I can't find any software smartly adapting the gradient to the area shape.

Like this:



It took me half a hour to do it with MSPaint. With the right software, it would take only half a second.

Only DeluxePaint has a feature for this, but it can only do it in 2 directions, 90 and 270, or 0 and 180. I need a program that can do it from and to every direction. And that can pick a gradient with more than 2 colors.

It should also be able to create round gradients, starting from the borders, ending with a spot in the center of the polygon, adapting the direction to these 2 spots.

As for the textures, though, I have to disagree. Textures, especially those made with Texture Maker, are pretty much off the style of platformers, since they're supposed to be applied on 3D models instead. Anyway, if somebody really knows how to use them, they could create perfect results.

First, there MUST be at least 3 or 4 variations of the same tile, lest the whole thing is a limbo of the same tile. And if you use Texture Maker, different seeds create non-seamless figures. They must be seamless, but also different one from another.
Colon's sewer walls ARE a limbo of the same tile, as well as all of Disguise's tilesets.
Holiday Hare 98's walls AREN'T, and that's how it is supposed to be.


Also, according to me, the tiles created for left or right walls should not use the same picture as frontal walls. They should also be seamless on the Y side, joining them with the frontal tiles, BUT NOT on the X side, joining them with other vertical walls.
Carrotus and Diamondus's vertical walls ARE erroneously seamless to the frontal walls.
Holiday Hare 98's walls still are, but it looks like they aren't because of the snow upon them.
Inferno and Haunted House's walls AREN'T, and that's how it is supposed to be.

As for the background layers, they should NEVER include same tiles rescaled.
Labrat's layers 6 and 7, as well as Colon's layers 4 to 7, DO include same tiles, and that's extremely bad IMO.
Inferno, Carrotus and Psych DON'T.

Also, every single layer should have something in it, and layer 5 should NOT be used as sprite background layer.
Psych and Jungle DO use all the layers properly.

And this is important: Layer 8 should ALWAYS use a masterpiece of art (making your gaming experience great if you use low detail, superb if you use high detail). For now, only Labrat, Inferno and Damn use one. (Medivo does too, but it isn't a really rich one) The others either use textures or composable stuff (Castle and Tubelectric)