Discovering tile blending... by accident.

When developing a video game, you sometimes have the opportunity to create a tileset. Although this wasn’t my first experience designing tilesets, I knew that I wanted the Kingdom Hex tilesets to be special.

Initially, development proceeded as normal. I focused on finding a unique biome for each of the ten armies, drawing from various terrain types, seasons, and color palettes. I began testing by creating maps with the tilesets to see how they worked together.

For those who are interested in the more technical aspects of tileset design, you will see that I included a slightly yellow light source coming from the upper left corner, and a blueish shadow coming from the lower right.

Then something unexpected occurred. You see, all of the tile sheets use the same position for each tile, but with different colors and textures. I discovered by accident that if you layer a hex from one army over a hex from another, and then have the top hex at a lower opacity, you get a nice blending effect. I began to experiment.

I continued testing these blends and became fascinated with the results. The blending created a map with smooth transitions between biomes, making it feel more cohesive and natural. Akfula then programmed an elegant map editor with blending hexes. The editor also includes trees and mountains that change by detecting which tiles they are placed on.

We realized we had developed a unique way to arrange our tilesets in a natural and beautiful way, and we are very excited to finally share it with you. We understand that the tileset might not always be noticeable when playing, but we believe these small details are felt and are worth the effort. We hope you enjoy it.