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Examples of great contemporary pixel art

S

Shadow Hog

Member
Freedom Planet 2's animations are looking awfully nice:
fp2_lilac_victory_8rbmx.gif
fp2_carol_victory_qblty.gif
fp2_milla_victory_1elm7.gif

7zUmiOh.gif

And one that I don't have a GIF for, so settle for an MP4 on Twitter

Freedom Planet already had some nice animations, but getting Rafael Ventura to do the spritework this go around seems like a worthwhile decision.

Oh, and our own pietepiet does some nice animations, like this one he did for Nuclear Throne:

tumblr_naajnjsXIY1qbgbeeo1_100.gif
 
Q

Qwark

Member
These are beautiful.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but how would one get into pixel art? Is there a defacto software to use, and does anybody know of good tutorials?
 
P

Pietepiet

Member
Can't believe Konjak hasn't been mentioned in this thread at all

tumblr_ny93htrmdp1rihtq2o1_1280.gif


tumblr_o3bz7wSNcZ1rihtq2o1_1280.png


tumblr_noloh5O4eX1rihtq2o1_1280.png


tumblr_ngt2elyi7o1rihtq2o1_1280.png
Click to expand...

Iconoclasts is probably one of the best looking upcoming games that uses pixel-art.

Another one of my personal favourite pixel-artist at the moment is Johan Aronson
Can't really grab any gifs cause he only posts them embedded in tweets, but go check out his Twitter!

Shadow Hog said:
Oh, and our own pietepiet does some nice animations, like this one he did for Nuclear Throne:

tumblr_naajnjsXIY1qbgbeeo1_100.gif
Click to expand...

<3 thanks man
 
2

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
Awesome images :)

While we are at it i would like to know your opinion about this:
p1p_stand.png


It's just a attempt to make a sort of knight, the shield is not finished and many lines are still dirty, but in general do you think that sprites like this would be decent enough for a game?
 
420bits

420bits

Member
Paul Robertson for life.

If you haven't seen Kings of Power 4 Billion%, go to the internet and a HQ video of it and enjoy the next 15ish minutes of a lifechanging experience.

Unless you're prone to have seizures.
 
Q

Qwark

Member
2+2=5 said:
Awesome images :)

While we are at it i would like to know your opinion about this:
p1p_stand.png


It's just a attempt to make a sort of knight, the shield is not finished and many lines are still dirty, but in general do you think that sprites like this would be decent enough for a game?
Click to expand...

That looks really good to me :), but I'm not an expert. What kind of game are you making? I could see it working well in a 2D action game or a RPG/SRPG.
 
C

correojon

Member
Paul Robertson is the god of pixel art. As is Mark Ferrari, thought he´s more "classic" than contemporary, but props to him for developing many techniques current-day pixel artists use.

I´m liking a lot upcoming indiegame Owlboy:
openWorld.png

progression2.png

mysterious.png


Qwark said:
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but how would one get into pixel art? Is there a defacto software to use, and does anybody know of good tutorials?
Click to expand...

I´m currently studying pixel art myself, best advice is to learn the basic concepts first (antialiasing, light and shadows, pillow-shadows, color theory, curves, dithering...you´ll find lots of different tutorials about these topics) and then practice A LOT. One thing regularly mentioned by most pixel artists is that it´s easy to improve and you´ll see yourself being able to do cooler stuff every time you start a new piece, but you´ll also find that the more you dig, more different fields of study will surface.

As for tools people use almost everything, so just go with whatever you can get a nice workflow in (as long as it´s not vector based). I started with GIMP, but recently bought Cosmigo Promotion after seeing many recomendations from very good pixel artists and am loving it. But really, anything can work, even Photoshop (which a lot of pixel artists use).
 
2

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
Qwark said:
That looks really good to me :), but I'm not an expert. What kind of game are you making? I could see it working well in a 2D action game or a RPG/SRPG.
Click to expand...

Thanks :D
My aim is to make something different in the beat'em up with rpg elements genre(you know games like: the king of dragons, dungeon & dragons games, dragon's crown... lots of dragons lol)
 
C

CrazyArcadia

Member
tower_57___toll_station_by_cyangmou-d9v7bcg.png


tower_57___team_by_cyangmou-d97kuat.png


tower57___sewers_by_cyangmou-d96u1e3.png


tower57___dinosaurs_and_flamethrowers_by_cyangmou-d96dcg8.png


tower57___amor_s_den_by_cyangmou-d91b4q2.png


Tower 57, a successfully kickstarted isometric steampunkish action game, set for release on PC, Mac, Linux and... Amiga!

Featuring pixelart by the incredibly talented Thomas Feichtmeir. Just look at it on his Deviantart gallery, this is awesome and especially since they will also go for an Amiga release.

Also, check out Bot Vice, an upcoming smaller-scale top down shooter which has a very charming pixel style:

bot_vice___stage_1_gameplay___animated_gif_by_albertov-d9fu61u.gif


inlc. a small making off:

bot_vice_cutscene_background_process_by_albertov-d9u853z.png


(check out more of AlbertoVs artwork)

Also, the artwork for Arcadian Atlas is looking really nice:

vashti_by_bbreakfast-d9ca1co.png


des_pixel_avatar_by_bbreakfast-d9tte7i.png
 
E

Earthpainting

Member
Was going to come pimp Imson/Snake and Ahruon, but I see they were covered. Arne/Prometheus/AndroidArts is also severely underrated as a sprite artist. He's more known for all sorts of other art and elaborate redesigns, but he shows great proficiency as a pixel artist. His pixel work is rarely glamorous, but I'm infinitely fascinated with how seriously he takes old hardware limitations, and readability of designs in hypothetical gameplay.

GAF's own Sovanjedi also knows his way around a pixel as well, and has excellent range. A lot of spriters tend to specialise, so it's hard to find someone that does characters, backgrounds and animation really well.
dinovaldo_by_sovanjedi-d99x2qe.gif
flowey_large_by_sovanjedi-d9du6ic.gif
 
ChazAshley

ChazAshley

Gold Member
orioto said:
Hmmmm so nice, all of this



chipanddale31x1noborders.png

Chip And Dale 3 Mockup by snakepixel



This is the kind of picture...
It's like a glimpse of an alternate reality where 3D never existed and the snes successor was some kind of neo-geo for platformers! I want to go there!
Click to expand...

This.... This is unfair..... knowing that this does not exist.

Orioto, have you done a Chip and Dale Art piece yet??
 
M

More_Badass

Member
A lot of these look gorgeous as art pieces and mockups, but aren't feasible for gameplay

Here's some great playable pixel art

The Last Night
AnimatedOptimalLadybug.gif


Rain World
MedicalUnsightlyGrasshopper.gif


Fabular
S8mKzDT.jpg


Undungeon
tumblr_o0w4xg5wp61v50ozko1_500.gif
tumblr_o7io54ARHz1v50ozko1_400.gif


Eastward
zGrTlWa.png


The Siege and The Sandfox
Mausoleum02-884x498.jpg


Tower of Samsara
Ez4pk5V.png


Do Not Cross
qGAgu28.jpg
 
E

Eccocid

Member
2+2=5 said:
Awesome images :)

While we are at it i would like to know your opinion about this:
p1p_stand.png


It's just a attempt to make a sort of knight, the shield is not finished and many lines are still dirty, but in general do you think that sprites like this would be decent enough for a game?
Click to expand...

reminds me knights from souls series. I think sword needs to be bigger.
 
P

Pasta_Soup

Member
2+2=5 said:
Awesome images :)

While we are at it i would like to know your opinion about this:
p1p_stand.png


It's just a attempt to make a sort of knight, the shield is not finished and many lines are still dirty, but in general do you think that sprites like this would be decent enough for a game?
Click to expand...

Sure, it could potentially work. But something to think about is how well it will animate/how difficult the animation process will be. Bigger sprites will take much longer, and (generally) be more difficult to animate well. Compared to a 16x16 or 32x32 sprite that allows for a lot more leeway in how realistic things move to make the animation believable.

Intricate details, texturing, dithering, etc are also an animator's bane. Just something to keep in mind. I do pixel art for a living so this is stuff I'm always thinking about or discussing with clients.
 
2

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
Eccocid said:
reminds me knights from souls series. I think sword needs to be bigger.
Click to expand...
Now that you made me notice i think you are right.

Pasta_Soup said:
Sure, it could potentially work. But something to think about is how well it will animate/how difficult the animation process will be. Bigger sprites will take much longer, and (generally) be more difficult to animate well. Compared to a 16x16 or 32x32 sprite that allows for a lot more leeway in how realistic things move to make the animation believable.

Intricate details, texturing, dithering, etc are also an animator's bane. Just something to keep in mind. I do pixel art for a living so this is stuff I'm always thinking about or discussing with clients.
Click to expand...
My original plan was to make it simpler, but then i saw that details may take more time but aren't too hard, my real problem isn't doing the details, but getting the "shape" of the frame right, but for the moment i help myself with various tools.
 
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