Comments on: Is Pixel Art Practical For Game Development?

By: Rayteoactive

Rayteoactive — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:57:53 +0000

Haha, sorry about that. I must have been dozing off when I wrote that. And thanks lonestarr, that’s the correct URL :)

By: lonestarr

lonestarr — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:35:56 +0000

correct URL seems to be:
http://tobesadventure.squarespace.com/

By: Juuso

Juuso — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:13:23 +0000

Ray: problem with your link… would have wanted to check out your site/art

By: Rayteoactive

Rayteoactive — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:24:02 +0000

I’m a producer that does my own pixel art. I think one thing about pixel art is that you don’t need something to look realistic for it to be believable. In fact for the most time, things looks more like icon, which really is for the better, and really fun to design.

Oh, and sonny2 is definitely vector art, drawn and animated in flash. Whole different ball game.

By: lonestarr

lonestarr — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:26:35 +0000

I love pixel art, reminds me that awesome Deluxe Paint IV on Amiga (spent *weeks* on this software).

But I’m afraid this is not very sellable, even with the nostalgia we all feel. At least, this seems to be the position of Steam: how much pixel-art games on Steam (except oldies and Capcom 8-bits remakes, look in the “independent” category…)? See this current thread where Cas explains that Steam rejected his games:
http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=21658
His games are not exactly pixel-art, I’d say it’s zoomed pixels with cool retro gfx effects, but you got the point…

Whatever, go for it!

By: Lumooja

Lumooja — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:42:12 +0000

I’ve been playing for a few days Sonny 2, which has pretty enjoyable graphics too. I believe you can call it still pixel arts, although they use more colors than 256.

In addition you don’t need to make flat 2D shapes with 2D sprites, but like 20 years ago on C64 you can have a slight rotation of the objects to make them look a bit 3D.

When you do that, it doesn’t really matter if it’s a 2D or 3D engine anymore, as the graphics completely drowns behind the gameplay and fun.

The 3D tilting also allows you to place sprites in the tilted Z direction, so you can do more than just flat 2D side scrollers.

http://armorblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/s_p5.jpg

By: Tobias Scheuer

Tobias Scheuer — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:41:54 +0000

Looks good for me, too. Once that guy is in motion, he will seem even less blocky.

By: MC

MC — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:33:23 +0000

it looks great to me… and when you play a retro game, you expect it will be blocky, that’s not an issue

By: Emme

Emme — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:21:08 +0000

As a matter of fact, pixel art is sub form of pointilism, and as such it relies on the perception of coloured dots which are close one to another, thus playing with our senses.
For the iPhoen game I am working on, the clarity and sharpness of pixel art is unmatched.
Of course with higher resolutions, things get more out of hand, I wouldnt use pixel art above 1024×768.
I would suggest doing a research about the gfx of GODS, Metal Slug, Alien Breed 92, Lionheart, The Misadventures of Flink, and generally everything from Mark Jones and Henk Hieborg and the Bitmap Brothers.What these guys made of the restricted palette is just incredible.The ability to put a green and a grey next to each other and thus form a THIRD colour that IS NOT IN THE PALETTE, is just heavy !

By: Juuso

Juuso — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:51:08 +0000

@Lumooja: you can do that if you want. in fact, I was thinking of “animating” guy southpark style. first draw sketch on paper & color him. Then use scissors to cut his head, torso, arms etc. Then take photos of him in different positions… :)

But… that’s indeed not pixel art.

Also, with pixel stuff, you certainly don’t need many colors.

@Brian: I posted some here: http://www.gameproducer.net/2010/07/12/doing-pixel-art-is-fun-you-like-it-too/ in the comments.

@Brian: posted here: http://www.gameproducer.net/2010/07/12/doing-pixel-art-is-fun-you-like-it-too/