Hi there!

I spent the majority of today putting together a tileset composed out of graphics that had either been released as free-for-use on the forums or been used on Maloria in the past. That was the easy part though, making most of the tileset transparent, giving all the shadows 50% transparency and generally fiddling around with it was annoying parts.

In any case, once the tileset was ready, I set out to make an example level with it. I really wanted to get back into making levels again, I think it's been around 5 years since I last gave it a serious attempt. I also wanted to show the community why they should give layers and Gonstruct (unofficial level editor with layer support) way more attention, because right now barely anyone uses either of it.

The result?



I ended up using a total of 6 layers for it.

Layer 0: Basic grass and background for the stream.
Layer 1: Stone path, cliffs and the water covered chest.
Layer 2: Trees, bushes, grass variations, graves, mushrooms, flowers and swamp.
Layer 3: The fence, the cathedral and the bridge.
Layer 4: The sign. I had to have it show above the cathedral. I could've put it on Layer 5, but I found it more organized to leave that for the leafy parts.
Layer 5: Leafy stuff.



Credit goes too Dusty, for the huge amount of graphics he's released to the community. You're making Graal better as a whole just by being around! Sage, for making some great additions that fits very nicely with Dusty's stuff. Graal would be a better place if you would just be more committed to your work. And finally, Aeko, for the leafy stuff.

I attached the tileset I made. No, you may not use it on your server without the consent of me, Sage and Aeko. Yes, all three of us. You may however use it freely for personal use.



I'd love to hear your thoughts on the level as a whole. Could I have done anything better?

Original thread: http://forums.graalonline.com/forums...hp?t=134266558  

What are the advantages of using layers?
And why did you make the leafy edges?  

Posted by Rexx

What are the advantages of using layers?
And why did you make the leafy edges?

Look at the images.  

Layers make everything look cooler. They can also solve a lot of tile errors found in pics1 - like the corners of houses showing for grass, when you want dirt.  

The stream itself is justification for using layers.  

nice  

Posted by Rexx

What are the advantages of using layers?

Pay extra attention to the backside roof of the church going over trees , semi-transparent water showing everthing under it and pretty much everything the leafy edges go over.

Posted by Rexx

And why did you make the leafy edges?

Because it's am awesome way to have a level look like it's located inside of a forest. This level was only a testlevel though, I've got far more grander plans to come closer to SNES RPG-esque levels.  

Awesome job! The tileset looks great, making the level look really neat.  

Posted by Rexx

What are the advantages of using layers?
And why did you make the leafy edges?

Also look at the tileset. You put everything above the other tiles which saves you tiles in your tileset (like corners, shadows,...). You can make extra effects with that aswell like the chest under water.  

I suggest dedicating a few tiles(and a layer) for this:


However it won't fix some oddly designed portions, like the leaves floating over the river. But that's just nitpicking.  

Saw this on the official forums, looks awesome. However I think Layer 6 was overkill.  

Posted by Dusty

I suggest dedicating a few tiles(and a layer) for this:

Great suggestion, one I'll be certain to follow!

Posted by Dusty

However it won't fix some oddly designed portions, like the leaves floating over the river. But that's just nitpicking.

Yeah, I know about that already. I got pissed off after Gonstruct crashing twice without me saving (that's apparently what happens when you right click to floodfill outside of the actual level) so the third time I just rushed the level.