Cuteclysm

A tileset for the roguelike Cataclysm:Dark Days Ahead. With a clean, cute and minimalist visual style inspired by 16-bit era JRPGs.

Style Guide

General Rules

General rules that guide the style of all sprites in the tileset:

Color Pallete

Cuteclysm doesnt have a well established color pallete. When it comes to terrains and furniture, its best to pick a color from the image above, or to use colors that integrate well into it. The reference image can be found in screenshots/tileset-reference.png

Top and Front Perspective

Cuteclysm renders the world in a three-quarters view that shows the top and front faces of every object. Taller objects show a larger front and a shorter top, while the top face is more prevalent in shorter objects.

Simple Geometry

Sprites should have a simplified geometries and easy to distinguish silluethes. When in doubt, make your sprite look more like an icon than a photograph.

Avoid black outlines

Black or very dark outlines shouldn't be used. Instead, use a less-saturated, darker color taken from the sprite's pallete

Flat and spotless textures.

Objects should be flat colored, or have textures that are as simple as possible. Paint or airbrush like effects shouldn't be used.

A gritty aesthetic should be avoided: objects shouldnt normally show grime, blood or signs of wear damage.

Lightning

The global illumination comes directly from above. So objects cast shadows only on the terrain that lies directly underneath them.

The color used for cast shadows is HEX: #49425A at 50% opacity. The form shadows of objects can be painted with any color of similar values. Black shadows shouldn't be used.