Tiles

The following images were taken at certain points through two hours of working with tiles to create a 16-bit game. The end result is something that looks like it could have come out of any Final Fantasy title (Between 4 and 6, of course).

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1. The process begins by outlining the island. However, there is no pen tool to create smooth outlines using tiles, so all edge work must be done using a set of 13 tiles (pictured below)

2. The flood fill tool is used to create dirt inside the outline.

3. The edges of the island are outlined in water, creating a "shallow water" effect. Notice how the corners stand out to make the water seem blocky.

4. To make the shallow water blend with the island, several more tiles are added into another layer.

5. The result is a smoothertransition between land and sea. Beaches, perhaps.

6. The same is done around the entire island.

7. Next, a layer of deeper water is added. I'm not sure why. I guess it's to create the illusion of very deep seas further away from the island.

8. Using the same method of tile-by-tile placement of corners, the transition between shallow sea and deep sea is made smooth.

9. I start by drawing giant patches of land. There is no wrong way to do this: I randomly clicked around the map to draw the different areas.

10. As you can see, the tiles are not smooth at all.

11. With certain edge tiles, they become a bit more smooth. Much better than the original, wouldn't you say?

12. I randomly place some mountains at various places around the map. All islands have vast mountain ranges, right?

13. Hurrah! Our first city! Finally, the island is getting to the interesting part. Are the walls a bit excessive? I mean they are in a desert... With no town until they cross the mountain ranges.

14. The rainshadow effect states that it is very hard for clouds loaded with moisture to cross mountains. Therefore, all of the moisture is given off on one side of the mountains, leaving the opposite side desolate. Quite appropriate here, wouldn't you say? A forest on the other side of the mountains.

15. The creation of a forest: No seeds involved. First you draw the outline...

16. Then you fill it up! A few extra trees are nice (everyone knows trees can grow in places besides forests).

17. This is the finished result after I employed the same tactics throughout the entire island. Forests, mountains, cities. Everything eventually blends together to create a very detailed map.