61–70 of 90 posts
Each step made it worse. By the end it was a monstrosity.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are any of these things "bad"? Back in the day pixel art was constrained by technical limitations, but now you can use the same style but with less technical constraints, and include these sort of things. It's not "true" pixel art from 1990, but that doesn't make it "bad".
For the same reason people like the hiss and pops of a record, film grain, or even VHS tracking artifacts. Yesterday's technical limitations become today's aesthetic. But the real answer is they aren't inherently bad. People don't actually need it to conform to the past limitations. More that they want it to feel authentic to the nostalgic memory they have in their head. For example, games like Shovel Knight go for a…
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/breaking-the-nes-for-sh...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are any of these things "bad"? Back in the day pixel art was constrained by technical limitations, but now you can use the same style but with less technical constraints, and include these sort of things. It's not "true" pixel art from 1990, but that doesn't make it "bad".
For the same reason people like the hiss and pops of a record, film grain, or even VHS tracking artifacts. Yesterday's technical limitations become today's aesthetic. But the real answer is they aren't inherently bad. People don't actually need it to conform to the past limitations. More that they want it to feel authentic to the nostalgic memory they have in their head. For example, games like Shovel Knight go for a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For the same reason people like the hiss and pops of a record, film grain, or even VHS tracking artifacts. Yesterday's technical limitations become today's aesthetic. But the real answer is they aren't inherently bad. People don't actually need it to conform to the past limitations. More that they want it to feel authentic to the nostalgic memory they have in their head. For example, games like Shovel Knight go for a…
I'm not sure about Shovel Knight because I've never played it, but Mina the Hollower (also by Yacht Club) actually does conform to the those limitations. It's based on the art style of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and does so quite accurately. https://www.yachtclubgames.com/games/mina-the-hollower
A post from the author about the remade art: https://la-mulana.com/en/blog/graphic_full_remake.html
Compared to the art from the screenshots on Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La-Mulana
Bad pixel art is a pet peeve of mine. This is really advanced advice compared the problem most games have: - pixels of different sizes - rotating (!) pixels - scaling pixels - smooth gradients with millions of colours - dynamic lighting overlayed on top ... I could go on :(
There are two main categories of pixel art in games. In one category it’s about retro authenticity and these games are defined by the fact that their final buffer is the same low resolution as their art. They also often feature limited palettes, especially ones that were actually used on retro consoles. There’s also a second category of pixel art, where the style is more modern. The art is still low res, but the fina…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course this is entirely subjective, but do you think you prefer it because Maplestory’s art is better, or because you like the game so much due to playing it during a formative time in your life (ex. high school)? Perhaps it even helped define your aesthetic sense in the first place.
Yeah, sinking thousands of hours into that game has probably brainwashed me in one way or another. I'd like to say the art is less noisy than the more common low-rez styles (narrower color palettes, less shading, easier to separate the background from the platforms / play area). But looking at screenshots now, I can't say it looks good. But it's charming and unique enough that I'd pick it over most other styles if I…
For those unaware, Derek Yu is the creator of Spelunky. Here’s one of his best posts, it’s about how to actually finish making a game: https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-gam...
That post is also full of pre-indieapocalypse charm. It assumes that a decent, finished game will get its author the recognition
I googled it but all the results are commentary pieces that assume you already know what it is.
For those unaware, Derek Yu is the creator of Spelunky. Here’s one of his best posts, it’s about how to actually finish making a game: https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-gam...
That post is also full of pre-indieapocalypse charm. It assumes that a decent, finished game will get its author the recognition
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That post is also full of pre-indieapocalypse charm. It assumes that a decent, finished game will get its author the recognition
What’s the indieapocalypse? I googled it but all the results are commentary pieces that assume you already know what it is.
Around 10 years ago the platforms started to open up and it got a lot easier to get a game into the marketplace. Seeing the success of the previous wave of Indie games and lower barriers to entry, people started to make a lot more indie games. Competition got more intense and finding financial success became less certain.
The worry of the "Indiepocalypse" is that as this trend continues, it will become harder and harder to make indie game development a viable, sustainable business. Which isn't suggesting that people will stop making indie games, it's suggesting that they will mostly be made at a loss and it won't be a viable business for the vast majority of developers.
The degree to which this worry has come to pass over the years is debatable.