Castle and Palaces Tileset version 2.0

Created by: Tony (Knightcrawler)
E-mail: Knightcrawler2@yahoo.com
AIM: KnightcrawlerZ0
Created for: Zelda Classic
Tileset: NewFirst


History:

2.1
	I decided to try to make a dais for the palace to rest on, but meh, you guys can do that yourself. :-P I DID notice a few mistakes as I was trying to do this and the mock-up screenshots (no, they're not from in-game, they're truly mock-ups. So sue me. :-P), so I fixed them. Anyway I just want to remind everyone that even this gigantic tileset here is a starting point. You'll probably still have to do 5% of the tilework yourself, overlaying, creating a few custom tiles by using the stuff I have done, etc.. Well, good luck on your quest!

2.0
	So, you've decided to download my Castle/Palace Tileset v. 2.0. Why is it called v. 2.0? Well about 2 years ago, I uploaded another similar tileset to PureZC and the Zelda Classic forums. This tileset was named "Castle and Weather Tiles," and can still be found on PureZC today. The tileset recieved mixed reviews. Some loved it, some hated it, and one or two people were somewhere in-between. The complaints were that even though I meant the tiles to go along with Newfirst, the style of my tiles didn't exactly match Newfirst. They were too "busy" or complicated, with shading that wasn't strong enough to give a defined sense of shape. So when I finally realized the complainers were correct, I decided to rectify my mistakes and redo most of my tiles for a v. 2.0.
	But I was in no real hurry. Life and larger, more important (to me) mod projects were in the way. But every now and then I dabbled in my tileset and made corrections here and there. Well as of Halloween day, 2005, I finally finished the darn thing up. The new version had some tiles removed. No longer were weather effects a feature; other people could and had done them better than I did them and it really wasn't important to try to outdo these people. The new version of the tileset doesn't include the old castle tiles, either. If you want those or the weather tiles, just download the old one. I kept the original extra NPCs that I created (two soldiers, a prisoner, and a Goron merchant), and a few miscellaneous tiles here and there. Most of the rest were completely redone, and a few were altered in some minor way.
	So how is it that there are more tiles now when I took all that other bad stuff out than before? Well, at some point I got to thinking that castle adventuring would be a dozen times more fun if you could exit the interior of the castle and walk around the edge on a catwalk, even between two towers or whatever. So I decided to make a catwalk, which I think turned out very well. But then I needed something to hold it up, so I made some pillars. I did a color swap from my cement/regular stone pillars and got sandstone, but then I realized I could also do marble, which I am also proud of. "Well if I have pillars, don't I need to add a few more tiles to make it so that the quest creator can make a palace?" And so I did. I added tiles for a gable and roof. And every decent gable has friezes, so I made some of those. But what if the person wants to hold up the catwalk with arches instead of pillars? So I made arches, and I made them well and still made those all in the three styles from the pillars.
	To the castle I added a requisite drawbridge, derived from one of the old wooden pieces I made for my last set. I also made a... concave section to the castle. It's a bit hard to describe. You'll see them on the middle and bottom left of the first "page" of tiles, to the left of the floor samples. Overlay them over your chosen floor and provide the appropriate transparent spaces and you can create a roundish (instead of squared-off) hole in your castle... in case Link ever needs to fall or see down into a courtyard. There's other ways to do it, but this just provides more options. I made two borders for the emblems/frescos so that you can place them wherever you want without going too far out of your way in terms of tile placement or making new tiles. I've made a second, less "busy" version of the ivy, but kept the old since it still looks pretty good. I've improved the banners and flags, pushable rocks, burnable wood piles (and added one I think), dramatically improved the "darkening pit" castle tiles, and I think added a window or two. Nobody could decide on the floors, so I made 8. You choose whichever one you like.
	Oh, and I also included four versions of the Deku Baba I made for someone on request a long time ago. They both use newfirst palettes, but one of them uses the same colors as Link. I've also included a variety of thorn bushes. They're really all one bush, I just created it in pieces and overlayed them. Use whichever you like. Both are meant to be destructable damaging tiles.



How to Use:

First "Page":
	Here you'll find a number of things:
	- Castle tiles: The general shape of the WALLS of the castle. You'll notice they have no floor. You have to overlay the tiles on them when you choose which you like best. There's square castle tiles that should be the bulk of the castle, and rounded castle wall tiles that are really meant for putting holes into the castle where a player could "see down." You'll also see what appears to be a cluster of tiles to the top-right of the floor samples. When you start making your castle, you'll see why you need them. They're basically for rounding off corners. You'll also see what look like shaded versions of the castle walls. They are just that. If you want to give a "bottomless pit" impression in a castle, you can use these. They are meant to fade to black, so be careful how you use them. You can see a variety of arches for entering and a bombable wall as well.
	- Floor tiles: There are 8 styles of floor tiles. Choose whichever you like and finish off the castle tiles with them by overlaying. You'll also see that I've made a bombable floor for each of them, two for the regular gray foor.
	- Wood: There's a flagpole, two burnable stacks of wood (hey, gotta use that candle), and two wood floors for using however you like. You can even use those last two for the castle floor if you want. The flagpole is really meant to be a fancy hookshot target, so keep that in mind.
	- Funky-colored lines: Those are animated streams of water for one of the friezes, a gargoyle. Just use it like you would the waterfall, except as a layer.
	- Fire: Firepits and torches. Use to decorate your castle.
	- Flag: Use to decorate your castle. Use in conjunction with the flagpole. It's animated, so make sure you use the right flagpole top too.
	- Windows: Three of them, one of them is two tiles wide and animated. Climb up the ivy and into the princess' chambers to... save her? Of course that's what you were doing!
	- Emblems: 4 cool emblems and two borders for placing them. One is supposed to be Hylian, one Sheikah, one Ganon-style, and one just general.
	- Stones: More appropriate stones for pushing. 3 sizes for weight lifters.
	- Treasure Chest: Just one more to add to your collection.

Second "Page":
	- Ivy: The old and new ivy. Use whichever you think looks better. There's an example to its right on how to use it. This is only an example; more combinations of ivy and wall pieces are possible. This also looks good in another Newfirst CSet, where it looks old/dying or in Fall colors or golden lighting. However you prefer to think of it.
	- Banners: Use to decorate your castle. They're animated.
	- Friezes: Designs, monsters, an eyeball, and a lunar eclipse (with the crescent moon backwards... It wouldn't have worked the other way and honestly does it really matter?) Use these to decorate your gable or even castle.
	- Newfirst tiles: 9 of them. I'm such a thief! Well sorta, I just put it there for your convenience and changed the shadow color for some of them I think. There was no need to redo them.
	- Drawbridge: Enough tiles to make any darned realistic drawbridge you want, really. The chains alone should be overlayed or layered over other tiles, of course.
	- Palace tiles: There's the columns, which you can use for more than just the palace. They come, like much of the rest of the tileset, in three flavors: concrete/stone, sandstone, and marble. Recolor them all you want for whatever effect you desire. The gable is the triangular thing that rests on the columns, btw. Well, it's usually triangular, but I was nice and put in some tiles that will allow you to have a flat section or ten if you want. The roof is the roof. Took a lot of work, actually.

Third "Page":
	- Catwalk tiles: Have a doorway leading out from the castle to this catwalk or simply use it as an aquaduct if you want. A lot of these tiles really should be layered. There's no floor, did you see that? Look up to the first page. There you go. There ARE some duplicate tiles. I put them there so you could get a better feel of how to use the catwalk. However, be careful. A few tiles there only differ on two or so pixels, but they do matter. You'll notice that it looks like there are struts sticking out the bottom. Those are really beneath the floor and behind and stick into whatever wall the catwalk is up against. What if there is no said wall, and it's just winding through the air? I'm sure you will find the tiles I made for that. You can also climb down from the catwalk using a rope.
	- NPCs: Hey, I like them. A lot. They look good. Layer then over an invisible NPC to create the effect of a bigger NPC library, unless of course the new version can expand its NPC library...
	- Damaging tiles: Final and semi-final Deku Baba tiles. One of each for the overworld palette and the Link palette. They're animated. Slash them and reveal the underlay. There's also thorns. Slash them to reveal the underlay. The right-most thorn bush is my first attempt, btw.
	- Arches: Three flavors. You know you love it. Create an aquaduct by piling these guys on top of each other, and I was nice enough to make it possible to have archest of varying widths. But they're really not primarily for aquaducts, they're meant as another way of holding up the catwalk or using to hold up sections of the castle. You can even use them as an entrance to the castle or palace, which they can also be used directly in.


Other:
	This tileset was a lot of work. I made it to be extendable and flexible. If you find you need another tile here or there, just make it. Copying what I have done should be plenty easy. No, I won't make you a custom frieze or NPC or anything.


Credits:

	Me. That's "Tony (Knightcrawler)." Tony being the first name, Knightcrawler being my handle/nickname/callsign/whatever. For those who wonder, Knight + Nightcrawler (the X-Men character). Two of my favorite things when I needed an online handle all those years ago.

	Whoever did Newfirst. Go you!

	Zelda Classic and its makers. Go you too! I suspect one of you did Newfirst, so you get two "Go you!"s I guess. Sorry about that, guys.

	The community for griping at me.


Disclaimer:

	If you want to use this for anything other than Zelda Classic, you're gonna have to ask me (via E-mail or AIM), and I'm gonna have to say yes. And I probably will say yes, btw. And you will also HAVE to put me in the credits, attributing this entire tileset (except any changes you make) to me. If you're using it for Zelda Classic, go ahead. You don't need to ask me. Please put me in the credits somewhere if you can.