like large trees and flowers. Dungeons can load up on a million different shades of black and a mixtures of chains, gates, and bricks. The more tilesets you are willing to design, the better your game will look. They should all flow together, however, under a common style. (In other words, if you cross Earthbound graphics with Secret of Mana graphics, I kill you!)

I didn't vote in the poll out of courtesy, but I do think you should consider taking a few weeks to design a homemade tileset and sprite library, and switch Chrono Crisis over to that. Designing a game isn't just about building maps and coding events. You have to do a hell of a lot of prep work, too. Creating your basic graphics library is a part of that.

Chains Of Fate

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #9 on: December 26, 2005, 12:07:11 am »
I completely agree Lord J, the difficult thing is that Chrono Trigger is regarded as one of the most beautiful games ever to grace any system, quite a name to live up to. The futuristic tiles actually are original, made by someone named Clest, who agreed to make a few customs for me. However, I just don't think they feel very Crono, either. The new future is supposed to be bright, showing that the world is peaceful and times are good, but neither of these really does capture it exactly. With some help, I'm willing to try to make 100% custom tilesets, I just can't do it alone. I'm really dedicated to completing this project without cutting corners, so if anyone who reads this has spriting talent and would be willing to help, please let me know.

Dirtie

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #10 on: December 26, 2005, 08:00:05 pm »
A combination might be nice. While the modern tileset fits better with the Chrono Trigger style, the indoor shot (the outdoor should be scrapped) of the future tileset looks great.

Dirtie

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #11 on: December 26, 2005, 08:04:51 pm »
(Sorry bout this) ...^But may not fit in so well. It looks like one of the capsule houses from Dragonball Z - and while that may not be a bad thing, certainly because they themselves were designed by the man who did the artwork for our beloved CT - Akira Toriyama; I think when you look at the domes in CT you get kind of a different idea, much like there's a normal (only slightly futuristic) everyday city in there.

GrayLensman

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #12 on: December 27, 2005, 01:29:58 am »
Quote from: Chains Of Fate
I completely agree Lord J, the difficult thing is that Chrono Trigger is regarded as one of the most beautiful games ever to grace any system, quite a name to live up to. The futuristic tiles actually are original, made by someone named Clest, who agreed to make a few customs for me. However, I just don't think they feel very Crono, either. The new future is supposed to be bright, showing that the world is peaceful and times are good, but neither of these really does capture it exactly. With some help, I'm willing to try to make 100% custom tilesets, I just can't do it alone. I'm really dedicated to completing this project without cutting corners, so if anyone who reads this has spriting talent and would be willing to help, please let me know.


Check the end credits of Chrono Trigger.  Square Soft had a whole department full of professional artists to design the graphics for the game.  I think you're doing fairly well with the available resources.  

Admittedly, the tilesets could use some more polish.  There are also many games with similar graphical styles to Chrono Trigger which you could adapt graphics from.  Consider that 1999 AD should be futuristic, but not sterile.  Where are the signs that people live there: litter, graffiti, etc?  The level of detail should also compliment the sprites you are using.  Chrono Trigger has very detailed sprites, so the tilesets need more textures and shading.  Small things like shadows under the street signs make the scene more realistic.

Sentenal

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2005, 02:05:06 am »
I'm not sure, but if Chrono Crisis is set in the 1999ad era, it should be a combination of them.

Lord J Esq

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Which Chrono Crisis tileset do you prefer?
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2005, 07:10:55 am »
Quote from: GrayLensman
Square Soft had a whole department full of professional artists to design the graphics for the game.  I think you're doing fairly well with the available resources.

Pft. It's no contest. I can't recall ever seeing a film or playing a game where a division of faceless corporate computer goons were able to beat a rambunctious young kid who labors out of love and dares to do things a lil' differently. If anything, Chains of Fate should be able to find a way to cram photorealistic 512 bit, fully accelerated 3D graphics into that little RPG Maker, using half the memory and a bucket of elbow grease.

Quote from: GrayLensman
Where are the signs that people live there: litter, graffiti, etc?

What times we live in, where your examples are these instead of rock gardens and street art!