When i design #NES level tilesets, i design them in tandem with laying the tiles out on a series of connected screens. They don't necessarily represent exactly what's going into the game in the end, but they're all NES displayable.
In the case of these 2 Halcyon environments the world is very large and some consessions to entropy need to be made in order for it to fit. For example, collision happens at 16 by 8 pixels so all structures will match that in the end.
@FrankenGraphics These look so good.
How hard is it to work with the limitations that the NES has for simultaneous number of unique tiles or number of colors on the screen? Do you prefer it over just keeping the palette and going hog-wild with unique tiles?
@thecubemiser In a way, i find it creatively helpful to have a set of rules imposed on me. I wouldn't know where to begin if every parameter was freestyle.
With the NES PPU, i know i have up to 13 background colours i may use in a scene, i know the rules how i can place them which informs the style i need to develop, i know my resolution well because it's always the same, and i know that scenes typically need to be 256 tiles or under to be practical to implement. That sets the foundation.
mr watt
FrankenGFX
sixsik6
theCubeMiser
Joel Hill
nivs