From The Mana World
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== In general ==
{{Status_green}}
*Don't be afraid to show us your unfinished pieces, we are there to guide and help you through the process.
When creating pixel art for TMW, please make sure to follow these guidelines. Pixel art which does not will have a much-lessened chance of getting into the game.
*If possible, hang around the #tmwart channel on irc.freenode.net 24/7.
*When you're available / doing work on tmw related stuff, please contact me on the previously mentioned channel.
*We're soon going to have a centralized repository for all the art related stuff where we're going to archive all of your versions, so you can just start to contribute there without the need to track down a dev. The details on the repository and the preferred version numbering are coming soon. EDIT(20050419): Ask me for details, it's up now.
*Preferred formats: .png and .ogg


== Concerning conceptual art ==
=== Prelude ===
*You can always come up with new ideas to present to the team. Actually that's preferred and we like that.
This article may be a little out of date. If so, here is a link that may help. https://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Dev:Joining_the_project.
*With conceptual art you might want to define important places, capture the generic atmosphere, look, and color scheme of a certain place or define the looks of an important NPC.


== Concerning tiles ==
[[User:Speiros|Speiros]] ([[User talk:Speiros|talk]]) 23:44, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
*We REALLY need a LOT of these, so if you think you can do ANYTHING, please give it a shot.


*Especially on these actively seek out our attention so we can assign new tasks to you. The fact that we won't contact you personally every day doesn't mean we don't need your efforts.
=== General ===
* All graphics '''must''' be released with dual license, under the GNU General Public License and Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike, or a compatible license.
* Try to hang around in our development IRC channel #evol-dev on [irc://irc.libera.chat irc.libera.chat] whenever possible.
* Do not be afraid to show us your pixel art, we are here to guide and help you. Pixel art being worked on can be posted on the [http://forums.themanaworld.org/viewforum.php?f=2 forums] or on GitLab.
* The pixel art '''must''' be made by you or derived from TMW's existing graphics. We will never accept pixel art ripped from other games nor from undisclosed sources.
* The following games can be used as inspiration:
**Secret of Mana 2
**Final Fantasy VI (Named Final Fantasy III in North America)
**Chrono Trigger
**Ragnarok Online


*You can find the technical specifications of tilesets here: [[Tileset development]]
=== General Guidelines ===
* Light Source: Above, from South-West. For tilesets, this roughly means from the bottom-left corner; for items, the top-left. ([[:Image:Lightdirection.png|Example]])
* Perspective: top-down 45° view angle. ([[:Image:Perspective_Reference.png|Example]])
* Dyeable Images: Images can be dyed, see [[Image dyeing]] for more information
* Outlines: 1px, coloured. We use 3 kinds of different outlines:
**Ground level: should have the dullest colors (no outlines everything blends into each other) ([[:Image:Outlines_ground.png|Example]])
**Objects level: stands out from the ground level (with more contrast and maybe even a light outline)
**Sprites (characters, monsters etc.) and item icons level: stands out the most (heavily saturated with dark outlines)
** Objects should be fully lit ([[:Image:Lighting fill.png|Example]])
* Wind Direction: From West to East
* Proportions: A character is approximately one tile wide (32px) and two tiles high (64px) ([[:Image:Size.png|Example]])
* Drop Shadows:
**Large objects on outdoor tilesets have a drop shadow to the northeast
**Flying creatures have a drop shadow ([[:Image:Dropshadow.png|Example]])
**Shadows should be pure black (#000000), and have a opacity of 30%, the edges have a opacity of 15%
* Anti-aliasing: Only if it does not look smooth without it
* Blood: May only be used if it spice up certain environments that needs to be extra creepy. ([[:Image:No_blood_new.png|Example]])
* Quality of art required is relative to what it is meant to add or replace and content it is going to be paired with. Always reference the current art ingame as reference. [https://github.com/themanaworld/tmwa-client-data/tree/master/graphics Current Game Art for reference.]
** PM Wushin on the forums to get added to the art trello [https://trello.com/board/art-development/4ea730ee9982b463f800497e Art trello for TMWA]


*Please keep in mind that a mapper has got only 3 layers: 2 of them are always displayed below players and monsters while the other one is displayed always above. The lowest layer is usually used for ground tiles/walls, and since the limited number of layers, ground tiles should be non-transparent even if this increase a lot the number of tiles in a tileset. Transparent tiles should be only used for objects you can place in different places with different backgrounds such as plants, barrels, ... It is preferrable that cups, and food and whatever else stands on a table is drawn with the table tile below it. Paintings shouldn't have transparent borders, but wall behind them. (if you plan to use for example paintings in different tileset, save them elsewhere as transparent objects and then reapply them to another tile).
=== Creatures ===
[https://trello.com/b/rNnx513z/art-development art-development]
* Mirroring the shape of a sprite is acceptable, provided the shading is correct on each frame.
* There is no size restriction, although the "attackable" area of a monster is only 1*1 tile.


*Although we prefer high quality tiles over low quality ones, please keep in mind that we try to resemble the look of old SNES games. So please try not to make the tiles too realistic. This mean please don't use textures you get from reality, such a picture of a wooden piece and use it for your tiles. We strongly encourage you to manually pixelate every tile and avoid to use gradients or filters such as blur too excessive.
=== Icons ===
[[User:EJlol/Guidelines/Icon examples|Icon Development]]
* Use other icons as examples if possible ([[:Image:Icons.png|Example]])


*All the tileset should use some coherence:
=== NPCs ===
**'''Light direction:''' south-west for outdoor tilesets (of course there will be exceptions: different (or special) areas could have a different direction of light to give it a subtle different feeling, such as lava caves with subtle orange light from the bottom, and deep in the dark forest with glowing mushrooms), diffuse light for indoor tilesets diffused light is nice, but overusage could lead into problems with contrast between the inside and the outside.
* NPCs must be in the same style as the player sprites.
**[[Image:Perspective-schematic.png|right|150px]]'''Perspective:''' top-down 45° view angle (see the schematic to the right, the thick gray line is the length with which the side and bottom are perceived, a factor of 0.7 smaller).
* NPCs do not and should not be constrained by player pose and body shape.
**'''Proportions:''' a character is approximately one tile wide and two tiles high.
* NPCs oversized objects (forges,looms,etc.) are animated tiles (see maps)
**'''Color style:''' try to use the same color palette for the whole tileset. the selection of color is important for the feeling of the tileset. weak colors with a high amount of grey for example are good for a sad and cold feeling while bright colors create a happy and warm atmosphere. whatever atmosphere you choose: it should be consistent through the whole tileset. avoid using weird "alien" colors (keep saturation low :P).
* NPCs should be a base nude model.
**'''Drop shadows:''' large objects on outdoor tilesets (like buildings, for example) should have drop shadows cast to the northeast. The shadows should be pure black with an opacity of 30%. the edges of the shadows should only have an opacity of 15%.
* Appearance is changed by adding clothing layers.
**'''Reuse:''' The tiles in one tileset should be able to be put together in as many different ways as possible to allow the mapper to express his creativity. This is the base requirement for:
* NPCs clothing is a separate sheet.
*** Borders between different heights: http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/digifami/digiweb/dot_teck/3nen/05/8.gif
* Shadow is either a particle effect or clothing.
***Fences http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/digifami/digiweb/dot_teck/3nen/04/053.gif http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/digifami/digiweb/dot_teck/3nen/04/052.gif http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/digifami/digiweb/dot_teck/3nen/04/054.gif
* Fringe Items are to be added as either a particle effect or clothing.
(please note that the above pictures are only for demonstrational purpose. they are copyrighted and not part of the mana world project).
* Shadows are NOT to be used on the Nude Models.
* Mob Sprites Can be used for NPCs as well
* Player Sprite Sheets can be used to create NPCs
* NPC Animations can be done by combining Player Sprite Sheet actions (i.e. chopping a log is the same as axe attack)
* Npcs are still not yet mobile.
 
=== Tilesets ===
[[Tileset development]]
* All tilesets should have the same amount of texture. Use the [https://github.com/themanaworld/tmwa-client-data/blob/master/graphics/tiles/forest.png New Forest Tileset] as reference
* Do not use visible outlines
* Do not use vanishing point projection. All objects have to be drawn in zero-point perspective ([[:Image:Vanishing point perspective.png|Example]])
* Use pure black (#000000) for "nothing"; eg, the tiles surrounding indoor or dungeon areas.
* Try to match the brightness and contrast of the reference tileset
** Outdoor: Woodland tileset
** Indoor: Woodland Indoor tileset
** Dungeons: Cave tileset
* All tiles on a single tileset should have the same warmth to them, unless it should specifically be otherwise.
* When adding to an existing tileset, try to use the same colours as much as possible to get the same feeling
* Sets need to be mapping complete (i.e. indoor.png, indoor_x2.png, etc.) to allow for fringe layering and to fix Scythe & Christmas Tree hat.
* When adding a set naming convention should describe the terrain of the tiles not that location or content using all lowercase and - (i.e. woodland-graveyard-x2)
* Check Existing tilesets before creating a new tileset to see if you can extend current content.
 
== How to get your content in to the game ==
 
===Forum Method===
*Start a thread in the [https://forums.themanaworld.org/viewforum.php?f=2 forum], with a subject line beginning [WIP] (work in progress).
*Discuss it and edit it a few times until it's ready.
*You can bump your post if it gets buried too deep and reviewers cannot find it anymore, but don't abuse.
*If you don't want your art to get lost, submit it on GitLab directly.
*It'll be pushed to master once it's final version is approved.


== Tutorials ==
== Tutorials ==
When you are not very experienced at creating pixel art, you should take a look at the following tutorials. You can learn many interesting tricks from them.
If you are not very experienced at creating pixel art, you should take a look at the following tutorials. You can learn many interesting tricks from them.


*[http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo/ So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist] by Tsugumo. (more recent version [http://www.geocities.com/skulkraken2002/])
*[http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo/ So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist by Tsugumo].
*[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.enterbrain.co.jp%2Fdigifami%2Fdigiweb%2Fdot_teck%2F3nen%2F3_01.html&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools Enterbrains Tutorial (translated from Japanese by Google)]. all the above images have been taken from this tutorial.
*[http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/ Mark's Pixel Art Tutorial]
*[http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/ Mark's Pixel Art Tutorial]
*[http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel01.html Derek Yu's Pixel Art Tutorial]
*[http://www.derekyu.com/?page_id=218 Derek Yu's Pixel Art Tutorial]
*[http://www.spriteart.com/main.html Great st0ven's site]
*[http://pixel-zone.rpgdx.net/shtml/tutorials.shtml Pixel-Zone Tutorials]
*others : [http://www.pixel-arts.org/pixelation/index.php?topic=222.0], [http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/links.asp?id=2192], [http://pixel-zone.rpgdx.net/shtml/tutorials.shtml].
*[http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/links.asp?id=2192 Pixel Art Links]
*[http://mruk.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/the-mana-world-pixelart-tutorial-desert-well/ Mruk's Desert Well Tutorial]
* [http://mruk.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/the-mana-world-tutorial-challanging-an-imposible-shape/ Mruk's Impossible Shape Design Tutorial]
 
[[Category:Development]]

Latest revision as of 03:56, 27 March 2024

This article is for reference purpose

The features described in this article are already implemented in the game. The article should describe how a certain aspect of the game currently works. You may of course edit this article to improve the description of the circumstances. Your opinions or improvement suggestions about the described aspects themself are of course appreciated, too. But please put these on the discussion page of this article to keep facts and fiction separated.

When creating pixel art for TMW, please make sure to follow these guidelines. Pixel art which does not will have a much-lessened chance of getting into the game.

Prelude

This article may be a little out of date. If so, here is a link that may help. https://wiki.themanaworld.org/index.php/Dev:Joining_the_project.

Speiros (talk) 23:44, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

General

  • All graphics must be released with dual license, under the GNU General Public License and Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike, or a compatible license.
  • Try to hang around in our development IRC channel #evol-dev on irc.libera.chat whenever possible.
  • Do not be afraid to show us your pixel art, we are here to guide and help you. Pixel art being worked on can be posted on the forums or on GitLab.
  • The pixel art must be made by you or derived from TMW's existing graphics. We will never accept pixel art ripped from other games nor from undisclosed sources.
  • The following games can be used as inspiration:
    • Secret of Mana 2
    • Final Fantasy VI (Named Final Fantasy III in North America)
    • Chrono Trigger
    • Ragnarok Online

General Guidelines

  • Light Source: Above, from South-West. For tilesets, this roughly means from the bottom-left corner; for items, the top-left. (Example)
  • Perspective: top-down 45° view angle. (Example)
  • Dyeable Images: Images can be dyed, see Image dyeing for more information
  • Outlines: 1px, coloured. We use 3 kinds of different outlines:
    • Ground level: should have the dullest colors (no outlines everything blends into each other) (Example)
    • Objects level: stands out from the ground level (with more contrast and maybe even a light outline)
    • Sprites (characters, monsters etc.) and item icons level: stands out the most (heavily saturated with dark outlines)
    • Objects should be fully lit (Example)
  • Wind Direction: From West to East
  • Proportions: A character is approximately one tile wide (32px) and two tiles high (64px) (Example)
  • Drop Shadows:
    • Large objects on outdoor tilesets have a drop shadow to the northeast
    • Flying creatures have a drop shadow (Example)
    • Shadows should be pure black (#000000), and have a opacity of 30%, the edges have a opacity of 15%
  • Anti-aliasing: Only if it does not look smooth without it
  • Blood: May only be used if it spice up certain environments that needs to be extra creepy. (Example)
  • Quality of art required is relative to what it is meant to add or replace and content it is going to be paired with. Always reference the current art ingame as reference. Current Game Art for reference.

Creatures

art-development

  • Mirroring the shape of a sprite is acceptable, provided the shading is correct on each frame.
  • There is no size restriction, although the "attackable" area of a monster is only 1*1 tile.

Icons

Icon Development

  • Use other icons as examples if possible (Example)

NPCs

  • NPCs must be in the same style as the player sprites.
  • NPCs do not and should not be constrained by player pose and body shape.
  • NPCs oversized objects (forges,looms,etc.) are animated tiles (see maps)
  • NPCs should be a base nude model.
  • Appearance is changed by adding clothing layers.
  • NPCs clothing is a separate sheet.
  • Shadow is either a particle effect or clothing.
  • Fringe Items are to be added as either a particle effect or clothing.
  • Shadows are NOT to be used on the Nude Models.
  • Mob Sprites Can be used for NPCs as well
  • Player Sprite Sheets can be used to create NPCs
  • NPC Animations can be done by combining Player Sprite Sheet actions (i.e. chopping a log is the same as axe attack)
  • Npcs are still not yet mobile.

Tilesets

Tileset development

  • All tilesets should have the same amount of texture. Use the New Forest Tileset as reference
  • Do not use visible outlines
  • Do not use vanishing point projection. All objects have to be drawn in zero-point perspective (Example)
  • Use pure black (#000000) for "nothing"; eg, the tiles surrounding indoor or dungeon areas.
  • Try to match the brightness and contrast of the reference tileset
    • Outdoor: Woodland tileset
    • Indoor: Woodland Indoor tileset
    • Dungeons: Cave tileset
  • All tiles on a single tileset should have the same warmth to them, unless it should specifically be otherwise.
  • When adding to an existing tileset, try to use the same colours as much as possible to get the same feeling
  • Sets need to be mapping complete (i.e. indoor.png, indoor_x2.png, etc.) to allow for fringe layering and to fix Scythe & Christmas Tree hat.
  • When adding a set naming convention should describe the terrain of the tiles not that location or content using all lowercase and - (i.e. woodland-graveyard-x2)
  • Check Existing tilesets before creating a new tileset to see if you can extend current content.

How to get your content in to the game

Forum Method

  • Start a thread in the forum, with a subject line beginning [WIP] (work in progress).
  • Discuss it and edit it a few times until it's ready.
  • You can bump your post if it gets buried too deep and reviewers cannot find it anymore, but don't abuse.
  • If you don't want your art to get lost, submit it on GitLab directly.
  • It'll be pushed to master once it's final version is approved.

Tutorials

If you are not very experienced at creating pixel art, you should take a look at the following tutorials. You can learn many interesting tricks from them.