Anyone else get into pixel art from classic games?

[Pixel_Outlaw]

So a LONG time ago (maybe 2006ish?) I made a pixel art thread asking people if they did any pixel art (traditional low color spritework).
I think I'll ask once more since a lot of the guys from that thread are no longer very active (if at all).

I'm getting back into it.
I've taken a few days to familiarize myself with GrafX2 which forces you to adopt the indexed 256 color palette mindset of the arcade guys.
There are a LOT of great things about the program but it works very differently than most programs today (It grew out of Amiga era idioms borrowed Dpaint).
You'll spend a week or so just getting used to all the right click and left click options and menus. And its notion of brushes rather than selections. Also the Spare Page idiom.
It has some modern features too though, like layers and animation support. (Also you can extend the program with Lua scripts)

Annnnyway here is my pixel art gallery. (Some very very old stuff there from when I was like 18 and had worse grammar and spelling)
I kind of helped bring some popularity to shmup sprites to Pixel Joint in the early days (2005ish?)
I wouldn't shut up about the genre, then people got a taste of the 'Pachi spritework.

Here is my latest little ship. (My work is not for sale currently, sorry indie guys)
16 colors, 90x123 px


So who here is into making game sprites for fun?
Would anyone like to take a crack at designing a low color ship say 32x32 pixels?
I'll play along too of course.

The thing is to just have fun and design a low color sprite as if you could make any shmup you wanted.
Ideally keep it under 20 colors, bonus points for using less than 16.

[evil_ash_xero]

I think everyone here likes pixel art. But how many people have the talent to do it, I don't know.

[MintyTheCat]

Pixel_Outlaw: Keep at it. Best idea would be to take on a fairly small project and utilise what you know and apply it.
A shmup might be too big for a first project but maybe some kind of puzzle game or single-screen platformer like Rodlands or Bubble-Bobble would be a good first project. I think that limits help people realise the bounds and makes them more focused.

I think everyone here likes pixel art. But how many people have the talent to do it, I don't know.

Very few and then how many are schooled in the ways of Shmup art.
It is a bit like asking how many developers can program 'at the metal' or people can handle arithmetic these days really.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I think everyone here likes pixel art. But how many people have the talent to do it, I don't know.

I think anyone who enjoys drawing, painting, or the traditional arts can adjust.
It can take a bit of trial and error in getting your basic shapes drawn to shade but that's kind of art in general.
The biggest step is to simply dig in and try.

Oh, and check this out.
You can see many people took a stab at it.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=421436

[MintyTheCat]

I think everyone here likes pixel art. But how many people have the talent to do it, I don't know.

I think anyone who enjoys drawing, painting, or the traditional arts can adjust.
It can take a bit of trial and error in getting your basic shapes drawn to shade but that's kind of art in general.

Sadly, not in my case. I drew, painted and sculpted from a fairly early age and I cannot for the life of me handle pixels. I developed the use of the mouse for it but I find having to even attempt to draw with a mouse non-natural.

I do agree though that many of the things that an artist develops through traditional mediums could be used for pixel work.
I often liken pixel-art to someone programming in Assembly language.

[wgogh]

Here is my latest little ship. (My work is not for sale currently, sorry indie guys)
16 colors, 90x123 px

Very good, sir. Maybe I'll soon try and post the results. I accept suggestions until I actually do it.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Very good, sir. Maybe I'll soon try and post the results. I accept suggestions until I actually do it.

One thing to do is simply study a bit to get a fell for different styles.
Go to our very own Xenocide Files and start really looking at the spritework individually I suppose.
Usually when you look at a screenshot you take the entire thing in, but maybe start to zoom on on individual sprites and see how artists create impressions of different materials.

Of course, there are now many people making shmup art over at Pixel Joint.
I've Prepared a search. *Be sure to click the little "+" under their art to zoom in.

You'll see a LOT of people have different styles and that's great.
Some copy the sharp colorful Japanese shapes while others have their own unique approach.
Some emulate Cave offerings even.

[wgogh]

They say its good to start with the basics. haha

[Pixel_Outlaw]

They say its good to start with the basics. haha

Put two paperclip "bombs" on the wings!

[wgogh]

They say its good to start with the basics. haha

Put two paperclip "bombs" on the wings!

Power up



update: this is actually fun to do

[Pixel_Outlaw]

They say its good to start with the basics. haha

Put two paperclip "bombs" on the wings!

Power up



update: this is actually fun to do

Made you an office themed enemy with eraser "options".
EDIT: I see a few errors but meh it was just for a joke.


Larger version HERE.

[wgogh]

Nice. I dig it.
Also, that software you have there seems to be good for pixel art. I just used Gimp

[Squire Grooktook]

I am currently working on a fantasy themed shmup with 16-bit-ish pixel art. My original sprite artist had to go on indefinite hiatus due to a second job eating up all his free time. If anyone here would like to contribute, please let me know ASAP.

An example of the type of work he did and that I'm currently using:





Here's some recently updated gameplay footage also for reference.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Squire, you might try the Job Offerings subforum over at Pixel Joint. Be sure to read the FAQ first.
There is also a subforum over at Pixelation.

I don't use Pixelation myself so I can't comment for that. However, Pixel Joint has been really slow the past year for some reason.
Hope it helps.

Also, here is a blank 32x32 pixel square if anyone needs a template.
As you can see it's a fine starting size to play with.

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah, I'm actually getting prepared for a job offer.

Pixelation

Thanks for this. This was the forum that hagane used way back for feedback on the sprites. Been trying to remember what it was. This is definitely it, I can even see his old threads on the dragon.

[Ebbo]

Here is an article that might interest you lot, especially if you're only just getting started. Includes some great examples and also talks about some of the misconceptions and pitfalls often related with pixel art.

[MintyTheCat]

Here is an article that might interest you lot, especially if you're only just getting started. Includes some great examples and also talks about some of the misconceptions and pitfalls often related with pixel art.

That was well worth reading - thanks.
It made me consider the challenges for developers in having to deal with different types of screens. Never an issue really for older consoles but indeed for current tablets and mobiles.

[wgogh]

I've tried to do some kind of rotoscopia. Maybe I could use that resource for my next text adventure game.
Was done with a photo of Special Agent Dale Cooper, and ended up with sort of a Out of This World look.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

You might consider using dithering to give you a few more mid colors.
It works especially well on things that are fabric or soft like skin. Not as good for mechanical surfaces.
Here is an example that uses only 4 colors but blends them nicely through dithering.

[cj iwakura]

I am currently working on a fantasy themed shmup with 16-bit-ish pixel art. My original sprite artist had to go on indefinite hiatus due to a second job eating up all his free time. If anyone here would like to contribute, please let me know ASAP.

An example of the type of work he did and that I'm currently using:





Here's some recently updated gameplay footage also for reference.

That looks like the Blue Dragon from Lunar II.

[wgogh]

Thanks, Ebbo and Pixel_Outlaw! The text is really helpful. I was expecting a happier end though :/
Anyways, dithering is time consuming to do manually in big pictures, so I'll look for a program to help.

As for you, Squire Grooktook, I would gaddly help. But I'm not quite good enough for the task yet...


The guy in suit is better now (I mean, idk... maybe?)

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Both GrafX2 and mtpaint support dithering.

mtpaint offers it as a fill option. (Left click the rectangle under the brush and color area to select fill patterns)
GrafX2 offers it as a brush option.(Left click the Drawing modes icon, then on that menu right click Sieve to adjust the brush fill pattern.)



I'll bet you might be able to do similar with Gimp but I'm not too familiar with pixel art done with gimp.

[opt2not]

I took a break from making pixel art for a couple years to concentrate on other art, but here are a few examples of some shmup stuff I had done:



This one's not as exciting and brightly coloured as above, but the designs were fun to mess with, without really thinking about what is mechanically sound. I basically just doodled shapes and put them together (it kinda shows lol).


I plan on getting back into pixel art soon since I do miss it. I use a paid version of Pro Motion, which takes a lot of queues from old Amiga DPaint. It has a lot of tools including dithering, sprite rotation (w/ redraws) and pretty extensive palette editors. But the interface isn't as intuitive as what's available these days. I primarily bought it because of the development export tools it has to multiple consoles like GB, GBA and DS.

But I really want to try out Pickle Sprite Editor, i've heard great things about it's interface and animation control.

[wgogh]

Both GrafX2 and mtpaint support dithering.

mtpaint offers it as a fill option. (Left click the rectangle under the brush and color area to select fill patterns)
GrafX2 offers it as a brush option.(Left click the Drawing modes icon, then on that menu right click Sieve to adjust the brush fill pattern.)



I'll bet you might be able to do similar with Gimp but I'm not too familiar with pixel art done with gimp.

Thanks, I'll try that program and see what I can do.

As for Pixel Art, PC98 is a wonderful inspiration. They used a lot of different pattern for dithering. That's the key for the PC98 look, it seems..

[Pixel_Outlaw]

@opt2not
That's a nice little collection. You should get them into a Pixel Joint gallery.
@wgogh
GrafX2 is probably my favorite but it very different than most paint programs. Just about every button has a mode for right and left mouse clicking.
Also when you select something it turns it into a brush. You can flip the brush by pressing x or y keys for their respective axis. You can rotate brushes at any angle too with a Lua script from the brush factory button. Be sure to grab DawnBringer's GrafX2 scripts and unzip them to the proper location.

If you hit tab you can go to the "spare page" where you can store things like an extra piece of paper. Things like pasted brush parts you'll use later and other such things.
You can edit the 256 color palette. The first color index 0 is reserved for transparent.
It does support layers and also animation (select which mode on the greeting dialog after it starts). These options appear along the bottom.
Just remember that almost every button has dual functionality for right and left clicks and what that functionality is will be defined at the bottom line of the screen as you hover over them.
Also there is a "brush factory" button that lets you run Lua scripts to make new tools. The API is here.
It also supports making tile sets which lets you draw to more tile at once so you can see how they look when tiled. I plan to do a tutorial later...

To get a list of keyboard commands left click the help button then left click Help in the following menu.

[MintyTheCat]

I plan on getting back into pixel art soon since I do miss it. I use a paid version of Pro Motion, which takes a lot of queues from old Amiga DPaint. It has a lot of tools including dithering, sprite rotation (w/ redraws) and pretty extensive palette editors. But the interface isn't as intuitive as what's available these days. I primarily bought it because of the development export tools it has to multiple consoles like GB, GBA and DS.

Very nice - keep at it.

I support Pro-Motion in my tools and I too have the full version.
A lot of these tools are similar to DPaint I think DPaint really set the standard.
Yes, the export formats are useful but still it is tedious to set the extra Word for parameters; I instead set that in my level editor for the collision layer as it is far less hassle.