This is really cool, I love how it's all grayscale.

I think if you added just a hint of color on the char, it would pop it out and make it more interesting to the eye.

Hey!
I'm Katie, a 14-year old female computer geek wonder. I design websites and graphics and code in HTML, CSS and PHP (nothing big). I would have posted this in the introduction topic, but I think most of this actual post is less of an introduction and more of a plea for advice. xD

I have a couple personal sites of my own, which I might end up putting on my profile eventually (they're not hugely pixel-/design-related), and have been admiring pixelated wonders for quite a while now. So, I've decided to give designing and creating games a try, but I honestly don't know where to start. I'm not incredibly skilled at art in generally right now, but I've done some basic pixel art and I could definitely get better.

... In any case, I've read some really helpful tutorials on tiles, dithering, and coloring techniques. If I could get a little guidance as to where to start - what programs are best to use (I use Photoshop at the moment), what programming languages to start working on, how tiles actually work, etc - that would be really awesome! Maybe I could tag along or possibly even help with a project or two, just to see how things work... I taught myself PHP in a matter of months, so with a heavier language, I could probably get good fairly quickly.

Thanks, I hope I can get some help!
Katie

PS - what IS a mockup? Is it basically a screenshot of a game you're going to make, or what you've all ready made, or just a concept of something that could eventually happen, or... What?