Do you make your own sprites
>>342904590
No.
in b4 that sprite of a blonde bitch and her transformations get posted again and the threads just UUUUUGGGH THIIIIICK all night
Yes.
>>342904590
At least try.
>>342904748
But the last thick sprite thread was great. The thick posters kept the thread bumped while we got to actually talk about aspirations of indie game development.
This was a test sprite.
>>342905587
this is true, people were actually being serious.
Starting with pixel art is a pretty good way of designing characters without over doing it.
>>342905072
What game is this?
Is it a Twowho?
>>342906356
Tell me about your character dude
>>342906432
A super robot 2hu game. Bucket girl was already shot down while.
I really want to try 3D modeling.
>>342906432
>Is it a Twowho?
It's the shittiest 2hu fangame, in fact.
>>342906705
Mostly just visual stuff at the moment, haven't really fleshed her out.
She's a cult leader or something I think.
>>342906852
SOME IS MAD THAT THEY COULD NOT DEFEAT YUUKA OR SUPER FLAN.
I laugh at you, may master spark strike you down.
>>342907030
She fits the part of a cult leader, jesus she's scary.
>>342907062
I'm sure I could have if the game required any skill instead of being dicerolls upon dicerolls.
>>342907163
Thanks man
>>342907447
that eye, my god. Tell me you're gonna practice with her on portrait sprites.
>>342907182
Here fool, a gift. A sound you shall never hear but will always fear. I will always be the better denmaku player.
https://a.uguu.se/wt8fy7AiYNm4_ThePsychoticandCuteGuest.mp3
Teach me how to do this
>>342907576
>A sound you shall never hear
But I beat the game. I even beat the Sakuya mini-story.
I don't know why I did it, but I did it.
Is the whole thing translated?
>>342907682
Impose a minimal limitation on yourself.
Zoom in close.
Draw dot by dot.
Yes
I made a couple fan sprites once but when I realised large scale spriting is super hard I bailed.
>>342907683
That song isn't in the Sakuya story foolish fool. Allow me to explain. You know Marisa's story yes? If you 100% complete the game Flan goes crazy and attacks you. Just your Marisa vs. Super Flan.
You can in fact take your game to the second one and go from there. But who cares?
>>342907831
Yes, only the battle banter is still /jp/ because of the game creator.
>>342906826
Is guuuuuud
>>342907030
>that scratchy line art
I recognize that style. Are you a fellow mousebro?
>>342908145
Now I have no idea what you're talking about.
>But who cares?
Indeed, why am I even talking to someone that actually likes RNG: The Game.
>>342904590
yes
>>342904590
>No blonde THICK shit for OP image for once
Thank the heavens. Anyway, yes I do.
>>342908304
>Indeed, why am I even talking to someone that actually likes RNG: The Game.
No, I will not grant you that. It is a game of math; learn the game.
>>342908437
what blonde thick shit
>>342908409
That's some Mother inspired stuff, sin't it?
>>342908409
very nice, i like the slight variation on the chimp that goes beyond the color palette
>>342908247
Nah, just hasty art is all. I admire you though mousebro, keep going.
>>342907569
I'm not the greatest artist, but I'll get portraits and all that eventually hopefully.
>>342908409
Very nice
>>342908602
Oh no, you can't fool me.
>>342904590
no, probably maybe when i do get better at art
they all gonna have huge tits though
>>342904748I've actually been looking for that and the archive's search is disabled
>>342908891
Why is the archive search disabled?
>>342908769
I wish I was rusing, but I really did miss those shit.
>>342904590
>the entire cast of UFO and TD
>except Kogasa
damn dude
>>342908979
I don't know, but fireden.net, arch.b4k.co, and archived.moe all have it disabled on /v/
>>342909312
What the fuck? What is the problem? For what reason? What is the charge?
Searching for memes? Succulent chinese memes?
>>342909489
I don't know, but an archive without search is pretty useless unless you already know the post number of whatever you're looking for, what the hell are they doing
>>342904590
no, but I used to make my own textures for 3d models
then I got bored and got people over in >>342902224 to do it for me
>>342909312
>>342908979
Try using the native archives for once in your life. The last thick sprite thread was a day ago, and another two days ago.
>>342909489
Too much of a strain on their servers, most likely.
crashing this thread
>>342909647
That doesn't help if I don't know what the thread actually said
How do I into sprites, /v/?
Any specific program or just photoshop/paint.net?
Should I learn how to draw in general first?
Any starting tips?
Thanks.
>>342909583
melee repainted?
>>342909742
Welp, atleast no fat slime bitch,
>>342909742post the slime one/spoiler]
>>342909843
:^)
>>342909746
Search for keywords "sprite" "pixel" "indie" . Come on. Use your head.
>>342904590
I wish, but I have neither the skill or patience.
>>342909964
I searched sprite and pixel, didn't think of indie
>>342904748
UGGGGHHHHH
>>342904590
Reminds me of the time I made a bunch of 2hu dolls to hide along the maps of a game I was doing, my intention was to cover the whole cast, maybe even make a sidequest about it.
Then I found out about Touhou Puppet Play and saw that my sprites ended up pretty much identical to the mini sprites used in the menus and lost the will to continue.
>>342910025
13th result for "pixel" search. >>342621739
>>342910075
>every PC-98 character
>except the crystal ball things
shameful
>>342910228
Huh, how did I miss that
>>342910274
Who?
>>342904590
Yes I do.
>>342910378
More of a "what"
https://youtu.be/DbkOW6BWfMo?t=2m38s
I was just messing with you by the way
>>342910505
and here's an example of non-intentionally shitty pixel art of mine.
I do sprites for games. Been spriting a lot of late-game stuff and I don't really feel like showing off a final boss or anything so here's an older thing.
>>342910563
Oh, you mean the five magic stones. Kinda hard to make a doll out of that, though I guess I could have made five of them. But then again, it's been like six or seven years at this point. Who knows what I was thinking back then.
>>342909949
>>342909742
what's the story behind these anyways
>>342904590
no, but I used to use Legendary Super Warriors sprites as a base to make OC's but I've stopped.
I used to
>>342911249
>used to
USE TO
>>342911249
>broquest
I'm so sorry you had to be a part of that
>>342911374
but that's wrong, you dumbass
One day I will make a game only about my waifu, so you, mean people, will start to like her
I'm nervous posting this characters rough draft, here I go.
>>342911374
close. I didn't know there was a difference before
>>342904590
>>342911740
2hu cancer is still a thing here?
When will mods get rid of it?
>>342911780
Are you the anon who was asking for advise yesterday?
>>342911906
>I don't like it
>ban it!
and you missed >>342910075
>>342911906
>stop talking about a video game in the video game board
>>342911925
Maybeeee,yes I am. ;_;
>>342912028
Most 2hufags don't even talk about video games
>There will never be a programming equivalent to these threads
It's always art fags posting their art. Music fags come in all shy and post one tune and leave.
I want to see some poorly drawn sprites or just collision boxes moving around.
>>342912185
But there has been programmers,I haven't started programming my game yet with my art work.
>>342912185
But game dev threads are pretty common. I think there was one earlier today. And last night.
>>342912185
Art is more easily appreciable by those inexperienced in the field. It's hard to say the same for programmers unfortunately.
>>342911780
Hate the hair, and hate the proportions. Specifically the tiny legs and the long torso.
>>342909489
Heh
>>342912119
>>342911780
Well... There's a number of things to say about this. 1. I'm not sure what scale you're going for. It seems awfully large for the amount of information the sprite has. You could probably get away with a smaller sprite, and still convey the character just as well. That would help reduce workload too. But if you're committed to that scale, that's fine too. It's just hard to judge the scale when the character is solo. The palette could be streamlined. Since yellow orange and red blend right into each other, then you could use use a color in between yellow and orange to shade the yellow, but also blend the orange. Then use a color in between orange and red to shade the orange and blend into red. You could have a nice clean yellow to red color ramp.
The strips going over her hips... I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, but they appear like a slutty bird is letting her thong peak.
>>342911780
bit of pillow shading here and there. Makes it look flat. the feet/boots(?) are kinda confusing, not sure what they are really.
Nice design though, I think the eyes are pixeled decently too.
>>342912952
no
>>342912952
no, kill yourself
>>342913049
>>342913108
Then, YOURE A DIG GUY
i made this piece of shit
>>342909949
post the even bigger version
>>342912952
No. You're just drawing with a shitty brush.
I was going to make a simple gameboy styled game but I gave up, here's the few sprites that I actually made. They're all missing animation frames and shit but again I gave up.
>>342912769
Oh I just drew it out this way so I could just doodle it out quick but I'm gonna try more of doing 3D modelling once I feel like the character is ok. I'll remove the strips, I don't want it to look like a thong.
>>342912920
Feet were rushed a bit, yeah the pillow shading is a bit me going to dark? I'm not confident in doing quick pixel stuff. If I fix a few things, I'm gonna aim for a 3D model soon.
Do carefully chosen ASCII characters count?
>>342913210
design made me laugh. Reminds me of the Mario Paint baby.
lightest shade should contrast more, (be lighter) it's hard to see that it's a different color there.
>>342913480
How is this rendered? Is it actually just a console window?
>>342913345
I feel like there's a pretty good amount of character to these. I'd love to get to see 'em move around in a game.Why'd you give up, anon?
>>342913792
Yep, I use the pdcurses C library.
>>342913518
thanks :D
>>342913803
I had no more ideas. Maybe I'll come back to it, who knows?
>>342913765
I get that it's a city and all, but it's still a bit too bright for my tastes.
Actually, might look better on like an old tv or something. Is this from a game or inspired by an older game?
i recommend snatcher to people who enjoy sprite art
>>342913958
no sir, it's from a game
>>342911102
Some anon posted the less detailed one on the left for his game or something and asked people for suggestions on how to improve it, then it spiraled out of control. (if i remember the thread right anyway.)
>>342914342
The same anon didn't make the rest (least not the lewd.) by the way, that was random peeps on the thread (and others.)
>>342913345
>>342913885
As a fan of cute gameboy games this looks really good!
>>342914320
well at least it's not pillow shaded. you make this for anything?
>>342914857
well, I guess I can try to work on it some more. Thank you.
Just made this for fun.
>>342911249
Is it time Bros?
>>342911494
it was fun collaborating on ideas, at least
>>342915526
have a cleaner version
>>342915526
Did Marty sprite those?
>>342915372
I say go for it anon. even a small playable would be interesting to see I think.
>>342915996
No idea but i did change the NRFN girl's hair and eye color in this but never posted it because the last broquest thread i saw died
I make my own sprites a lot but my biggest problem is that I spend so many days and atempts just tweaking the designs and colors all the time but never move onto making new poses.
Its pissing me off to no end, also I've gotta re-teach myself on how light sources work since i've completely forgotten that.
It's not completely pure pixel art though, seeing as I draw them at a much larger scale first, then size down and make them legible from there.
>>342904590
If I made my own sprites, there would be a lot more hentai games out there.
>wanna make game
>no easy way to make games except rpg maker
this is why i gave up making sprites
>>342916728
>RPGmaker
I bet you considered using Unity too. Mind you, RPGmaker has given us some pretty fucking great games (Vitamin Quest, MGQ Paradox, etc), but way too many games just use all the stock stuff and end up being garbage.
>>342916728
learn how to code in unity
>>342916728
Then study up.
Good things come from hard work, the easy way isn't the only way.
All I do is sprite
>>342916991
>>342917189
i'm too stupid to code.
>>342917327
That's why I said study up. You can always unstupid yourself.
>>342917327
I'm stupid and I can code, I dropped out of highschool. Just constantly keep trying.
>>342917482
Has any of you ever had the desire to not reinvent the wheel or make something completely original, but just make a fan game?
Picture very related.
>>342916362
as long as you're controlling the pixels in the end, I'd say it counts.
i try
haven't been doing as much as I should though
>>342917365
>>342917482
>>342917568
Overall very cute stuff. I'm digging those animations.
Somehow litten looks the best to me. I think the shades are more apparent in it than with the others, especially Rowlet.
I don't like the grey AA on them, looks blurry, though that may be a personal taste thing. Also Rowlet looks like a drop of water.
>>342907954
Or you could just draw them normally then size them down, then size them up again without any filters to get a pixel-y look and then you edit the results to make them look good.
>>342917972
Thanks.
the AA comes from my obsession with the spritework of the Mario and Luigi games, so I try to emulate that whenever I try to make something cartoony.
>>342917640
I love fan games.I was working on sprites for a zelda 2 fan-game, but I kinda bailed on them and now the game is in development limbo. Feels bad man.
>>342917853
Looks like you put some good work into the details and animation, so that's nice to see. The ball is shaded weird though, the top and bottom halves should be shaded as a single sphere object, but are instead shaded separately when closed.
>>342917640
weeeeeeeeeelllllllll...
>>342916362
It's what Shiny Entertainment did for EWJ
>>342904590
Jesus those are horrible.
>>342918258
I shaded it based on research I did with an actual plastic pokeball under a light (because I figured I didn't know jack shit about lighting)
So I mean, technically it's accurate to a realistic system of lighting
I used totry. Haven't done anything in years though.
>>342907682
how to pixel art? I guess it depends how gud you wanna git, that is, if you're willing to put in the time for it.
For starters, understanding general art principles should make your sprites look decent. If you look at good older pixel art, they were good because the artists were good. They didn't have anyone to teach them back then.
Otherwise, just like make sprites man. Keep pixelling on a regular basis, if you notice any issues try to fix 'em one by one. You can also post here or on Pixeljointor on /ic/for feedback.
One thing I like to do is draw from reference and try to get the pixels to look "exactly" like the ref image as much as I can.
>>342918253
Ah! I was thinking M&L when I saw those. In that case, I think the grey should be sliiiightly darker I guess, not a big difference though.
>>342918793
Well, it still looks strange to me. I guess I'd have to see pics of your ref or something.
ive tried but it's pretty bland
The story thus far.
>>342904590
I should give a fuck about it, but I'm not that creative.
I actually just started trying to get better at pixel art. It can be a bit disheartening when I picture something in my head, but then can't execute it how I want. This is probably the best thing I've done so far, very simple and even then lighting and shading and all that still fucks me up. It's fun though.
>>342909742
>>342909949
that's so awesome
>>342919547
Looks like those virtual pet games where the pet changed forms depending on how you raised it.
Which programs do you use to create your pixel art?
>>342919547
>>342919701
fund it
>>342913345
the're huge. They'd waste so much space on a GB screen and quickly vaporize your sprite limits
>>342919547
>the face on the last slime fatty.
I like face features.. so last slime face is plain butterface. I'm sorry.
is pixel art hard? how do you translate traditional/digital drawing skills into it?
>>342919945
It's not going to be an actual gameboy game you dip
>>342919968
this
>>342919547
>no strongfat goo succubus yet
get on it
>>342910686
preddy good, how do they look in motion?
>>342920012
it's not very gameboy styled if it's ignoring pretty crucial restrictions of the gameboy. Few things worse in pixel art than trying to do a "style" without understanding its origins and disregarding its properties
>>342919997
it's not hard once you're good at it.
you should understand I think that the pixels should be seen as representative. start small, find out some of the "limitations" of the medium at smaller sizes and you should get a feel for what does/doesn't work in pixel art. Also visit Pixeljoint, there's a great tutorial talking about specific conventional rules for pixel art.
>>342919997
I find it a bit difficult but you just tend to scribble out a sketch first and then try to pixel it with tools.. should be abit practice.I'm a bit better at 3D modelling cause I learned it first but I'm gonna keep trying.
>>342910626
Thats not bad but his left eye is fucked
>>342920356
>it's not hard once you're good at it.
>>342920262
Those ones haven't been animated yet. They're for a project I haven't really properly started at the moment beyond planning.
My actual current project isn't quite as detailed.
>>342920268
ok then it's just a monochromatic game
>>342920553
I see. The posing is very good and they pop out nicely and read well even when viewed at the regular size. Good job! Kinda reminds me of Wayforward but back when they were doing pixel stuff.
>>342920594
which uses pixelation and 4 shades because lol hipster. Yeah, fuck off. You're what's wrong with modern pixel art
>>342920414
I was going for smaller for perspective, I wasn't too confident with the eye in the end but I thought it looked okay. Then I flipped the sprite around and it looked much worse, so here's an attempt to fix it.
>>342920475
Yeah I know, I guess it's hard for me to answer that question because it's just kinda something you have to "do yourself." I think all art is like that.
>>342920917
whatever
I'll keep making what I like
>>342913210
>click to open
>teeth appear
>>342921239
That anon's an idiot, but I kinda agree with, well, parts of what he said anyway. I think it's an interesting exercise, both for pixel art and for game-making to limit oneself to gameboy standards. That said you don't have to do that, I'd still love to see a game with monochrome sprites like that.
Besides, you could always say it's inspired by gameboy if not specifically being limited to it.
>>342921679
Noted, thank you
>>342921679
I mean, shovel knight is NES styled while deliberately breaking NES limits and it works well.
>>342921679
idiot here: my problem is as follows: Pixel art was born out of necessity. Limited resolutions and sprite sizes forced developers to do the most with the least. As such, limits were not just arbitrary challenges, they were the bitter reality of pixel art. Nowadays the motivation completely shifted. People do pixel art because they think it's simpler (just a few pixels and a small palette, how hard can it be?). But that flies in the face of what it's about. People doing pixel art that way aren't interested in creating something good, or challenging themselves. They want the easy way out, because they can't be arsed to learn a trade. That anon there was a prime example. When facing the reality of these sprites not being GB-like, instead of rolling up their sleeves and actually improving, they shrugged and fiddled with their little pixels. They want it easy, and fast. They don't give a damn about quality. And that's a real shame
>you could always say it's inspired by gameboy if not specifically being limited to it.
that's wanting your cake and eating it. It's one of the biggest reasons why modern pixel art sucks so badly. People claim they go for a set of restrictions, then ignore it when it becomes inconvenient, instead of embracing the restrictions and working with them.
>>342920815
Thanks pal. I really like Wayforwards sprite work, so I appreciate that.
>>342921947
Shovel Knight's an interesting case. I'd call it a mix. Part of the limit-breaking was out of necessity. But they also supposedly thought of it like "what if development on the NES never stopped?" So their outside the limit work was... limited. Kinda hard to explain.
>>342921947
Shovel Knight does keep a lot of those limits in mind though.
>>342922320
>People claim they go for a set of restrictions, then ignore it when it becomes inconvenient, instead of embracing the restrictions and working with them.
>>342921947
for the record, I spit on Shovel Knight for that reason. It's misguided nostalgia shoveling and painting a misleading picture of the NES. It's dishonest marketing dreck.
>>342922550
It's never out of necessity. Breaking the limits means being to lazy to figure a solution that works within them.
>>342922597
it just ignores the inconvenient ones, the ones that matter
>>342922320
What exactly do you want me to do then
>>342922701
Like what exactly? It's obviously far more detailed in a lot of ways than even the more advanced NES games, but I don't think it's terribly far off.
>>342921679
Working in limits can be fun sometimes. as for games that break those limits, I'd say it depends on how it's handled. It bugs me a lot when, say, games have mixed pixel sizes, but I don't mind a game that goes above the standard resolution or whatever.
>>342922701
All of the exceptions Shovel Knight made were for the better, like the wide screen aspect ratio and the maximum amount of colours allowed on screen.
>>342922770
rework your sprites and objects to keep the limits in mind. Grab a 160x144 viewport to check their size, make sure your objects aren't wider than 80px, unless you have a good workaround in mind. Mock your gameplay and verify you're not exceeding 10 sprites per line. You may say that's overly strict, because you're likely not subjecting yourself to the scanline limits, but the thing is, to a non-trivial degree GB sprites were actually affected by the limits. Artists would prefer taller sprites over wider ones, for example
>>342923010
>All of the exceptions Shovel Knight made were for the better
thoroughly disagreed. If the game was worth a damn, it would work within its limits.
>like the wide screen aspect ratio
completely changes the viewport, allowing for larger sprites and different pacing
>maximum amount of colours allowed on screen
that one's particularly bad, as it gives people the wrong impression that NES games weren't this colorful because devs didn't know any better.
>>342923131
>that one's particularly bad, as it gives people the wrong impression that NES games weren't this colorful because devs didn't know any better.
It's not like NES games couldn't be incredibly colourful
>>342922951
higher resolution is a tricky one. Well, I suppose you talk about increasing the viewport, instead of upscaling the objects. A larger viewport allows to look further ahead, up/down, etc. When you design games with a limited viewport, you have to make sure features are close enough together to be seen, or you end up with "leaps of faith". At the same time you need to space things well enough to work as a game. Changing the viewport also fundamentally alters the perception of a level. If you look at the various NES/SNES "maps" on the internet, the 8k x 8k stichings of the ingame maps, you'll often see how "small" these games feel in a way. You can see locations on your screen that used to be hours apart in the game, just because you can see 8 or 10 original screens on your modern high resolution screen. That's an extreme change in perception, and it happens in part because these maps were made for the small screen
>>342923016
I can't really see a way to make it work with the larger bosses then. I'm gonna have to gut the hell out of it and that kind of kills me
I've been wanting to get into sprite animation/art.
I know nothing about how to art good though. Is it too late for me? I heard you gotta start when you're a kid if you wanna be any good.
>>342922701
The whole point of Shovel Knight was to look at the NES with rose-colored lenses. It deliberately ignores certain limitations while keeping others in order to suit the game itself as best it can. If anything, it's outside the box thinking compared to arbitrarily limiting yourself to an old system, (or even an old game, having various elements taken from "the best" of NES games) which they tried to do as best they could.
>>342922951
I think so too. I said I thought it was an interesting exercise, you just have to choose to do so deliberately rather than arbitrarily I think.
Note that mixed pixel sizes and other bad pixel art techniques were entirely possible on older systems as well. Just because the systems have limitations doesn't mean they'll be better, same with not having limitations.
>>342922320
Sorry I called you an idiot, you do have a point. I guess I just thought you were a bit rude about it or something.
Anyway, I never said people shouldn't embrace limitations. I think people can limit themselves arbitrarily, (I consider old systems to be arbitrary limits considering each new system tried to allow for more possibilities) but I also think that if done deliberately, limitations are a great thing. As for those limits being the bitter reality of pixel art, that's not true. They were simply the reality of those systems, not of pixel art as a whole. And besides there were people even back on NES who could get good looking artwork on there.
>>342923683
Just start by drawing,I mean go to >>>/ic/ and they'll tell you what to do.
>>342923683
It's never too late, just draw a lot and don't give up. Plus what >>342923853 said.
>>342923557
there are tricks, but they require some upfront planning. Pic shows a boss that completely demolishes the sprite limits. It works because it's not a sprite. Everything but its eye is part of the background. That imposes other limits. You can't move such a boss in front of a background (need sprites for that), it's fairly static, but it's doable. That's part of the deal, really. To not give up instantly, but seek ways to do the most with the given limits.
It's not a new trick either, several NES games do the same thing.
Other options include rotating the bosses, to get their sprites on different lines (limit is 40 8x8 sprites, 10 per line). And don't forget the viewport is just 160x144. You probably don't need the largest sizes with such a small screen
>>342922701
It was out of necessity for the good of the game. If they worked within all the limitations, Shovel Knight likely wouldn't be what it is now. Hell, the soundtrack alone takes up so much space, it can only fit on the largest NES cartridge, (Kirby's Adventure) if you take out everything else that makes that game what it is.
The developers of Shovel Knight deliberately chose to break the limits when it was in service to their ideal game. If that ideal game isn't what you specifically wanted, fine, but you can't say it's not out of necessity, just that it's not out of YOUR necessities.
>>342923795
>The whole point of Shovel Knight was to look at the NES with rose-colored lenses
failed spectacularly, if every other thought when playing it is "that can't work, what is this bullshit?"
>It deliberately ignores certain limitations while keeping others in order to suit the game itself as best it can
Then it should have the balls and ignore all the limits. Otherwise I'll call out its pathetic resolution.
>it's outside the box thinking compared to arbitrarily limiting yourself to an old system
wow, that's a euphemism if I ever heard one
>Note that mixed pixel sizes and other bad pixel art techniques were entirely possible on older systems as well
within limits. You were confined to the same screen resolution. The mixed pixel sizes were just objects being upscaled, to save sprite data or take advantage of other aspects of the hardware.
>I guess I just thought you were a bit rude about it or something
You'd be correct, I was. No harm, no foul.
>And besides there were people even back on NES who could get good looking artwork on there
And that is what's most important to me. These people pushed their creative juices to do the most with what they were given. They didn't give up and left it sloppy after an afternoon of fiddling. They had some pride to show people what these limits really mean. They showcased how you don't need to bypass the limits when they're inconvenient. You can work with them, and create something truly beautiful. That's why I have a ton more respect for them than I'll ever have for something like Shovel Knight
>>342904590
This is like Robopon sprites
>>342922550
>Part of the limit-breaking was out of necessity.
Hardly. Some of the choices they made were done just because "lol, it's the NES, it shouldn't be that detailed :^)" and intentionally dumbed down some sprites despite it really doing nothing in the long run. King Knight's detail being reduced is a perfect example. It was still within the color limits of an NES sprite, and it was still eating up a lot of unique tiles. Removing the detail on the cape made absolutely no difference. It's not like you're cutting out a useless texture and never using it. That tile still exist, it's still going to eat up space. Removing detail from it isn't going to make it within the NES limits unless it's an exact copy of another tile (which it wasn't).
The same thing ends up happening all over the place. There's this line they drew on the sand that they're consistent on crossing.
Things like the wider view port and parallax scrolling, I understand. It's modern standards nowadays, but some of the cutbacks in details, color choices, backgrounds is just baffling. Either stick to the limitations or toss them out the window.
>>342922597
>Shovel Knight does keep a lot of those limits in mind though.
It really doesn't.
>>342924217
>If they worked within all the limitations, Shovel Knight likely wouldn't be what it is now
Yeah, it would have been a worthwhile homage to the NES, instead of the nostalgia shit it is
>Hell, the soundtrack alone takes up so much space, it can only fit on the largest NES cartridge
As long as you can explain it with an MMC, I'm fine with that. They existed for a reason.
>The developers of Shovel Knight deliberately chose to break the limits when it was in service to their ideal game
So their ideal game is pixelated bullshit, because they can't be arsed to create graphics using the system they're targeting, and they can't be arsed to create graphics resembling the system they're pretending to base their game on. That's fail all around.
>you can't say it's not out of necessity
I can, and do. It never is. Make your game work within the means you're given. That's the key. If you can't, don't pretend you're doing so. It makes you look dishonest and lazy.
>two people are arguing because im too shit to make actual sprites
How well does this handle emulate actual NES restrictions?
>>342924698
everybody started out being shit. What matters is pushing through that, becoming not shit. Here's your opportunity
>>342905072
>>342907062
that's pretty good if you made this
>>342924490
I feel the opposite.
I don't care if they up the amount of sprites on the screen, but changing the resolution is going to completely destroy any illusion of being an NES game.
>>342924761
Are you the guy who made this?
I played it ages ago, it was really cool.
>>342924975
Yeah. Haven't really done all that much work on it in a while, though.
I'm this guy >>342916362 by the way.
And thanks.
>>342911780
BECAUSE I COUUULLLDDD and the design is cool.
>>342924698
Just be consistent with the aesthetic you want. That's much more important than making "actual sprites" and adhering to arbitrary (and obviously nonexistent) limits.
>>342919663
>that grassLife+ guy?
Not much anymore. I've been doing a lot of editing of one particular character's sprites recently, though.
>>342925128
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU! I'm so so happy right now. I have no words anon. Saving for real! ;_;
>>342916362
>It's not completely pure pixel art though, seeing as I draw them at a much larger scale first, then size down and make them legible from there.
an old technique for pixel art was to draw with a regular pen on a grid piece of paper, then digitizing the drawing and cleaning it up. So, starting out in high resolution or large scale does not make it not pixel art. The end result is what matters, not the way to get there.
>>342924298
How well Shovel Knight hearken's back to the NES era is subjective. Again the whole point wasn't to be something that absolutely did work on NES, but rather something that seemed feasible if "development never stopped" and worked off of "the best of NES" but for a modern age. For me, it worked because there was a lot of callbacks to ideas that spawned in the NES era while even building on them in its own ways, though I do agree in the end that the game doesn't really look like an NES game either, even though the graphics are "NES-like."
I don't know how true it is that everyone who worked on NES tried their best to show the beauty of the limits of the system. I think they were just making games and as soon as the next system came up, they moved on to that. Even the developers who made good looking NES games moved on. Shovel Knight is a rose-tinted look back, and I say rose tinted because that means it ignores whatever they consider to be detrimental to the game they wanted.
>>342925421
>something that seemed feasible if "development never stopped"
And anybody with even passing interest in the NES can tell at a glance, that no, it is not feasible, as it violates hard limits.
>I don't know how true it is that everyone who worked on NES tried their best to show the beauty of the limits of the system
Oh, it's not. Lots of throwaway shit and cheap sprites. That stuff's easily forgotten though, or at least not remembered for its beauty.
>Even the developers who made good looking NES games moved on
NES and SNES have extremely similar graphics engines. The transition was seamless.
>Shovel Knight is a rose-tinted look back
Shovel Knight was a lazy cash grab, trying to appeal to nostalgia
>it ignores whatever they consider to be detrimental to the game they wanted
And that's where it insults any passion for the NES, as it's basically saying "we like some of the looks, but we can't be arsed to deal with the actual reality of that machine, we want the easy way out. Plus, them nostalgia retards will eat it up anyway"
>>342924490
It was out of necessity in terms of what they wanted for their game. For example, yes they added new colors, but the amount they added was limited to 4 "special cases." Essentially, all the changes they made, I'm pretty sure they felt they had to do so to match modern standards.
It does keep the limits in mind. When they break them, they do so deliberately, which means they were still thinking about, or at least considering those limitations when they decided to use or not use them.
>>342925707
>4 "special cases."
But they can't find the energy to work with the existing palette to express these few special cases?
>When they break them, they do so deliberately
Not much limits then, are they?
>>342925304
You're welcome, you can consider it your first bit of fanart.
Feel free to use the image, i got lazy with the colors.
>>342924490
I don't remember their exact reasoning on the King Knight sprite example, but having making sprites of that consistency in quality would just be more time consuming, and they had a full game to make.
Sure, I would have preferred higher quality sprites, but they chose less detail for easier workflow and consistency to maintain.
This thread reminded me of when I tried to do pixel art.I don't anymore.
>>342925867
It's okay but it's nice seeing fanart of it, do you have a blog or anything? You're too awesome anon.
>>342916362
These look really nice, good job.
>>342925993
Nah no blog. If you want to talk shit about sprites you can toss me up a steam or something.
>>342920356
>It's not hard once you're good at it
>>342924498
Another point I wanted to point out was that if you really think about it, the NES didn't really have any specific limitations. Rather, as new games came out, developers pushed the system by adding more memory to their carts. For example, on the famicom disk system, CastleVania 3's VRC6 chip allowed it to have more instruments than any other game on the FDS, (which had its own differences from the NES).
Shovel Knight takes the approach of an imagined scenario where development for the NES "never stopped." That's why their limit-breaking was itself limited. (Although there were some elements they deliberately "flat-out ignored," again, when they felt it was in service to the game itself.)
>
well this thread taught me to never ever try to emulate the style of a console, I'm going back to my nonspecific style pixelshit
>>342925879
>I don't remember their exact reasoning on the King Knight sprite example, but having making sprites of that consistency in quality would just be more time consuming, and they had a full game to make.
Their reasoning was that the cape was too flashy. That was it.
If anything, it took them more time dumbing it down than to just leave it as is. It wouldn't have made a difference since they're already violating NES limitations even with their revised sprite.
Who knows how many other sprites were revised for dumb shit reasoning
>>342926083
I don't really use steam, anon. I get too nervous being online. I just wanted to give you credit though whenever I post more progress.
why the fuck every modern game with sprites nowdays look like garbage
dragon's crown is ok but where the fuck is my frame-by-frame animated sprite games
>>342926314
I have a deviantart but i only use it to do ponyshit commissions so it's not something i like advertising.
Taking money from autists is the easiest shit ever.
>>342925834
They created four extra colors for the NES palette each for a specific case. They did this after they saw that the limited NES palette couldn't get them the kind of sprites they wanted.
For example, the artist wanted a specific beige color for Polar Knight's cloak and skin that simply weren't possible with the NES's palette.
>>342909742
wew lads
>consider myself a decent spriter, not that great but passable
>see this thread, people are talking about drawing shit beforehand and resizing it
Am I doing it wrong? I just place pixels until I think it looks good. My hands are too shaky to draw, am I fucked? I'm starting to feel a bit hopeless
>>342926473I draw furry shit for money, I don't blame you.post your da if you feel comfortable.
>>342926634
no rules just tools
>>342926634
even if you do draw beforehand and resize it, you still have to place the pixels until it looks good.
You're not doing anything wrong at all, that method is simply an alternate way of going about it.
>>342926672
Makes it easier to post it then but here it is i guess
http://skwareblox.deviantart.com/
I don't really update it since i rarely do art for fun.
>>342926634
The guys saying to resize it, is literally retarded. Ignore him.
>>342926634
I honestly sketch it out and then pixel it out right next to it.
>>342926729
>>342926750
>>342926812
>>342926850
oh, that's a relief
>>342926809
Thank you anon, I just hate not giving credit where credit is due. Does it feel like work nowadays to you or something?
>>342926850
Just size your brush to about 3-4, choose a dark color, then blob out a silhouette. Then take a slightly lighter color, and blob out the overlapping details, Then start grabbing colors to block out the key parts, and start refining from there.
what is a good resolution to base sprite art on? i don't want to imitate nes or anything, i want detail, but dont know how i could feasibly create my ownopen sourceproject on my own if i focus so much on graphics
>have to make sprites for my shit rpg game
>do concepting and shit out of habit anyways
I thought about doing CGs so all the design work wouldn't be wasted on tiny little character sprites but that's just piling work on top of work for a project that maybe a dozen people at most would actually play
>>342925679
I suppose I'd have to know about the hard limits. The imagined scenario for Shovel Knight was, just that though. An imagined scenario, so they let themselves feel free to break whatever limits they felt were necessary for the game. (I probably sound like a broken record at this point.)
I dunno, NES and SNES look pretty clearly different to me. I'd disagree subjectively that it was seamless, whether or not there's some similarities in their engines.
I agree Shovel Knight appeals to nostalgia, but a lazy cash grab? You do know they're still developing DLC for the game right? Besides, the game itself combines plenty of elements in ways I thought were unique to itself. So it's not like everything it does is just a stolen idea for nostalgia's sake, they still developed the game to be its own thing.
I won't argue whether or not Shovel Knight breaking NES limits "respects" the old system or not. That's subjective, but I'm pretty sure the developers looked at the NES in fondness and tried to get what they personally saw as the best elements out of it. They did deal with the "realities" of the machine, and deliberately decided where they would and wouldn't follow limitations. It is true that the end result isn't actually an NES game though, but then I don't think Shovel Knight ever intended to be an actual NES game. From the beginning they intended to sell it on modern consoles.
>>342926973
Thanks, i didn't need credit to begin with but thanks anyway.
I generally don't feel the inspiration to do it for myself since i'm not pleased by my own art i guess.
I think my need for eye glasses has a lot to do with it though, eye strain makes it hard to keep up creativity with headaches and losing focus.
What's a decent tool for making game sprites?
>>342927286
I think this sort of question is impossible to answer without more details.
Any examples on the level of detail we're talking here? And what sort of genre or perspective?
>working on a game
>make sprites
>keep making sprites
>newer sprites look so much better than the old ones
>redo old sprites
>make new sprites
>the cycle continues
>can't get any work done because i keep improving the sprites little by little
when will it end
