Post by: ptoing on January 01, 2013, 10:00:27 am
Also, happy new 2014~ This thread's still fresh, use it!
Post by: API-Beast on January 01, 2013, 11:13:11 am
Post by: Helm on January 01, 2013, 05:07:20 pm
Post by: Crow on January 01, 2013, 06:37:46 pm
Post by: Carnivac on January 01, 2013, 07:27:28 pm
Post by: yaomon17 on January 02, 2013, 06:55:15 am
Post by: Ashbad on January 02, 2013, 12:49:07 pm
Personally, I made the resolution to draw a lot more, and as of yesterday I got at least two hours of drawing in, and surprisingly learned a ton during this short period of time. Also "played" around with my new colored/B-8B/charcoal pencils and drawing paper a lot.
Post by: Lachie Dazdarian on January 02, 2013, 09:36:30 pm
Oh, well...
Beside that, not sure how much of a good year is awaiting me. Things will be very hectic and demanding at work, while I rapidly started to lose my interest and motivation toward the end of 2012. It will be rocky.
Hobby-wise?...dunno...hope to design some smaller, interesting games, satisfactory looking. Humble ambitions. But...it's very much experience. :)
Post by: putrasucipto on January 06, 2013, 04:31:45 pm
Post by: Cyangmou on January 06, 2013, 04:50:51 pm
Post by: Facet on January 06, 2013, 05:05:13 pm
Post by: Ashbad on January 06, 2013, 06:16:24 pm
To All : please willingness to participate in the questionnaire, here we try to create an alternative way to make pixel art. some pictures we have defined as the pixel art. please respond to vote the best picture that you like .. thanks (www.wisnu-art.6te.net)
I noticed that you also spammed it around in PJ, to the point where you posted it more than once in the comments section of the SAME news articles. I think that one single post on both sites would be best if you want people to think of your survey as serious rather than spam.
Agreed with Cyangmou's points, the grid makes it impossible to tell.
Post by: r1k on January 06, 2013, 10:11:53 pm
To All : please willingness to participate in the questionnaire, here we try to create an alternative way to make pixel art. some pictures we have defined as the pixel art. please respond to vote the best picture that you like .. thanks (www.wisnu-art.6te.net)
IN addition to the grid it seems you just used color reduced photos. I dont think alot of people here would even call that pixel art, and if they did they would call it bad pixel art. Not really a good way to judge pixel art.
The wording on the questions is also confusing. I suggest getting someone better with english to reword the questions for you.
Post by: Carnivac on January 08, 2013, 06:50:10 pm
Thanks crow. It's still on the PS blog so I thought nothing of it but yeah no point it being here.
Post by: Seiseki on January 09, 2013, 07:29:42 pm
The current skin is really plain and basic :/
Post by: Crow on January 10, 2013, 07:18:23 am
What happened to the forum theme being worked on?
The current skin is really plain and basic :/
Hmm, good point :huh:
Post by: ptoing on January 10, 2013, 07:32:01 am
Post by: Chris2balls on January 13, 2013, 11:50:00 pm
I was thinking of writing a mini commercial critique on Boktai (http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Boktai:_The_Sun_is_in_Your_Hand), and in particular its backgrounds. I've got some more important things to get out of the way this week and next week, so it won't be any time soon hypothetically. Interesting?
Post by: Facet on January 14, 2013, 12:29:44 am
Post by: Conzeit on January 14, 2013, 05:32:53 am
Post by: Helm on January 14, 2013, 08:06:09 am
Post by: Carnivac on January 14, 2013, 05:50:01 pm
Post by: Carnivac on January 16, 2013, 03:41:28 pm
Post by: Crow on January 16, 2013, 03:53:21 pm
Is there even a remote chance to make a retro-style game for a device with actual buttons these days? All this touchscreen crap is pissing me off. At what point did people supposedly become content with having their thumbs obscure a large portion of the game screen? The loss of the tactile feel is really making it difficult to produce the kinds of games I wanted to do. I've tried other games on phones that have attempted it with the virtual joypad stuff but it's absolutely terrible. Perhaps I should finally just call it quits and say "oh that's 'progress' or something" and delete everything.
I wanted to link to the website of "the nD", but apparently.. it's gone. Have an article: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/06/nd-the-game-changing-handheld-console/
Their site now redirects to the site of "Bob's Game", which was supposed to be out on the device as well. We'll see if anything happens with that piece of hardware anytime soon. I sure as hell wouldn't mind.
Post by: Carnivac on January 16, 2013, 04:03:51 pm
Post by: Dusty on January 18, 2013, 05:48:25 am
Post by: rikfuzz on January 18, 2013, 09:15:42 am
Rik
Post by: Tourist on January 20, 2013, 01:53:42 am
I ask because when browsing other art sites I routinely recognize the sources in the artwork that is posted. I'm not sure that other visitors do, and the references are never explicitly acknowledged. What's proper for this sort of thing?
Tourist
Post by: Ashbad on January 20, 2013, 02:41:32 am
Is it significant when you can recognize the references in a piece of art? I always thought the rule of thumb was that using reference is good, but copying reference is generally poor. An artist should make effort to, I don't know, go beyond what the reference provides? Learn from the reference and incorporate that into the artist's own vision? Or ... something?
I ask because when browsing other art sites I routinely recognize the sources in the artwork that is posted. I'm not sure that other visitors do, and the references are never explicitly acknowledged. What's proper for this sort of thing?
Tourist
From what I've seen, it depends. There are a lot of artists out there that seek to learn only to copy what they see; nothing more. And I'd suspect it's at least a good practice exercise in many respects to at least try this every now and then -- I'd think that it probably improves one's ability to recognize minute detail and draw them accordingly. Here's a good example of multiple people undergoing a similar exercise, in which they all draw whom many people somehow believe to be the most beautiful woman in the world: http://dueysdrawings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7008 You'll notice how many of them use extensive gridding in order to get extreme likeness.
As for not posting references, that's a bit of a different issue and probably has more to do with stealing/plagiarism rather than good/bad art practice.
Post by: Seiseki on January 20, 2013, 06:33:19 pm
Does anyone have any good resources on the subject?
Post by: Tourist on January 20, 2013, 08:14:02 pm
I guess you're right. I'll mark that an irrational pet peeve rather than a serious concern.
How do I learn to draw explosions and smoke effects?
Does anyone have any good resources on the subject?
I think it is largely a solved problem. This page has a small app that lets you generate explosions and save the animations. I have not used it myself, but it looks like it could serve as a starting point if nothing else.
http://www.saschawillems.de/?tag=explosion
Relevant search terms would be 'procedural generation explosion animation'
Tourist
Post by: Seiseki on January 22, 2013, 12:58:28 am
@Ashbad
I guess you're right. I'll mark that an irrational pet peeve rather than a serious concern.How do I learn to draw explosions and smoke effects?
Does anyone have any good resources on the subject?
I think it is largely a solved problem. This page has a small app that lets you generate explosions and save the animations. I have not used it myself, but it looks like it could serve as a starting point if nothing else.
http://www.saschawillems.de/?tag=explosion
Relevant search terms would be 'procedural generation explosion animation'
Tourist
Actually I'm more interested in seeing how an artist would draw an explosion, which parts to focus on, styles, etc.
But thanks nonetheless :)
I find effects and animations being things that are kinda hard to find good tutorials and references and such for.
Post by: Facet on January 22, 2013, 01:24:53 am
Post by: Dr D on January 22, 2013, 01:54:55 am
Recently made & he has a timelapse video in the description.
Also, Jad's explosion is great.
Post by: Seiseki on January 24, 2013, 12:04:39 pm
And this site: http://flashfx.blogspot.se/
Post by: Dusty on January 25, 2013, 01:14:44 am
Post by: Seiseki on January 25, 2013, 01:21:44 am
Post by: Reo on January 25, 2013, 01:26:27 am
I don't play minecraft anymore, it takes too long to gather blocks and build things :DThey have added a creative mode now, where you can fly around and just build stuff without worrying about collecting.
Post by: Seiseki on January 25, 2013, 02:29:29 pm
I don't play minecraft anymore, it takes too long to gather blocks and build things :DThey have added a creative mode now, where you can fly around and just build stuff without worrying about collecting.
I know, but you don't get the whole rpg-survival experience in creative mode, which I find makes building more enjoyable, but also more time consuming..
Post by: Crow on January 25, 2013, 03:48:29 pm
Post by: PixelPiledriver on January 25, 2013, 04:00:28 pm
Makes the game a bit more interesting.
Converting dirt into arrows and meat is extremely useful.
But classic is cool too.
Post by: Crow on January 25, 2013, 04:38:41 pm
Post by: Dusty on January 25, 2013, 06:17:18 pm
Post by: 32 on January 26, 2013, 08:54:14 am
Post by: Crow on January 26, 2013, 10:11:48 am
Just a whitelist would be enough for security probably.
Permission plugins are already in place, since those are almost always required ;) Also, survival will be on normal, if anything. Personally, I'd prefer hard.
Post by: Zettman on February 08, 2013, 08:27:11 pm
Umbasa!
Post by: Atnas on March 09, 2013, 06:44:43 pm
Post by: Ashbad on March 16, 2013, 06:45:26 pm
Hoping to enter something next year indirectly related to pixel art, I have a few ideas. :y:
Post by: Charlieton on March 16, 2013, 08:57:59 pm
Post by: Seiseki on March 19, 2013, 11:59:53 am
Every art form I've worked in so far has always been one that downplays the importance of drawing, like vector art, pixel art, photo-manipulation, graphics design.
Always working around my lack of drawing skills.
So I got some art supplies for sketching and one ink pen.
I started attempting to draw real life stuff but everytime I look at something, I can't see the real angles. I heard someone say that people view objects in their heads from the front perspective even if they see if at a different perspective and it's messing with my head and eyes xD
Then I started just drawing cartoon figures and game related stuff in ink and just kept filling pages with crazy designs of monsters and robots. For some reason it works much better for me than sketching. I guess I really need to train my perception. But damn, inking is really addictive :D
I also haven't drawn much.. well.. ever. So I guess I need to really practice drawing shapes and lines before I attempt to portray real-life objects.
@Ashbad
Wow, impressive!
With your programming talents and pixel art skills you should really get into game making! :)
Post by: Ashbad on March 19, 2013, 01:33:28 pm
Overall I got 1st place in computer science, along with another student, so it looks like I'll be going to states! I also got a 1st place corporate award (and money) from MIT, George Mason, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Air Force, in addition to a few honorable mentions and a grand prize from IEEE. Ten times better than I expected, I was just hoping to place! :D
@Seiseki: Thanks! Not sure game design will eventually turn into my profession (I'm aiming more towards a CS and an EE/CE double major), and my pixeling/art skills are still rather lacking, but it's definitely a forming hobby of mine :) Just gotta get back to drawing and/or find some good artists to work with.
Post by: Dragonfly on March 19, 2013, 03:03:58 pm
I can neither right click on it or move it in any way.
Please someone help me if they can.
(Sorry if this is on the wrong board)
EDIT: I fixed the problem now by Deinstalling and re-downloading the programm. You can lock this topic or remove it or whatever you guys do.
Post by: Crow on March 20, 2013, 11:36:00 am
Post by: skw on March 26, 2013, 12:42:57 am
(http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/trancegirlx.png)
Post by: Ashbad on March 26, 2013, 01:14:49 pm
Not really off-topic but I don't want to start a new thread in the Pixel Art board...just wanted to show you my new pixel-art piece, CC if you like: http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/76933.htm :) Cheers!
I have no C+C besides what's already been said on PJ. And, congrats, this is excellent! :y: ;D
Post by: skw on March 26, 2013, 01:49:05 pm
Post by: Ai on March 29, 2013, 01:39:10 am
The general look made me wonder if you'd started the artwork in a vector program. Might be worth considering if you do anything else in similar style.
Hah, "witch house" is a genre of music? Neat.
Recently started using these warmup methods:
1 (http://mastersofchickenscratch.com/improve-your-sketches-p1/#more-68)
2 (http://mastersofchickenscratch.com/improve-your-sketches/#more-52)
Basically 1: make two points then connect them freehand with as straight a line as you can, and 2: make three points then connect them with a curve (must hit all three points).
I've found this good for improving my speed and accuracy, particularly with 'left handed' strokes ( where you draw from right to left rather than left to right) since I'm right handed (right handed strokes are easier for me).
I refined the idea a little with :
* reuse endpoints (target intersections or line ends/midpoints rather than only separate points), and
* S-shaped curves are not acceptable (as they aren't possible with a conic curve aka 3-point curve)
Post by: skw on March 29, 2013, 01:24:02 pm
Quote from: Ai
The general look made me wonder if you'd started the artwork in a vector program. Might be worth considering if you do anything else in similar style.No, I made everything in ProMotion. Here's some step I saved in the middle:
(http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/816/trancegirl4.png).
Yeah, I think this would look nice if done in vectors :)
Quote from: Ai
Hah, "witch house" is a genre of music? Neat.Well, it probably isn't but you have so many sub-genres in this type of music (i.e. "waves:" "chillwave," "darkwave" etc.) that it surely deserves an exclusive term.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7XJHiLSKKk
Post by: Mathias on March 30, 2013, 02:56:01 am
Finally got my hands on Andromeda Cutline (http://www.andromeda.com/main/screengall_cutline.php), an ancient Photoshop filter.
Made a little workflow tutorial for my first try:
(http://i.imgur.com/B5RjsmC.png)
Post by: Helm on March 31, 2013, 06:07:47 pm
Post by: Cure on March 31, 2013, 06:58:13 pm
Post by: Helm on March 31, 2013, 08:01:42 pm
Post by: Mathias on April 01, 2013, 08:52:45 am
Helm, I've only gotten it to work with Photoshop CS2 and lower. Tried CS3; no luck. But yes to Windows 7 x64.
Ι'm interested in using this filter as a rough line guide to go in and actually digital-ink every little bit in manga studio afterwards.Yikes. Why?
FULL RES CLOSE-UP (http://i.imgur.com/Vh51nYM.png)
Gotta work at 2x or 4x, then scale down end-result with smoothing interpo.
Post by: Helm on April 01, 2013, 01:13:51 pm
Post by: skw on April 05, 2013, 08:12:43 am
Post by: Crow on April 05, 2013, 11:31:11 am
Hello! Sorry, I know this was discussed a thousand times before but is there a way to get back to the original layout ? All I see now is a plain default theme that doesn't really look cool :)
Coming soon(-ish).
Post by: Mathias on April 14, 2013, 07:15:16 am
Post by: Seiseki on April 24, 2013, 08:45:45 pm
Especially because of this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/you-dont-like-breasts-you-must-like-men-the-disappointing-conversation-and
Post by: Ai on April 24, 2013, 11:11:56 pm
I made both cycling (moves to next color index after picking) and non-cycling versions. Usually use 'cycling', because I mainly want to pick ramps rather than single colors. I use this for example to pick colors from GPick (http://code.google.com/p/gpick/)'s "blend colors' panel:
(http://i.imgur.com/Y9o6mgO.png)
Both versions of the script are available here (http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/issues/detail?id=240).
Note: you'll need to have the grabc package installed first.
Post by: Tourist on April 29, 2013, 10:51:40 pm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/29/err_act_landgrab/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/29/err_act_landgrab/)
The UK just passed a law that allows for commercial use of images under copyright where information about the owner is unavailable. This affects users here at Pixelation since we often upload images and edits to image sharing hosts. The article is rather strongly against the new law.
Post by: Ymedron on April 30, 2013, 12:06:50 am
And what the hell can one even do about this?
Post by: Tourist on April 30, 2013, 05:35:21 am
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2012-2013/0089/2013089.65-69.html#r005 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2012-2013/0089/2013089.65-69.html#r005) or search that page for 116A which is the relevant section. Or just search for the phrase orphan works.
It sounds nice on the surface. If you can't find the copyright owner "after a diligent search" then the UK government can license the work on a non-exclusive basis, essentially treating it as public domain. Do what you want with it (if you are in the UK). One problem is that the Berne Convention says copyright is automatic upon creation. If it's not yours, tough, it won't be out of copyright for 5 generations or so. This gets around that.
So yeah, it authorizes UK folks to copy and profit from your stuff if the copyright owner can't be found "after a diligent search." The specific regulations aren't detailed yet, that will take a few months.
This would pretty much apply by default for pictures uploaded to image hosts, or fiction that you post anonymously, or even an old web page at the internet archive that points to an abandoned email address. Possibly abandonware too.
It's open for abuse, since stripping ownership info from a digital work is trivial. You can't tell when things were added to the web, so it becomes retroactive by default. It adds a layer of legal protection to UK companies that rip people off. Maybe the detailed regulations will sort all of this out, but right now this is a mess.
What can you do? Tell people about it. Don't panic, and don't cause panic. Just mention it and link to the relevant articles. If you want to avoid your stuff getting ripped off, don't post it to the web, same as always.
Post by: Ymedron on April 30, 2013, 10:56:09 am
I told my animation teacher of it, at least. <lC
Post by: Tourist on May 03, 2013, 02:38:12 pm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/03/instagram_act_explained/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/03/instagram_act_explained/)
I don't have much more to say on this.
Post by: 0xDB on May 03, 2013, 03:20:32 pm
Another thing you could do is to put your e-mail address and/or website in the bottom of each image you upload, along with a date next to it.
Of course that doesn't help with older works which were already uploaded anonymously.
In the case of older works though, maybe a reverse image search could help determining the source of an anonymously uploaded piece by pointing to a forum, website or blog post where it was originally shared.
In all honesty though, before I'd worry about anyone stealing my stuff, I'd worry about creating something worth stealing first. :crazy:
Post by: Ai on May 05, 2013, 12:58:53 am
One common factor that wasn't mentioned here is the idea that this will make money for the UK government
("...payment would be taken and the money set aside for copyright owners that reveal themselves down the track.") and/or unrelated third parties setting themselves up as 'orphaned-works licensers'.
link commenting on recent updates/proposed updates in orphaned-works policies in UK, US, EU and AUS.[url]
Also, apparently 'diligent search' has a specific established legal meaning.
(http://www.copyright.org.au/news-and-policy/details/id/2164/)
Quote
In all honesty though, before I'd worry about anyone stealing my stuff, I'd worry about creating something worth stealing first. :crazy:As artists, we are obligated to doubt our own doubts about the quality of our work ;)
Post by: Mathias on May 06, 2013, 01:34:22 am
For those that do, when digital drawing/painting in grayscale, but planning to end with a full color image - what is your strategy for transitioning from grays to colors? When, during the drawing process, and how do you cross over into color?
Post by: Ymedron on May 06, 2013, 08:40:18 am
1. Turn grayscale into multiply
2. Turn color layer into color-mode
3. Recolor grayscale into a purple/blue hue, and multiply
4. Overlay instead of multiply
If I'm working in this way, I either complete the grayscale first or do the purple-layer after putting the color layer in. The first method puts main focus onto getting lighting information correct, but leaves out considerations of contrast, hue and how that changes what the shading looks like. The second method is more annoying to work with, since you need to turn off the color layer to be able to pick the true shading color to work with.
And regarding the copyright law:
The concern comes from someone simply editing the owner's name out, acting in bad faith. But I suppose then you'll have to contact the copyright protection agency of your country... :l
Post by: Seiseki on May 10, 2013, 04:28:08 pm
Hm, after reading a bit in 'Drawing with the right side of the brain' isn't this app a bit of the opposite? By focusing on text and not color.
Post by: Ymedron on May 10, 2013, 05:33:35 pm
Post by: Seiseki on May 10, 2013, 06:34:45 pm
Post by: Ymedron on May 10, 2013, 07:02:18 pm
It's not especially art-related, but it's good to exercise your brains.
Post by: Carnivac on May 12, 2013, 01:25:20 pm
Here be a screenie for those what likes retro stuffs...
(http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/132/2/b/c_p_c__11th_may__13_by_carnivius-d64zrph.png)
Post by: Helm on May 12, 2013, 05:56:31 pm
Post by: Carnivac on May 12, 2013, 06:46:40 pm
I'll try sort out a video in the next few weeks (I'm not very familiar with video software though so any suggestions for such a program would be welcome). Still got some work to do on it before I feel like showing this version of it in action such as the little robot buddy (that can go into 16 pixel high tunnels), the zombie troopers and other bits and pieces. Also some code is knowingly broken at moment (such as the multiple fire weapon) as I go through it all revising, ripping out, replacing and improving various bits. I cut some stuff from the original demo I did (such as an 8 frame idle animation for the player) for memory reasons when I hope to get this converted to a real Amstrad CPC someday (and fulfil a childhood goal) though I find the 'limitations' are keeping me focused but also are themselves creating new features (having the zombie troopers and the main villain's initial form using the same leg sprites as the player made me realise I could switch the characters round for fun, as I just change the top half sprite and the name and have alternate story dialogue too. And it makes sense in story as they all start as prisoners on the same spaceship so would be wearing the same trousers anyway).
;D
Post by: Helm on May 12, 2013, 06:54:48 pm
Yes, limitations sometimes breed innovation. I too would like to make a pure 8-bit game someday (probably c64).
Post by: Carnivac on May 14, 2013, 07:26:43 am
Post by: rikfuzz on May 14, 2013, 08:03:24 am
Post by: Carnivac on May 14, 2013, 08:35:53 am
Post by: Conzeit on May 15, 2013, 09:21:46 pm
on the scanlines thing IMO they are best when they arent full black, the light from between each pixel bleeds so they arent that harsh in reality
On another note...I've been thinking about the whole lo-spect aspect of things and David O reilly I think is an example of someone who's made a lot of progress on that. Recently he directed an adventure time episode, but his works stands out on it's own.
I was reading one of his posts where he was talking about theory of timing, and used a special filter to bring out the contrast in motion videos
http://davidoreilly.com/post/44795290855/timing2
Does anybody know what this filter is? I'd love to analayse the hell out of some motions with that
Post by: Ymedron on May 15, 2013, 09:47:06 pm
Especially the second comparison with the trumpets etc, the drawing on the left has some info that doesn't exist in the final work, like brush-drawn lines.
Edit: Hm, looking closer, the brush drawn thing probably comes from the effect that you were talking about. I'm still thinking it's just him overlaying like ten previous frames in the picture to give the animation a "tail". :o!
Edit2: HM, further analyzing... Yeah looks like he did use something, derp herp. Maybe he made it himself. Could ask him on tumblr. <lV Sorry for confusing the matter.
edit3: derp, last edit I think. He doesn't seem to want to be asked software/technical questions... Hrm! can't find any info on it on google either... Maybe if you want to bite the bullet, ask anyway. D:
Post by: jams0988 on May 15, 2013, 10:56:33 pm
Quote from: Ymedron
Off topic: Why does it always have to be a girlfriend? (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=15371.0) Why not... I don't know, his dad or son or gay partner, or why does it have to be a male main character? Wouldn't it be possible to have a heroic female rescue their boyfriend? It's kinda annoying how every single game with a plot like this involves saving the female, making them the reward or object of the game. Aka removing agency. Harumph.
Because 95% of people playing this kind of game will be male. Because 95% of said males would rather rescue a girlfriend than a gay lover or a janitor.
It sucks if that fantasy isn't one that appeals to you, but you have to remember art is usually made to appeal to the artist themselves, or to what the artist considers their audience. The overwhelming audience for this would probably prefer it just the way he has it.
I'd imagine it's because "I want to create something that I'd enjoy!" is what most artists think, not "how can I appeal to the LGBT/minority/handicapped/otherwise fringe consumer?", and there's absolutely *nothing* wrong with that, in my opinion. Things get made a certain way because they're popular. There's nothing malevolent about it. People just make what they want to play, hear, or see. =)
Of course, there might be some monetary incentive for tapping into the smaller, less catered to markets, but a small 2D maze game is probably best with the simple, old-fashioned story...
My two cents, anyway. My game's going to have a female protagonist, just because I think girls are adorable and dudes are gross. But again, I'm doing it for myself, not for the females out there. If I'm going to spend a million hours making something, I think I deserve to make it the way I'd like to see it made...and I'd argue the same for everyone else!:3
Post by: Ymedron on May 15, 2013, 11:19:56 pm
Furthermore, how do you know whether they'd want to rescue their girlfriend, father or mother? I never said "make it some random person", I asked why can't it be something else than just girlfriend. Why can't the reward be something else than sex for the main character? I'd imagine a lot of people can relate to rescuing their beloved family member than a love interest, as everyone has had a parent figure but not everyone has a significant other.
Of course they think "I want to make something fun!" You don't normally think about social issues until someone tells you, because it's always been like this. Humans are naturally really good at sticking to rules and tradition, but rules and tradition can become corrupted or old-fashioned, they can turn out to be damaging and need revisement. Culture provides these revisions to law and traditions, because it permeates everything. Thus, raising awareness is the best thing that can be done in a forum like this, when we aren't making laws but culture.
I don't believe male gamers are so inhuman that they can't relate to a female main character. Females can find it in themselves to relate to a male character, homosexuals can relate to heteros. Why can't the opposite be true?
Claiming people won't be interested in female heroes is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as that makes people less inclined to make heroic female characters and thus there are less good female characters to choose from. Do you see the cycle?
Notice that I'm not perfect myself. All these years I've hated my own gender in games, because they have always been portrayed in a way that I can't relate to. I still don't think to make female characters.
However, having become aware of these issues, it's actually making me -want- to do a female-main char game just to try and see if it can be done well.
I can't even imagine how gaming would look like outside of this situation, but I damn well want to find out.
edit: Also, I think this discussion needs to be branched into its own topic. It's too big and will derail the topic at hand.
Post by: dreamisle on May 16, 2013, 12:25:20 am
QuoteOff topic: Why does it always have to be a girlfriend? Why not... I don't know, his dad or son or gay partner, or why does it have to be a male main character? Wouldn't it be possible to have a heroic female rescue their boyfriend? It's kinda annoying how every single game with a plot like this involves saving the female, making them the reward or object of the game. Aka removing agency. Harumph.Because 95% of people playing this kind of game will be male. Because 95% of said males would rather rescue a girlfriend than a gay lover or a janitor.
It sucks if that fantasy isn't one that appeals to you, but you have to remember art is usually made to appeal to the artist themselves, or to what the artist considers their audience. The overwhelming audience for this would probably prefer it just the way he has it.
I'd imagine it's because "I want to create something that I'd enjoy!" is what most artists think, not "how can I appeal to the LGBT/minority/handicapped/otherwise fringe consumer?", and there's absolutely *nothing* wrong with that, in my opinion. Things get made a certain way because they're popular. There's nothing malevolent about it. People just make what they want to play, hear, or see. =)
Of course, there might be some monetary incentive for tapping into the smaller, less catered to markets, but a small 2D maze game is probably best with the simple, old-fashioned story...
My two cents, anyway. My game's going to have a female protagonist, just because I think girls are adorable and dudes are gross. But again, I'm doing it for myself, not for the females out there. If I'm going to spend a million hours making something, I think I deserve to make it the way I'd like to see it made...and I'd argue the same for everyone else!:3
95%? But half of gamers are female. 8l And how do you know how many male gamers are gay?
Furthermore, how do you know whether they'd want to rescue their girlfriend, father or mother? I never said "make it some random person", I asked why can't it be something else than just girlfriend. Why can't the reward be something else than sex for the main character? I'd imagine a lot of people can relate to rescuing their beloved family member than a love interest, as everyone has had a parent figure but not everyone has a significant other.
Of course they think "I want to make something fun!" You don't normally think about social issues until someone tells you, because it's always been like this. Humans are naturally really good at sticking to rules and tradition, but rules and tradition can become corrupted or old-fashioned, they can turn out to be damaging and need revisement. Culture provides these revisions to law and traditions, because it permeates everything. Thus, raising awareness is the best thing that can be done in a forum like this, when we aren't making laws but culture.
I don't believe male gamers are so inhuman that they can't relate to a female main character. Females can find it in themselves to relate to a male character, homosexuals can relate to heteros. Why can't the opposite be true?
Claiming people won't be interested in female heroes is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as that makes people less inclined to make heroic female characters and thus there are less good female characters to choose from. Do you see the cycle?
Notice that I'm not perfect myself. All these years I've hated my own gender in games, because they have always been portrayed in a way that I can't relate to. I still don't think to make female characters.
However, having become aware of these issues, it's actually making me -want- to do a female-main char game just to try and see if it can be done well.
I can't even imagine how gaming would look like outside of this situation, but I damn well want to find out.
edit: Also, I think this discussion needs to be branched into its own topic. It's too big and will derail the topic at hand.
Some points to consider about the game whose topic this conversation was spun from:
- I'm making the game for the company I work for as a tie-in with our website's mascot, so the main character is non-negotiable.
- None of my opinion on hetero- vs homosexual relationships matters since I'm making it for a work project. My boss is conservative. I consider myself lucky just to be able to get paid to draw pixel art and sling code, and the LGBT battle just isn't worth it in this scenario.
- I'm gay, and I've always complained about Harvest Moon-type games only portraying hetero relationships.
- Rescuing a female companion just seemed like a better objective than "collect all the coins in the maze because I said so."
Post by: Tourist on May 16, 2013, 02:34:31 am
Post by: big brother on May 16, 2013, 04:01:41 am
Post by: Ymedron on May 16, 2013, 05:47:38 am
I'm half tempted to just ignore you.
All of my friends - who are female, mind you - play games like Aion, left for dead, skyrim... We aren't some special "progressive gaming" group, we are pretty normal female players. One of the players' mother (that would tell you that she's quite a bit older since we are all in the 20s range) plays Aion as well. I doubt we somehow magically happened to find the most "hardcore" gamers in our little grouping.
I don't see why retro gaming wouldn't appeal to women. We don't have statistics on whether females actually did play a lot of the old consoles, because they might well have been socially pressured to keep quiet about it.
Segmenting your audience with marketing serves no real purpose, other than making your audience predictable and thus easy to market to. You can easily bolster the confidence of the male players at the expense of the female ones, causing them to viciously defend your company as you further treat people not of your targeting group like crap.
This might be helpful to read, as well: http://howtonotsuckatgamedesign.com/?p=5954 (http://howtonotsuckatgamedesign.com/?p=5954) part 6. is especially relevant, I feel.
Dreamisle:
It's fine, if you can't help it. However, you -can- spin the tale in multiple ways, and you don't have to use a girlfriend as the reward.
Post by: Carnivac on May 16, 2013, 06:20:22 am
CARNIVAC: glad to hear that you're working on a project of your own, looking forward to it
on the scanlines thing IMO they are best when they arent full black, the light from between each pixel bleeds so they arent that harsh in reality
I've had several projects on the go for years. Things just get in the way. Illness, stress, an annoying sense of perfectionism that means I waste time redoing things I already did over and over and over...
I prefer all black scanlines for a couple reasons. One being that they don't add extra colours that are not already in the palette (transparent scanlines do and to me then they make the image void as pixel art). Another being my favorite Amstrad CPC emulator doesn't even call the option scanlines (it just has a tickbox for 'Render both pixel lines' when the image is doubled up) so they're full black on that and is what I'm used to playing on. And to me they just look better.
Besides as I said there are various options in the menus. The way it is in the screenshot is my choice and how I like to view it. Seeing as how it's my project and I'm making it for my own enjoyment I didn't really need to add options at all but I did. Cos I'm nice like that.
I asked why can't it be something else than just girlfriend. Why can't the reward be something else than sex for the main character?
That comment bugs me a bit. Why would a girlfriend just be about sex? Certainly not how I view relationships anyway. If you'd said 'save the random skank' then maybe I'd see the point.
Quote
I'd imagine a lot of people can relate to rescuing their beloved family member than a love interest, as everyone has had a parent figure but not everyone has a significant other.
Heck, I don't have a 'significant other' at present, but I can't say I'd be wanting to save my folks. Ain't much love there y'see....
Post by: Helm on May 16, 2013, 07:21:45 am
Quote
Half of gamers might be female, but I don't think that number holds if you factor out casual gamers. A pixel game with retro mechanics might appeal more to male players, since the classic systems and arcades were predominantly played by males. A big part of marketing is segmenting and targeting, not always trying to appeal to the general audience. /2¢
First of all, why would you factor our casual gaming people of any stripe? Second, I do not see why a pixelly retro game would not appeal to women, it's just an aesthetic mean. Women remember pac-man/mario/pong as well as men do (actually pac-man enjoyed a large contingency of female players) and that's all it takes for something retro pixelly to take advantage of the nostalgia connection.
Post by: Ymedron on May 16, 2013, 07:40:27 am
-snip-
That comment bugs me a bit. Why would a girlfriend just be about sex? Certainly not how I view relationships anyway. If you'd said 'save the random skank' then maybe I'd see the point.
(commenting in red because simpler) Because to be frank, I'm pretty jaded about this whole business. To me girlfriend/boyfriend is an extension of the desire to obtain a mate, and thus the romance involved is far more sexual in nature than the love between you, your siblings or your parents. Hence.QuoteI'd imagine a lot of people can relate to rescuing their beloved family member than a love interest, as everyone has had a parent figure but not everyone has a significant other.
Heck, I don't have a 'significant other' at present, but I can't say I'd be wanting to save my folks. Ain't much love there y'see....
I can't say much about that. If we were making a game where your relatives are assholes, sure, you wouldn't want to save them. But if the game was just about the main character's relatives who are good and loveable people (like most people are, I like to believe) I'm sure they'd be very relatable. However, in extremely simplistic games I suppose you don't have the luxury of characterization. Saving your girlfriend has just become such a disgustingly overused trope that it becomes invisible -> reduces the amount of relatability the subject has.
Edit: Also I'd like to note that my brain is a sieve and I have a hard time expressing exactly what I wanted to say. I still can't quite figure out how to write my thoughts in a way that I don't need to revise/re-explain. :l
Please don't take my comments for anything but my own. Not representing anyone else here.
Post by: Carnivac on May 16, 2013, 07:53:22 am
(commenting in red because simpler) Because to be frank, I'm pretty jaded about this whole business. To me girlfriend/boyfriend is an extension of the desire to obtain a mate, and thus the romance involved is far more sexual in nature than the love between you, your siblings or your parents. Hence.
Dunno about that. Way I see it, in most cases the 'hero' must sure care a hell of a lot about that girl if he's willing to risk his life many, many times over to rescue her. He could just forget her, move on and get some other girl who hasn't been kidnapped if it was just about sex. That's the way I see it when I play those games.
Quote
I can't say much about that. If we were making a game where your relatives are assholes, sure, you wouldn't want to save them. But if the game was just about the main character's relatives who are good and loveable people (like most people are, I like to believe) I'm sure they'd be very relatable.
Not to me. Really.
Post by: rikfuzz on May 16, 2013, 08:27:26 am
Does anybody know what this filter is? I'd love to analayse the hell out of some motions with that
I'm not sure exactly, but if you use a 'find outlines' or similar filter on two frames, and then use a difference blend mode to isolate what's changed, it looks pretty similar. I'm not familiar with After Effects et al - I presume you can do this with video layers as you can with single frames in photoshop (one offset by a frame). Not sure tho!
Post by: Ymedron on May 16, 2013, 08:09:49 pm
However, here: http://geekfeminism.org/2011/11/03/quick-hit-sexism-in-games-bingo/
Post by: Carnivac on May 17, 2013, 10:53:31 pm
Little pic of some of the sprites from my CPC-homage game. Jack and his little robot buddy on the left. Assortment of a few of the enemy types on the right. There's many others not pictured including the main villain and also the GIRL YOU HAVE TO SAVE!!! :hehe:
Friend just said to me it looks like Jack and lil robo-buddy are protecting that flower on the left from the nasty meanie folk... Ehhh.. could be.
edit: ick, they look so crappy in this resolution and without scanlines... :'(
Post by: Ai on May 21, 2013, 02:24:06 am
Honestly I think a lot of the doublewidth-pixel appeal comes from the same cute/exaggerated look found in 'chibis', which you definitely have there. I find if I start looking for (or trying to make) really discrete 'detail' in doublewidth works, I just get pissed off.
Also that flower really reminds me of Rodland, heh.
On a totally different subject, highly customizable 'drawing'-style 3d render engine for Blender (http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/freestyle-jot-and-the-future-of-non-photorealistic-rendering). Looks like this could be pretty amazing, I'm looking forward to messing around with that once I get the time.
Post by: Carnivac on May 21, 2013, 06:26:31 am
I like half-doublewidth res better -- that is, like 320x480/400 ModeX rather than 160x200. Sadly it's super annoying to draw for me (in spite of the only obvious difference being doubled DPI.)
And exactly how many games used such a 'resolution'?
Quote
Honestly I think a lot of the doublewidth-pixel appeal comes from the same cute/exaggerated look found in 'chibis', which you definitely have there. I find if I start looking for (or trying to make) really discrete 'detail' in doublewidth works, I just get pissed off.
I don't like 'chibis'....
Post by: Ai on May 21, 2013, 07:26:24 am
I don't like chibi's either. Nonetheless, the elements which -are- appealing in chibis, are the same ones that make the widepixel look appealing to me; or you could put it the reverse way. It's still 'cute deformity' :lol:
Post by: Carnivac on May 21, 2013, 07:36:57 am
(http://media.tumblr.com/bfd6057a018f45b968302163d4bed3d0/tumblr_inline_mn4734WzYd1qz4rgp.png)
@Ai
Right. Thanks for confirming what I thought about the flower. I like how it looks but it's just wrong for this game, much more suitable in something real cutesy like Rodland as you mentioned. I'll remove it from this project and chuck it into my CPC-unused assets folder in case I find a use for it in the future.
Post by: Seiseki on May 21, 2013, 07:42:12 am
It gets really muddied and weird..
I can't figure out why you love them so unconditionally ;D
(incredible work though, that looks amazing)
Post by: Carnivac on May 21, 2013, 07:46:57 am
The scan lines darkens the image too much..
It gets really muddied and weird..
I can't relate to that statement at all. Looks absolutely fine to me. Certainly a hell of a lot better than without (it looks absolute crap without them)
Post by: Carnivac on May 21, 2013, 08:07:08 am
Post by: Helm on May 21, 2013, 01:21:09 pm
Post by: ptoing on May 21, 2013, 02:31:27 pm
Birds didn't evolve to spot transparent solid surfaces.
Neither did humans :D
Post by: rikfuzz on May 21, 2013, 03:12:47 pm
Birds didn't evolve to spot transparent solid surfaces.
Bats 1, birds 0
Post by: Seiseki on May 21, 2013, 08:08:14 pm
The scan lines darkens the image too much..
It gets really muddied and weird..
I can't relate to that statement at all. Looks absolutely fine to me. Certainly a hell of a lot better than without (it looks absolute crap without them)
Well, when you make 50% of the image black, it's bound to get darker right? ???
Post by: ptoing on May 21, 2013, 10:00:40 pm
Post by: Helm on May 22, 2013, 12:26:09 am
Birds didn't evolve to spot transparent solid surfaces.
Neither did humans :D
Which is why I'm not surprised when human beings slam their faces into glass screen doors, much less poor birds.
Post by: Carnivac on May 22, 2013, 10:24:08 am
The problem is that scanlines do not really look like that. Tho if you would play it like this on a CRT it would look like real scanlines, because glow/blur/phosphor decay and all that. And I am sure the CPC had a border as well, like the C64 and other micros. So if you add a black border around that image or have it fullscreen it will not look quite as dark.
It's a simple cheap effect which I happen to like which doesn't add any unnecessary colours (unless you set it to transparent) so the palette of screenshots is kept identical to the actual pixel art in the game and doesn't have any impact on the game speed at all.
Also the game does have big borders (still gotta get round to the fake-loading bar effect for my 'loading screen'). I just crop it down to a 4 pixel width border for screenshots, particularly for my Tumblr where my blog width is too small to show the full image with borders and would scale it badly messing up the pixels.
Anyways here's another screenshot but as a link this time cos I don't want to clog up this topic with my crap too much. This be of me revamping the old castle tileset but with a colour scheme I came across accidentally (when I was colour swapping tiles and messed it up but it came out nice and interesting) and hasn't really been done much on a CPC before. Same 16 colour palette as the previous screenshots but totally different scheme. Bricks look a bit too.. new though so I might go study some castle pics and their brick work though the way it is now does make it very easy to tile without using too many tiles.
http://media.tumblr.com/5700953abed7513b811468e8720fe6cc/tumblr_inline_mn5ha892X51qz4rgp.png (http://media.tumblr.com/5700953abed7513b811468e8720fe6cc/tumblr_inline_mn5ha892X51qz4rgp.png)
Which is why I'm not surprised when human beings slam their faces into glass screen doors, much less poor birds.
That's what I remembered a lil while after posting about the bird. Cos I did a very similar thing when I was a kid staying at my nan's house in kent and accidentally kicked my ball over the fence into the neighbours garden and went next door to go get it. The old man there invited me in but I seem to remember not noticing which way he went and I seemed to find myself in the back room with the french windows overlooking the back garden and thinking that's where he went I walked right into them banging my face so hard into the glass I had a nose bleed. Those windows must have been extremely clean or I was just stupid. Maybe a bit of both. When I went back into my nan's house with the ball and my nose still bleeding she freaked a bit and probably thought the neighbour had hit me or something :P Anyways a bit later on I'm gonna go downstairs and ask the old lady what happened to the bird. Hope it's ok. I like animals and birds a lot and would hate it if my window killed the bird.
Come to think of it I watched a Frasier episode on Netflix about the same sorta thing a while ago. Bird hit window because Niles wiped off what Martin referred to as the 'safety smudge'.
Post by: Seiseki on May 22, 2013, 10:27:51 am
I guess, in worst case I don't have to worry about cat food for the day.. :lol:
Post by: Carnivac on May 22, 2013, 10:40:01 am
I guess, in worst case I don't have to worry about cat food for the day.. :lol:
:o
Post by: Ai on May 22, 2013, 11:06:22 am
http://media.tumblr.com/5700953abed7513b811468e8720fe6cc/tumblr_inline_mn5ha892X51qz4rgp.png (http://media.tumblr.com/5700953abed7513b811468e8720fe6cc/tumblr_inline_mn5ha892X51qz4rgp.png)
haha nice.. sort of like a mix between Total Recall and Switchblade. Getting that 'switchblade' ish look for the big floor tiles in Mode 0 is an accomplishment :) I like the darker schemes, screens that are overall excessively bright is a typical CPC graphics failing.
Post by: r1k on May 22, 2013, 02:45:48 pm
Post by: Carnivac on May 22, 2013, 02:53:56 pm
Carnivac, have you tried spacing the scanlines out a little more so the image isnt as dark? I like the scanlines actually, but wonder if it might be better a little more spaced out. They look better in the new screenshot though, probably because the added darkness works with that scene instead of against it.
Please, enough about the scanlines... seriously. I've just had a bit debate about it all on a CPC forum and even modified the game engine so now it has seperate options for both the horizontal and vertical scanline overlays (so they can even both appear at same time as shown at http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6865.0;attach=9250;image (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6865.0;attach=9250;image)and both have independent transparancy values of 0-10 with 0 turning that scanline overlay off and 10 being full black)... I'm sick to death of the subject. I just want to work on the actual gaaaaaaaaaame... :'( :'( :'( :'( :o :'( :'(
sorry if that came out a bit rude or angry. I didn't sleep last night and I just wanted to get a lot of work done on this project today and it seemed I had to spend about 3 or 4 hours having discussions about scanlines which aren't even part of the game so just got very frustrated. Didn't mean anything by it all.
Post by: Seiseki on May 23, 2013, 05:39:36 am
I find I have to press really hard or several times.. Not constantly, but now and then..
I've been googling without any results and I'm starting to fear that I'll have to get a new one :(
Post by: 32 on May 23, 2013, 05:50:55 am
Good luck
Post by: 0xDB on May 23, 2013, 07:31:14 am
Has anyone had their wacom starting to respond poorly?I've had responsiveness issues with my Wacom Intuos 3 in Windows 7 once.
I find I have to press really hard or several times.. Not constantly, but now and then..
I've been googling without any results and I'm starting to fear that I'll have to get a new one :(
After the following three steps, it worked fine again.
I suspected that Windows' own tablet services were interfering with the Wacom drivers.
1.) I disabled "Flicks" in Start->Control Panel->Pen And Touch.
2.) I installed the most recent drivers and reset the settings in Start->Control Panel->Wacom Tablet Properties to their defaults.
3.) I set the start type for the "Tablet PC Input Service" to "Disabled" in Start->Administrative Tools->Services and made sure that only "TabletServiceWacom" is started automatically.
Sometimes (rarely) the tablet starts acting weird while being in use, then it usually helps here to restart the "TabletServiceWacom".
Post by: PixelPiledriver on May 23, 2013, 08:19:09 am
Just curious to hear some stuff about it.
Post by: Seiseki on May 23, 2013, 02:14:57 pm
But thanks for the help! I did shutdown the service as Dennis mentioned and it seemed to do the trick! Awesome :y:
----------
Not deving on the OUYA yet, but will be soon.
As soon as the two people on the team have gotten theirs, so I guess indirectly.
I like the OUYA but I'm still skeptical if it's a platform you can make a living on, especially after seeing some horror figures for early sales.
Post by: Crow on May 23, 2013, 04:45:22 pm
Post by: ptoing on May 23, 2013, 09:21:37 pm
Post by: Crow on May 24, 2013, 12:29:42 pm
Post by: 32 on May 25, 2013, 04:03:05 am
I wonder also if anyone has issues with photoshop and pen and touch? cs6 works great on my desktop with win7 and an intuos4, but is riddled with issues on my samsung tablet with win8 and what I gather to be wacom technology without the wacom drivers as well as touch. Everything seems to work fine in other programs but photoshop is just a mess, if anyone is using a pen and touch wacom tablet I'd love to know whether they have any issues, specifically touching the canvas with your finger sending it flying and pressure sensitivity getting locked on full during some brushstrokes.
Post by: Carnivac on May 29, 2013, 01:01:54 pm
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/cpc_2013052901.png)
Made some changes since the last shots were taken. Have changed from scrolling levels to 'flick-screen' for a number reasons. One being speed concerns on a real CPC (while many games did feature scrolling, the results would vary and screen sizes were generally kept small to compensate) and this way I can have a slightly bigger on-screen play area. Also I find level design a hell of a lot easier with flick-screen games as I can do each bit of the level in screen-sized chunks and it's easier to make various level segments the focus and completely in shot. Mapping is a lot easier too as I can now refer to an array of low-digit co-ordinates for each screen of the levels. Have framed the screen using some of the small tiles that make up the status bar too (yay for memory-saving recycling). Done a lot of re-coding stuff to optimise, tidy things up and also make it easy for later coding. The game seems to be taking on a slightly more 'adventure game' type of tone with some story bits and puzzles (mostly solved by jumping on things or shooting things but hey...). Also still coding it with anything that I don't consider necessary classed as '128k machines only' and trying to get as much of the crucial stuff in so hopefully it can be coded to run sufficiently on a 64k system hence why I have to do a lot of graphic recycling (may as well make the most of what's already loaded into the memory).
I usually cut the big black borders in the screenshots but they're here in this one to show that's generally how games looked on the CPC (and other 8 bit home computers). It was possible to make the screen bigger and cut into those using overscan modes but it usually wasn't worth the hassle.
This shot shows the improved scanline optional configurations. I just noticed if I zoom out of the image there with Firefox's imagezoom extension it goes to normal size aaand the pixels shown are the game's true palette due to the way it scales out cleanly.
EDIT: updated screenshot with the more recent versions of the mountain tiles that do not have selout and stuff...
Post by: ptoing on May 29, 2013, 01:05:00 pm
Post by: Carnivac on May 29, 2013, 01:14:31 pm
Post by: Helm on May 29, 2013, 01:35:39 pm
Post by: Carnivac on May 29, 2013, 01:53:08 pm
I don't know about locking the player into the area until enemies are all destroyed. Maybe in some areas where, for example, a door's locking mechanism is connected to the on-screen enemies. But generally I think I'd get quite annoyed if every screen required every enemy to be destroyed before progressing.
Post by: Helm on May 29, 2013, 03:18:02 pm
Post by: Cow on May 30, 2013, 01:22:56 am
Post by: Mathias on May 30, 2013, 05:15:47 am
What up, Cow!
Post by: Carnivac on May 30, 2013, 02:39:15 pm
Great work, Carnifax.
:-\
Post by: Vakinox on May 30, 2013, 02:45:33 pm
Great work, Carnifax.
:-\
Maybe he thinks your name is a reference to the metal band: Carnifex?
Or the Latin word for "executioner"?
Or I could just be overexamining a simple error :p
Post by: Seiseki on May 30, 2013, 07:12:59 pm
Great work, Carnifax.
:-\
"oh no he didn't..." :o
(I love these smiles :D)
Post by: Cyangmou on June 01, 2013, 12:49:00 am
know ya kitten
Post by: Ai on June 01, 2013, 10:19:59 am
The Kopf-Lischinski research was posted here before, but if you don't remember, this link (https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/multi_comparison.html) gives a big list of examples of how the algorithm performs on familiar sprites.
And this sprite might also remind you:
(http://i.imgur.com/tNsFMJo.png)
To me, the results of this algorithm seem clearly the best (including against Inkscape's currently built-in vectorizer "PoTrace" which performs excellently on everything but pixel art (https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/comparison_potrace.html)); my only concern is the addition of blur when colors are detected to be sufficiently similar. Hopefully that is a threshold that could be exposed in Inkscape for tweaking.
While I find upscaled pixel art to have a 'coarse' feel (lack of fine details feels odd at increased scale), this is certainly my best bet for doing auto-AAing as a postprocessing step (ie. vectorize with this new algorithm, then render at the original resolution)
Post by: ptoing on June 01, 2013, 10:54:00 am
To me all of this looks like more or less successful attempts to convert stuff into window-colours. And everything gets round and blobby, no matter what. I'd rather have huge fucking pixels with some scanline filter than this, any day.
Post by: Ai on June 01, 2013, 11:00:17 am
Post by: YellowLime on June 01, 2013, 03:39:06 pm
Quote
All upscaling that is anything but nearest neighbour looks wrong to me.
Quote
But who cares about upscaling, I just want effective auto-AA
Touché, Seiseki :hehe: (jk)
Post by: Dusty on June 01, 2013, 05:51:47 pm
I'd rather have huge fucking pixels with some scanline filter than this, any day.
As a pixel artist seeing games rendered in their full nearest-neighbor pixels doesn't bother me. In fact that's how I prefer seeing pixelled games... but a lot of people, even old gamers, apparently can't stand the sight of pixels. I was surprised how many of my friends use scaling filters on their emulators.
I would like to see that scaling algorithm applied to a screenshot of a game as a whole, rather than individual sprites. Chances are since it was developed by Microsoft it was mainly intended to be used to upscale the old arcade games they port to their Xbox Arcade.
You can see on this sprite that has way more pixels happening:
(https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/results_nearest/vikings_olaf_nearest_4x.png)
The algorithm kind of craps itself.
(https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/results_ours/vikings_olaf_ours_8x.png)
I can only imagine what an entire game would look like, if it rendered out like that.
Post by: Ai on June 02, 2013, 01:59:55 am
No need to imagine! Just look at the Super Mario World clip on their website (https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/index.html) -- In the 'Video Comparisons' section, click on 'Our Result'. The clip is limited in area, but certainly has enough to get a decent idea.
Overall this would confirm Ptoings statements, except the ones where he's merely being grumpy ;). It does look overly rounded to me (and there's an amusing 'slime blobbing together' effect as Mario + Yoshi's outlines animate as he rides Yoshi.) but it doesn't seem to suffer from the intentional-blurring found on the static sprites -- maybe they turned it off because it was too CPU intensive to render. Some people might like the result, but anyway it's moot for the immediate future since it's beyond the capabilities of current hardware to render in realtime.
Also: it actually performs very well (meaning better than all other algorithms -- the website allows you to easily compare.). No algorithm is ever going to be able to 'guess' the intent of an isolated pixel that well (barring use of neural nets and other seriously heavyweight stuff), so it's much more accurate to judge on the basis of the ratio of pixel clusters that it succeeds/fails to detect.
I'll reserve my judgement on the blurred areas, as I can't tell how well/badly they have been vectorized.
Overall I'd like a hybrid version that also does the kind of layered tracing that Inkscape implements (treat the image as a stack of colored paper cutouts ranging from darkest-color to lightest-color. Note that this is NOT the approach shown in the comparison with PoTrace). This approach can result in some discoloration of edges but is somewhat better at conveying volume (since it essentially traces masses of light). Edge discoloration would be insignificant if rendered using no AA at a high resolution then downsampled to the original resolution.
Well, to get a really satisfying result would probably require two passes, with manual adjustment inbetween (vectorize -> patch, render as hires bitmap -> vectorize). If Inkscape was faster on complex images, it would be no big deal to draw a handful of shapes to clarify the vectorization, over the top of the pass1 result. Even after that there's the 'missing small scale elements' factor that's unavoidable. Even if I can get a perfectly accurate upscaling (definitely possible with simpler shapes) things just feel coarse and it's disappointing.
Post by: Dusty on June 02, 2013, 05:44:49 am
Dusty:Problem is Mario is one of those cases that doesn't have a lot of pixel busyness going on, and thus benefits pretty well. I'd like to see another game like Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 3 or some such that has dithering and noisy textures and such.
No need to imagine! Just look at the Super Mario World clip on their website (https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/index.html) -- In the 'Video Comparisons' section, click on 'Our Result'. The clip is limited in area, but certainly has enough to get a decent idea.
Post by: Carnivac on June 02, 2013, 06:53:25 am
Post by: Ai on June 02, 2013, 10:45:02 am
Post by: Mathias on June 02, 2013, 11:32:46 am
Great work, Carnifax.
:-\
Maybe he thinks your name is a reference to the metal band: Carnifex?
Or the Latin word for "executioner"?
Or I could just be overexamining a simple error :p
Haha . . .
Or maybe I was critically sleep-deprived, as usual. Good work, Carvinack!
Post by: Helm on June 02, 2013, 01:06:49 pm
Carvinack!
It's really not that difficult.
Post by: Ymedron on June 02, 2013, 03:08:11 pm
Post by: Dusty on June 02, 2013, 03:52:00 pm
Dunno. The Mario example still looked bloody terrible to me. None of these things ever look even a fraction as good as the original graphics. Makes me wonder why bother playing old games if you're just gonna turn their well crafted sprites into such crud...
Sadly everyone doesn't appreciate pixels as much as we do :(
Post by: YellowLime on June 02, 2013, 09:10:50 pm
Carvinack!
It's really not that difficult.
Carving snark?
(come on people you know the second time was on purpose)
This pixel-vectorizing business is pretty interesting to me. Not because I dream of a dystopian future free of pixels, but because I want to know the thought process in trying to make it look as good as possible (or the least awful ::)) Since, you know, code is art-blind.
It also makes me wonder how close can these methods get to creating nice graphics, and what would be the thinking/planning behind it.
Why don't any of the algorithms work with user input? I guess that since filters are supposed to be used at runtime, they don't bother to ask a user's opinion (I mean, it's like they're used on the "consumer" side)
But if someone were to partake in the unholy activity of purposefully "porting" pixel graphics into vector counterparts, any algorithm would benefit from the user's aesthetic criteria. (so, a filter with "options" for the "developer" side.)
(Though not so much "options" but instead "mapping qualities to specific groups of pixels")
In fact, I find it weird that there wouldn't be any filters like that! Maybe you guys know of any? :blind:
Post by: Dusty on June 03, 2013, 01:53:50 am
I think out of all those examples(here (http://"https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/multi_comparison.html")) hq4X is the best. It has its flaws, but it does a pretty damn good job most of the time in interpreting what shapes are being created with the pixels, and to top it off has some nice AA. If only that could be refined, as it seems to "skip" many pixels and just square them off.
(https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/results_hq4x/smw_boo_hq4x_16x.png)
But at the end of the day, it can't look at the overall set of pixels and interpret what the artist intended, and fails as well. Again, the more complicated the pixels, the more it seems to fail. And I don't think we'll really ever overcome that.
Post by: Ai on June 03, 2013, 05:43:32 am
Its author, Hylian, has posted here about it (but has improved the algorithm since then.) . In the link I gave, he outlines the challenges of recognizing finer increments in angles -- in particular, that the 'output area' may go outside the area that you are reading to detect the angle (so the algorithm will want to overwrite its own results in places). Despite this he's working on a 'level 3' filter (level 1 == 45 degree increments, 2 == 22.5 inc, 3 = 11.25 inc). If you poke him he might have something more to say on this current topic here.
BTW: your link is strange --
Code: [Select]
http://"https//research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/pixelart/supplementary/multi_comparison.html%22 ?
Post by: Mathias on June 03, 2013, 07:05:36 am
While the scanlines seem to add a "dirty" noise to the overall impression, they do also lend a neat old school-ish feel. I wonder if playing an entire game like that, with such visible scanlines, would become an annoyance after a while. Not sure.
Also, how would it even be achieved, technically?
Crop of last pic
(http://i.imgur.com/GPbmC7V.png)
Scanlines going both ways. It is just a transparent pattern overlaid on top of everything - just a bunch of transparent black pixels?
___
As for all the scaling algo's - how would a simpleton, non-codin', graphic designer like myself put them to use in his own work?
Post by: Ai on June 03, 2013, 07:17:12 am
If you want to try these filters on your images, check out
https://code.google.com/p/2dimagefilter/
I despise .NET, so I didn't bother; but, it does implement virtually every scaling filter available in emulators, and provides a simple tool to apply them to whatever image you want.
Post by: Conzeit on June 04, 2013, 12:07:23 am
http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/how-the-swapper-created-horror-out-of-clay-and-found-objects
Thought some of you guys would like to know....I'll leave you guys to geek over the sweet scanlined Carnivac art now =)
Post by: PixelPiledriver on June 04, 2013, 02:02:47 am
Quote
there's a game called "Swapper"Cool!
Very clever way to build normal maps from photos.
Looks to be a decent game as well.
Quote
a while ago we had a topic with PixelPileDriver examining the possibility of shading pixelart trough normal mapsHaven't touched that shader since then.
It was a good side project.
Maybe I'll put some time into that.
Post by: Carnivac on June 04, 2013, 08:33:18 am
While the scanlines seem to add a "dirty" noise to the overall impression, they do also lend a neat old school-ish feel. I wonder if playing an entire game like that, with such visible scanlines, would become an annoyance after a while. Not sure.
I don't really 'notice' them all. In fact the lack of scanlines bugs me a lot more. I don't like to play low res games without them.
Quote
Scanlines going both ways. It is just a transparent pattern overlaid on top of everything - just a bunch of transparent black pixels?
I think I mentioned in a previous post it's just two images of black lines. One with them going horizontal and one with them vertical and they can each have their transparency adjusted from 0 (being off) to 10 (being full black) with various degrees of transparent in between. I personally prefer the horizontal ones being on full black and the vertical ones being off.
Post by: tim on June 04, 2013, 02:43:54 pm
a while ago we had a topic with PixelPileDriver examining the possibility of shading pixelart trough normal maps. Well there's a game called "Swapper" that does that but with stopmotion graphics, and it looks pretty darn good.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/how-the-swapper-created-horror-out-of-clay-and-found-objects
Thought some of you guys would like to know....I'll leave you guys to geek over the sweet scanlined Carnivac art now =)
Very interesting, thank you.
Seems like I won't be the first to have full dynamic lighting in 2D using normal maps.
Post by: Carnivac on June 04, 2013, 03:56:51 pm
sweet scanlined Carnivac art now =)I never know if being sarcastic but thanks in case you ain't. I just thinking the CPC type stuff only really appeals to myself and other fans of the nearly three decades old computer but hey it keeps me busy and not going crazy and I'm enjoying what I'm doing despite or perhaps because of the limitations.
Have switched from 8x16 tiles to 4x8 to save memory as I realised at that size there were a lot of duplicates in the smaller size (like when you round off a platform tiles corner variation) and the tilesheet has now cut down to a third and found some of the smaller pieces even work in other places I hadn't thought of before giving much more flexibility and possibilities with the tilesheet. And now I've redone the wooden doors in a way that their tiles are able to be used for any size of door, the fences, wooden crates and the flooring of the building interiors too. Windows have been enlarged (using tiles already in on the sheet) so I can fit sky tiles in them for the interiors to make it look like there's an outdoors scene through the windows. One bad thing about the smaller tile size is they're even more fiddly to place down in Game Maker's room editor and the rock tiles are somewhat confusing on the tilesheet. That thing really needs some copy/paste groups of tiles. But at least they added a zoom function in recent versions so I don't have to squint so hard.
Interiors look something like this quick mock up http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/interiortest2.png (http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/interiortest2.png) but obviously the screen ain't big enough to show all of that. Some interiors will be multi screen and even function that way to be the correct route through a stage (like if there's a wall you can't get by in outdoors and the building goes by that wall so you go in one door, through the building and out the other door to be on the other side of the wall. That elevator looks a bit out of place as it's from the more sci-fi set later on but I haven't designed a wooden elevator yet.
Post by: Conzeit on June 04, 2013, 07:46:26 pm
Post by: Chris2balls on June 04, 2013, 07:51:28 pm
Post by: Crow on June 04, 2013, 09:18:30 pm
My brother mentioned an idea he's been toying with, which I'd like to share with you: would a website made solely for job offers revolving around pixel art/digital art be of any use or an improvement over the current system used in the Pixelation forums?
Planned as a separate feature already, actually, since threads for offers and portfolios are sort of.. meh-ish.
Post by: Carnivac on June 04, 2013, 10:38:36 pm
lol, I was not sarcastic at all, love your stuff. I'm a scanlines geek too (dont play zsnes without them) I just didnt have anything to add to the discussion :p
Ah thanks then. Sorry, I have a distrust of the internet and internet folks real meanings and intentions, plus a low confidence in my own graphics and my taste in retro (the amount of people who keep telling me to 'stop living in the past'...). All that combined makes it hard for me to recognise a genuine compliment. Thanks again. :)
Post by: Helm on June 04, 2013, 11:36:38 pm
Post by: Seiseki on June 05, 2013, 01:08:41 am
Post by: Carnivac on June 05, 2013, 07:18:17 am
Member of the family passed away last night. In some ways it's good for him because he's not suffering anymore. We all thought his time was up about six years ago (I remember a very emotional christmas from that time) but he seemed to hold on a lot longer than anyone expected but in the end he was mostly bed-ridden and unable to have much of a life.
Post by: Pawige on June 05, 2013, 05:38:14 pm
(Post moved to OT-creativity thread.)
Post by: Carnivac on June 05, 2013, 06:57:04 pm
Good luck with your game. :) I just noticed you moved the info of it to the OT Creativity thread which I had forgotten about. Perhaps that's where I should have posted stuff about my game rather than clogging up this thread.
Post by: Pawige on June 05, 2013, 07:57:13 pm
Post by: Carnivac on June 05, 2013, 09:10:15 pm
I think I know how you feel. Two of my grandparents passed away last fall (one was expected -- he had had a few strokes, the other was a major shock), and even though I didn't really know them very well, it was tough.
Yeah., that's it. Sorry to hear about your grandparents.
Post by: PixelPiledriver on June 06, 2013, 05:29:04 am
My grandparents all died recently as well.
Mid life is hitting.
Post by: YellowLime on June 06, 2013, 08:02:33 am
If it's not too harsh to ask, I'd like the thread to get on a lighter note, since I've been wary of not changing the topic so as not to offend anyone :-[
Then again, if anyone needs to get something off their chest, please do so.
Crow, how long will implementing it take? :P I'm very interested in this, since I'll be looking for jobs now that college is over. I tried doing so in January semi-actively (about 10-20 applications over 2 weeks), but I didn't get any, and decided to stick to school 8)My brother mentioned an idea he's been toying with, which I'd like to share with you: would a website made solely for job offers revolving around pixel art/digital art be of any use or an improvement over the current system used in the Pixelation forums?Planned as a separate feature already, actually, since threads for offers and portfolios are sort of.. meh-ish.
Post by: Crow on June 06, 2013, 08:22:01 am
Crow, how long will implementing it take? :P I'm very interested in this, since I'll be looking for jobs now that college is over. I tried doing so in January semi-actively (about 10-20 applications over 2 weeks), but I didn't get any, and decided to stick to school 8)
Will be included in the new forum, so at least as long as I'm done with that. Did I talk about that before? I did just now if I haven't before.
Post by: Carnivac on June 08, 2013, 11:48:32 am
(http://media.tumblr.com/ec17597af8550a1bb0d04dca1c8f8ced/tumblr_inline_mo2o61lvc21qz4rgp.gif) (http://media.tumblr.com/89fc3db10ee9ad913b153764ecdac69a/tumblr_inline_mo2o6eWRDa1qz4rgp.gif)
The main characters of ‘Cosmic Prison Commando’. Both were prisoners who survived the crash of the prison ship. Both are playable but on different stages. Jack is the ‘hero’ of sorts. David is less so. Their names actually do have some connection. I won’t say what yet. They both are trying to get to the same destination though David is also more actively trying to sabotage Jack’s attempts to get there.
So yeah...
Post by: Cure on June 08, 2013, 12:09:09 pm
Jack is the ‘hero’ of sorts. David is less so. Their names actually do have some connection. I won’t say what yet.
Both are legendary giant-slayers?
Post by: Carnivac on June 08, 2013, 12:14:54 pm
That's one of the connections. There's another possibly more obscure one. But both relate to the story.
Post by: Ai on June 08, 2013, 03:15:13 pm
Nice dance ;)
Post by: Carnivac on June 08, 2013, 03:23:47 pm
Which 'visual details' do you mean by the way? Am curious.
Post by: Ai on June 09, 2013, 05:13:31 am
------
EDIT:
On a completely different subject, I've got my eye on this 'shapepacking' filter:
(http://i.imgur.com/BYd2JZE.jpg)
The author of G'MIC (http://gmic.sf.net) posted it in the GMIC Google+ group, with the description:
Quote
Working hard to propose a generic 'Shapefitting' filter, to generate images randomly packed with any shape at various scales."generate images randomly packed with any shape at various scales"
Available soon in the G'MIC plug-in for +GIMP :)
I expect it to be delicious for more abstract artworks and awesome 'custom halftoning' transition effects. Seems to use an image as guide (for coloring -- the left two look like they use the classic 'lena' image as a guide). Would be excellent if you can control the approximate 'density' of packing in different areas via another input image.
I'm expecting this to be available in the next week, as he's crazy fast at making filters. Can you tell I'm excited? :D
Post by: Carnivac on June 09, 2013, 07:08:46 am
Well, your character Jack looks -- not a lot like David Tennant, but much more like him than John Barrowman (Jack Harkness). And conversely David has a military feel with suitable accoutrements (like Captain Jack) and a face that's more like JH. Hence why I said 'reversed'.
Uh, I kinda hope my characters don't resemble either of them in any way. I'm not a fan of them.
Post by: Ai on June 09, 2013, 08:24:59 am
(Personally, I find Captain Jack difficult to like, too. My libido disagrees, though :lol:)
Post by: Carnivac on June 09, 2013, 08:54:07 am
(Personally, I find Captain Jack difficult to like, too. My libido disagrees, though :lol:)
Heh, I don't mind him tooooo much (though I don't really wanna see him back. He had his time, he even had his own show).
What annoys me most is the scarily obsessed Tennant fangirl/boys who seem to be fans of his rather than the show as a whole (as they only like it when he's in it and even petition for him to be the next Doctor. Don't they get how it works?) and I've even had hate emails because I happen to have only one sprite of him (plus a variant) on my site but many of Smith (my fave). For example one email said they'd close down my site, find my address come around and beat me with a baseball bat if I didn't sprite the Tenth in his tux. I'd like to think they were joking but it just didn't seem it. Very aggressive it was. So bizarre... Anyways it's my site. I sprite whoever the hell I want. (starts to pixel another Smith just to rile up those idiots... mwhaha)
By the way I don't think anyone's ever going to figure out the other connection between my character names. Not unless you're familiar with late 70's US TV shows I suppose. It's not important anyways. There are some references in-game to other things too but I'll leave that to whoever plays it to figure out.
Post by: Ai on June 09, 2013, 09:09:38 am
I think Matt Smith is the most 'Doctorish' of the new Doctors. Rather than saying I like him best, I'd be more accurate to say that I object to him least :)
Post by: Carnivac on June 09, 2013, 09:37:19 am
Sounds like generic crazy fans to me (Matt Smith and Christopher Eccleston have them too, naturally). They were probably serious, but it's easy to play the tough guy on the internet, so I wouldn't be too concerned.
Am sure they do but I've never encountered ones as nasty as some of Tennant's more 'loyal' fanbase. I had a strange conversation with one who refused to believe his Doctor was the same man as the previous ones saying something like "no he's not, he could never have been that ugly" and then started verbally abusing me for suggesting otherwise and also rather aggressively referred to Georgia Moffet as a slag and a bitch for having married Tennant and bearing his kid(s?)... Um, ok. And this one wasn't on the internet. It was at the Forbidden Planet shop in Cambridge last summer. She made quite a scene... I tried to ignore her by making it look like I was now browsing through the nearby comic books but that made her a bit more angry so I quickly just got the hell out of there and towards my bus stop. Thankfully she wasn't crazy enough to come after me. It's those fans that worry me. The ones who are just a little too... yeah...
Quote
I think Matt Smith is the most 'Doctorish' of the new Doctors.
Yeah he certainly does seem like a mixture of several of the 'classic' Doctor in numerous ways. Smith was inspired by Troughton when trying to decide how to play the part but has shown elements of several of the others too. I'm very sad he's leaving. I wanted to fulfil my childhood ambition of playing a Doctor Who monster while he was still in it. Oh well. I'd still like to do that though. Getting paid to put on monster make up and go "graaaah" at people. Sounds like an ideal job to me. ;D
ugh my game is doing my head in now. Design changes that not sure if a good idea or bad idea...
Post by: Conzeit on June 14, 2013, 06:35:15 am
http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/05/film-crit-hulk-smash-hulk-vs.-spoilers-and-the-4-levels-of-how-we-consume-a/
it might seem a bit elitistic at the start, but what he establishes at the beggining he reveals not to be types of people but states of mind later on, meaning one person could have them all.
Just read it guys...I wonder if anyone will feel about it like I do, specially with this being a community so focused on creating and commenting on art.
Post by: Carnivac on June 15, 2013, 09:13:34 am
Needed to redo the cloud tiles in my game. The old ones in the newer smaller tile size ended up being about 70 tiles just for a couple of clouds with hardly much variation at all and ended up seeing the same clouds over and over. Redid them last night. They're now about 30 tiles that are designed to be mixed and matched so can make all sorts of shapes and sizes of clouds (even gigantic cloud cover) with far less repetition and generally look nicer than the old ones. Think I'm learning a lot working within these 'limitations'.
Old cloud tiles at top, new ones at bottom.
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/cloudcompare.png)
Post by: Seiseki on June 15, 2013, 01:37:40 pm
Hey guys, there's this film critic who made a really good article about the way we consume art, and I personally found it very revelatory, made me see how I estrange myself from the world at large...and I just wanted to share it
http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/05/film-crit-hulk-smash-hulk-vs.-spoilers-and-the-4-levels-of-how-we-consume-a/
it might seem a bit elitistic at the start, but what he establishes at the beggining he reveals not to be types of people but states of mind later on, meaning one person could have them all.
Just read it guys...I wonder if anyone will feel about it like I do, specially with this being a community so focused on creating and commenting on art.
Very interesting stuff..
I'm definitely a bit of every level, but I try to be lvl 1 where I don't criticize and just immerse myself without any distance..
For games I tend to fall into group 4 if the game focuses on gameplay.
I recently played Bioshock Infinite and thought, wow, this world looks so fantastic and alive, why can't I immerse myself in it like when I played Oblivion for the first time..
There was just this constant distance, which might be because I wasn't too fond of the gameplay and everything felt rather linear..
Post by: Mathias on June 15, 2013, 10:55:21 pm
Post by: Conzeit on June 16, 2013, 02:50:11 am
Seiseki: really interesting! yeah I think we all have some of everything...I'm a bit surprised you didnt comment on Hulk's format :p forgot to mention that he writes IN ALL CAPS. and uses HULK instead of I.
I try to keep myself vulnerable too, I find that I often cry in movies. The weird thing is that I can cry and then realize I was manipulated, I E I can tell the thematic intention in the work was dishonest yet I still am affected emotionally. Which makes me that much more angry about dishonest pieces of art because they still get to me.
But when I am critical of something I stay away from people who dont have that critical eye of things. The article made me think about how isolated I am by that sometimes, trying to hear only from people who have almost the same point of view as I.
Funny that you mention Infinite, havent played it but extra credits ( game critics that have a similar perspective to Hulk ) have a good recent episode on that very topic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_AG5MXohs
I wonder if it applies to you :p
Post by: Seiseki on June 16, 2013, 03:54:27 am
And then there's the violence, it broke the entire atmosphere of the game and became too much..
Post by: Carnivac on June 16, 2013, 07:06:06 am
Carnivac, I'd really like to see the new clouds tilemap if you don't care to post it.
Carnivac: I second Mathias there, that's really interesting...specially because I suck at tiling so it all still looks like magic to me, totally mystified. de-mistify away! damn...I feel nostalgic using that word =)
okeedokee
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/t4x8.png)
These be the initial batch of level tiles (haven't added the castle or other sets to the sheet yet as they aren't developed enough). The cloud tiles take up most of the second row from the bottom. If you can set an overlay grid in your graphics program the size be 4x8.
Here be a new screenshot of the 4x8 tiles finally put in the game (and some other changes like the status bar revamped and integrated with the frame better, and the new bigger screen size). Linking rather than posting direct in message cos I feel I been cluttering this thread up a bit with my stuff.
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/167/7/c/c_p_c__15th_june_by_carnivius-d695lu9.png (http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/167/7/c/c_p_c__15th_june_by_carnivius-d695lu9.png)
Post by: ptoing on June 16, 2013, 12:02:31 pm
You got such nice and organic clouds, perhaps you can put some more work into making your mountain tiles more modular as well. Also I would make some tiles which would allow for overlapping clouds and mountains, both clouds going infront and behind them. This would add a lot of depth to your backdrops.
Also, I think at this point it would not hurt to make an own thread for this, instead of posting pixelart related stuff in the OOTT.
Post by: Carnivac on June 16, 2013, 12:31:24 pm
That looks really nice overall. One crit I have is that mountains do not generally look like that. The shape of your mountains are very naive (for lack of a better word) and look like pyramids more than anything.
I know. I've tried so many ways though to do decent mountains in limited tiles (had a whole folder of mountain reference pics but I found it so difficult to develop a small but usable tileset of them that wasn't complex). I have made those ones in the screenshot fairly pointy though but there is a flatter top tile that I use in various ways. I kinda went with pointy diagonal ones in that shot because it's the coast and so it's like the mountain range's starting point. Maybe I'll play around with them some more. I've just had another idea about how to redesign the mountain tiles and may have a go later but at this point I'm kinda getting sick of redoing all the early bits for the nth time and I just want to move on to new things.
Quote
You got such nice and organic clouds, perhaps you can put some more work into making your mountain tiles more modular as well. Also I would make some tiles which would allow for overlapping clouds and mountains, both clouds going infront and behind them. This would add a lot of depth to your backdrops.
I like the idea of clouds in front of mountains but I can't see how that would work without creating a load of new tiles or deleting the sky colour from the cloud tiles so they can be placed over things (though I don't want too many tiles with a transparent colour as I'm not sure if there's a limit on things like that on a real CPC or not although I have realised I don't actually use that sky colour in any of the other tiles on that sheet so that might lead to something).
Quote
Also, I think at this point it would not hurt to make an own thread for this, instead of posting pixelart related stuff in the OOTT.
I'd rather not to be honest. If it's a problem I just won't post them here in the future.
edit: replaced the screenshot with one I just took from the game now. Got rid of the points on the mountains and the diagonal overlapping and tried to 'scuff' up the details a bit more using tiles already in the sheet particularly on the mountain on the left. Think it looks a bit better and there's something else I'll try later.
Post by: Grimsane on June 16, 2013, 03:39:00 pm
I've strayed away from pixel art for awhile and concentrated on 3D, but now a project I'm doing has a retro style target so I've been doing pixel style textures etc, I'll be sure to post it all soon time permitting, good to be back I'll try dropping in as frequently as my schedule allows :)
Post by: #36005A on June 16, 2013, 04:08:51 pm
QuoteAlso, I think at this point it would not hurt to make an own thread for this, instead of posting pixelart related stuff in the OOTT.
I'd rather not to be honest. If it's a problem I just won't post them here in the future.
Why not the pixel doodles thread (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=3973.0)?
Post by: Charlieton on June 16, 2013, 04:56:34 pm
QuoteAlso, I think at this point it would not hurt to make an own thread for this, instead of posting pixelart related stuff in the OOTT.
I'd rather not to be honest. If it's a problem I just won't post them here in the future.
Why not the pixel doodles thread (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=3973.0)?
I think this thread (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=12843.0) was created for precisely this purpose.
Surprised it didn't last longer. Did I kill it? :'(
Post by: Mathias on June 19, 2013, 07:11:36 am
Hey, Grimm.
(http://i.imgur.com/1OXCutC.png)
Post by: Grimsane on June 19, 2013, 03:39:53 pm
here's some of the activities I'm upto, it's for the AVCON (Anime and Video-game Convention) an annual event here in Adelaide, I've found myself as an exhibitor with my own table, So I'm putting together an exploration game set on an anonymous moon. leveraging the Blender Game engine to make production rapid, and also to showcase it's capabilities, I've been wrapping my head around screen space shaders, and thanks to the blender community have some impressive features implemented already, including SSAO, Light Scattering, HDR with simulated eye adaption, Tonemapping, vignetting and noise. also through the bullet physics Library there is Occlusion culling so my detail can be quite dense without issue (if i implement the right level design approach)
(http://i.imgur.com/dVlS5Fu.jpg)
from my prototype
(http://i.imgur.com/66M09QI.jpg)
and just a screen shader and occlusion culling test
and here is another project I am active on
(http://i.imgur.com/e2MFkWo.png)(http://i.imgur.com/JU115fN.png)
cityscape for skybox scene.
(http://i.imgur.com/lYgqdBr.png)
and a few props.
cyberpunk retro title, the programmer whom's project it is has just upgraded his working level editor from BSP (Binary Space Partitioning, what doom and Quake used) to CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry, what Unreal Ed uses) I've done 3 iterations of the environment style so far and it looks like pixel level with specularity etc is what we'll be doing, kinda retro meets modern.
oh hope these images aren't too big, if it's an issue i can reduce them or link to them.
Post by: Mathias on June 19, 2013, 05:24:56 pm
I really need to get back into 3D! Such cool stuff. For me, when doing 3D, I found it very immersive. Could get lost in it all day.
Worked 4 years doing "architectural visualization" for an architect firm, whose primary client was walmart. I might have modelled (per an architect's directions) and printed massive 30x42 prints of the resultant renderings of that walmart (or Sam's Club) you go to all the time, who knows.
3D Max and Vray:
(http://i.imgur.com/0jzJL6K.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/8wha5BU.jpg)
Post by: Grimsane on June 19, 2013, 07:31:09 pm
actually they don't have Walmarts here in Australia, maybe a few in the major capitals on the east coast,
because they tend to have american store chains there and Burger King here is called "Hungry Jack's" but in Sydney it's Burger King,
if for no one other than american tourists..
nice, I basically find it as easy as drawing now, I like 3Ds max, my close friend and fellow artist uses 3Ds max, and I've used it a few times, Maya on the otherhand I'm not very fond of at all (and I'm forced to use it in my current curriculum)
Ed: More of the same, Had way too much fun messing with this, he's implementing model loading today so that should be exciting. last two images aren't image manipulated.
(http://i.imgur.com/vMqUzRPl.jpg) [Larger] (http://i.imgur.com/vMqUzRP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/exuIG2wl.jpg) [Larger] (http://i.imgur.com/exuIG2w.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XTrmDicl.jpg) [Larger] (http://i.imgur.com/XTrmDic.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/i2PmXHml.jpg) [Larger] (http://i.imgur.com/i2PmXHm.jpg)
Post by: Mathias on June 24, 2013, 06:26:08 am
What if the buildings had a linear gradient blended to their lateral faces - starting bright and colorful at the base, and gradually fading out as it went up?
Those screens with a dark grey sky seem to cry out for a colored gradient sky, or some kind of color.
I don't know how psychedelic, crazy you're wanting to go with these city shots, but how's 'bout some transparent refractive texture maps? Like 'iss - http://imgur.com/gallery/H6yM7Rf
As a graphic designer, your negative kerned signage kinda bugs me. Have you tried marrying the merging letterforms together with actual ligature lookin' edits? It would mean manual work per sign, but could better justify the wounded readability with extra style.
QUESTION - Does this character remind you of any existing char you're aware of? (don't make fun of his shoes. they're traditional)
(http://i.imgur.com/8c9cXuU.png)
I don't get around to watching a lot of stuff, or even playing many games, and I often worry my "original" concepts are actually old news.
Post by: 32 on June 24, 2013, 07:25:59 am
Interesting character though, is he gonna have more of an outfit or just the fabulous shoes?
Post by: Mathias on June 24, 2013, 08:12:48 am
His race is to be the leading plot antagonist, so it's gotta be good. I'll update here is I get it figured out.
Post by: Ambivorous on June 24, 2013, 11:51:37 am
Post by: Ymedron on June 24, 2013, 10:34:03 pm
I think the body might benefit from a stronger basic form - for example a triangle standing on its tip or the other way around, they'd work well with the head already being kinda upward sloping with the tentacle and all.
Post by: big brother on June 25, 2013, 05:39:25 pm
Post by: ptoing on June 25, 2013, 06:54:27 pm
Post by: EvilEye on June 25, 2013, 10:43:01 pm
Here is the official promo ( links are under the video ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STO3nPt61Lk&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STO3nPt61Lk&feature=youtu.be)
Here's an earlier promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQjHo2x1Vuo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQjHo2x1Vuo)
Here's another early promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5QPZq1Fbg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5QPZq1Fbg)
Post by: Carnivac on June 26, 2013, 01:34:47 pm
From about 1994, the beginnings of a platformer (I suppose a bit like Castlevania, I presume inspired by SNES mags I had laying about) made in AMOS Professional on Amiga
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/shobackdrop.png)
Heh. Terrible. I was still very much a beginner though I find it interesting that I was attempting things like lighting and shadow. Although hey, that's almost 20 of the 32 max on screen colours used up on brown and grey. That's most of the colours waaaasted on shades of brown and grey. Looking at the majority of first person shooters these days I guess I was ahead of my time. I think I've come pretty far these days with cutting down on the wasteful colours and having much more in the way of efficient low-colour palettes.
The dude runs too! Sort of...
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/Sho-Run.gif)
One of the very first animated sprites I ever did. A 12 frame run cycle. He seems a bit blobby in form but overall I'm surprised that it's not actually that bad for an early attempt. Smooth motion and he certainly looks like he's moving the feet well, and not 'ice-skating' like a lot of people's early attempts at walk/run animations I suppose.
Post by: rikfuzz on June 26, 2013, 01:50:42 pm
Post by: Mathias on June 26, 2013, 05:55:04 pm
@EvilEye . . . to your credit, I was expecting something truly amazing. But . . . I got Stickers the Cat . . . whut
@Carnivac, what other types of art/drawing do you do? That's pretty good, though. Still better than all my animation attempts.
Hey Grimsane, here's a new font you might consider for your futuristic signage - Electro (https://creativemarket.com/HypeForType/3405-Electro?utm_source=CMblog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=10FreshFonts). Why not.
Post by: Carnivac on June 26, 2013, 07:24:22 pm
@Carnivac, what other types of art/drawing do you do? That's pretty good, though. Still better than all my animation attempts.
Um. Nothing really. Doodle a bit now and then. Never got the hang of painting and attempts at digital painting or anything else really just didn't appeal to me enough to have the patience to put into it all.
Post by: Mathias on June 27, 2013, 02:49:50 am
Post by: Carnivac on June 27, 2013, 10:23:48 am
Post by: Grimsane on June 29, 2013, 11:26:59 pm
and nope no flying, I did actually have a gradient in earlier but he's doing the game in his own engine so setting up a realtime skybox in blender GE seemed pointless, it was a kinda orange pinkish gloomy dusk gradient sky, take me to long to find it or edit one up.
also here's an image of model loading within his engine, i did all the assets and textures minus the bayonetta test image :lol:
there are some scale issues with the exported models in that particular image, but it's all he's uploaded.
(http://i.imgur.com/UrfxvBF.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/RIIPAaIl.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/3eseP0Jl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iADwSHCl.jpg)
the barrels are physics, pretty fun to just knock them and roll them oh the chaos, friend who tested it noticed that one of the corridors
was open to the outside of the level, so they rolled a barrel out and rode it down into infinity and it looked like a twisted form of synchronized skydiving :lol:
I'm using a custom build of blender to get realtime area lights which breaks quiet a few features so have a few limitations :blind:
also heres a raw lit scene if anyones interested in the lighting:
(http://i.imgur.com/2WZUn1Wl.jpg)
just attempted to create an album on imgur but couldn't via selections and don't really have the time, but managed to get a dump of image links, some are doubled from this thread:
- http://i.imgur.com/iADwSHC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3eseP0J.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vepIefz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6VtaSKX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j97HxqX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UHPDyw7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5rAbJcn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6GqzcOh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OLxQinC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sQuYeZC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EisTnR0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Y41Iogn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CilIjHf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xhCTFZN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Fj9w0cY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RIIPAaI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jlh9W1s.png
http://i.imgur.com/iilgaqx.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BD3iHFu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zZDT7ag.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/h10W9Ty.gif
http://i.imgur.com/AmSM4MQ.gif
http://i.imgur.com/uRGEpVB.gif
http://i.imgur.com/hmvinEX.png
http://i.imgur.com/tpmFYzQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/JjMaHRn.jpg
edit: gah guess the forums resize script disables/strips hyperlinks from images, if anyone cares enough copy paste the image URL and remove the L at the end for a full image
Post by: Mathias on July 11, 2013, 02:31:59 am
(http://i.imgur.com/pla6VP7.png)
Post by: Conzeit on July 12, 2013, 03:22:10 am
Looks like we're not the only fans of scanlined pixelart out there, this article chronicles someone's quest for the perfect CRT for retro gaming
Post by: Mathias on July 14, 2013, 09:30:29 pm
Post by: Grimsane on August 11, 2013, 11:17:49 pm
Dang you been busy.
understatement :blind:
full time study, spare time dedicated to art, and I don't have too much of that left, one of 2 artists working with a local upstart game dev studio, currently in the dev cycle of their/our first game(fedora clad character is 1st pass of the current game's main char) and still actively contributing to a few other projects.
(http://i.imgur.com/myalBZn.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/dVlSuNB.gif)
(http://i.imgur.com/ETr3AfS.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/r643irG.png)
AVCON went really well, I ended up implementing crazy projectile physics in my demo it was like insane ping pong storm, and uriniting triangles and firing barrels at high speed, but funnily enough I spent more time developing, and convention goers were just as if not more interested in seeing a game being developed than the games themselves, I was working on Fibre Optic Pizza with the the programmer and creator
this is what we got done by the end:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/995710_483628858387941_1118346174_n.png)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/q71/s720x720/67916_10151667130314718_120585346_n.jpg)
he implemented the gun, the muzzle flash and firing projectiles(placeholder: soda cans) and object rotation/animation and shoved a lot of models in, and I created a hologram and he implemented that, he got the drone going on a patrol path and stop when the player was infront. he wrote a GL based renderer and essentially an entire game engine in JAVA, but now he is porting and re factoring the codebase in D, I'm helping with GTK GUI, for the engines toolkit should be interesting, it's a homage to retro games and deus ex, 95% of the art is me so far, the gun model (but not UVs or textures) was a fellow artist friend. and collaborated on the drone bot.
Post by: Carnivac on August 13, 2013, 06:51:16 pm
Went with a friend to 'Go Ape' in Thetford Forest which is an obstacle course up in the trees with rope ladders, ziplines and a bit when you leap off and swing into a net. And then I had a lovely meal at the classic american themed restaurant Frankie & Benny's and had a meal of many meats. :D
Good times were had by me. ;D
Post by: Ai on August 24, 2013, 02:11:57 am
(http://i.imgur.com/BawdvQX.png)
(overlapping bounding boxes is handled correctly, it's only when the pixels overlap that two objects cannot be distinguished)
Seems like it should be incredibly useful.
Post by: Carnivac on September 04, 2013, 01:03:34 pm
Post by: Mathias on September 06, 2013, 05:44:04 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/W727vO7.png)
Post by: Grimsane on September 08, 2013, 12:34:35 pm
haha nice is that your' work Mathias? :P
so what's everyone been upto?
been pretty flatout my side.
Post by: Mathias on September 08, 2013, 10:28:29 pm
I have a big project cooking. It'll be a long time before any details are released, though. A game. I'm actually writing the plot's second draft in a Google Doc as we speak . . .
Got pretty high hopes for it.
Yep.
Post by: Charlieton on September 08, 2013, 11:19:22 pm
Post by: Mathias on September 11, 2013, 08:54:04 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/dBMI2.jpg)
Post by: Corinthian Baby on September 13, 2013, 04:33:58 am
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=265541
http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3214
I realize that some of our members do this regularly in the pixel critique section (Shout out to people like PixelPileDriver, Grimsane, Facet and the likes for indulging us with these), but this could be a quick hit and run critique, or a compilation of great paintovers from the past to mull over and pick apart.
Post by: surt on September 13, 2013, 09:29:11 pm
Post by: yrizoud on September 13, 2013, 10:27:30 pm
Post by: surt on September 13, 2013, 11:06:02 pm
Been turned on by ptoing's recent submissions to PJ and always wanted to do something like arne's Adventure Marne Bros.
Post by: Kasumi on September 15, 2013, 01:29:28 am
Post by: surt on September 15, 2013, 03:08:56 am
EDIT: Actually it looks like you can't make a map larger than the nametables which limits its usefulness for what I want.
EDIT^2:
ptoing and I (mostly ptoing) figured out how to do this with Pro Motion.
Formula mode. Indexed.
Left click: (fg - (fg mod 4)) + (a mod 4)
Right click: (bg - (bg mod 4)) + (a mod 4)
Use with grid and grid-sized brush.
Subpalettes laid out in steps of 4.
Select a colour in the desired subpalette then painting will swap all colours with those in that subpalette.
fg - (fg mod 4): the start index of the subpalette in the global palette
a mod 4: the index in the subpalette
Post by: Arachne on September 21, 2013, 03:37:56 pm
We've released the source code, creative commons assets and a few builds (Android and Windows so far). We're hoping to port it to more platforms in the time to come.
(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/icy/titlescreen-130921.png) (http://www.retinaleclipse.com/icy/screenshot-130916.png)
You can read more here:
http://forum.themaister.net/viewtopic.php?id=926
Post by: ptoing on September 21, 2013, 04:09:36 pm
Post by: Arachne on September 22, 2013, 09:26:28 am
Did you set video_smooth = false in the config? Alternatively you can do it through RGUI (press F1) by going to video options > shader options > default filter and setting it to nearest instead of linear. If you want RGUI options to be persistent, it requires config_save_on_exit = true to be set in the config file.
You can also turn on integer scale by setting video_scale_integer = true or going to video options > integer scale and setting it to on.
I also noticed the config file uses UNIX-style linebreaks. Was fun trying to edit that in notepad. :crazy: So we should probably fix that. Also, for some reason, the music sounds awful in Windows 7 for me, but headphones don't work either, so it might just be Windows being inexplicably broken.
Post by: ErekT on September 22, 2013, 09:40:59 am
Pressing F1 in-game worked, but maybe add a simpler toggle to turn all that filtering on/off in one go?
Post by: ptoing on September 22, 2013, 10:18:56 am
Post by: Carnivac on September 24, 2013, 11:51:30 am
Post by: Arachne on September 27, 2013, 12:10:07 pm
The line breaks have been fixed now, and I noticed I also had problems with config settings not changing. As it turns out, I failed to notice that the config lines were commented out. :lol::-[
Post by: BioLink on September 28, 2013, 02:28:58 am
TY in advance
I figure it out by mashing a bunch of buttons so nvm
Post by: Carnivac on September 28, 2013, 11:35:26 am
Post by: ptoing on September 28, 2013, 02:19:02 pm
Hello I recently got the trial version of the program named above and I am having a but of trouble with it. I cant figure out simply how to select my sprite and move it around and freely rotate it. Is this even a feature there is no select tool in my tool bar and this is frustrating me to no end.
TY in advance
I figure it out by mashing a bunch of buttons so nvm
Have you ever thought about reading the manual? Press F1 and all that? ProMotion is a bit different from the current standard when it comes to art applications because it is built on a way older standard, namely Deluxe Paint. Don't bash things before you get to know if they can or can't actually do what you want.
Post by: Carnivac on September 28, 2013, 07:13:11 pm
Post by: ptoing on September 28, 2013, 07:20:46 pm
Post by: Carnivac on September 28, 2013, 07:32:36 pm
edit: ok fingers looking ok-ish... but then i gotta take the same fingers and make them look a bit more feminine... no idea how. :P
Post by: surt on September 28, 2013, 08:25:20 pm
Post by: Carnivac on September 28, 2013, 08:57:24 pm
anyways enough pixels for now. time for cookies then gotta learn me some more lines for the play i be doings. woo!
Post by: Dusty on September 28, 2013, 10:45:40 pm
Post by: Charlieton on September 28, 2013, 11:34:42 pm
I've finally gotten around to playing Dark Souls, today. Picked it up on the Steam sale earlier this week for the cheap. So far, I'm completely enamored with it!
Post by: Larwick on September 29, 2013, 12:57:33 am
I've finally gotten around to playing Dark Souls, today. Picked it up on the Steam sale earlier this week for the cheap. So far, I'm completely enamored with it!
Are you playing with a controller or keyboard/mouse? I really wanted to play it but I don't have a controller. :(
Post by: Charlieton on September 29, 2013, 11:31:12 am
I've finally gotten around to playing Dark Souls, today. Picked it up on the Steam sale earlier this week for the cheap. So far, I'm completely enamored with it!
Are you playing with a controller or keyboard/mouse? I really wanted to play it but I don't have a controller. :(
I'm using my wired 360-controller that I bought 5-6 years ago. However, it seems there are some who use keyboard/mouse exclusively. There's even a mod/fix (http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~petska/) for making the mouse-controlled camera work more smoothly, which suggests a demand. There might be a few hurdles in the way of making it work alright, but it's definitely doable.
Post by: Larwick on September 29, 2013, 12:09:10 pm
I'm using my wired 360-controller that I bought 5-6 years ago. However, it seems there are some who use keyboard/mouse exclusively. There's even a mod/fix (http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~petska/) for making the mouse-controlled camera work more smoothly, which suggests a demand. There might be a few hurdles in the way of making it work alright, but it's definitely doable.
Interesting thanks. :-*
Post by: Crow on September 29, 2013, 02:20:46 pm
Post by: Charlieton on September 29, 2013, 05:02:43 pm
I just got completely outclassed by the strange, flying boss monster in the forest. :ouch:
Post by: Crow on September 29, 2013, 05:28:30 pm
Post by: surt on September 29, 2013, 08:15:36 pm
Post by: Crow on September 29, 2013, 08:36:00 pm
Post by: Helm on October 03, 2013, 03:12:56 am
Post by: Mathias on October 03, 2013, 09:14:10 pm
What is it that you think it says?
Post by: ptoing on October 04, 2013, 01:11:28 am
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15588722/post/clusterfractal.gif (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15588722/post/clusterfractal.gif)
It shows how awesome the tetris z block cluster is in general. It is very good for oranic stuff among other things.
Post by: Tourist on October 05, 2013, 09:23:33 pm
The late 80s had some ankle boots. In the early 90s it was Doc Martins. In late 90s-early 00s it was big clompy things. Nowadays...? Are neckties wide or narrow these days? That sort of thing. It would be good to have a selection across categories like conservative vs stylish vs regional things.
Tourist
Post by: Charlieton on October 05, 2013, 11:55:38 pm
Honestly, though, I'm at a complete loss for this kind of knowledge, too. I'd also like the kind of fashion reference that you're looking for. Maybe there's a fitting category on Pinterest? (I only have a vague idea of how that site works...)
Here's a wonderful site to get lost in: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/
Post by: Tourist on October 07, 2013, 04:10:23 am
Tourist
Post by: PixelPiledriver on October 15, 2013, 03:34:57 am
Friend me if you want to do a few games.
I play mostly assault class so I'll try to revive you if you die.
Post by: Cyangmou on November 03, 2013, 12:52:26 am
http://spritelamp.com/ (http://spritelamp.com/)
Post by: Argyle on November 05, 2013, 03:36:19 am
Post by: yaomon17 on November 06, 2013, 01:26:56 am
Anyone sitting on a spare Hearthstone beta key? Looking to be able to play with my wife but they stopped sending keys out I guess.I'm in like 40 giveaways and have 2 opted in emails, if I ever get 2 keys (or God forbid, even 1) I will give it to you.
Post by: Ryumaru on November 09, 2013, 08:17:57 pm
Post by: PixelPiledriver on November 09, 2013, 10:10:39 pm
Quote
Does anybody have any experience doing pixel art with a cintiq? I've done both pixel art and illustration on my intuos, but thinking of making the upgrade this Christmas.In the past I used a 21UX but I gave it to my girlfriend.
Honestly I felt like it was a bit overly large to work with sometimes, blocking the keyboard, being too high up, too far back etc.
But at the time i was using the monitor stand that it comes with.
Using something like this greatly improves it. (https://www.google.com/search?q=monitor+arm&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS553US553&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=J7F-UtqkCeKCiwLcvYHgDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=941)
You can position it better, closer, push it away when your done, use it standing up etc.
But if you decide to get the Large Cintiq and an arm make sure it can hold the correct amount of weight.
The 21UX is extremely heavy.
Now I use a 12SW with this arm (http://www.ergotron.com/Products/tabid/65/PRDID/523/Default.aspx).
I think I like it better but it has one major draw back.
The max resolution is 1280x800.
This can really squeeze the interface on some programs.
Here's a printScreen from the cintiq:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0xXbOTN6og/Un6wkT61API/AAAAAAAAIG0/cHC6WGbWwRY/s1600/12SW_Resolution.png)
But it's not so bad that its unusable.
When I work on tall images I usually change the screen orientation to Portrait.
Also they may have improved the resolution in newer models, if there is one, not sure.
I still use the mouse a lot more, I'd say I do about 75% of the time.
But I also only spend about an hour a day drawing so I'm sure you'd get a lot more use out of it.
Post by: Ryumaru on November 09, 2013, 10:49:01 pm
I'm thinking of getting this model, which has a higher resolution ( 1920x1080)
https://store.wacom.com/us/en/product/DTK1300?
This one is also smaller so I hope that using keyboard shortcuts will still feel natural. When the monitor is on the computer it makes sense to be interacting with the keyboard, but with a cintiq i'm not quite sure how it will all feel. If I do get it I would be sure to make full use of the tablets input buttons as well.
Do you feel that the cintiq can still allow for pixel perfect precision? I haven't used a mouse to pixel in at least 4 years I think. I've been fine with my intuos, so I would assume it would be ok on the cintiq as well. There is always zoom I guess!
Post by: PixelPiledriver on November 10, 2013, 07:23:20 am
Quote
I'm thinking of getting this model, which has a higher resolution ( 1920x1080)Yah that looks cool. :y:
Glad they upped the resolution.
Quote
This one is also smaller so I hope that using keyboard shortcuts will still feel natural. When the monitor is on the computer it makes sense to be interacting with the keyboard, but with a cintiq i'm not quite sure how it will all feel.You can place it pretty close to you and put the keyboard on a sliding tray underneath the desk.
Or get an arm making it very easy to access the keyboard with it floating above.
But an arm is some extra cost you may not want to pay.
I'd suggest trying it without and see if it works for you.
If not I highly recommend it as it will make your life much easier.
Quote
If I do get it I would be sure to make full use of the tablets input buttons as well.I never use these, as I don't like holding the device.
And I really need a keyboard to get anything done.
I am getting old so I need to sit up straight and have it float near my face without obstructing anything on my desk or my back will start to hurt. :blind:
But some people are perfectly happy clutching the cintiq and using the tablet buttons.
You may find that this fits your style of drawing.
Quote
Do you feel that the cintiq can still allow for pixel perfect precision?The cursor on my older Cintiq used to wiggle a little bit.
Not sure if it was the pen or the monitor.
And sometimes it would not wiggle at all.
But with my new one I've never found this to be a problem.
Some people say that they have grown too attached to a tablet and that using a cintiq is different because their hand get's in the way of drawing.
While it didn't bother me that much this prompted me to try calibrating the pen off center.
My cursor appears about 1 1/2 inches to the top left of my actual pen point.
It seems odd at first but I've grown to prefer it over direct pen placement.
Also I had to change some settings in my registry to get it working correctly with Windows 8.
The pen delay and some other stuff.
It wasn't too complicated but not something I would have figured out on my own.
If you need those links I can try to go dig them up.
Post by: Ai on November 11, 2013, 10:45:05 pm
Now this is what I wanted in a text editor .. spreadsheet .. outliner .. mindmapper.
Nestable cells! Auto-folding/expansion on zoom!
Post by: Conzeit on November 12, 2013, 07:52:29 pm
I've always been looking for a mindmapper app that can help me organize all the nerdy notes I take from all the shit I watch and try to deconstruct :p I've been using CherryTree lately because it has a heirarchical structure and you can paste images and links, and you can export it to htm...although i've had some trouble exporting ALL of the notes
I'mma try this 'cuz it looks quite different but it sounds interesting, in a not what I wanted but maybe what I needed kind of way :p
Post by: Mathias on November 13, 2013, 05:13:09 am
Post by: Ai on November 13, 2013, 07:43:09 am
(EDIT: Just hit Insert, the same shortcut used for adding a subgrid. It works because you can only have one subgrid per grid.)
@Mathias: Interesting, an online.. collaborative?.. mindmap tool. Definitely not something I had ever considered might exist. Could be really good for brainstorming. I have a distant relationship with mindmapping -- I want to like it, but then it chokes horribly on trying to manage large/complex texts and/or large graphs.
So far the best offline mindmap tool I've found is VYM (View Your Mind) (http://www.insilmaril.de/vym/). I can't quite bring myself to make that an actual endorsement though.
Post by: Lóng on November 20, 2013, 12:41:47 pm
Post by: Crow on November 20, 2013, 05:40:40 pm
Will there be no secret santa this year?
That's a very good point, I haven't really noticed the time flying by. Asap, don't worry.
Post by: Mathias on November 21, 2013, 02:12:16 pm
@Mathias: Interesting, an online.. collaborative?.. mindmap tool. Definitely not something I had ever considered might exist. Could be really good for brainstorming. I have a distant relationship with mindmapping -- I want to like it, but then it chokes horribly on trying to manage large/complex texts and/or large graphs.
Yep. Just like a Google doc - multiple editors collaborate in real-time. Currently using mind42 with two other people. Works really well.
But I know what you mean. It pays to keep things really concise.
Post by: Cyangmou on November 24, 2013, 11:54:56 am
http://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ (http://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/)
Post by: Ai on November 25, 2013, 06:07:44 am
tutorial (http://i.imgur.com/pp57HbL.png), which is essentially about 'making an animation of paper folding into a cube' using Blender.
Resulting image:
(http://i.imgur.com/nMqklJh.gif)
Not so happy with TreeSheets' options for cell BG color -- they're mostly way too saturated.
@ Cyangmou:
"The size of this pile of blank paper represents my level of inexperience/incompetence" (this is how I think about it).
Nice to be reminded of that comic. For some reason I get the feeling it is quoting Art+Fear in the beginning there.
Post by: Lanarky on November 26, 2013, 04:28:37 am
I've been looking for a good desktop-based Mind-mapping software for a while now, and Treesheets looks like it'll do the trick! Thanks for the link! ;D
Post by: PixelPiledriver on November 29, 2013, 06:52:16 am
Post by: Charlieton on December 03, 2013, 09:54:08 pm
You know, the greatest gift to the community overall would be a proper theme for the forum :angel:
I hope cyber Santa reads this!
Post by: Crow on December 03, 2013, 11:07:15 pm
Working on that Secret Santa gift...
You know, the greatest gift to the community overall would be a proper theme for the forum :angel:
I hope cyber Santa reads this!
Sorry, but.. :-[
Post by: Vagrant on December 03, 2013, 11:11:21 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ99-6K0YXw/TwsL7PpXybI/AAAAAAAAE-Q/CEnwiLx5ObM/s1600/skeleton.jpg)
:'(
Post by: Mathias on December 16, 2013, 11:59:17 am
(http://i.imgur.com/bvfp7V9.png)
(lines by a friend, shadin' by yours true)
Post by: Ai on December 22, 2013, 06:54:08 am
(http://i.imgur.com/3benEON.gif)
(actual render 320x240, too big to upload. Underlying shape being animated is a simple box with a subsurf modifier on it)
This is.. ASTONISHINGLY easy, not to mention really fun.
* Select the object you want to animate.
* Go to the object data panel (looks like a wireframe triangle with highlighted vertices) and hit the 'plus' button to add the 'basis' key
* And hit it again (with the 'basis' key selected) to add a key relative to the basis key (this will be called 'Key 1' for now).
* Turn up the 'Value' slider on Key 1 to 1.0 (so that you can see the changes you're making)
* Enter Edit mode (Tab key).
* Move/rotate/etc vertices til you arrive at a shape you like. Exit edit mode.
Then:
* You can adjust the 'Value' slider for any key to interpolate between it and the base object
* This works for all keys at once, so you can mix amounts of different shapes in (this is how I got the range of sproings and twitches-- mixing 2 or more keys)
* You can animate these shape changes by inserting keyframes for the Value slider on the relevant Shape keys.
That's my recap of what I learnt.
I also just discovered that you can apply keys inversely (set Min to a negative value, then adjust Value below zero) and/or at a greater magnitude than 100% of the change (set Max/Min to a higher/lower value, then adjust Value). That's neat for crazy effects.
Post by: Ultimaodin on December 24, 2013, 08:41:35 pm
@Ai - Looks quite fluid. I'm curious as to what you plan on using 3D for. if you are going to try it for games art I recommend not using anything like subsurf etc... as it adds a tonne of polygons The same goes for turbosmooth in 3DS max, so on and so forth.
@Mathias - that is awesome.
So, tomorrow (aka later today) I get a day of work. I miss my 4 hour shifts a night. These 10 hour days I've been doing this month have been rather taxing. Retail sucks to work in around December. That said I'll probably be spending this Christmas doing pixel art to try and finish this secret santa gift which is currently a disgrace. :(
Post by: Lanarky on December 24, 2013, 09:22:10 pm
That looks pretty cool! I used to use blender quite a bit, I taught myself mostly everything (I used to have dial-up, for like 30 mins a day) I never got good at animation, but I did make a script on BlenderArtists for faster navigation (http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?308120-Quick-Navigation-(Bounding-Box-Navigation)) which is apparently built-in for 3D Max Studio or something. It's was mostly done, since it didn't get much attention. I couldn't figure out how to turn it into an extension, so it's just a script. It mainly sets the viewport to bounding box mode when using the middle mouse button, of scaling an object or moving it.
Made it cause laptops suck with blender. :P
Post by: Ai on December 24, 2013, 10:08:07 pm
I'm officially the worst person ever. Couldn't even get my Secret Santa piece near complete. :'(Mockups and animation tests. Never just guess if you can check. Since camera matching is a thing (see the BLAM addon, for static-image camera matching), results can be quite accurate to your drawn image setup, and for regular structures like buildings, you can put together useful frameworks with Array modifiers (http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Modifiers/Generate/Array) in no time at all
@Ai - Looks quite fluid. I'm curious as to what you plan on using 3D for. if you are going to try it for games art I recommend not using anything like subsurf etc... as it adds a tonne of polygons The same goes for turbosmooth in 3DS max, so on and so forth.
When I was doing this test I was thinking of body proportions. using shape key animation to test different values.
Sculpting is also amazing. CSG (via 'boolean' modifier) is terribly useful too.
Yeah, subsurf at least triples polygon count per level of subdivision on most meshes, but I don't care about realtime rendering, so I just keep the 'view' subdivision level low and let the 'render' one be as high as needed.
Quote
@AiWow, that sounds like Hard Mode.
That looks pretty cool! I used to use blender quite a bit, I taught myself mostly everything (I used to have dial-up, for like 30 mins a day) I never got good at animation, but I did make a script on BlenderArtists for faster navigation which is apparently built-in for 3D Max Studio or something. It's was mostly done, since it didn't get much attention. I couldn't figure out how to turn it into an extension, so it's just a script. It mainly sets the viewport to bounding box mode when using the middle mouse button, of scaling an object or moving it.
In Blender you can animate basically everything that you can edit a value for.. After rendering this, I tried animating the texture opacity, specularity, and diffuse, as well as making the room jiggle. It looked spectacularly crappy (somehow making the texture 'flatten out' so that the room no longer looked 3d but more like a crazy illusion), but was a fun exercise.
Post by: Lanarky on December 24, 2013, 10:24:50 pm
Heh, I mess with a lot of thing. Blender and Python being on the far end, so It's not that I know a lot, it's more like I use google and API references. :) I'm more of a noob when it comes to 3D. :crazy:
Post by: Ai on December 28, 2013, 12:18:22 pm
Also has a 'grid' option, Mac 'FatBits' style. Even the option of keyboard navigation!
(Linux ..only?, if the name didn't clue you in. Might work on Mac.)
GraFX2 screenshot with magnifier mode, plus XZoom window providing widepixel view in top right corner.
(http://i.imgur.com/o5LuSG2.png)
Post by: surt on December 29, 2013, 05:33:44 am
eg. 2-bit to 8-bit:
Code: [Select]
Lower range
0 -> 0
1 -> 63
2 -> 127
3 -> 191
Code: [Select]
Upper range
0 -> 63
1 -> 127
2 -> 191
3 -> 255Code: [Select]
Stretched range
0 -> 0
1 -> 85
2 -> 170
3 -> 255Lower and upper can benefit from bit-shifting, but lose much of the colour range.
Stretched maintains the colour range but can't take advantage of bit-shifting.
Is there any real reason to support options other than stretched?
Are there proper names for these?
Post by: Ai on December 29, 2013, 05:49:00 am
When converting less than 8-bits-per-channel colours to 8-bits-per-channel I can see three possibilities.Yes, if you're an emulator.SMS, Genesis, SNES used a 'clipped' color range, of the type you label 'lower range' here.
eg. 2-bit to 8-bit:Code: [Select]Lower range
0 -> 0
1 -> 63
2 -> 127
3 -> 191Code: [Select]Upper range
0 -> 63
1 -> 127
2 -> 191
3 -> 255Code: [Select]Stretched range
0 -> 0
1 -> 85
2 -> 170
3 -> 255
Lower and upper can benefit from bit-shifting, but lose much of the colour range.
Stretched maintains the colour range but can't take advantage of bit-shifting.
Is there any real reason to support options other than stretched?
Not really that relevant if you're not an emulator though.. unless you're going for an mild oilpainting/muted effect.
Or a washed out / pastel effect (in the case of 'upper range').
You could possibly use different variants for sprites vs tiles vs cutsceneish/portrait stuff to save space / enforce aesthetics, but this strikes me as serious overoptimizing.
Quote
Are there proper names for these?
'Normalized' is the correct mathematical name for stretched. What you call 'lower range' I call 'clipped', but this is not an official term, though it is a mathematical one. 'upper range' I like to call "why would you DO that!".. kidding, I hadn't even considered the possibility of doing things that way until you posted this.
Post by: surt on December 29, 2013, 08:16:12 pm
Code: [Select]
Centred (steps + half-step)
0 -> 31
1 -> 95
2 -> 159
3 -> 223
I only know the meaning of "normalized" from vector maths where it's scaling to the unit range which doesn't seem to fit here.
ProMotion seems to have just the lower clipped and stretched range ("Always stretch channel values to 0...255 range" is the terminology it uses).
I'm liking "clipped" and "stretched".
Post by: PixelPiledriver on January 01, 2014, 01:46:06 am
Post by: Charlieton on January 01, 2014, 01:59:50 am
:yay:
Post by: Crow on January 01, 2014, 02:44:43 am
Post by: Mathias on January 01, 2014, 06:38:49 am
I'm actually going to create some new pixel art this year. Mark my word! (oh god . . .)
Life is currently shifting around in drastic ways for me, some good, some bad. But nonetheless, I'm impelled to be more productive and learn faster, this year. FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS
Let's have a good year.
To Sven and the Pix mods; people who keep one of my all time favorite websites going - thank you!
Post by: Helm on January 01, 2014, 06:37:31 pm
Post by: Ai on January 06, 2014, 05:33:52 am
(http://i.imgur.com/M0o6w8x.png)
(shown shapes are the result of a triangle-in-triangle motion)
If I'm really lucky, this will end up in Krita 2.8. Otherwise it will wait for the next major release after that.
Post by: Mathias on January 06, 2014, 02:32:26 pm
I do web dev. How can I help revise the forum skin?
I'm soooo sick of this default theme. By now, it's a crime. I'd pay money to have miascugh's theme back. Too bad it's not compatible anymore.
Post by: Crow on January 06, 2014, 03:52:19 pm
Time for a new Off-Topic Thread, right? 2014
Fixed, sorta..? :P
I do web dev. How can I help revise the forum skin?
I'm soooo sick of this default theme. By now, it's a crime. I'd pay money to have miascugh's theme back. Too bad it's not compatible anymore.
Answered your PM regarding this.
Post by: Zizka on January 06, 2014, 04:01:03 pm
I'm very grateful for this website and its members. I have learned to much here, it's a really great community.
Thank you to the staff who volunteer to keep such a nice place together, you're doing a great job and I'm very grateful for that.
Post by: Mathias on January 06, 2014, 08:29:36 pm
(Secret Santa sign-up banner still up.)
PM'ed response. I'm really hopin' we can get a better skin going.
___
*EDIT Very interesting conversation/interview between two young greats, about working as a pro artist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwLgAdzG8io
Lots of topics covered. Give it a listen while you work or something.
Jump to the giving/getting critique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bwLgAdzG8io#t=6573), very valid for the environment here.
Post by: Kren on January 19, 2014, 10:07:14 pm
Post by: rikfuzz on January 20, 2014, 09:52:20 am
I have been trying to go from pixelart to another art form, mostly vector animation, yet I don't know any tutorial, or where to start, and how to pass it from vector to an image format to make it useable any tutorial you know guys :blind:?
All the art guys I know in social games draw the assets in Illustrator, then import into Flash for animating. Usually a two man job (one specialising in illustrating in illustrator and the other animating in Flash) tbh, and both programs have a steep learning curve and lots of esoteric knowledge required, but they're popular enough to find tutorials. Good luck!
Post by: Kasumi on January 29, 2014, 07:01:51 pm
I thought it was Mischief Makers or Pocket Fighter, but it seemingly isn't. If anyone happens to know offhand, I would VERY much appreciate knowing.
Post by: PixelPiledriver on January 29, 2014, 07:20:51 pm
Not really sure but I'll give it some thought.
Post by: Kasumi on January 29, 2014, 07:44:11 pm
It's amazing how such a small part of a game can be so memorable...
Post by: Charlieton on January 29, 2014, 08:14:33 pm
Good thing you found out what it was, else I would have to keep thinking about it too. ;)
Post by: Atnas on January 31, 2014, 05:37:04 am
Post by: Ai on January 31, 2014, 08:11:09 am
Ai, you do work on Krita? I really like it as of 2.8. The brush engine is a lot more advanced than any other open source painting application I've tried.Yes, that is my first contribution to Krita, mainly because 2.8 got halfway-decent support for evdev based tablets (which was then promptly reverted because it impacted Wacom tablets negatively. But in my personal copy I un-reverted it so I'm happy.).
Later, I got DB16 and DB32 palettes into Krita too. Both of these things will be in 2.8 when it is released (mid-February?).
Krita actually has several independent brush engines (experiment-brush is one). Most recently it's acquired the MyPaint brush engine (this will be available in the 2.8 release IIRC). I struggle with the breadth of choices it provides. MyPaint brushes alone provide a vast array of choices..
Post by: Charlieton on February 02, 2014, 05:19:31 pm
Post by: Conzeit on February 04, 2014, 08:07:30 pm
http://web.archive.org/web/20100607072424/http://www.vgmapper.com/SysSNES/E/EarthwormJim2.html
but I couldnt get to em in time =/ did anybody by change get em? they look like this
http://www.wpcentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/resource_images/EWJrace.gif
please share them if you do =) I'll share mine if anyone's interested too
Post by: rikfuzz on February 05, 2014, 02:14:48 pm
http://vgmaps.com/Atlas/SuperNES/index.htm#EarthwormJim2
Post by: baccaman21 on February 07, 2014, 11:47:12 am
Am I still banned?
Apologies, life kind of got in the way, I got a kid and got divorced and bought a house and got a job and lost a job and then set up a new company and stuff...
I just thought I say sorry to anyone who was still waiting for a Christmas pixel gift from me.
I'm now out of the games industry officially. I've just suggested a buddy of mine joins up here as he's in need of some pixels for a pet project he's been working on for a while... So if some one shows up calling himself BinaryTweed or some derivation thereof... please treat him nice...
Thanks...
Over & Out.
The fossil that is/was
Baccaman21
Post by: Deejay on February 07, 2014, 01:26:09 pm
Post by: Ai on February 10, 2014, 05:21:23 am
I consider this a moderate success:
(http://i.imgur.com/HZjbNN3.png) <- input
(http://i.imgur.com/z8QW8Bg.png) <- output
3 step process:
1. Draw the 'cel' borders (the 'input' image seen above)
2. GMIC Repair->Inpaint[Solidify] . type=Morphological. This effects all transparent pixels in the current layer, assuming there is not a selection active.
3. GMIC Repair->Anisotropic smoothing. amplitude=8,anisotropy=1,tensor smoothness=1.3. de-coarsens the result a little.
Pretty fast, even including filter run time. I feel happy about this because it helps me focus on structure rather than cosmetic effects for unimportant elements.
Post by: Atnas on February 10, 2014, 05:58:47 am
If I get a chance I'll experiment with your system this week and see if it can fill any niches in my workflow.
Post by: Mathias on February 13, 2014, 05:32:29 am
(http://i.imgur.com/lZbOpQz.jpg)
Post by: Ellian on February 13, 2014, 09:25:46 am
Post by: Mathias on February 13, 2014, 05:16:10 pm
We got a ripper here!!!
http://pickledcapers.com/chicken-antipasti-sandwich/ (http://pickledcapers.com/chicken-antipasti-sandwich/)
(http://i.imgur.com/rsQaB05.jpg)
Post by: Ellian on February 14, 2014, 08:46:09 am
(https://31.media.tumblr.com/3ab5f833912dc82e24e74efa820f59dc/tumblr_mlm8llVyxx1r9e5hxo1_500.jpg)
Better? :I
Post by: Mathias on February 14, 2014, 09:41:41 am
Nutella slathered square pancakes?
I see you're in France. Is it a French kinda thing? What's the white blob?
Post by: surt on February 14, 2014, 09:49:13 am
And I'm guessing sliced lychee.
Post by: Ellian on February 14, 2014, 10:46:21 am
Stacked crêpes, chocolate ganache, and caramelized pears... Then cut in square and covered in ganache.
It's not a french thing (well, crêpes themselves are, but used in a cake? not really), I just followed my instinct or something. My wife made a cake challenge about a year ago and I wanted to do something original, so I came up with that. :)
Oh, and the white blob is actually a small sliced pear! and also strawberries for decoration. ;D
Post by: Atnas on February 14, 2014, 01:56:54 pm
Post by: Probo on February 14, 2014, 02:36:51 pm
Post by: Carnivac on February 14, 2014, 07:36:42 pm
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/eddy.jpg)
So how's things?
Post by: PixelPiledriver on February 17, 2014, 02:18:24 pm
Really fun.
Played a decent amount last night on xbox.
Came up with some decent strategies that seem to work most of the time.
If you want to team up my Origin account is PixelPiledriver.
Or pm me, email, whatever.
Post by: Cyangmou on February 20, 2014, 06:40:36 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/5jfz9zB.jpg)
Post by: Grimsane on February 28, 2014, 05:43:38 pm
Figured I'd throw up some personal news; Moved into a new place with my dad in the capacity of carer (luckily for me the government here supports full time carer's financially, as an alternative to public facilities taking the cost and capacity (the public health system here has extreme overcrowding), so atleast I have one less thing to worry about), dad's been exhibiting stroke symptom's which is stressing me out, he needs to be hospitalized to do a full series of tests, fingers crossed it's not serious...
I also ditched all bar one subject of my college course, one thing to mention though is my dad's an avid gamer so that is just encouraging me to push game development even more so. As it's one of the only things that has comforted and kept him busy over the years (long term disability) uhm yeah that's about it really, been hectic.. also that brings the tally of moving places to 4 times in 2 years :blind:.
The forum community looks like it's bustling with life! ;D awesome to see, loads of creativity abound, AND I managed to frickin miss secret santa again too :'( been wanting to participate for the last few but circumstances haven't been favourable. 3rd times the charm this year? :D
so what's up in planet pixel? anybody been upto anything exciting?
Post by: Corinthian Baby on March 05, 2014, 02:17:02 am
Post by: Vagrant on March 05, 2014, 02:09:14 pm
World travel/nomad life on backpacks with the love of my life, a Cintiq freaking companion, plus sustaining it by working fully on a rich on pixel art game set to release on mid 2014, with me as lead pixel artist. And at the same time preparing concepts and design docs for a steampunk SRPG of my own that I'll go fully into in late 2014-2015.
I'll be around Ireland until summer, then it'll be time to head to the US for Nevada (Burning man). It'll be one crazy year.
Post by: Grimsane on March 06, 2014, 04:42:58 pm
got any promo art or screenshots for this pixel art game?
Post by: Pizzaface2000 on March 18, 2014, 04:39:29 pm
https://soundcloud.com/chiptraxxx/nerds-of-pride-church-of-steve
Post by: Atnas on March 23, 2014, 07:27:36 am
The new Firefox beta is great. (download url) (http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/beta/) I stopped using firefox when chrome came out because it was a memory hog but it seems like the two have switched places. Firefox consistently uses half as much memory and idles with next to no cpu consumption. Also the UI looks like a neater, customizable chrome now. The UI was a big turnoff in the past.
Post by: Conzeit on March 28, 2014, 08:14:12 pm
https://www.resetthenet.org/
Post by: Grimsane on March 29, 2014, 05:40:35 pm
I'm using the Aurora experimental Firefox builds, one of the new things is a complete overhaul of the UI, it's ironically more chrome like, but the new tab groups feature is awesome, especially if you go insane with browser tabs (like me) too many resources and too much multitasking O: (on chrome it's not feasible) the fact the tabs go to sleep and don't take up memory and also are just addresses when you start up your browser is a step forward in my opinion, i never manage to go back through my bookmarks very much, you can tell which pages i haven't visited this session by the white
(http://i.imgur.com/y0q9iPnl.jpg)
when you enter any of the tab groups it's normal browsing with the tabs up top.
you can go into a customize mode and click and drag all the menus and UI elements to any valid position within their valid nested location, themes aren't working yet.
I recently reinstalled windows purely for Unreal4 development, I miss my universal dark theme from linux :(
oh thanks for sharing that conceit, i feel there are a lot of initiative that have visibility and awareness as their only real obstacle to succeeding, just shared that on my facebook, which i've never been fond of, but art communities are taking off their so got dragged into that, and that's how the mod team i'm on communicates mostly.
btw anyone who is on flacidbook should check out groups like Draw or Die and LevelUp they are aimed more at illustration concept art and digital art in general but not really pixel art. then there are speed painting groups, 2 main ones being daily spitpainting(30m sharp, no photobashing or photo usage allowed) and supers speed painting funtimes (50m limit, photobashing allowed, also pixels, 3D, anything) the groups tend to grow too large too quick and then get compromised by their own critical mass to some degree, atleast some aspects
Post by: Kasumi on March 31, 2014, 12:24:36 am
Here's some good NES pixel art from a Castlevania II hack that will probably never see the light of day:
(http://i.imgur.com/UxVOfUt.png)
Much more here. (http://imgur.com/a/kUrra)
Special thanks to seven on nesdev (http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11134) for digging this stuff up. These tended to always be things I would mention when asked about good NES graphics, but I've never had 1:1 versions of them until now. Enjoy!
Post by: surt on March 31, 2014, 08:17:16 am
Post by: rikfuzz on March 31, 2014, 11:56:07 am
Post by: Grimsane on April 10, 2014, 02:40:05 am
this amiga game in particular will hopefully pique your interest ;D
http://francksauer.com/index.php/component/content/article/15-games/published-games/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:agony&catid=15:published-games
ALSO SOME CRAZY AWESOME NEWS FOR OUTCAST FANS :D
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/outcast-reboot-hd/outcast-reboot-hd
Post by: Crow on April 10, 2014, 07:42:22 am
peak
The correct word in this context would be "pique".
Sorry.
Post by: Grimsane on April 10, 2014, 02:57:53 pm
Post by: DerZocker on April 10, 2014, 03:42:52 pm
figured you guys would be interested in this dev's site, some really awesome stuff there, so many canceled projects that had such high potential and passion :(Damn, this is some incredibly amazing pixelart. Also interesting that he used some of the tricks I use so many years ago, like pixeling over 3d models an pictures. Very inspirational! Also I've never seen such beatiful animated water ever before
this amiga game in particular will hopefully pique your interest ;D
http://francksauer.com/index.php/component/content/article/15-games/published-games/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:agony&catid=15:published-games
Post by: SriK on April 11, 2014, 07:28:42 pm
You guys like pixel art, right? And NES?
Here's some good NES pixel art from a Castlevania II hack that will probably never see the light of day:
(http://i.imgur.com/UxVOfUt.png)
Much more here. (http://imgur.com/a/kUrra)
Special thanks to seven on nesdev (http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11134) for digging this stuff up. These tended to always be things I would mention when asked about good NES graphics, but I've never had 1:1 versions of them until now. Enjoy!
Wow, that's the most awesome thing I've seen all day. The level of detail in the screenshots is mindboggling to me given the system limitations (especially this shot (http://i.imgur.com/REmxPFu.png)), looks better than even a lot of late generation NES/FC games.
Post by: surt on April 12, 2014, 01:06:06 am
Does the GBC have a NES-style sttribute table for palette per 2x2 tile block?
I always thought it did, but looking at some Shantae screens that doesn't seem to be the case, though they could possibly be using sprites.
Post by: Carnivac on April 13, 2014, 06:14:46 pm
hope everyone is ok.
i been working on turning that old Amstrad CPC-style RoboCop mock up into a real working game (first on PC and then with a CPC coder's help onto the real original 8-bit Amstrad CPC hardware). Here are some cropped samples from it.
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/robopreviews.png)
And here's a couple photos of where I ported screenshots of it to my real Amstrad CPC 464 and it's CRT monitor to check it's looking ok.
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/robo1cpc1.jpg)
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/robo1cpc2.jpg)
(http://carnivac.co.uk/temp/robo1cpc2.jpg)
Thanks to the constraints 16 colours, wide pixel resolution and trying to hopefully get it running with a 128k machine in mind this may become my first actual finished project. Which is nice.
Post by: rikfuzz on April 13, 2014, 08:11:39 pm
I've been following your project on tumblr tho, looking super amazing - coincidently watched a youtube video comparing all the ports of the original Robocop game last night too, needless to say, yours is looking miles away from any of the official ports.
One scene that really impressed me in the arcade version (as I'd only played the ST version previously where it's omitted), is how they showed the edge of the buildings here:
(http://s.uvlist.net/n/y2006/04/15616.jpg). (Guess you can't do that exactly with the angle you've gone for and not making suggestions, just something I thought looked cool!)
Post by: Carnivac on April 13, 2014, 08:32:42 pm
I can't do that building angle. To be honest I find it looks a bit forced but also I've now reached the 256 tile limit for the whole game (and that took a LOT of optimising and recycling of my 4x8 pixel tiles). Arcade game doesn't have as strict limitations (and is why it can have many different shop logos and banners). My game's got a bit more depth to it than the arcade game too to make up for such things.
Post by: rikfuzz on April 14, 2014, 08:42:06 am
As I said, not making suggestions, and like what you're doing and how you're doing it! Would you consider posting what the tileset looks like raw? (But maybe pre-stretched).
Post by: Carnivac on April 14, 2014, 01:56:45 pm
At moment working on finishing off the door code so you can go in and out of them (which is working fine now but I'm trying to add a mini-game aspect to punching locked doors which is taking a lil longer than I thought, cos I'm stupid).
Post by: Helm on April 14, 2014, 02:16:15 pm
Post by: Carnivac on April 14, 2014, 03:00:57 pm
Here's an crappy old video (I say video but it was really screen captured gifs converted to video) I did back in January after coding his basic movement. Much of the graphics have changed in various ways since (for example in the tiles but also Robo's head is a bit smaller in this video and I made it bigger cos of the human characters and his own helmet-less head sprite and he's also missing his regular standing leg sprite, using simply the first frame of the walk cycle) but it still shows how he moves and turns and shoots. Ignore that the enemies are an old sprite sliding across. Simply to test his bullet and fist collision. Also sorry no sound in the video but he does make a stomp sound when he's walking timed with each frame where he puts a foot down.
Since then I've been adding a couple of things the old games didn't do. For example grabbing an enemy is possible (though a bit buggy at moment) lifting them up off their feet by their throat to interrogate or throw them (similar to how he apprehends Boddicker in the first film by reading him his rights while throwing him through glass). Also going in and out of doorways is possible in my game (as there's a lil bit of exploration and finding 'evidence icons'). Some doors need breaking down with a small quick 'mini-game' that occurs in the status panel bit where the gun is (replaced with a fist when punching) and this is inspired by the bit in the first film when he smashes that door down into the drugs warehouse place (shortly before the Boddicker scene I mentioned). Nothing spectacular but just little bits that add a bit more to the typical walk n' shoot gameplay. Basically anything that I can quickly code in that doesn't require much more graphics than is already available and adds more to the Robo feel of it is what I'm trying to cram in.
Recently had someone create a shader for me in Game Maker Studio so I could finally have control over colours so I can do fade to blacks using only the colours in my CPC palette which is nice and also for palette swapped enemies (even Robo has some optional colours.. the grey of his Robo 1 look can be switched to a more blue tone for a Robo 2 inspired look and a couple of other ones that may or may not stay).
Think I'm just babbling now. :P
Post by: Crow on April 14, 2014, 04:46:05 pm
Post by: Carnivac on April 14, 2014, 04:50:24 pm
I need to make a new video once the proper enemies are working properly. That video is but it at least proves this ain't just a bunch of a crappy graphics and there is a game.
Post by: Crow on April 14, 2014, 05:05:15 pm
Post by: Carnivac on April 14, 2014, 05:09:19 pm
Post by: Crow on April 14, 2014, 05:16:22 pm
Post by: Helm on April 14, 2014, 09:16:13 pm
Post by: ptoing on April 15, 2014, 02:03:26 am
Hey restriction knowledgable types:
Does the GBC have a NES-style sttribute table for palette per 2x2 tile block?
I always thought it did, but looking at some Shantae screens that doesn't seem to be the case, though they could possibly be using sprites.
No, it does not have those restrictions. Colour map is 1x1.
And yeah, that Robocop stuff looks pretty cool, the slow turning makes it feel true to how he moves in the films. Good stuff.
Post by: Carnivac on April 15, 2014, 07:51:13 am
Anyways glad you like. Am still working hard on it. Plotted the basic shapes of the ED-209 last night to get his size and scale right and figuring out memory-saving ways of animating it (like static top half and animated legs) but also gameplay stuff. Two tank-like objects blasting at each other both losing energy til one explodes isn't really much fun (at the end of level 1 in the arcade game I think it's more a case of "hey cool it's ED-209!" rather than "hey what a fun and challenging boss encounter this is"). I think for the first encounter in this game I'll have it inspired by the first movie where Robo is disarmed and damaged and trying to escape ED. Could have it so that ED is stomping and shooting after Robo and you're having to just get him out of there and slow down the ED-209 by hitting switches by doorways to slam down heavy doors to slow ED down before it shoots them or slam down on ED himself to stun him so you can walk back and give him a quick punch or two before he recovers. Stuff like that. At least on the first time.
Post by: Atnas on April 19, 2014, 10:22:04 am
Post by: surt on April 21, 2014, 07:17:12 am
(http://img.uninhabitant.com/simpix_shot0.png)
So far it's just an image/palette viewer.
Post by: Corinthian Baby on April 25, 2014, 05:06:43 pm
http://www.artstation.com/
Post by: Atnas on April 26, 2014, 07:59:07 am
Post by: Ellian on April 28, 2014, 09:48:54 pm
Here is my Ludum Dare entry, Where Is My Bone? (http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=7701) ! ;D
I feel super proud.
Post by: Kasumi on May 04, 2014, 05:57:01 am
(http://i.imgur.com/1b0aCGI.gif)
Particularly noticeable on the top row. Any palette region of a different palette than the textbox has its top half colored wrong after it appears because the textbox's top position is divisible by 8, but not 16.
(These are for dialogue boxes appearing/disappearing. Drew them over "random" colored blocks to make absolutely sure it restored the level underneath properly. I'd try to align it so this was less noticeable during the actual cutscenes, heh.)
Edit: Oh wow, just played your game Ellian. Hehehe, I guess I'm not spoiling. But uh... cute?
Edit2: Actually, one more thing. It's possible to stand in the air by walking off a ledge, then holding the direction toward the ledge: http://i.imgur.com/R2CMNd3.png
I always feel weird about pointing out bugs in ludum dare games because of the small development time, but eh. Worth a mention if you ever decide to expand it.
Post by: Charlieton on May 11, 2014, 07:48:41 pm
Post by: Carnivac on May 13, 2014, 09:16:32 am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27390345 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27390345)
Post by: Ellian on May 13, 2014, 08:11:18 pm
In case you missed it, KERO BLASTER (http://playism-games.com/games/keroblaster/)! got released today!
Guess I need to get money, huh.
Any word on handheld release, like 3DS or something?
Post by: Ellian on May 18, 2014, 01:57:02 pm
Last time I downloaded it was in 2011.
(http://www.vizioshop.com/en/T-shirt-Poker-Face-159424-1.png)
Post by: rikfuzz on May 18, 2014, 05:30:32 pm
In case you missed it, KERO BLASTER (http://playism-games.com/games/keroblaster/)! got released today!
Really nice fun little game, enjoyed it a lot. Not really what I was expecting though (it's very linear, not much in the way of exploration or secrets), and quite short, but definitely worth getting.
Post by: Charlieton on May 18, 2014, 09:14:05 pm
There are some secrets!
Did you get to the replay as yellow frog with all the weapons and jetpack?
After the credits have rolled, press the shoot or jump buttons (4 presses I think was sufficient)
(I don't know if there are any special prerequisites for this to happen, such as having upgraded all the weapons or something like that)
A guy shows up (weapon salesman?) and asks if you were satisfied with the playthrough
Pick "no" and you get sent back to the beginning of the game as the yellow frog
Having all the equipment from the start gives you access to some hidden areas
Game continues after the spot where the last boss should've been
After the credits have rolled, press the shoot or jump buttons (4 presses I think was sufficient)
(I don't know if there are any special prerequisites for this to happen, such as having upgraded all the weapons or something like that)
A guy shows up (weapon salesman?) and asks if you were satisfied with the playthrough
Pick "no" and you get sent back to the beginning of the game as the yellow frog
Having all the equipment from the start gives you access to some hidden areas
Game continues after the spot where the last boss should've been
Though I have a feeling there's more that I haven't found yet.
@Ellian: iPhone is the only other format it's out on, as of yet. But you've probably found this out by yourself by now, ha.
I also hadn't realized there were newer versions of Gale! Never felt the need to check since it already did what I needed it for well enough.
Post by: Ellian on May 18, 2014, 09:39:46 pm
@Ellian: iPhone is the only other format it's out on, as of yet. But you've probably found this out by yourself by now, ha.Indeed ahah; I'll wait to see if they release it on handheld or something :3
I also hadn't realized there were newer versions of Gale! Never felt the need to check since it already did what I needed it for well enough.
As for GraphicsGales... woah, the way the tool windows snap to the software is way better, and there's a HISTORY TOOL NOW.
Geez how could I miss all that...
Post by: rikfuzz on May 18, 2014, 10:13:18 pm
Yeah! It is indeed short, but not to it's detriment. It feels like a distilled version of Cave Story, without the running errands back-and-forth (though even Cave Story becomes quite linear after the first couple of zones). Anyway, I got some quality time out of it, regardless of expectations.
There are some secrets!Did you get to the replay as yellow frog with all the weapons and jetpack?
After the credits have rolled, press the shoot or jump buttons (4 presses I think was sufficient)
(I don't know if there are any special prerequisites for this to happen, such as having upgraded all the weapons or something like that)
A guy shows up (weapon salesman?) and asks if you were satisfied with the playthrough
Pick "no" and you get sent back to the beginning of the game as the yellow frog
Having all the equipment from the start gives you access to some hidden areas
Game continues after the spot where the last boss should've been
Though I have a feeling there's more that I haven't found yet.
I did get to that, yes! I assumed everyone got that, didn't realise you had to do something particular for it.
I thought I'd messed up by pressing 'No' as he took all my money, haha. Is there any real difference, or is it just a total replay besides being yellow?
Post by: Charlieton on May 18, 2014, 11:44:42 pm
I did get to that, yes! I assumed everyone got that, didn't realise you had to do something particular for it.I thought I'd messed up by pressing 'No' as he took all my money, haha. Is there any real difference, or is it just a total replay besides being yellow?
I guess it's pretty hard to miss, yeah! But:
If you pick "yes" he just goes "Good!" and the game ends right there! No replay, but he adds "feel free to play some more!" or something. Funny
Post by: Conzeit on May 22, 2014, 03:04:45 am
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/mariakonnikova/2014/05/why-do-people-persist-in-believing-things-that-just-arent-true.html?utm_source=www&utm_medium=tw&utm_campaign=20140519
I guess the C&C we do is a bit like fact checking so I thought I'd share =) plus SCIENCE!
Post by: Ashbad on May 30, 2014, 01:56:44 am
https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/the-emperor-of-oaks-movement-1
https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/preview-the-emperor-of-oaks-movement-2 (work in progress)
Post by: Batzy on June 06, 2014, 11:15:45 pm
Post by: surt on June 07, 2014, 03:15:02 am
Pixels:
(https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/dhontecillaspostbox/irkalla/irkalla_mech_idle.gif)
3Dels:
(http://www.hedfiles.net/irkalla_mech_hd.gif)
Post by: Mr. Fahrenheit on June 07, 2014, 04:37:52 am
Post by: Lanarky on June 07, 2014, 11:19:31 pm
Post by: .TakaM on June 08, 2014, 03:36:35 am
(https://fetchquest.wordpress.com/)http://www.sendspace.com/file/si6b68
Post by: yaomon17 on June 08, 2014, 07:45:08 am
Post by: Ellian on June 12, 2014, 09:25:15 pm
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2014-how-thief-and-dishonored-inspired-styx-master-of-shadows/1100-6420420/
Post by: Kasumi on June 15, 2014, 08:14:12 am
(http://i.imgur.com/g9A0Qy4.png)
I quit.
Post by: Carnivac on June 15, 2014, 11:43:41 am
Post by: Lanarky on June 23, 2014, 10:24:45 pm
I really need a new computer, since the one I'm borrowing keeps freezing and crashing due to the faulty power cord. Anway, this would totally help with my gamedev, both development time, and reliability. (I really hate the dell+vista combo :blind: )
(https://d2djzakkfkyr8w.cloudfront.net/submissions_wm/615079-30917ef620b43b9629e170c33653a43e.jpg)
Feel free to vote here!
https://www.threadless.com/designs/puppy-up (https://www.threadless.com/designs/puppy-up)
Thanks you guys! :3
Post by: YellowLime on June 24, 2014, 12:50:37 pm
I don't remember if yours actually got to the top 3, but yours deserved first place :y:
Post by: Lanarky on June 24, 2014, 04:09:10 pm
I got second place on that challenge, but I think it was a scuba/barrel elephant that won first place, though I'm not entirely sure.
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on June 30, 2014, 05:07:08 pm
We can post anything here? As long as it follows the rules?
That's cool.
How's everyone today?
Post by: Ellian on June 30, 2014, 06:20:06 pm
How's everyone today?HUNGRY FOR SUSHIS AND BIRTHDAY CAKE :'(
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on June 30, 2014, 06:30:05 pm
But they're downstairs and I DON'T WANT TO GET UP
Post by: Ambivorous on June 30, 2014, 09:54:13 pm
HUNGRY FOR SUSHIS AND BIRTHDAY CAKE :'(Uh, happy birthday.
Your pixels are awesome.
<3
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 01, 2014, 02:23:43 pm
Post by: PixelPiledriver on July 04, 2014, 09:59:40 pm
Blow shit up!
:crazy:
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 06, 2014, 04:15:29 pm
The sounds of FREEDOM
Post by: Ellian on July 07, 2014, 10:31:40 pm
Don't Kill Humans! (http://ellian.itch.io/dont-kill-humans), made for the Monster Mash game jam on itch.io.
Now I'm gonna go curl up in my bed and exhaust myself to sleep.
Post by: rikfuzz on July 08, 2014, 08:26:47 am
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 08, 2014, 04:36:20 pm
[Edit]
My driver's test is today for my learner's permit.
I don't know how to feel about this.
Post by: Ellian on July 10, 2014, 09:23:42 pm
There's an ending when you get on level 5+ though! And on level 4+ the map get alot bigger too.
@Lark
If it isn't too late, good luck.
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 10, 2014, 09:54:01 pm
Post by: Ellian on July 14, 2014, 07:31:12 pm
He's always a very good inspiration source, so... Have some uchronia.
http://english.bouletcorp.com/2014/07/07/formicapunk/
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 14, 2014, 07:35:44 pm
I'm currently trying to fix my Mac. The external speakers won't work. I've looked up the problem and apparently it comes from using headphones then unplugging them.. I've done everything that several sites say and its still not working.
I hope my dad doesn't find out because I'll die
I don't mind using headphones but he doesn't.
Post by: Mr. Fahrenheit on July 20, 2014, 01:16:33 am
Post by: Grimsane on July 22, 2014, 07:19:43 am
but this "animate make-up" is hilarious :D figured you guys would enjoy it if you haven't seen it already
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orhh6TZ6qCE
250+ animators, by the looks of some shots, some seasoned industry vets included, love the skills and styles of some shots.
Be interested to see this level of open collaboration in other mediums, remaking something is much easier than fabricating something from scratch especially for newbies, breaking up a really rich piece of artwork into chunks and recreating it in your own style? something like a Bosch painting would be flippin' amazing
Post by: rikfuzz on July 23, 2014, 10:50:29 am
haha not a huge fan of the source material, even though it was kinda funny in it's own right(because of how terribly cheesy it was, that and it was primarily aimed at prepubescent girls, of which I've never been a part of the demographic. so more of a statement of fact than criticism)
Oh shit, thank goodness you explained all that, I could easily have mistook you for garnering some enjoyment from a TV show... FOR GIRLS!
Anyway, such a nice project, wish I'd gotten involved. :y:
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 23, 2014, 02:54:13 pm
On a side note, I'm having art/writers block. I have too many things I want to draw and only a week until band starts and I doubt I can draw everything by that time.
Should I finish my German shepherd drawing, or should I finish worldbuilding/character designing for my story? Or should I just pixel some?
Post by: Mathias on July 23, 2014, 03:21:12 pm
You'll feel best about completing something, rather than slowly chipping away at something that doesn't have a clear completion ETA.
Large scale projects are risky. Sometimes they never get finished.
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 23, 2014, 03:27:45 pm
Its just a pity that driving school takes up my entire afternoon and I haven't gotten to work on much of anything for the past three weeks. Thank goodness its over on Friday... Then summer band starts on Wednesday and goes for the entire month of August. This summer break has gone by too fast.
Unsure if I'm allowed to post wips here but
(http://i.imgur.com/i6nETGD.png)
Any critique so far? I wanted to go for a GSD with a healthy stance rather than the more curved stance that they have now due to overbreeding.
Post by: Ellian on July 23, 2014, 03:44:02 pm
I've started dozens of stories and only one got finished (I recently found it in my room... it was horrid and I never want to see that again).Learn to love your finished projects! Even the shitty ones, they define yourself and even if it's by mistake, you learn alot with them. Especially the finished ones, they are something rare you should be proud of!
Anyway, I'd say go with what gives you the best sense of accomplishment/progress.
None of those seems to be urgent, right? I mean you can always draw/write later when you're back, you don't have a deadline?
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on July 23, 2014, 03:49:32 pm
I'm shocked that it got finished, of course it was a series and I only finished the first book but.. I finished it! My friend who was the co-writer wants me to burn it, but I've been too lazy to do so. Besides, might need it later? Maybe? Anyway I'm not getting rid of it so fast.
No, for now. I'm just doing everything for fun now. Maybe after I get it published.. I'm still trying to decide how to go about that. I was thinking about using Amazon's self publishing for the kindle and charging like.. $1.99 or something for the book.
Post by: Corinthian Baby on August 01, 2014, 07:18:24 am
http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/31/5949433/the-cost-of-a-game-studio
Post by: LarkoftheRiver on August 09, 2014, 09:45:55 pm
Post by: surt on August 27, 2014, 09:42:16 pm
Looking at a lot of SMS games they seem to use far fewer colours per tile then they often should/need to.
Some such seem to limit many tiles to four colours. Is it common to store tiles as 2-bit to make more efficient use of expensive ROM?
Post by: Dusty on August 30, 2014, 12:08:51 am
They ran some code that calculates the usage percentage for each color in the palettes usage in Pokemon sprites, like so:
(http://i.imgur.com/Rs6cxGm.png)
Not really all that useful as far as information goes, but I thought it was interesting.
Post by: YellowLime on August 30, 2014, 01:23:48 pm
It's also interesting to note that the "face colors" tend to go to the right, because of the small quantities of unique colors.
A guessing game would be fun, but I think it would become near-impossible with the full 2014 roster :lol:
(A game where you squash pokemon into colored blobs also sounds like fun :hehe:)
Post by: Mathias on August 30, 2014, 02:34:20 pm
Is there a way for anyone else to use the script?
Post by: Tourist on September 14, 2014, 05:21:29 pm
I've some success at creating art by starting from simple shapes. Just flat blobs and curved lines that can be moved around to lay out the composition, lines of action, and so forth. It's easy to do with pencil and paper. I would like to do this with a software tool. So far I've looked at some free vector art tools and they aren't quite what I'm looking for.
Here's is an example use case:
(http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/cd99d5140d00.png)
Here are two circles of different sizes, and a path that connects them. The circles might be arbitrary blob shapes. The path may have more than two intermediate points.
Moving one of the circles should pull the intermediate nodes of the path in the same direction, but not the other end point. Moving an intermediate node changes the curve of a path, but doesn't move the endpoints. This means the nodes of the path need to be in a hierarchy; endpoint position influences midpoints, but not the other way around.
Changing the size of one of the circles should change the width of the path at that end. This change can be toggled to propagate along the path or just to the first intermediate point.
I think I'm looking for simple 2d plus built in rigging, and something like inverse kinematics. I haven't found this yet. The free tools either work with a single whole object at a time, or fine tweaking of individual points. Nothing that has one shape adjust another, nothing that propagates info from one point to another.
Do you know of any software that does this?
Thanks,
Tourist
Post by: surt on September 14, 2014, 08:20:07 pm
Post by: tim on September 15, 2014, 12:46:00 am
http://aescripts.com/puppettools/
Post by: Tourist on September 15, 2014, 07:01:48 pm
Tourist
Post by: Ellian on September 24, 2014, 05:40:36 pm
I FOUND THIS AND IT'S AWESOME
Post by: Crow on September 25, 2014, 08:10:47 am
http://vimeo.com/106576633
I FOUND THIS AND IT'S AWESOME
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=17251.0 ;)
Post by: Ellian on September 25, 2014, 09:17:56 am
I ought to lurk more in the Pixel section, huh. :-[
Post by: Atnas on November 05, 2014, 10:42:44 pm
Though they have made me into their alterations sweatshop boy, so as a plus I can sew really fast now...?
Anyway I dialed down my schedule so hopefully I can spend more time here and improve my abilities so freelance doesn't have to be as frustrating. I never did post any of my puppet animation stuff.
Post by: Kasumi on November 05, 2014, 10:53:45 pm
Post by: Probo on November 13, 2014, 11:47:32 am
Post by: Mr. Fahrenheit on November 20, 2014, 01:15:32 am
Some of my loose ideas are how perspective works on a flat image, colors (which probably doesn't have anything to do with math), or composition (same as colors).
If any of you guys know anything about this kind of stuff I would be delighted to hear it!
Post by: Probo on November 20, 2014, 02:03:37 am
Post by: dustinaux on November 20, 2014, 02:04:32 am
Or if you wanted to delve into digital art there's a bit of math behind different color blending modes you could explore.
Hope any of that helps!
Post by: PixelPiledriver on November 20, 2014, 02:09:07 am
Do some research.
It'll blow your mind!
Some other stuff:
Shaders
Noise
Fractals
Calculus --> yuck :blind:
Post by: Facet on November 20, 2014, 09:58:09 pm
Post by: Gil on November 20, 2014, 11:08:34 pm
http://acko.net/blog/how-to-fold-a-julia-fractal/
Post by: Ellian on December 12, 2014, 06:05:15 pm
Not that I disliked the job (I'm a Level Designer), but I really hate Paris (life has became so stressful I'm having health issues because of that), so I'm leaving.
So, in the beginning of march, I'll be a fulltime freelance pixel artist. Y-yay!
(don't ask me why I'm posting all this, I guess I just needed to shout it out somewhere ahah)
Post by: Crow on December 12, 2014, 06:17:23 pm
I'm trying to put the crippling self-doubt and lack of confidence that are slowly setting in aside, but today I handed my resignation!
Not that I disliked the job (I'm a Level Designer), but I really hate Paris (life has became so stressful I'm having health issues because of that), so I'm leaving.
So, in the beginning of march, I'll be a fulltime freelance pixel artist. Y-yay!
(don't ask me why I'm posting all this, I guess I just needed to shout it out somewhere ahah)
I wish you good luck with that :) Knowing you and your art a bit, I believe you'll be successful.
Post by: Probo on December 13, 2014, 07:22:11 am
Post by: Atnas on December 15, 2014, 05:34:34 am
Post by: YellowLime on December 15, 2014, 04:58:24 pm
Post by: Ellian on December 15, 2014, 07:20:03 pm
@YellowLime: Actually, I started doing freelance work two months ago and it's eating most of my pixel time... and I can't show it for now. So I produce even more ahah.
When did you took notice of me, by the way? That makes me curious.
Post by: YellowLime on December 15, 2014, 10:07:44 pm
It's not like I keep up with the latest and greatest, up and coming artists in the game since I'm not a pixelart label producer :lol:
The artists I know usually are either already famous in their circles or are reblogged on Tumblr/Twitter by artists I followed.
Some day I'll take time to look for all the hidden talent that lurks in the vastness of the Internet :lol:
Post by: surt on January 06, 2015, 07:24:59 pm
Looks like they've gotten rid of the silly Android version and brought the use-as-pen-display-with-desktop functionality to the Windows version.
Still no bigger size through. :(
Post by: Probo on January 07, 2015, 05:33:37 am
Post by: Probo on January 09, 2015, 06:15:09 pm
Post by: Mathias on January 18, 2015, 02:23:45 am
hehe
Post by: PixelPiledriver on January 18, 2015, 05:20:34 am
Quote
This is the ultimate place to get critique, but watch out cause some critics will really go in depth to the point you might lose motivation.Well... shit :blind:
Post by: Vagrant on January 18, 2015, 05:28:41 am
New generation of Cintiq Companion announced. (http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/wacom-cintiq-companion-2/)Acquire upon release date at your own risk.
Looks like they've gotten rid of the silly Android version and brought the use-as-pen-display-with-desktop functionality to the Windows version.
Still no bigger size through. :(
Wait for the problems to pop up. These important little things, like malfunctioning (unique and irreplaceable) vital components that render the whole toy utterly useless. Unless you'd end up with a franken-fix like me, which costed a genuine fuckload of money, and had the repair guys puzzled, experimenting and risking.
I own a Companion.
Post by: Ryumaru on January 18, 2015, 06:53:48 am
http://michafrar.tumblr.com/post/108359613574/are-there-any-good-pixel-art-communities-these (http://michafrar.tumblr.com/post/108359613574/are-there-any-good-pixel-art-communities-these)
hehe
I saw that too; I've always been of the mindset that if you lose motivation that easy, you don't have what it takes to be an artist anyway. Then again my entry into pix was not easy; but I powered through :mean:
Post by: Ellian on January 26, 2015, 08:42:05 pm
http://multitwitch.tv/fyrielle_draws/thisisellian
Edit: stream is over. Thanks if anyone had time join :3
(http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2015/026/5/3/mememe_by_thisisellian-d8fiq7n.png)
(http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2015/026/6/a/two_faces_by_fyrielle-d8fioy2.jpg)