AuthorTopic: Pixel Art Wiki  (Read 30320 times)

Offline tcaud

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #10 on: July 30, 2013, 05:33:10 am
WikiPixels is in business. Link: http://wikipixels.gamestargcs.net/

Thanks to Dustin Bales for the logo.

Offline Ai

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1057
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • finti
    • http://pixeljoint.com/pixels/profile.asp?id=1996
    • finticemo
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #11 on: July 30, 2013, 11:06:02 am
I've added some software to the list and fixed up the EGA description somewhat. Not sure what to do with the 'EGA is sort-of 6bit' statement -- it's basically wrong, but I'm not sure how to replace it (the actual restriction usually used in 'EGA art' is the "fixed" 16-color EGA palette. AFAIK the ability to select any of the 64 'master palette' colors is only available in higher-resolution/tweaked modes (for example the stock 640x350 res available on 256k EGA cards))

Anyhow, this link (Ptoing's 'Restriction guide' thread) should be a good resource to help populate the History section. Gives a pretty good overview of CGA, EGA, C64, Amiga 500, CPC, Spectrum, GBC in Ptoing's original post, and respondents also covered NES, SMS, GameGear  (and CPC+, KC85, but they are overly complex, not historically important, or both.)

Is the aim of History pages partly to show some exemplary pixelart of each particular system? Obviously they should provide some more relevant information than say, what can be gotten by looking up the relevant system in Wikipedia.
If you insist on being pessimistic about your own abilities, consider also being pessimistic about the accuracy of that pessimistic judgement.

Offline Mathias

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1797
  • Karma: +2/-0
  • Goodbye.
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/9542.htm
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #12 on: July 30, 2013, 12:53:31 pm
Good job, tcaud! I hope its content continues to expand.

Offline tcaud

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #13 on: August 01, 2013, 12:34:17 am
We're off to a good start. We need more contributors!

Here is some content I think would make the wiki more useful:
- pixel art lessons
- palette collections

I'm no professional so my ability to contribute lessons is limited. As for the palettes, I know of Arne's and Dawnbringer's... any others?

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 326
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #14 on: August 01, 2013, 02:28:56 am
Manupix's and Neot's are some good ones. There are also a lot of game palettes, not sure if you are including those in this list.

Offline tcaud

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #15 on: August 01, 2013, 03:02:52 am
The problem with game palettes is that if you use them knowing what they are, you can be accused of derivative work by the copyright holder of the game. But it depends on whether or not the colors are forced, I think (NES, Master System), and the breadth of the master palette. Regardless I'd make sure I had permission before using any palette besides my own.

Offline Pix3M

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 265
  • Karma: +1/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #16 on: August 01, 2013, 01:57:34 pm
I would recommend to show only palettes that does something particularly well to show what is cream of the crop. Otherwise, knowledge of actual color theory will better serve artists than mindless ripping off palettes of other works.

Offline tcaud

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #17 on: August 01, 2013, 05:36:21 pm
My personal preference is a straight up 9-bit palette, and I don't find the default VGA palette that horrible, or even the websafe palette. As long as a palette has a decent range of skin tones, and enough shades for effective dither, it's workable. I think people like using small palettes because they don't want to have to think about what color to use when they draw something. But for work I'd consider professional, it's about always necessary to just experiment with color until you get just the right shade. I was going for a Super Metroid "Brimstar"-style effect a few months ago which had spores on the ceiling... 9-bits didn't give me the color variation I needed to pull it off.

Regardless, I think palettes are something people like to talk about. They are a part of the fun of the medium. Thing is, people take them too seriously. If FF Legacy redid its sprites and tiles and levels and names and still used the same colors as FFIV, would it taken down by Square again? Possibly, because anything made with that palette will ultimately end up looking like Final Fantasy IV, just as any game which makes use of the SNES FF's french horn will sound like Final Fantasy. I dunno, maybe I'm overblowing it.

In my opinion, anyone who would want to use a commercial game's palette, is most likely trying to recreate the original game, and that's not worth encouraging anyhow.

Pix3M I agree with you. I guess for a palette to do something well, it would have be particularly well suited to drawing particular things?
« Last Edit: August 01, 2013, 06:26:44 pm by tcaud »

Offline ptoing

  • 0101
  • ****
  • Posts: 3063
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • variegated quadrangle arranger
    • the_ptoing
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/2191.htm
    • View Profile
    • Perpetually inactive website

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #18 on: August 01, 2013, 08:26:42 pm
Nice effort, good luck with it. Maybe I will add something to it sometime.
I suggest changing "EGA Technique" to something else. There is no such thing as an EGA Technique. Try not to invent terms if you can avoid it.
There are no ugly colours, only ugly combinations of colours.

Offline tcaud

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Pixel Art Wiki

Reply #19 on: August 01, 2013, 09:21:56 pm
I think if you develop a specific clustering technique to accommodate for the limitations of the CGA palette in EGA mode, that's an EGA technique. Just as if you develop a set of guidelines for rendering with MS Paint, that's MS Paint technique.