@RAV
I honestly dunno why you posted that kind of stuff in this thread here.
Your approach seems to me work more like certain algorythms to unpixel pixel art and adding "polish" to something. I don't like that kind of "polish" and I don't think it's needed nor does it make the impression better.
That the pixel changed over time and that it's rather a certain aesthetic nowadays instead of state of the art technique is also common knowledge.
As Helm already stated in the thread there are things pixel art is very well suited for and there are things for which pixel art isn't the best medium.
That's all I'm interested in, as a method of learning, for people to consider the pros and cons before they start, even if they deviate after they start.
After all a lot of the stuff I experimented with isn't "the best approach to pixel art" since another medium will be much more effective, but I am mainly doing that stuff to find out some limits of the medium.
The whole idea of the cluster approach is just to bring out the aspects for which pixel art is considered great while neglecting a lot of other aspects.
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@Dennis:
Great link to the polyminos
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The simple ruleset we are using here makes it quite easy to end up with clean and up-to-date pixel art.
One question for all the technique interested people here:
I just float the statement that AA is working against the ruleset
what's the general opinion on that?
Do you even believe that AA is necessary with modern hardware and pixel art graphics?
modern flatscreens are really sharp and there is no blurring effect, so AA also don't has the same effect as on an old crt monitor (same as gradients and bands led us to the whole cluster approach).
AA anyways don't works efficiently with barely any single pixel.
So is it better just to cut it out completely or does a common 2-4 wide AA buffer cluster serves it purpose?
The aesthetic without AA has more jagged lines, but the pixels are clearer visible as well.
With minimizing the colors and emphasizing the clusters we will end up with a simpler picture anyways and we don't even try to hide that it's made out of limited colors.
So basically using a buffer cluster should be the same decision as if we'd use a highlight.