Bay 12 Games Forum

This topic has been moved to Tilesets and Graphics.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=126934.0

Hello folks

Question 1:

How do you use the ALTTILE creature token? Is it possible to use it to create the illusion of "animation" by making a creature blink between two graphics tiles? I particularly want to use it in birds, so they appear to be flapping their wings.

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If not ALTTILE, is there any other way to accomplish the same thing?

Question 2:

Where (as in in what text file and what token) do I define the graphics tile used for creature corpses if I wish each animal or creature to show a unique corpse upon dying. e.g. Instead of a blinking "C"; I want to actually show a dead cyclops. Instead of a "d", I want to show a dead dog, etc.

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Hello all. I'm a recent convert to Dorf Fortress and a total goblin-fodder noob. I've been hearing about it from my friends for ages, but got put off by descriptions of it being a "tower defense game" (a genre I'm not too fond of) and the ASCII graphics. I'm a 3d artist by trade and how a game looks is kind of a big deal to me. Anyway, I was recently playing another roguelike, the most excellent space-themed FTL: Faster Than Light, and while searching for similar games I came across DF again. And having just enjoyed my experience with FTL immensely, I decided to give it a try after seeing screenshots of DF with graphics mods and reading about someone strangling a sasquatch with a turban after gouging his eyes out. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be exactly the kind of world-building game I've been dreaming of for years. The controls were hideous, admittedly, but seeing the potential of the game, it was an obstacle I had to surmount.

Anyway, I currently use Phoebus' tileset, and while they are awesome (as are the others), I still would like something more... personalized. While I'm not really a 2d artist, I am an experienced texture artist and know my way around GIMP and PS. 16x16 pixel art should be relatively easy enough for me to translate my aesthetics into. I'm particularly drawn with how Stonesense rendered the maps beautifully (the vegetation for example) and I'm aiming for something that looks similar but with a front-back perspective and some sense of scale (e.g. shrubs being smaller than trees). Once done, I'm also planning to share it, of course.

However, upon trying to search for even the smallest instructions on where to start, I've come up empty-handed. I've noticed that there are actually lot of graphics mods for DF, so I thought there would be at least instructions for how to do it somewhere. I could do trial and error, but I'd rather not. So is there one? I see hints of it here and there but I may just be too inexperienced to recognize one staring at me in the face. I'm not expecting to be spoonfed, but if someone could at least point me in the right direction, or explain the basics I'd appreciate it.