How to make a good custom palette.

Discussion in 'Tutorials Archive' started by pixelcat, Apr 29, 2016.

  1. pixelcat

    pixelcat The Holy Cat Jr. Member

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    Okay, m8s, so you want to create a palette, but you fail everytime?
    That thread is for u!

    Well, let's make a sunset GHZ because why not.

    We need to build our palette around a base color. It would be an orange sky for us. But if you want to make a palette for indoor location, choose anything you want
    Lets start from the sky, its a base anyway.

    [​IMG]
    See the palette? See the gradients?

    Rule 1.

    Gradients should remain in place. You choose new colors, but this gradient should be there with a new colors. If it isnt, shading will be messed up.
    _____________


    Now lets make an orange sky.

    [​IMG]

    You can see that the primary color doesn't work well there.

    [​IMG]

    Rule 2.

    DO NOT use primary colors. Use shades.
    _____________

    Woo, thats better. Now use the Rule 1 and change dem clouds.

    [​IMG]

    Hint. Better do gradients by adding and subtracting. For example,
    C64 - E86 - EA8 - ECA - EEC - EEE from color to white;
    C64 - A42 - 820 - 600 - 400 - 200 - 000 to black.

    Be always sure to experiment and alter it around if you don't like something.

    [​IMG]


    Rule 3.

    If you dont like a slight thing about a palette, fix it.
    _____________


    Water. Well, sea reflects the sky, so it should be orange, but remember, its a sea, not a mirror, it should be somehow different from the sky.

    [​IMG]

    Go change the waterfalls to match the sea!

    [​IMG]
    Woo, thats good.



    Lets start the FG!

    The light is orange, and it affects the FG as well.

    Look at the ground's pallet. Red + Green = orange, and as we have a lot of red there, add green.

    [​IMG]

    Grass have a lot of green, add red.

    [​IMG]

    Again, be sure to experiment. I added a bit of blue to make it softer.

    [​IMG]

    Ooooh, thats good now.


    Hint. Blue makes color softer. Red makes it brighter.

    Shadows need blue shade to it, sunlight needs a little yellow.

    Well, now you can fix all other colors with the advantage I gave you.

    Nnoww, see this in-game!

    [​IMG]

    Good, right?
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2017
  2. ProjectFM

    ProjectFM Optimistic and self-dependent Member

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    I'm also in the middle of making a palette guide but it covers different things. This guide seems unnecessary because it basically says to just experiment until you make it look just right. However, your hints give pretty good advice.
     
    pixelcat likes this.
  3. pixelcat

    pixelcat The Holy Cat Jr. Member

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    That's the whole point, I've seen a lot of palletes that are done lazily. Its like they see its not good, but give up and show it.

    And well, thats how I always do palletes. Experiment and experiment, can do nothing about it. :Р

    Lookin' forward to your guide through.
     
  4. presto

    presto Raised from the dead... Member

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    Sorry for the noobish question, but what program are you using in the post?
     
  5. pixelcat

    pixelcat The Holy Cat Jr. Member

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    S1LE - a beautiful Russian level editor. Sadly, It dont have an English language support
     
  6. Soldaten

    Soldaten The Coilgun Root Admin

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    So, you made a tutorial using a program that a majority of the people here can't use.
    Nice.
    EDIT- bleh.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2016
  7. Misinko

    Misinko Oh SHIT it's the Biolizard! Member

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    The concepts he presented are universal when it comes to palette design. You could take these principles, and apply them while using SonLVL, or any other program that allows you to edit palettes if you wanted to.
     
  8. AbyssalLeopard

    AbyssalLeopard Well-Known Member Member

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    I suggest making a more detailed explanation, perhaps making a brief explanation of what some things might mean, you know, like some colour-use techniques like hue-shifting, for people who have just started hacking? Or perhaps linking to sites explaining the vital principles to shade properly since, even though we aren't exactly drawing, we have to know how a correct way of shading is so that we edit things well. Anyway, this should be really handy for the beginners around here who don't have much of an idea of how to make an actually good palette. Great job, Cat!
     
  9. LooneyDude

    LooneyDude Back after a long absence! Member

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    It may not be the world's most in-depth guide, but it does the job well and I can imagine it coming in handy for those with less experience, so well done! ;)
    However, I must ask something a bit unrelated, so bear with me. Is there something wrong with your keyboard because some letters are duplicated a lot:
    • oh wwwell, itss still not good!
    • sea refleeects the sky
    • Grass have a lot of greeeen
    • add blue to makke it softer
    • Nnoww, see this in-game!
    It's a little distracting, but it's not that big of a deal, just irks me a bit.
     
    Crimson Neo and AURORA☆FIELDS like this.
  10. nineko

    nineko I am the Holy Cat Member

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    Aside from that, if you make a tutorial about something, make sure that at least that something is spelt correctly (palette, not pallete).
     
  11. pixelcat

    pixelcat The Holy Cat Jr. Member

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    Yep, my keyboard is kinda shit.
    Whoops. I was sure it's spelled like that
     
  12. pixelcat

    pixelcat The Holy Cat Jr. Member

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    Fixed all the derpy language here. It felt too cringy for me.
     
  13. EMK-20218

    EMK-20218 The Fuss Maker Exiled

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    For a "how to make the thing better" tutorial, this one is pretty good. I'm not sure if this guide will be useful for most of the users here, but for sure the people who're starting in Sonic Hacking will like this one. It's very welcome, but I think this guide could cover how the same would work in a completely different level or a different Sonic game (Sonic 2 or 3) too. Pretty nice, indeed.