I've been working with the Idle Sword 2 team to create totally new art for the game's mobile release! It's currently in open beta for Android, and iOS is coming soon.
It is! (for android at least). Need to fix some scaling issues but it's here if you wanna give it a go https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitbybit.Bop&hl=en
I recommend using MagicaVoxel (program which I used) It's free and very easy to pick up. And as the name suggests, it's all about voxels. You'd be suprised how many advanced things it can do! Just see the website for yourself: https://ephtracy.github.io/
The pack isn't finished yet!
You can check the progress logs on my Pillowfort or Twitter though! I'll put the link there once it's done!
Hello dear pixel art reddit society. About half year ago I was posting here the progress of my small game called Tap Hero. I got a fantastic feedback. Unfortunately the game was only for the iOS and I got many questions about the android. I promised to release it, it took me much time but I am proud to type "it is ready :D". I will consider updating with new 3 unlock able characters and this subreddit will be the first one to show the progress. Thanks again guys!
"Filled in pixel-by-pixel" is the generally-agreed upon definition of pixel art?
I find that problematic because for some images there's no way to tell the method by which they are generated.
For OP's picture, it's pretty likely that it's a screenshot. But who knows, they could have filled it in, pixel by pixel, from a reference screenshot.
Take this image as another example. I could have easily done that pixel-by-pixel or with the oval tool, as long as anti-aliasing was off. By your metric, the same output image could be classified as both pixel art and not pixel art, depending on which method you think I used.
If you like these new spooky bois, here are some sticker packs for WhatsApp and Line:
WhatsApp: Link
You will need an app to install the WhatsApp sticker pack.
I am sorry, but Line did not allow me to publish a free pack of animated stickers, so I set it to the lowest price I could. I don't think I am allowed to link to a store, but if you want to find them, search for 'Dancing Spooky Skeletons' by 'Robo Bonobo'.
Enjoy!
Uses assets by surt on opengameart.org "Blowhard 2: Blow Harder"
I'm especially looking for comments&criticism on how you think I can make it more interresting to look at.
Edit: Can be downloaded from Play Store
It only has a low 100 installs right now so it won't show up too often, but if you want to check it out, its on google play
> done in MS Paint
Well, there's your problem. Anything like this must be a bitch and a half if you can't use layers, for starters...
GraphicsGale is free nowadays and is a widely used piece of modern pixel art making software. Why not give that a try?
I use Aseprite myself, which is also good (but not free).
So far I've used the GIMP with the pencil tool & a bunch of layers & the eraser tool. Really great program for it's free pricetag https://www.gimp.org/ though I've noticed aseprite seems popular too!
(Extra info just incase its helpful): In terms of the way I have it set up I just make a new image with a really low resolution, say 192 x 108px, zoom in to about 800% or 1000% and draw. Then when I'm done I scale up the image (leaving interpolation to None so it doesn't make the image blurry) & do an export. Good luck!
Thank you! I don't know if you mean that as a vision of the future, but you can see it there already because it just went live :) Link to the Appstore and on Google Play
Hey guys, I'm one of the devs of pixel place, a pixel art canvas shared by hundreds of players. We recently reseted the canvas and wanted to bring you word about it. The gif I posted is an older time-lapse to give you an idea of what people are creating in app. If you're interested in making pixel art with friends or strangers, you can try it on phone on the links below.
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixel-place/id1225691240?ls=1&mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.mevo.pixelplace
Beautiful! I love how you made the reflection in the water waver by shifting slices of the reflection side to side. I do have one comment about that though - it looks like the vertical size of your "slices" are pretty consistent from top to bottom. It mike look more like real life if you make the vertical size of the slices smaller closer to the top of the image. Check this reference image, the detail in the reflection becomes vertically compressed in the distance.
The Les Forges Pixel Art Course, in English and the original French. This is a pretty complete beginning-to-intermediate level pixel course that's worth looking at even if you've been doing pixel art for a while.
If you don't mind to spend some money on this, there is a great book on pixelart:
https://gumroad.com/l/pixel-logic
It's still WIP, but already contains tons of useful information. Plus it's pretty software agnostic, so you can use whatever program you prefer.
It's playable, this right here is 5th level in the making already.
You can get a demo from here - http://gamejolt.com/games/platformer/there-was-a-caveman/40642/
Though I will release it on Steam sometime this summer, as the game has been greenlit a long time ago. :)
Some context:
Low Rez Jam 2017 just started! The only rule is that your game has to run at a 64x64 resolution, so my player character has a roughly 8x8 footprint. It's a challenge to make a character that small!
If you're interested, here's a link to the game jam! It runs until August 16.
Literally the first entry after googling cc0:
I might recommend Aseprite. Really fantastic program that is quite powerful when you need it to be and simple if that's more your thing. And any animation you might end up doing will become tenfold easier.
Galaxy Trader on Android if anyone's interested in the source. Every location has a 32x32 flavour image, and these are some of my favourites.
For reference, this is what real ones look like. I'm still pretty new to pixel art, so if you guys have any criticism, I'd love to hear it.
I put this design on my Switch Joy-Con but it looked very... amateur. Does anyone have a good tutorial on how to put decals on plastic or somewhere I can order custom print Joy-Con shells?
Thanks!
We're making Theropods, a Point-and-Click Adventure Game set in a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth!
Play the current version here, it'll be bigger and better in the future!
Would love to know what you guys think! :)
I used Aseperite. I still have a LOT to learn about the software, because I haven't used it a lot, but I've been able to stumble through using it pretty well just googling any questions I've had :)
I am not a pro - by far, but I use Aseprite. It has a lot of features, while being very easy to learn. It is not free, however. (15 USD) But worth every buck! Useful for animations as well.
Hiya r/PixelArt!
Been lurking this Reddit for years to find inspiration, ideas and cool projects, and now finally I can post something of my own as I recently released my first real Pixel art project: Blobout for iOS and Android!
This was the first time I did any "real" Pixel art, as previously I've only done couple small sprites and what a learning process it was.. During the development of the game I think I redesigned the backgrounds and tilesets from scratch at least 3 times, but I think it was worth it!
Would gladly hear about what you think of the style I settled with, and if there's stuff I could improve on!
Also little info about the game..
Jump, Glide and Wall-jump with your Blob to escape the tower of tricks laid out by your Creator - now fallen into Insanity. How far will you get, before the Traps get you?!
Get Blobout on..
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blobout/id1245760479?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.KIDE.Blobout
The scenery is currently WIP and some details are missing but the effect is already working. If you are interested in the development, we post a weekly update on indiedb: http://www.indiedb.com/games/tower-57 We also set up a new Twitter especially for the game @tower57devlog: https://twitter.com/tower57devlog
The game's website, for those wondering:
http://www.firewatchgame.com/
And a great IGN article that goes into some more depth:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/18/gdc-why-firewatch-is-one-of-our-most-anticipated-games-of-2015
Game looks awesome. I'm psyched.
Please help me out with some ideas! Roguelands is a 2D Multiplayer RPG that is a spiritual successor to Magicite. Here's the indieDB page if you're interested:
Your 'pixel art' is just other peoples art, but pixelated. Even other posts you've made on other subreddits are just royalty-free images you've pixelated.
​
The way the smoke trails off seems a little strange. Maybe have the back of the smoke fade out before the front? Or maybe it breaks apart before disappearing as one solid chunk.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned GIMP. It has all the functionality Photoshop has for creating pixel art, and it's completely free. So if you're on a budget it's a great option.
The game is called Build&Battle and you can find it on itch.io, its free if you want to check it out and see more of the game. You can also ask me anything about the asset creation if interested.
@Title *self-made
Demon's Hymn 2 is a minigame I'm making for Low Rez Jam 2018. You can follow development here: https://itch.io/t/268831/demons-hymn-2-prelude-of-night
The rain is dynamic and collides with the terrain. Everything else has been done by hand using the DB32 palette.
The best option for computer is adobe photoshop, although you do have to pay around $20 per month or something. It’s worth it, not just for pixel art, but if you would wish to expand to other art forms in the future.
If you don’t feel like paying (like me) you can use a program called ‘krita’, which you can download by pressing here. If I’m not mistaken there should be a pixel brush.
If you wish to use your iPad, I would recommend ‘Pixilart’, a free app from the App Store. I use it on my phone but I haven’t checked if you can get it for iPad.
If you have anymore questions feel free to ask, I hope this helped ^^
Nice sprites, I love the vibrant colors, the oldschool arcade style and the shading!
The main character reminds me of Spelunky. Are you somehow associated with that project?
I get that! It's certainly more traditional and, often, skillful to bring scenes to life using only careful pixel placement, and I respect that style and those that prefer it. I can also see the merit in more modern, experimental styles that play with things like gradients to give scenes a unique and interesting effect: for example, scenes like this may not appeal to some, but I really enjoy the depth and character the subtle gradients and glows add. It's a matter of style, and in my opinion, if a gradient in a scene is not discordant with the greater work's style, it can be very effective. In my opinion, it should still almost always be very subtle and very carefully used; if you throw gradients around without thinking about what purpose they're serving, it'll look shitty. And I don't tend to like gradients as entire assets, which is why I don't think the sky in this scene should just be a plain gradient; I think they only work when strategically applied to real pixel art.
Again, matter of opinion. I only recently started to appreciate the use of gradients in pixel art, and even now I think most games/other works could do without them. But I wouldn't eschew them in general, because experimentation is how the medium evolves.
I don't wanna give the impression that I am a colour expert. I only read some tutorials/books about it and made some palettes myself.
Ok first off, I wouldn't use pure black and white. Using a a very dark grey as black and slightly tinted white colour makes it interact better with the other colours. I like the slightly yellow/orange white you are using. And you could honestly use the slightly purple colour of the floor tiles as your black.
For the colours I would propably try out some less saturated ones. And I would try to use colours that fits well together.
A website like this works well to help you find colours that work well together.
Generally speaking you should also tint your darker colours towards blue, while tinting your lighter colours towards yellow, since that is how light work in the real world. It just looks natural.
Neither minecraft or paper pixel art does very well here. Use the programs others have suggested, or my personal favorite Graphics Gale. You don't need fancy materials or hardware. Most of us draw everything with a plain old mouse and keyboard.
There are some AI projects that can upscale images, but the results are often hit or miss.
Try this one. https://icons8.com/upscaler
However, make sure you use the original image. The one you posted seems like it was scaled up by 4-6x.
Thanks for your comment! The mountains were indeed not done pixels by pixels, they were done by using Aseprite's shading tool. I could definitely try to use less colors on them next time!
There are a lot of good tutorials online for this. Here's one that looks decent at first glance. I use a similar type of antialiasing where I use lighter and darker shades on the lines to be more exact. You can open the image up in a graphics program and zoom in to see better.
A good question! We have an export option. We want to make it really easy for you to take things away elsewhere if you want to. I completely dislike lock in. You still also own what you create, similar to say allowing YouTube to redistribute in order for this to be an open MMO. In addition, you can collect all of what we did in the world by dragging it into your bag, then using on your own maps. It's a world built on sharing & friendship and trying to really create something novel here together.
On a personal note, I'm a big believer in sharing initiatives like creative commons, and have released a lot of work into it, like here.
This is a labor of love which we worked on for over 2 years now. Community happiness is our top priority above everything else. Every other decision at all times follows that.
Hey thats a good start but you need to work on those jaggies. Heres a quick explanation what i mean: http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-2-lines-and-curves http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=613
Details for the dungeon/sewer tile set:
Color: I'd like the general color scheme to be medium-dark blue to medium-dark grey, with slate blue in between.
Base Tiles:
Cobblestone floor (a repeating tile and and two "accent" tiles that fit in the repeating pattern, such as a missing stone or a different pattern)
Stone walls, in a brick pattern (again, repeating. Two "accent" tiles for the horizontal wall sections. Walls tiles should have the same arrangement as here. Also need two horizontal wall tiles with a torch, one lit and one not.
Archways (one open, one barred)
Water tiles with three color variations: clean and pure, green and icky, and lava.
Water archways (one open, one barred)
Object tiles (with transparent backgrounds):
Wooden table
Wooden stool
2 random rubble tiles
2 small piles of hay
A tin bowl
A rat skeleton
A bone
A small pile of dirt
A candle, both lit and not lit
A wooden door (open and closed)
A door with bars (open and closed)
A trapdoor (open and closed)
A large sewer pipe that would stick out from a wall
If you have any ideas for additional object and/or base tiles that would add to the set, I'm open to suggestions. :)
I really like the old man in the fishing shanty. Two things that you need to work on, though:
Looks like a great start, though! How far are you into the development process? Are you doing all the work yourself? What are you programming in?
I wouldn't want underwhelm you. I really meant to be more of a parody than just another clone, but some of my friends think otherwise.
>ays find them very handy! Although it would be nice to be able to download them :/ or at least have all of them in one pla
Thank you! Im going to follow Pedro's model & post the files in a Patreon acc and compile them into an Itch.io page
Thank you for great review! I also agree with weakness of no effect! XD This is simple game for 2 buttons jam ended today. So I decide to abandone some points and effect drawing is one of them.
You can play this freely on Here! Thank you! : D
my twitter: https://twitter.com/Balamea_ and tumblr if anyone is interested :https://www.tumblr.com/blog/the-tape-hero I retweet/reblog a lot of random stuff, but from now on it will probably only be Original work
The game's website, for those wondering:
http://www.firewatchgame.com/
And a great IGN article that goes into some more depth:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/18/gdc-why-firewatch-is-one-of-our-most-anticipated-games-of-2015
Game looks awesome. I'm psyched.
it is a wide selection, at a certain level 3D softwares and game engines could make similar pixel art, so its really dependent on how you want to make a computer generated piece.
you'd probably want to look into pixel art made through Blender and Unity.
outside of those though, I'd recommend asking the artists that your interested in, they often post here to interact with a community, and that means they wanna speak specifically with you.
go tell someone they inspire you and you'd really like to know more about what they do, no one ever asks that and it'd probably make their day.
Looks like the original content is https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, but you should check with the creator to make sure. GPL should only really be applied to software, because the document makes claims on "software" and "source code".
Kindly check out my support page too ^-^ I just recently launched it, you can give me a follow there for my blog posts about good vibes and pixel art ^-^
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Piepzeru
This movie is one of my favourites. Love this review. I know that it isn't entirely accurate but it gets across that this is not the typical film in so many ways but it is such a great work of art.
No plot. No central character. No antagonist. No defined purpose for side characters. No threat. No three acts. No jokes. No punchlines. No explanations. No internal references. No catchphrases. No political polemical voice. No melodrama. No lessons. No beginning. No end. One of the best films ever made.
https://letterboxd.com/daveyjenkins/film/my-neighbor-totoro/
Would appreciate feedback! If you want to play it and / or rate it here's the link https://itch.io/jam/gmtk-2018/rate/301299
also, youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwHp8dsvu6M
2 man team, 48 hours, theme: genre without mechanic.
thanks!
Thanks! it's made in unity. and constructive criticism is always appreciated. As for putting an outline on it to make it stand out more, i kinda already did put one on it. But, if it's that hard to notice, then maybe it's not noticeable enough haha.
https://vgy.me/virpn2.png Here's a picture of it where it's a bit more visible.
Yeah I have trouble with this too - conveying the right movement from so few pixels.
Your character reminds me of this one: https://dribbble.com/shots/1852666-Rogue-Grunt
Looking at those I'd say you should do less with the movement you have on her chest (the colors become a jumble that don't form a shape in my mind). And try to get her head and really probably her legs down to her knees moving some too.
I have always used the Gimp. It's free. It has all the functionality you'll ever need. Will take a little time to get used to it but it's been my go to for a very long time. I also use Aseprite for animation but I still prefer to do most of my work in the Gimp.
Here is where to get the Gimp: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Go grab this palette and just work with that to start: https://lospec.com/palette-list/zughy-32-32x.png
It's really important to use limited palettes. Makes you have to get creative to work within the limitation. Also start with small documents to start; like 64x64.
It's -all- about practice and failure until you get get something that really pleases you. Start small. Choose a small item to make each time you sit down to create: bluetooth speaker, guitar, lamp, soda can, whatever. Good luck!
It looks like it's working now. I didn't get a downtime email and
says it's up. I don't know, maybe there was a small hickup. :)
Daaamn these look good. I like mini variations of the machines as well (water and medkits). The red blood one might have some problems as the red cross has been cracking down on stuff like this.
As a rule of thumb, I try to avoid using colors that are in grayscale, like only shades of black/white. Ofc it's easier with context, in your case if you're just drawing a lump of coal it's kind of hard to identify what else to use, but using cooler colors (blue, purple) as undertones throughout the image gives it a more lifelike quality. In real life, hardly anything is actually made from pure shades of black/white. For shading, I'd try to incorporate more chunks of highlights rather than slivers of highlights.
​
In the end I'm still just a noob at pixel art and color theory, so here's a link to a whole shitton of tutorials and tips that the artist of Celeste made for free that are really useful. Good luck
You should look into Pixen. I have no idea how the two compares, but afaik it is the go-to pixelart program for Mac.
If you like to sprite on the go, Sprite Something for iPad and iPhone is also pretty nice.
This has been very valuable to me. I tried replicating Nightmare's color palette with Paletton, a website I like to use when picking palettes. This is what I came up with http://paletton.com/#uid=53M0R0kDPqBpo-RAA-xIplDOfg8
I picked "3 adjacent colors" and placed the main color in the blue, and added a bit of distance to the neighboring colors and was surprised to see this accurately generated the color palette for Nightmare. Going forward I will consider using this method for generating color palettes for my sprites.
Thanks for the in depth response! Really useful stuff!
The Chasm game is pretty much the art style I'm going for so I'll try get a palette from one of its screenshots.
I don't know how useful it is, but I found this regarding creating palettes - which suggests using something like Adobe Kuler so I'll try that too!
I want to get rid of the black outlines similar to what you've done. Game looks awesome btw, any info on it?
Hey, just thought I'd throw in my two cents. Looks really good! I think the carpet could look better, and maybe it's just the color you picked? I usually use the Adobe Color Wheel thing they have when picking colors that match. Here ya go.
Try this Adobe Color Wheel It's pretty awesome, it should help you with selecting a palette.
this one is complex, but it was used for some games... here is the link for GraphicsGale. As I said, this one is fairly complex, but there are various videos tutorials for you to use.
If you want a good, easy use program, I would recommend Aseprite, though it costs $14.99 USD.
Good luck, future artist.
If you're using Windows, Paint.NET is my all-time favorite image editor (and it's free!), and it handles pixel art really well compared to most general-purpose image editors out there. The only drawback is that you can't make animations with it very easily.
You can also try GraphicsGale, which is pretty great for a free pixel art editor. It has an intuitive interface, and has animation support.
"Hue shifting" is the idea of changing color slightly from highlights to shadows. Notice what I did here:
The lighter areas are slightly orange, and the darker areas are slightly blue.
One other thing I'd strongly recommend is getting away from the RGB color selector. I'm not sure what program you're using, but you should try to pick your colors using HSV sliders instead. In general, you should avoid any color selector that encourages you to set a red, blue, and green component and instead use one that has you choose your hue from a rainbow and then adjust your lightness and saturation. Here's an example of one:
http://gcolor2.sourceforge.net/gcolor2-collapsed.jpg
The reason for this is that it helps you to avoid unnatural color selections. Very few things are perfectly red, green, or blue, or even mixes of any two or three of those colors. You'll end up with more natural looking colors if you use a color picker that doesn't make you think about red, green, and blue.
Classic pixel art normally had a limited color palette. If you don't want to limit your color range then try to make it more clear what you are attempting to convey. Like right now the gold part of the model has lots of variation and noise but it's hard to tell what it is supposed to be. It is varied rust, is it lots of tiny greebles?
Pixel art palette. https://lospec.com/palette-list
Alternative to making pixels 3D https://ephtracy.github.io/
I use Photoshop out of sheer stubbornness, but Aseprite is a common recommendation and is very good.
Here's a link to pixel art software list (which you can also find on the sidebar): https://lospec.com/pixel-art-software-list
> You hand click each pixel. One by one.
This is false, you do not have to click each pixel one by one. Pixels placed with purpose does not mean each and every pixel is placed one by one. And saying so only serves to confuse people who are just starting out.
It is perfectly ok to use the paint bucket, line, shape, and marquee select tool as long as anti-aliasing is off.
OP, check out Graphicgale, it's a free program specifically made for the creation of pixel art. You might also want to check out Aesprite, it's $15 but again, it's a program specifically made for making pixel art.
Most people would recommend gimp, and that's a really good alternative. Personally, since I come from a PS background, I prefer paint.net.
Either one of those will serve your needs. Just google '(image editor name) nearest neighbor resize' and you'll be on your way!
I use Photoshop, but I've heard of people using this https://krita.org/en/
Also the sidebar has a really nice comprehensive tutorial, and this: http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/sywtbapa_de-mystifying_greats_1.php
One of my favorites, everything else on that site is really good too.
You want to use a raster graphics tool. This means something taht works with a grid of pixels. For more information on raster graphics, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raster_graphics.
I use Photoshop, but it costs some money. If you want free, take a look at Gimp. https://www.gimp.org/
I agree, it's a poor definition.
And it sounds like the process does matter for pixel art, as per the common definition. I find that problematic though, because who's to say if I hand-placed all of these pixels, or if I used the oval tool: http://www.webmin.com/jshock/icons/oval.gif
There are tons of games coded in Javascript. Facebook games, Google Chrome games, web games, even games that are coded in JS and converted into other languages like Objective-C (via programs like Appcelerator).
There are a number of libraries centered around JS game development.
If your goal is to make a game but you are concerned about animating this, you might want to find a program that let's you animate sprites with bones. Spriter got started with a Kickstarter and there is a free version. http://www.brashmonkey.com/spriter.htm since the model is so big and has clear appendages it would be a good candidate. It's not the 'pure' approach to animating a sprite, but your time would be better invested in some awesome idle and and attack animations for your player character.
You could try these game engines to mess around. They require very little knowledge of programming. Both have resources to get you started.
https://ctjs.rocks/ (free)
https://www.yoyogames.com/get (paid)
Other than that, you should check out resources listed in r/programming and similar subs.
Thanks. It uses the Phaser HTML5 Game Framework.
The graphics are made using DPaint IV on an Amiga emulator.
The tilemaps are made in Tiled.
I just updated the map to use one-way tiles, instead of the horrible tree-branches you hit your head on.
I plan on doing a little bit here and there in my spare time.
I'll keep updating this online version to show my friend etc, so feel free to take a look from time to time.
For sound, I'll have to see what royalty-free sound effects and silly music is out there.
Also, the grainy grass looks flat by default, try giving it more texture, some sort of pixel art version of this http://opengameart.org/sites/default/files/styles/watermarked/public/grass.png
Use tiny props to add detail and break the tiling, bigger leaves, broken branches, grass-clear areas...
The problem with this pallet is that the ramp numbers aren't consistent, they are all over the place actually. To quote from this tutorial: http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-5-color-palettes, "The darker it gets, the greater the saturation - The lighter it gets, the less the saturation - The darker it gets, the more blue your hue becomes - The lighter it gets, the more yellow your hue becomes" Combine that general rule with keeping your numbers consistent, and I think you'll find a lot more unity and richness in your color pallets.
I might lower the saturation and brightness of the pants, and the outline around the moon doesn't really make sense being blue. The lines aren't very straight, this can help with that. The character's shadow is interesting, but it extends beyond the light produced by the headlights, which doesn't really make sense. Color choice is good, and you probably don't need to consider hue shift because there's only 2 shades of each color.
Wow, that looks fantastic! Color me impressed.
>How do i do that properly?
My method for creating palettes is to start with a typical gradient from dark to light for a single color. Then, I create another palette from dark blue to light yellow and paste it on top. Finally in Photoshop, I adjust the transparency for each square in the top palette beginning very opaque at the extremes, then become increasingly transparent toward the middle. Takes a bit of tweaking afterward, but it's a good place to start.
You might also consult this guide for creating palettes.
This is really awesome. I would suggest you use a different program than MS Paint, because whether you realize it or not, the program is kind of shitty. This link provides a few alternatives; I myself use Graphics Gale at the moment and they have a free trial to test it out. I have also heard paint.net is good but I have never tried it myself; it is free though.
I think Azghyn is right, the colors are not very well done, unless you were going for a super classic NES-era look. One thing that new artists working in any visual medium don't usually realize is that what we perceive as an object's color, i.e, grass being green, is not always the best color to represent it with, depending on the time of day and other factors. Even if you do stick to the "true" color of something, it's usually better to make it slightly muted, to make it easier on the eyes if nothing else.
I made a quick new version of your piece, showing how it would look with a more deliberate color palette and less saturation. This isn't the only way to draw this piece by any means, but I think it shows the potential of what a more subtle palette can do:
If you want to learn about color palettes in more detail, you may want to take a look at this guide:
http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-5-color-palettes
And last, I just want to say, please don't give up on pixel art, unless you really aren't enjoying it. You're not subpar for someone who's new at this, and with hard work you can certainly improve. I hesitate to say that you have talent, because I'm not sure if talent actually exists, but if it does, I'm sure you have enough to work with.
Don't listen to anyone who's feedback is just "this is bad" or "you should quit". Any skilled or knowledgable person, looking at the issue from a professional point of view, can find some concrete reason why a piece could be improved. Anyone who gives feedback only in terms of good/bad is looking at it from a consumerist rather than professional viewpoint, and they don't belong in this community. If you keep working I'm sure you'll improve and come to like it here.
Maybe take a look at this site http://opengameart.org/ Not sure if they deal in sprites since I mostly see tiles, but it might be worth taking a look at. Another option is to go on pixeljoint or DeviantArt and maybe someone could lend you some sprites they made for fun. You could also take up pixelling as a side hobby so you can make your own stuff in the future :>
In any case, good luck!
Like any form of art, pixel art is characterised by your palette, art style, lighting, and so on. I do think, like others, that each pixel is important, and I think if you can change just a few pixels you should be able to change the atmosphere of your scene. There should always be something interesting in each part of your scene. If you want to learn what is pixel art and what isn't, read some pixel art tutorials. I've got 2 for you:
Here is a fantastic pixel art tutorial broken into chapters, I'll link you to chapter 5 because it talks about the best pixel art scenes from games and why they are so damn good. It's a great read with lots of pretty pictures, and be sure to read the other chapters too: http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo/chapter5.htm
The second link I have is for a tutorial for creating pixel art from OpenGameArt.org: http://opengameart.org/content/les-forges-pixel-art-course. It gives a good summary of what pixel art is, again with lots of pictures. You can skip chapter 1 if you aren't interested in actually creating pixel art.
> downloading and studying animations frame by frame
This is the part I am currently at.
I understand a lot of the basics when it comes to a natural walk and figured I could piece together a shoddy-but-workable animation by studying other animations frame-by-frame.
My next personal step will probably be doing a trace-over of the placeholder animations I'm using from opengameart. It should give me a decent foundation to begin with.
without a demo to sweep someone off their feet, this isn't likely going to happen.
I recommend you find something at http://opengameart.org/ until you finish the game, then come back with a working demo.
We're actually making a game called EDGAR, where you play as Edgar Allan Poe. The game is going to be a massive lootfest, so this is a sample of some of the costumes you'll be able to find throughout the game.
Only one of them is supposed to be an actual splicer costume. Bioshock is a little bit of an influence so that may be spilling into the other items.
Thank you! The pack isn't finished yet, but I post progress on my socials (Pillowfort and Twitter). I'll share the finished pack there once I finish it. I appreciate the interest!
I've been doing a lot of pixel art work the last few weeks for a new project, trying to get back into the style. I love this series by Nina Geometrieva and did a small 8bit version for practice.
We use https://www.codecks.io/ to organise ourselves. It's like Trello but focused on game dev which is pretty great!
In terms of workflow, we figure out what tasks need to be done and take them on. My gf is much more into writing the dialogue and I enjoy squashing pesky bugs but we swap around and both take on any of the roles when we need to.
Design is equal and we always come to a good decision imo as we try and keep it high level, although it is a lot of fun to argue about the small stuff
Thank you! I am always amazed by the sheer quality of this boss as well. The game is not available for pre-order, but we would love if you'd wishlist it on Steam or pre-register on the play store - it helps to show the stores algorithms that there's interest in the game, and notifies you once it launches.
You can pre-register on iOS as well, though there's no way to link to it, so simply search for Super Mombo Quest in your device instead. Lastly, it will be available for Switch, but I'm not sure if there's a wishlist or anything of the sort in there.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simple.apps.wallpaper
Linux/KDE: can't remember, but either supports it out of the box or via a simple addon
If you don't use these im afraid I can't help.
Yep. I released one for android recently with similar art style. You can check it out here:itch.io | GooglePlay