Tilesets need surfaces. This is a very noticable part of tilesets, and if
done incorrectly, the tileset can be devastating. First of all, all textures
must be a 64x64 bitmap with 24 bit depth. (automatic) These textures must be
tileable, meaning they can be placed side by side in a continous pattern with no
visible seems.
Tileable
Non-Tileable
Notice the Tileable one can be placed side by side an
infinite number of times with no seems visible. While the one of the opposite
side will have seems if you try to tile it.
We have 5 surfaces, and if
you look at some existing tilesets, you'll see that y can have multiple bmps for
each surface, usually titled surface1a.bmp, surface1b.bmp and so on... These
must all be tileable with each other. We don't need surface 1 to be tileable
with surface 3, for that won't work, but we need 1a to be tileable with 1b and
1c. This can be an example:
These are all surface 1. They are
tileable with each other, and have a different look to them all. In the xml, we
can specify how often to show each different type of surface. For example, we
can show the first picture 45% of the time, the second picture 10% of the time,
and the last picture 45% of the time. This way there isn't too many stones, but
mostly grass, that has a more natural random feel to it rather than a set
un-natural look.
Remember that we need 5 different surfaces. Generally, surface 1 is most
used, and surface 2 is a slightly different variety of surface 1. Surface 3 is a
type of road, and surface 4 is also a type of road, generally stone or simular.
Surface 5 is custom and can be whatever you want it to be.
That's pretty
much sums up textures. Now we need to go onto models.