ID:1911053
 
Hey guys so I need some help on how to make a forest look flourished, a cave look not boring when walking through, and a mountain well not looking unpleasant. So I have Tree icons that are perfect, but they are trees and that is it. I want to have it where when you encounter a forest you only see nothing but trees for miles,and when you find the entrance into the forest, you enter and you are in another map or well inside the forest which has light peeling from above and shadows. But before that When I did that a booted the game however, the tree tops kept overlaying each other each time I moved. What kind of technique is there to make a realistic and not just like I mashed a bunch of trees together. Also any tips on what the inside of the forest shoudl be? I am going for magical fairy type thing. With caves I just want to know how I can not make it look boring and just straight paths. Lastly I have cliff icons for mountains, but I don't know how to make them not look like they are stuck to each other.
I'd recommend looking at other game art and how they deal with foreground/background art





It's hard for me to think of many 2D games that actually cared about perspective since it has been so long since I played one. But I think Tales of Phantasia did a good job. One of the images is a general forest scene where they just make the tops of the trees mesh together because there's really no way you'd be able to distinctly tell which tree is which when looking at them from above. I look at a mountain and I'm like, "Yeah, there's a ton of trees over there but I'm not too bothered with picking them out individually". So think more of a cohesive ground instead of just a bunch of trees.

The second example is probably a cheat done to save space where the background is just a generic background which has layers put into it and the foreground (if a tree were there) would stand up and we'd be looking at the tree's trunk as things just flow into the background. Not sure what exactly you're looking for but I hope the examples help.
All of the things you mentioned can be improved by focusing on the fluidity of the tile set. Making sure all the tiles flow in and out of each other well is the best way to create a scene. As for specific moods, that generally comes from the colour. Is it a dark scary cave? Then you might want to use dark blues and greys. If its a happy fairy forest then lighter greens and yellows. In an enclosed scene like a forest I find having things to walk under like branches above you can really help set the mood.
Learning how to layer tiles properly will be the first step in actually creating a good looking scene. It's also recommended to actually draw out what you want the scene to look like, first of all. Concept art will go a long way. And as a final tidbit, never be afraid to create a whole new tile set for one particular tree design or grass. You should have 3 or 4 variants of each kind of plants, rocks, dirt, grass, gravel, ect.

You want consistency in the art design, but diversity at the same time. This will be the most tedious part of piecing together your art assets, but don't be afraid to spend 2 weeks on nothing but tile sheets if it makes your game look good.

The problem I see with most developers is that they're so horribly lazy. They only make one variant of a tile and just copy paste it all around and think that looks good. Be super critical about your work. If you think it needs more variation, then do it...

JUST DO IT!
Thanks guys this has really helped me alot, I plan on spending about a week just on mapping.