I'm working on a low resolution, low detail science fiction tileset. It's 16x16 and I'm trying to emulate the visual style of Superbrothers, Hyper Light Drifter, Kingdom, stuff like that. I normally work with more detail and colors, though, so I seem to be having a hard time with this. No matter how much I reduce the detail and color count (down to 3 or 4 for most elements), it still feels too detailed for the style I'm looking for. When I try to reduce it more, I feel like it loses the definition and you can't tell what's what.
Here's a sample:
I'm hoping someone has some suggestions for maybe how to get the clean feel I'm looking for without losing the science fictiony feel I'm also looking for. Maybe there are small things I can do to break up an otherwise single-color flat wall that hint at high tech without much detail? I don't know, I'm kind of struggling here.
Thanks in advance for any advice!