Free Repository for Tile Graphics?

Hentai asks: "I want to make a game. Specifically, I want to make a good, open-source computer RPG, with the same artistic style of the early Squaresoft sprite-pushers, like Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger. I can code well enough, and I can get artists to provide character sprite graphics (which will be open-source, too), but I need background tile graphics on the same vein and caliber as those titles. Web searches invariably lead to commercial or shareware packages, or 'free to the public' tile sets that are, frankly, abysmal. I just need enough quality tiles to start with, and will happily add any new derivations to the repository. Anyone know of a good GPLed tile package that could get me started?"

Comments

Re-inventing the wheel....

[linuxn]

I'll probably get flamed for this , but still , I have to ask: Did you consider contributing to an ongoing effort instead of starting a new one? Here's one in constant need if new blood: http://www.worldforge.org/

Re:Re-inventing the wheel....

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but like the guy below you says, you're still working on someone else's project instead of your own. Better to use a system that does all the crappy stuff (networking, basic graphic/sound engine, etc) for you, so you can work on creating exactly what you wanted. Lately I've become a big fan of BYOND which is tile based, but has a really neat language that allows you to do some very powerful stuff. And it's not just limited to RPGs either (though it's obviously geared towards that). The only real drawback is a lack of a gui client in linux (they have text mode) but we all keep Win32 around for gaming anyway, right? :)

Check it out if you really want to build YOUR own net dream (cool acronym too).

A couple

[agentk]

VRML has a standard texture set (the idea is that it is stored locally, so they don't need to be downloaded from the network). It's not that large, but there are a couple things in there and maybe you could add some. http://www.web3d.org/WorkingGroups/media/

There is also a listing here of image libraries: http://web3d.org/vrml/txlib.htm if you find some good ones you should submit them to this listing.

Some guy also has made a ton of really strange tilable images, in a collection called Propaganda:
http://www.ibiblio.org/propaganda/

reed

The Resynthasizer

[0x0d0a]

The Resynthasizer (linked to in parent post) is an incredibly cool research project that I looked at some time ago. It takes a massive number of CPU cycles, but the imagery it can generate is beyond impressive. Take a look, if you've never seen it before -- take a texture, and it can generate "new" texture based on that data. Have a 640x480 grass texture? It can make an 800x600 grass texture. You've seen images rerendered using a different palette...but what about rerendered using a different type of image -- text made out of grass, etc. *Very* cool.