Hi everyone, I am new in game development but am a programmer of 30 years. The problem I am having is the beginning of game development. I have read so many posts but cannot find the answer I am looking for.
Do we need tiles to build a game and if so, where do I build those tiles? I have downloaded Tiled and LdTK and Piskel but I would like to be able to do everything in GDevelop, is this possible?
Also, is there another way to build games without using Pixel art or Tiles?
So, if I need to use Pixel art, where do I make those Tiled backgrounds and characters?
This is confusing to me and as soon as I can understand Tiles, Tilesets and TileMaps and where to build them I will be able to start making my games.
Maybe this question has a very simple answer but like I said I am a newbie.
If you have very small maps or levels you could try to do that, but it is not pleasant. Gdevelop is not offering the functionality that Tiled or Ldtk have. Piskel is integrated in Gdevelop (so you don’t need to download that individually) but is not for making maps with tiles, it allows you to pixel draw and animate sprites (tiles, characters).
You are not limited to tiles or pixel art. You can use any kind of image (photos, drawings, vector graphics etc.) as long as it is saved as a png file.
As mentioned, you don’t need to do that, but if you want to build your level from tiles Tiled and Ldtk are very good solutions. You can read how to import the maps to Gdevelop here https://wiki.gdevelop.io/gdevelop5/objects/tilemap. There are still some limitations but the developers are working on that.
Software like Piskel, LibreSprite and many others allow you to draw tiles and to make tilesets. Tiled and Ldtk allow you to make maps from tilesets.
You can choose to go for a tile-based approach or assemble your levels from pngs of various sizes. It’s the difference between something like a 2D Mario game and Night in the Woods: the former uses a tileset, and the latter is like a series of unique illustrations with assets that are only used once. As Drona said, you are not limited to pixel art. It’s a style choice only. You can use any style of artwork you like.
Oh! Thank you Drona so much for your answer, now things are clearer and I know now where to begin. By the way GDevelop is angreat software and as I can see the support is excellent.