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[Adam F.]

Just to reiterate- pixel art's been used for games for decades and it's one of the most fun and creative ways to do art for a game. In my opinion, it's easier to animate, reproduce, and make quickly. Oh, and program!

But does it really matter? What kind of art you use in your games is your prerogative, and I'm sure no one would have a problem with it.

[Doktor_Q]

I make pixel art because it's mathematical. So, even though I can't draw to save my life, I can still make something that looks okay. Also, I have an obsession with semi low-res games. But mostly, it's just because I'm actually able to do it.

[unsilentwill]

This is a darn fine example of having a valid opinion, yet expressing it in the worst way possible.

I have recently (within a couple years) gotten into pixel art after discovering the indie community. All of the reasons given so far I agree with, mostly the time issue. As an independent hopeful, I am not yet interested in a career in game design so much as the ability to use a fantastic medium to tell a unique story within my current means as I work my way towards a career. It's not to say they are side projects, rather poems or haiku that have greater limitations and less time commitments with a still strong effect.

The question I see at hand is not why is pixel art so bad, rather what can be achieved through different art styles, either with similar constraints or full blown commercial projects...

[Brocklesocks]

A lot of people seem to be feeling attacked by my post. All I'm doing is sharing my about my art choices and asking questions. Literally, I'm just curious about the decision to use pixel art over artwork that is not. 

Something I've been wondering for a while now is: why is pixel art so popular among independent gaming communities? I know I'm probably going to get hailed upon by turds, but I feel like a lot of the artists could do something really creative and awesome.

Translated: I see massive potential. See awesome art as example, below!

http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g92/39492/39492_1251412811_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g27/149927/149927_1252658158_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g49/83149/83149_1252653570_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g84/351384/351384_1252571104_large.jpg

[HöllenKobold]

Not even super happy big game companies pump out games with 2D art like that. Shouldn't be surprising that the average indie dev doesn't try to use that sort of style, much too time consuming. Artwork like that is simply impractical and very inefficient. On the other hand, I don't really know since I do pixel art because I can't digitally paint at all.

[i wanna be the guy]

Translated: I see massive potential. See awesome art as example, below!

http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g92/39492/39492_1251412811_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g27/149927/149927_1252658158_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g49/83149/83149_1252653570_large.jpg
http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g84/351384/351384_1252571104_large.jpg

you seem to have this messed up thought process where you think its only possible to make good art if you're NOT working at the pixel level

which is not true
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/colossal_katamari.png
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/5.gif
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/tree54.gif
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/rnburningsunrise.png
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/ilkke_in_the_woods.png

edit: also this
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/sarahbrightmanportrait.gif

edit again: and these
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/curious55.gif
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/fishi2.png

[Brocklesocks]

1up: You're the one that seems to feel more attacked than anyone else. I'll try to deconstruct my intention once again, a little better.

I'm curious strictly about the choice to work at pixel level. I'm not hating on it, it's just not my cup of tea.

[i wanna be the guy]

i come off that way a lot

but i never am
i just have a habit of acting like an ass in discussions because i'm used to dealing with people who are so thick headed they don't understand my point unless i DO act like that
really anyone who posts at tsr can back that up

also i didn't really get your point 100% and read your post as 'why do pixel art, it just seems like a waste of time when you could be doing something much more productive'

[Atnas]

Actually yeah I don't know why more people here don't do unrestricted digital art for games. I've been doing art for a game which uses traditional 32x32 tile sizes and all that you'd find in a game with pixel art and such, but I'm not doing pixel art. Painterly stuff is a really underexploited style.

Sure, I use a tiny brush and such, I apply all the algorithms I've developed for working with pixel art, like I'll manually sharpen and dither for texture and use all the wonderful little bits of knowlege you learn working at small sizes about approximation of location, blending form with symbol, et cetera but I have no worry about color conservation or having to kick every pixel into place. It's not pixel art because I'm not controlling the individual pixel, I use transparency and such... But it ends up looking nice and taking less time than it would to AA by hand and juggle colors.

Also: those cgsociety images you posted probably weren't the best representations of digipainting as far as games go. Arne does a great job on Cortex Command, that probably should be a crux of your argument, Brocklesocks. Or Braid? not sure, haven't really seen that in action.

[neon]

1up: You're the one that seems to feel more attacked than anyone else. I'll try to deconstruct my intention once again, a little better.

I'm curious strictly about the choice to work at pixel level. I'm not hating on it, it's just not my cup of tea.

the choice to work at pixel level is pretty simple.  it's a lot harder than "normal art", but the result is much more fine-tuned, crisp, and, in its own way, soulful.

trying to create pixel art characters just seemed too easy, lacking detail and just generally unsatisfying.

can we see some of your pixel art characters?  the lack of detail is up to the resolution you're making the character at, but mostly up to your skill as an artist.  a good artist can do a lot with very few pixels.  i disagree with "unsatisfying".  in a pixeled image, every pixel has been individually placed, resulting in a very detailed image where every part of it has been thought out.  

i can see where you're coming from, and if so, just don't make pixeled games.  i, however, think that 2d pixeling is the best form of art for 2d games.  until i see a 2d drawn game with more fidelity, crispness of animation and art, and soul than pixeled games, then i will be a pixel art fan.

[Inane]

I hate pixel art!

It's great for animation, though. It's easier to work with than most other media, and it's quicker to get it looking natural than vectors.
Also, if you're doing it right, which a lot of people aren't than it's a really good learning tool for how to use colors since you can adjust the palette at will.

[Jolli]

claiming pixel art being harder is kinda odd news to me :s

[Jason Bakker]

I think with pixel art it's easier to get a strong, unified style happening in a game. With non-pixely graphics, you need to worry a lot more about different images for the game not matching up with each other, and you need to do extra work to make sure multiple artists are working with a similar style. For instance, when David Hellman came onto Braid, he needed to redo the stuff that the previous artist had done, not necessarily because the other artist's stuff wasn't good, but just so that it would be in the correct style.

Making sure a game has a strong unified style is an art director's job, with studio games. If an indie game doesn't have someone with a strong enough visual sensibility to create a style for the game (which is often the case, understandably), going the pixel-based route is a safe bet to make sure that your game looks "right" as a whole.

[Bones]

claiming pixel art being harder is kinda odd news to me :s

Claiming any medium has a difficulty is a horrible statement to begin with.
Because once again, it's not the tools that make the artist.




I think this is game is one of the many great examples of pixel art at it's best.

Pixel art is practical because every computer that runs Windows has MSPaint.
I started drawing with pixel art, without it I doubt I'd be where I am in terms of being an artist.
Pixel art was made for smaller resolutions, and as such most 2D games tend to use small resolution sized tiles.
Considering most indi-developers don't have 7 or so paid months to make a game and spend the time making HD work.
Since tiling is a hell of a lot "easier" then drawing every part of the level individually.
And non-repetitive tiling is easily accomplished using simple pixel techniques.

Now first off I'd like to know exactly what kind of pixel art you are talking about.
If you are talking about all the Cavestory carbon copy flat pixel art style, then yes I'm getting sick of it too.
But that's again to do with the artist not the medium.
And also a personal statement, not an argument that the style is bad.

If we are talking about game restrictions here, which I think we are.
Then I'd say the reasons pixel art is broadly used...

a) Resolution -16x16,32x32,64x64 sized tiles
Sure they could be drawn in photoshop and have 1000 colors in 1 single tile. :/
But I can post examples of tiling that looks way better then half the "HD" games coming out these days.

b) Time -Time is money, pixeling is an efficient animating method for sprites.
Especially considering most sprites aren't very large so them being "HD" is pretty pointless.
And personally to be honest I don't know enough about photoshop to pump any decent CG art out.

c) Pixel Control -When animating even the slightest pixel movement can break or make an animation, having full control over the pixels allows you to use color to animate as supposed to merely using "Flash" to move the object for you.
Such as sub pixel animation;
Using color to create fluid motion.




I could not see someone doing this efficiently with flash or with photoshop for that matter.
And if they could, it would be more time consuming then pixel art, and they'd have less control.

d) Nostalgia - I know that the next 2 generations are going to have less appreciation for the simple art.
But for all of us pixel dinosaurs, we like it, we like the look of it when it's zoomed in 2x or more, we like the techniques used.
And overall I personally like it because it can be just as beautiful as any HD CG when done right.

Pixel art IS a pretty difficult medium if you don't know what you're doing.
Anyone who doesn't know what AA, banding, Selout ect.. isn't going to be able to recognize the errors they are making compared to an experienced pixel artist who would.

Now all of that being said, do you Brocklesocks think that the new King of Fighters game is an amazing display of HD pixel art?
http://kofaniv.snkplaymore.co.jp/english/info/15th_anniv/2d_dot/index.php

Because personally being a pixel art elitist, I don't believe in drawing over pre-rendered and animated 3D models.
I also personally think their pixel art execution is pretty bad and lacking in technique.
What they seem to think is volume shading is really just banding out the ass.




Of course the work load is huge and the frame count ridiculous, but are these the steps needed to take pixel art to HD?
If that's the case I want nothing to do with HD art and will forever live in the small resolutions of 160x144 (gameboy)

[Rynen10K]

http://kofaniv.snkplaymore.co.jp/english/info/15th_anniv/2d_dot/index.php

Blargh. I read that article awhile ago. While I like the idea they had behind it, it was kinda painful to watch the process of it all. I think the new sprites look a bit off. The lighting (especially on the leg) looks really weird and flat to me, probably because there's no dithering. I wonder if that's a result from the 3D models?

On topic, I do it because I can, it's clean (also why I love vector stuff now), I enjoy working with the limitations, but a big part of it is honestly nostalgia.

[Trevor Dunbar]

Pixel art can be more visually appealing or interesting than 3d. It has it's own aesthetic. It's also easier to control a character in 2d than 3d, no need to worry about controlling in depth or trying to make sure things on the screen don't become a visual Hodge-podge (well if your smart, anyway).

Also Consider this: in pixel art you have total control over the final product. Your artistic vision is never skewed because you needed clean geometry in your polys, lacked enough room in your textures, or other 3d variables.  You have total control over value, hue, contrast, and the other dozen or so aspects of your work.
You control every pixel. A pixel is a pixel.
You can control the color ramps of your work, even if you want to get wacky and use the Windows PAINT palette, it's up to you. Want to make the character half lit by purple and then fade into blue colors as it gets into darker colors? Alrighty.
You control the lighting.
You may animate your sprite however you wish. Do you need the character to stretch and squash? Good luck in 3d without some programming behind the scenes. What if the character suddenly just morphed into something else with an effect? Pretty easy. You can also animate any other number of animation tricks like motion blur and what not.
Also consider effects like mapping a palate to a character /object when it gets hit, palate rotation, etc. Those always look great. The end boss is amazing despite the energy

Go play Metal Slug 3 on Xbox360 or something, you shouldn't need much more convincing pixel art has a powerful place in games.
Go watch this:

. It's amazing. Faaaan-tastic! Go Metal slug 5!



As for the KOF art, all the muscle lines on the fighters look like they're we're drawn on with a sharpie. They don't have any depth. It just looks wrong.
Also banding. Also no AA? Wtf. It looks way worse than the small res sprites. I like the old sprites way more.

[HöllenKobold]

Because personally being a pixel art elitist, I don't believe in drawing over pre-rendered and animated 3D models.

Bah. That's for business though. I'd be ok with drawing over 3D models and rotoscoping. The pixel art wasn't made for improving oneself as an artist. Though, the technique is shoddy as hell and I don't think it's a good excuse that they used such haphazard shading just to shorten time considering with all the buffer shades and etc, they just added in more time in creating a polished shit art (I wanted to say shit art to be cool).
Ah well, they look better than the SFIIHD sprites at least.

[ChevyRay]

(I wanted to say shit art to be cool lame)

That's all that it'll make you. You're better than that, Thernz <3

 :D

That enormous wrestler sprite is amazing and awful at the same time, to my eyes

[Bones]

Yea... I like the wrestlers face, but the rest is just. 

It's funny a friend of mine who is kind of a graphics whore.
Was telling me how all my pixel art looked like crap and was all "pixeley" and that photoshop stuff is better.

He then went on to tell me about this game Guilty Gear and how awesome the graphics were.
He was suprised when after looking at the game I turned to him and said "You know that this is pixel art, right?"

[falsion]

I would make 3D games, but there is nothing out there that can make 3D games without you really knowing what you're doing. 3D programming is indeed much harder than 2D. And even with a 3D engine, you still need to know a good deal of programming (much more than you would with something like GM). There isn't a GameMaker or Construct like program out there that makes 3D games. I've asked Ashley, the creator of Construct for 3D features and he's stated several times that it's much easier said than done, and that quite frankly 3D is a bitch (not his words, but still) to implement.

Also on that SNK sprite, did they really feel the need to put so much detail into his nipples? I mean, look at those things. You can poke an eye out with those.