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General Discussion / Re: Are there any scary pixel art games out there?
« on: May 10, 2014, 06:24:10 pm »
Thanks for your suggestions, guys! It really is much appreciated. I will check those games out!
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232
Pixel Art / Re: Could i trick you saying this is pixel art?
« on: May 10, 2014, 04:00:41 pm »
That's very interesting. Perhaps you should post the low FPS version in the OP, and keep the high FPS hidden behind a [ spoiler ] tag. That'll remove bias, I think.
Staring at the low FPS version now, I immediately thought it looked fake, but I can't be sure if I'm biased because I know it's fake. ('fake' as in 'not manually drawn', of course)
In regards the the anti-aliasing, people are able to do that just as well as machines. If you limit the number of colours, the main difference between automatic AA and the AA done by a good artist is that the latter is better and follows certain principles, avoiding stuff like jaggies and banding. The number of colours in itself isn't really the issue either, because there is PA done with 200+ colours, and it still looks like PA, unless it's a hyper-realistic tracing of a photography, for example. So I don't think you need to reduce the number of colours to 8 or remove AA for this to look like pixel art.
I'm glad you posted this here rather than the Low spec forum, otherwise I would never have seen it. It's an interesting discussion, and I would argue it belongs here as much as in any other forum, since the issue is whether or not it looks like pixel art.
Staring at the low FPS version now, I immediately thought it looked fake, but I can't be sure if I'm biased because I know it's fake. ('fake' as in 'not manually drawn', of course)
In regards the the anti-aliasing, people are able to do that just as well as machines. If you limit the number of colours, the main difference between automatic AA and the AA done by a good artist is that the latter is better and follows certain principles, avoiding stuff like jaggies and banding. The number of colours in itself isn't really the issue either, because there is PA done with 200+ colours, and it still looks like PA, unless it's a hyper-realistic tracing of a photography, for example. So I don't think you need to reduce the number of colours to 8 or remove AA for this to look like pixel art.
I'm glad you posted this here rather than the Low spec forum, otherwise I would never have seen it. It's an interesting discussion, and I would argue it belongs here as much as in any other forum, since the issue is whether or not it looks like pixel art.
233
Pixel Art / Re: Could i trick you saying this is pixel art?
« on: May 10, 2014, 03:10:54 pm »
To me, this reads like those sequences in Family Guy, South Park or Futurama where they've used some sort of 3D software to make a complex animation, typically one or more moving vehicles, or a rotating camera, and it just looks... weird. Individually, each frame looks like it's drawn the same way as the rest of the show. I don't know if they do it automatically with a filter or if some degree of manual work is required. But put together, there's a level of smoothness that looks completely artificial.
In this piece, I don't know that your filter is actually that good, though. I don't think you could convince me that every individual frame is pixel art. I don't know if that really matters, because it's hard to notice a few jaggies or banding in such a fast moving animation.
It would be interesting to see if the animation looked less computer-generated if you just reduced the number of frames.
In this piece, I don't know that your filter is actually that good, though. I don't think you could convince me that every individual frame is pixel art. I don't know if that really matters, because it's hard to notice a few jaggies or banding in such a fast moving animation.
It would be interesting to see if the animation looked less computer-generated if you just reduced the number of frames.
234
General Discussion / Re: What about attitude?
« on: May 09, 2014, 11:01:34 pm »
Honestly, I do think this community has issues (as all communities do), but elitism isn't one of them. Compared to what you see elsewhere on the internet, the ratio of constructive criticism to unconstructive negativity on this forum is rather exemplary. I agree, some people tend to skip the sugar coating and be rather cautious with praise, but... that's alright. I don't need someone to tell me that my work is "awesome" if they take the time to do a 20 minute edit to help me, with no reward what so ever. That's good enough.
If anything, I find it rather astonishing how some extraordinarily talented people still find the motivation to help newcomers who don't know the first thing about art, let alone pixel art.
If anything, I find it rather astonishing how some extraordinarily talented people still find the motivation to help newcomers who don't know the first thing about art, let alone pixel art.
235
General Discussion / Re: Are there any scary pixel art games out there?
« on: May 08, 2014, 02:09:51 pm »
Thanks for the suggestions!
Clock Tower seems like a very interesting concept for a game. Puzzle game with a timer. Kind of like certain parts of Phantasmogoria. I can see how that would be scary, and get your heart beating.
Lone Survivor doesn't look too scary to me. And the poor pixel art rather ruins it. The main character looks like he's running around with a constant trolling grin.
Yume Niki does look a bit creepy, in a surrealistic Twin Peaks kind of way.
Any other suggestions?
Clock Tower seems like a very interesting concept for a game. Puzzle game with a timer. Kind of like certain parts of Phantasmogoria. I can see how that would be scary, and get your heart beating.
Lone Survivor doesn't look too scary to me. And the poor pixel art rather ruins it. The main character looks like he's running around with a constant trolling grin.
Yume Niki does look a bit creepy, in a surrealistic Twin Peaks kind of way.
Any other suggestions?
236
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: My tiles bring all the boys to the yard
« on: May 08, 2014, 10:55:37 am »
@Crow, Johasu, yaomon17: Thanks for bumping the thread.
@Manupix: Those wall shadows do look lovely! But I can't help thinking that they'll make the whole level look like it's contained in a shoe box with external lighting. Of course, the only realistic light sources in a pre-electric setting would be windows, torches or oil lamps, on the walls or in the ceiling. And I don't really want any of those, I think. So maybe I just won't have any shadows on the floor or walls after all.
On the other hand, shadows certainly would help showing some sort of depth, so it's easy to understand whether two areas are side by side, or one is below the other.
@Manupix: Those wall shadows do look lovely! But I can't help thinking that they'll make the whole level look like it's contained in a shoe box with external lighting. Of course, the only realistic light sources in a pre-electric setting would be windows, torches or oil lamps, on the walls or in the ceiling. And I don't really want any of those, I think. So maybe I just won't have any shadows on the floor or walls after all.
On the other hand, shadows certainly would help showing some sort of depth, so it's easy to understand whether two areas are side by side, or one is below the other.
237
Pixel Art / Re: Golden Hour - a brand new pixel art ARPG!
« on: May 07, 2014, 08:41:52 pm »
Meanwhile, at the house of the Golden Hour kerning specialist:
"Papa, may I have another bowl of onion soup?"
"I'm afraid not, Mary Sue. That's all we had to eat today. Since I lost my job, we have to save money."
"But Papa, I'm hungry!"
"God, I wish I knew something else besides kerning."
Good looking game. The main issue for me is the design of the characters. They are by far the worst looking things in the game, which is unfortunate, since they're also the most important.
Since the game is finished, I guess it's too late to help you improve them.
"Papa, may I have another bowl of onion soup?"
"I'm afraid not, Mary Sue. That's all we had to eat today. Since I lost my job, we have to save money."
"But Papa, I'm hungry!"
"God, I wish I knew something else besides kerning."
Good looking game. The main issue for me is the design of the characters. They are by far the worst looking things in the game, which is unfortunate, since they're also the most important.
Since the game is finished, I guess it's too late to help you improve them.
238
General Discussion / Are there any scary pixel art games out there?
« on: May 07, 2014, 08:23:30 pm »
SuperTurnip brought up an interesting point today. He said pixel art should work well for scary games, because it lets the viewer make up the details. Which makes sense. The scariest monsters are always the ones that are partially or entirely concealed, because when the rabbit is out of the box, the monster is never quite as scary as you had imagined.
But I can't think of any scary pixel art games. The closest I can think of is SuperBrothers, which was creepy, but not really scary. Alone in the Dark was scary when I was a kid, but not it's not pixel art.
Can anyone help? I'm talking about horror games, primarily, but all pixel art games with an element of spookiness are of interest.
But I can't think of any scary pixel art games. The closest I can think of is SuperBrothers, which was creepy, but not really scary. Alone in the Dark was scary when I was a kid, but not it's not pixel art.
Can anyone help? I'm talking about horror games, primarily, but all pixel art games with an element of spookiness are of interest.
239
Pixel Art / Re: Combat pose: need an help! (WIP)
« on: May 07, 2014, 01:14:59 pm »
Re: Prince of Persia
How's this?
- Your sword looks a bit like a rapier, at the moment. Which kind of conflicts with the barbarian image, but that's up to you.
- I think your pose looks more relaxed and confident rather than weary. He reminds me of Brad Pitt in Snatch, coming into the boxing ring with his hands at his waist. It does look cool though, it just doesn't look realistic. If realism isn't a concern, then I'd just keep it as it is.
- Keeping the sword in his rear hand, and standing sideways (with both feet pointing sideways, rather than towards his opponent) seems like he would have a hard time parrying attacks from the left side (i.e. on the side where he doesn't have a sword). So I changed his lead foot to point forewards. It gives a sense of focus and urgency, I think, makes him look less relaxed and confident.
How's this?
- Your sword looks a bit like a rapier, at the moment. Which kind of conflicts with the barbarian image, but that's up to you.
- I think your pose looks more relaxed and confident rather than weary. He reminds me of Brad Pitt in Snatch, coming into the boxing ring with his hands at his waist. It does look cool though, it just doesn't look realistic. If realism isn't a concern, then I'd just keep it as it is.
- Keeping the sword in his rear hand, and standing sideways (with both feet pointing sideways, rather than towards his opponent) seems like he would have a hard time parrying attacks from the left side (i.e. on the side where he doesn't have a sword). So I changed his lead foot to point forewards. It gives a sense of focus and urgency, I think, makes him look less relaxed and confident.
240
Pixel Art / Re: Combat pose: need an help! (WIP)
« on: May 06, 2014, 03:23:45 pm »
I don't want to get into a huge debate about sword fighting here. I agree with you that it's hard to critique without knowing the context. For all we know, this dude is a demi-God who could hold his sword like the dude in Force Unleashed if he wanted to. And some people like a bit of Hollywood in their game. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a very realistic approach to third person sword fighting in games.
But just to flaunt what little I do know, the styles and techniques used in competitions such as the one I gave links to (Swordfish) are typically based on old, historical manuals, dating back to the late medieval age. That's not just because they like to play Robin Hood vs William Wallace, it's because the stuff from those manuals actually works. But the debate of whether or not techniques used by medieval duellists represents what was actually used on the battlefield has been inconclusive, I believe.
Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread if this information wasn't useful.
But just to flaunt what little I do know, the styles and techniques used in competitions such as the one I gave links to (Swordfish) are typically based on old, historical manuals, dating back to the late medieval age. That's not just because they like to play Robin Hood vs William Wallace, it's because the stuff from those manuals actually works. But the debate of whether or not techniques used by medieval duellists represents what was actually used on the battlefield has been inconclusive, I believe.
Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread if this information wasn't useful.