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Should I go for pixel art?

Should I go for pixel art?


  • Total voters
    27

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
Hi there, I'm finishing my design documents but I want to define right now what my game StarLife will look like.
More info here: http://www.purpleorangegames.com/

Here's how it looks right now:
mockup_3.png


And here's how it would look like n pixel art:
new_mockup_3_2.png


There is still some things to finish, but what about the overall feeling?
The ships and space tile are not mine, I bought them here (http://graphicriver.net/item/space-shooter-objects/142231).

I'm using DawnBringer 16 Color Palette and I'm using this pieces as inspiration:
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/73406.htm
http://kiwinuptuo.deviantart.com/art/Spellsword-Screenshots-282709314?q=gallery:kiwinuptuo/10610307&qo=7

EDIT: I'm also in love with this picture:
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/73865.htm

EDIT2: Here's the new mockup.
new_mockup_3.png


And 2x: here
new_mockup_3_x2.png




EDIT3:
mockup_3_custom.pspimage_new_font.png


2x:
mockup_3_custom.pspimage_new_font_2x.png



Our fist version made by our artist:
layout-mockup00.gif
 

Gregz

Arcane
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
8,511
Location
The Desert Wasteland
The 2nd image palette is a problem, that mauve-ish color with the green doesn't work. 1st image is much better in this regard.
 

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
The 2nd image palette is a problem, that mauve-ish color with the green doesn't work. 1st image is much better in this regard.

I thought it added a great retro feeling.
I can tweak the palette though. I will try to experiment it with.


The second one looks cool as fuck, the first one has too much of a flashgame feeling to it.
I also like the color palette in the second screen better.
Thanks! Yeap, my decision to move to pixel art was to get the flashgame feeling out of the game.
It's a lot easier to design with a small palette and no opacity.
 

Gregz

Arcane
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
8,511
Location
The Desert Wasteland
As someone who grew up playing games on a CGA monitor, I can truly say I don't miss that color palette. Anyway, just my 2cp.
 

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
As someone who grew up playing games on a CGA monitor, I can truly say I don't miss that color palette. Anyway, just my 2cp.
Haha, no problem. There are lots of colors I would like to try, it just happens that I found dawnbringer palette and I ended up using it.
 

eric__s

ass hater
Developer
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
2,301
You'll need to iron out the palette, but yeah, good pixel art generally looks better than higher definition 2D graphics.
 

Surf Solar

cannot into womynz
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
8,828
I don't mind that colour palette, it looks really really sweet! (the second one I mean)
 

damicore

Augur
Joined
Oct 5, 2011
Messages
364
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Yeah, I'm really really digging that color palette, but the matter is it kind of feels wrong for a game or an interface at all. Can't really put my finger on it but I think it would get uncomfortable after playing the game for a while.
 

Marsal

Arcane
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,304
I dislike pixel art in general, but the second image does look better. My suggestion would be to mess with the first image to make it more "contrasty". It looks too washed out.
 

damicore

Augur
Joined
Oct 5, 2011
Messages
364
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
In the first one the solid white hex greed on 50% opacity is what is washing away the color of the sky.
I do, nevertheless, still vouch for pixel art. I'm really liking those sprites :)
 

Zed

Codex Staff
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
Messages
17,068
Codex USB, 2014
You'll need to iron out the palette, but yeah, good pixel art generally looks better than higher definition 2D graphics.
what this broski said.

your pixelart is fine but you gotta fix them grape colors. can't have them everywhere. perhaps make the grid greyish and space more blue-blackish. I always go with blue-blackish when I do space.
if it was an action game I'd say your ships are too prominent as well but since it's turn-based it doesn't matter. (too much defined shit moving at once = headache)
I love me some dithering but dithering on a background bar with text on it (command center/life supprt) is no go, ho.
The letter c in your bitmap font if that's what you're using is bad. make it more ordinary.
 

Zed

Codex Staff
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Staff Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
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Codex USB, 2014
also if you got the dolla, you should buy/make portraits for ships and aliens and shit (for the whose-turn-is-it bar). imagine something like the battlecruiser captain from starcraft instead of those red ships up there. then have a mouse-over for the portrait to reveal the ship so the player knows what the hell it is on the battlefield - perhaps even drawing a line between the portrait and the ship on the field.
also hit point and movement being the sole "stats" on the bar should be more prominent... like moved to the far left and be doubled in size or something. maybe along with a portrait. :D

sorry I'm in creative 5am mood.
 

Zed

Codex Staff
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Codex USB, 2014
also 1:1 scale never does pixelart justice you need to post 2:1 screenshots so I don't have to open PS.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
3,524
I prefer the clarity of the first one. The second one has especially unpleasant colours.
 

Zed

Codex Staff
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
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Messages
17,068
Codex USB, 2014
just changing space color makes a huge difference
spaec.png
 

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
Thanks guys for all the CC!
Zed I will have to find time to digest all your suggestions, they make sense so I will probably try to implement them all or most of them.

I kind of like the current palette but it may be a bit boring if I play a game for a long time with this colors so I'm experimenting another palette, the question now is should I stick with 16 colors or should I increase the palette.
I will try to make the colors look more like the first image, without the washed out white on the background.

I'm talking with several artists to buy ship sprites.
 

zeitgeist

Magister
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
1,444
Yes.

Do take care to make it consistent (for example don't have faux-pixels that are, I don't know, 4x4 actual pixels in size, then have a font that's made up of faux-pixels that are 2x2 actual pixels in size and then have particle effects and lighting in the actual screen resolution on top - a lot of "retro"-looking games end up looking like a mess due to that) though.
 

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
Yes.

Do take care to make it consistent (for example don't have faux-pixels that are, I don't know, 4x4 actual pixels in size, then have a font that's made up of faux-pixels that are 2x2 actual pixels in size and then have particle effects and lighting in the actual screen resolution on top - a lot of "retro"-looking games end up looking like a mess due to that) though.
Noted. :thumbsup:


Dang, that's gorgeous! :greatjob:
 

Destroid

Arcane
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
16,628
Location
Australia
Yes.

Do take care to make it consistent (for example don't have faux-pixels that are, I don't know, 4x4 actual pixels in size, then have a font that's made up of faux-pixels that are 2x2 actual pixels in size and then have particle effects and lighting in the actual screen resolution on top - a lot of "retro"-looking games end up looking like a mess due to that) though.

That's really bad. And easily avoided by up scaling.
 

tiagocc0

Arcane
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
2,056
Location
Brazil
Updated on the first post with a new mockup!
 

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