Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

How should I export my tileset?

A topic by SomeMachine created 9 days ago Views: 109 Replies: 3
Viewing posts 1 to 4

Hiya, I just finished a 16x16  cave tileset.  Its got base tiles [ground, grass, walls etc..],static props and sprites for props breaking and opening, and even character sprites for the player and a slime.

I'm releasing it very soon [a day or two] , but the thing is I don't know the best way to export the tiles. Should i export each image separately? Like ground1, ground2 because I'll end up with atleast 100 of them. Or should I separate them into sections, like here's a sprite sheet for just the static props and here for the animated ones? 

Plus I'm planning on adding on even more tiles and sprites with time.

Currently, I've done the latter method, and i have been doing it for the last two tileset ive made, but thats because ive never had feedback.

Your advice would be very much appreciated! 

Can't you just look how other developer release such things? /game-assets/free/tag-16x16

It's a personal preference thing. Some developers are fine with a comprehensive spritesheet with all of the assets on it. Others prefer to have them split into individual image files. 

Personally, I go by the philosophy that all game devs have their own workflow/process and I can't possibly predict how every individual prefers to have their spritesheets set up. Go by what makes the most sense to you. If you'd like ideas for how to set up spritesheets, you can absolutely look at how other people have done theirs

Two things have mattered most for us when packing tile art for others to use. Ship both forms. One sheet per functional group, which is what you already have, plus the individual PNGs in a folder. Some buyers drag a sheet into a tilemap editor and slice it there. Others want single files for an atlas packer. Offering both costs one export step and removes the most common support question. Keep the grid exact. Same cell size everywhere, no stray padding on one sheet and not another, no trimmed transparent edges. Importers key on a fixed cell pitch, and a sheet that's off by a pixel is what makes a pack feel broken. Put animated frames on their own sheet, since engines treat them differently from static tiles. And if you target a specific engine, include its own tileset resource file. That saves buyers more time than extra art does.