Understanding Tilesets: Benefits, Types, and Planning for Game Environments

What are Tilesets? What are the advantages of using tiles when designing a game? How to plan the tiles for game environment? What software to use?

Creating game environments that are engaging and look great is essential for keeping players interested. There are several approaches to creating a 2D game environment, each with strengths. The approaches include hand-drawn backgrounds, parallax scrolling, and procedurally generated environments. One of the most popular methods is using tile sets.

What are Tilesets?

Tilesets are collections of small, reusable images called “tiles” arranged in a grid. Each tile represents a small part of the game world. A tile can represent a piece of ground, a segment of a wall, or a decoration. By arranging tiles in different combinations, detailed environments can be created quickly and efficiently.

What are the Advantages of Using Tilesets?

Using tiles for level design is particularly well-suited for games that require consistent, modular environments. Tilesets enable the creation of large environments with no need to draw every detail separately. Since the same tiles are used throughout different parts of the game, it ensures a consistent visual style. Tilesets simplify the design process. Tiles make it easy to modify the environment layout. Tiles can be moved around, new ones added, or old ones replaced without the need to redraw entire scenes.

Popular Games Featuring Environments Crafted from Tilesets Include:

The ground, pipes, blocks, and background elements are all made from tiles that fit together seamlessly. One of the key strengths of the tilesets in “Super Mario Bros.” is their versatility. The same tiles can be rearranged and combined in countless ways to create new and engaging level designs.

Besides shaping the visual aspects of the game, tilesets also influence gameplay in “Super Mario Bros.” Different tiles have distinct properties and behaviors. Touching specific tiles affects Mario’s movement and interactions. For example, certain tiles may be solid platforms that Mario can stand on, while others may be breakable blocks or dangerous obstacles.

Each environment is built from tiles that include grass, water, trees, and various structures.

Understanding Tile Types

There are three main types of tiles commonly used in game design:

Ground tiles make up the base of the game world, showing different terrain for players to walk on.

Common ground tile types include:

Grass:

Lush, green surfaces

Fields
Meadows
Parks
Lawns
Pastures
Gardens
Savannas
Hillsides
Backyards
Farms
Golf Courses
Glades

Dirt:

Earthy, brown tiles

Mountain paths
Forests floors
Deserts
Caves
Construction Sites
Roads
Planting Soil
Battlefields
Campsites
Archaeological Sites
Mining Sites

Sand:

Light-colored, grainy tiles

Deserts
Beaches
Oasis
Sand Dunes
Archaeological Dig Sites
Playgrounds
Volleyball Courts
Sandbars
Dune Fields
Ancient Ruins

Stone:

Hard, rocky surfaces

Mountains
Dungeons
Castles
Courtyards
Fortresses
Mines
Stone-built bridges
Underground labyrinths
Medieval or old towns
Rocky paths
Stone-built towers
Stone pathways
Graveyards
Amphitheaters
Stone-paved roads

Snow:

White, icy surfaces

Snowy Fields
Winter Villages
Snowy Plains
Ice Cliffs
Ice Caves
Frosty woods
Frozen Lakes
Frozen Lakes
Ski Resorts

Concrete

Grey, solid surfaces

Urban Streets
Parking Lots
Industrial Zones
Roadways & Highways
Airport Runways
Skate Parks
Tunnels
Military Bases
Construction Sites

Wooden

Brown, plank-like surfaces

Decks
Bridges
Cabin Floors
Boardwalks
Piers
Docks
Barn Floors
Taverns
Forts
Docks
Dungeon floors
Patios

Metal

Shiny, reflective surfaces

Futuristic floors
Industrial floors
Military Bases
Space Stations
Mining Facilities
Power Plants
Aliens Bases
Factories
Control Rooms
Hangars
Rooftops

Lava

Bright, glowing tiles

Volcanic Craters
Volcanic Mountains
Volcanic Islands
Magma Fields
Fire Caverns
Destruction Zones
Flame Zones
Post-apocalyptic terrains
Meteor Impact Sites
Dangerous mining areas
Fire Pits

Object tiles represent interactive or static elements within the game world. Object tiles add detail and interactivity to the environment.

Common object tile types include:

Trees
Rocks
Bushes
Buildings
Doors
Windows
Fences
Crates
Barrels
Benches
Monuments
Vehicles
Treasure Chests
Food

Decorative tiles add flair and personality to the game world. These tiles include elements that contribute to the ambiance and atmosphere of the environment.

Common decorative tile types include:

Flowers
Fences
Statues
Furniture
Mosaic
Flags
Fountains
Paintings
Chandeliers

While ground, object, and decorative tiles are the primary types commonly used in game design, other specialized types may be utilized depending on the specific requirements of the game. Here are a few additional types of tiles:

These tiles trigger specific actions or events when the player interacts with them. For example, stepping on a switch tile may open a door, while touching a teleporter tile may transport the player to a different location.

Common interactive tile types include:

These tiles cause harm or negative effects on the player. They can be used to create challenging environments, protect valuable areas, or simply increase the difficulty of certain levels.

Used to create various types of water bodies. Water tiles add depth, realism, and complexity to game environments.

Common water tile types include:

Weather tiles are used to simulate different atmospheric conditions in a game. These tiles can change dynamically or be set to specific regions. Weather effects can be purely aesthetic, or they can have tangible effects on gameplay. Weather conditions can affect movement speed, visibility, and more.

Common weather tile types include:

Rain
Snow
Fog
Thunderstorm
Wind
Sandstorm
Tornado
Lightning

Transition tiles bridge the gap between different terrains or levels in a game. Crucial for creating a cohesive and visually appealing game world.

Examples of trasnition tiles:

Planning Your Tileset

After the decision about the concept and theme is made, you can start planning how the game environment will look like.

The first step of the tile set planning phase consists of identifying the necessary tiles for various elements.

Start by identifying the essential tiles needed to create a game environment. Decide what type of ground tiles will be used. What interactive elements, objects, and props will fill the environment? Think about elements that can add detail and enhance the visual richness. What type of interactive elements will be included? Obstacles?

Tile Size and Grid Alignment

Tile Size:

Determine the size of your tiles based on the scale of your game environment and the level of detail you want to achieve. The chosen tile size determines the level of detail that can be achieved within the game environment. The larger the tile size, the fewer tiles you need to cover the screen. Larger tile sizes can lead to a more repetitive-looking environment. Small tile sizes are more suited for pixel art style.

Tile Variations:

Depending on how your game looks and how detailed you want it to be, you might need to make different versions of some tiles. Adding variations can save the game from looking too repetitive and make it more interesting to look at.

Modularity:

Modular design allows for more flexibility and creativity when constructing levels. Design tiles with the ability to be easily rearranged, to construct a wide range of environments. Design tiles that smoothly transition between different types of terrain. This helps create more natural and visually pleasing environments.

Tools and Software for Designing Tilesets

Creating a complete tileset typically requires both design software and a tile editor. Design Software is for creating individual tiles. A tile editor tool to assemble and organize the tiles into a cohesive set. While it’s possible to create a tileset using only design software, using a dedicated tile editor tool can greatly simplify the process.

Design/Illustration Tools:

Tile Editors:

Efficient Tile Organization for Enhanced Performance

Efficiently organizing tiles within a tileset image is a key factor in optimizing game performance. During the rendering process, the game engine loads textures (tiles) from memory. Each time a new texture is needed, a texture swap occurs. This process can be resource intensive and slow down performance.

How to Organize Tiles Efficiently?

Group Similar

Place tiles that are likely to be used together in the same area of the tileset. Try to mirror the tile used in the game world. For instance, if certain tiles often appear adjacent to each other in levels, place them next to each other in the tileset.

Power of Two

Ensure your tileset dimensions are powers of two (e.g., 256×256, 512×512). Many graphics hardware and engines are optimized for these sizes. Avoid leaving large gaps or unused spaces in your tileset. A compact layout maximizes the use of available texture space and minimizes the overall texture size.

Texture Packer Tools:

These tools can automatically arrange your tiles into a single image, known as a texture atlas. That can significantly reduce texture swapping and improve rendering speeds.

Ensure the export settings are configured to match your game engine’s requirements.

Popular Texture Packing Tools:

Conclusion

Game creators need to understand tilesets well to make their game worlds feel real and work smoothly. Now, after we’ve explored the benefits, types, planning considerations, and efficient organization of tilesets, it is time to start drawing some tiles. Stay tuned for our next post, where we will go through the process of creating your tilesets, with plenty of examples, insider tips, and some helpful templates.