this post originates from the Maptool forum, but I'm guessing this forum is more appropriate.

Im currently working on a new Dungeon builder (here are the former two: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic....=16833&start=0 and http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic....241443#p241443) With the 2nd I had graphic help from Probono.

With the new dungeon builder I want to be able to build ANY kind of (square grid) dungeon. This basically mean that you choose a background texture and overlay it with 1x1 tiles where the walls are. Tiles can be 1x1,2x2,3x, etc for the computation it does not matter.

The result tiles however will look rather ugly, so what I need to add (on the fly) is:
- (transparent) Bevel
- (transparent) Drop shadow
After the dungeon is build I would apply these layers/textures over the edges of the tiles where they're not connecting)
Now it is a bit tricky and I need input from a more experienced graphic artist

To elaborate. I could create a transparent Bezel and drop shadow and apply this where needed (some nifty coding required but thats up to me). Where stuff becomes hazy though is at the corners. Both outside and inside corners. If you apply a bezel/shadow layer to tiles that are in a corner position this starts to overlap OR lack overlap.

What I need is a minimal amount (I already figured out that 1 is not possible, but pls prove me wrong) of these bezel/shadow layers for all circumstances.

To get a feeling of all possibilities: take a 3x3 square and go through all possibilities (these are a lot I can tell you but most will require the same type of overlay with a lot being the same when flipped of rotated).

Maybe a simple solution is:
1. one straight bezel/shadows just for the edge
2. one outside corner bezel/shadow for a corner that touches nothing
3. one inside corner bezel/shadow for 3 tiles touching each other
With this simple solution you will have bevels that overlap for outside corners (and an extra piece of drop shadow to fill up the gap) and the other way round for inside corners (so overlapping drop shadow and missing piece for bezel). Where the missing corner pieces would thus be placed with code.

Im open to suggestions.

Thank you very much!!