# So I tried playing without tilesets for the first time, and

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [November 11, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918 "2013-11-11T06:15:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![voskhod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e19b73/32.png) [@voskhod](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/voskhod)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/1 "2013-11-11T06:15:57Z")

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![](https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpj1xmfxfnkdcqa/example.jpg)

…And I actually think it’s better than playing with any tiles at all.

…Is what I would say, if it were not for a very big problem I have with this: The default texture is just periods. Lots and lots of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
This is a problem because it’s extremely difficult on my eyes to try and make out terrain that’s signified by tiny, colored dots on a black background.  
Why can’t the default tile by an entire square, and not just a pinprick of color against a black background? This would make the game so much more bearable to play without tilesets  
So is there any way to change this at all? I’d really love to play Cataclysm with ASCII, I really do, but it’s just that I feel like I’m trying to look at a map while wearing a black skiing mask backwards.

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**Author:** ![jcannon98188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@jcannon98188](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/jcannon98188)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/2 "2013-11-11T06:22:50Z")

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Using periods as the background is kind of like the standard when using ascii tiles.

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**Author:** ![voskhod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e19b73/32.png) [@voskhod](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/voskhod)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/3 "2013-11-11T06:24:28Z")

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Well, no, the periods aren’t the background, they’re terrain - common terrain like grass, dirt, sand, etc.

The background is just solid black.

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**Author:** ![PoeSalesman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c67d28/32.png) [@PoeSalesman](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/PoeSalesman)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/4 "2013-11-11T08:15:24Z")

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I can’t stand solid blocks of color myself, and that would be harder on my eyes, so I’d much prefer it stay the way it is. It’s possible a custom tileset of sorts could give you what you want, but it doesn’t seem like alternative ASCII tilesets exist for this game.

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**Author:** ![Medicine](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/medicine/32/211_2.png) [@Medicine](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Medicine)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/5 "2013-11-11T13:30:17Z")

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Solid colours make it really hard (for me, anyway) to distinguish objects, monsters and even the PC from the terrain. I’m colourblind between red/green, though, so it’s already a nightmare for me to make out 90% of Zeds.

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**Author:** ![Luissen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/luissen/32/1025_2.png) [@Luissen](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Luissen)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/6 "2013-11-11T13:36:31Z")

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Honestly, I don’t have an issue with most of the terrain types. they’re mostly interchangable except for “bottomless pit” in nuclear silos…

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**Author:** ![Ian\_Strachan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/ian_strachan/32/1003_2.png) [@Ian\_Strachan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Ian_Strachan)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/7 "2013-11-11T18:49:13Z")

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> [@voskhod](#):
>
> Why can’t the default tile by an entire square, and not just a pinprick of color against a black background?

Because fully-highlighted squares are used to indicate that multiple items are in the square.

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**Author:** ![Nighthawk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/nighthawk/32/896_2.png) [@Nighthawk](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Nighthawk)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/8 "2013-11-12T02:36:19Z")

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Have you guys tried using an inverted font (white text on a black background) in the game?

It’s pretty intense.

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**Author:** ![Luissen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/luissen/32/1025_2.png) [@Luissen](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Luissen)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/9 "2013-11-12T02:44:11Z")

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[quote=“Nighthawk, post:8, topic:3918”]Have you guys tried using an inverted font (white text on a black background) in the game?

It’s pretty intense.[/quote]

I’ve tried the converse, and its confusing. I like my dark (but not overpoweringly black) background

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**Author:** ![vultures](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/vultures/32/69_2.png) [@vultures](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/vultures)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/10 "2013-11-12T19:44:04Z")

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Has anyone finished the .noe file for the NotEye Frontend (roguelike), Cataclysm\_DDA?  
It’s promising and you get to play with presets. All the major roguelikes have (some sort of) support.

As far as the font goes, I’m getting the EightBitUS font ready; you’ll get around 1500 characters to ASCII-art with. I just need to make sure it’s Unicode-proof. Meanwhile, try some of the square fonts; cootue\_curses\_square\_16x16 was mentioned sometime back, and it worked well for me, even with 14x14 or so.

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**Author:** ![Paquito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@Paquito](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Paquito)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/11 "2013-11-12T20:50:37Z")

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I used the Sir Holden tileset for a while, and enjoyed it, but ended up going back to the ASCII because, at the moment, it provides more information.

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**Author:** ![wad67](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/wad67/32/7_2.png) [@wad67](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/wad67)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/so-i-tried-playing-without-tilesets-for-the-first-time-and/3918/12 "2013-11-14T11:25:02Z")

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Default ASCII is the only way to go as far as I am concerned, too damn hard on the eyes any other way.