I'm thinking that it might be fun to create a retro-styled adventure game that looks a lot like the old Sierra on-line games.
What tools were used to create this art originally? Are they any tools out today that would help me to create art in this style faster than they did back then? I get the feeling these images may have been created pixel-by-pixel.
I don't know if its how they did it, but when I create pixel art I draw it at a larger size at resample it down to the correct resolution. It helps create the subtle pixel shading that's very hard to do by hand.
[size=2]Darwinbots - [size=2]Artificial life simulation
Well I would like to actually finish my project - are there faster ways to achieve good results? I understand that the original artists (for whom I have a lot of respect) probably agonized over each pixel back in the day, which is why the art holds up so well. I guess I'm wondering if there is a solution that will give me 90% of the result with 10% of the effort.
Quote:Original post by Telamon Well I would like to actually finish my project - are there faster ways to achieve good results?
Make your scene in 3d with polygons, render it at a high resolution, then put a brush stroke filter or something on it, then lanczos sample it down to 320x240 (or whatever).
Quote:Original post by Telamon ...probably agonized over each pixel back in the day...
I used to think this too, but it's not as true as you might think. Pixels are the medium that the artist works in, but it's the zoomed out look that they're interested in. How it looks to the eye when its seen as a tiny part of the screen.
These artists were mere mortals, and it's alot easier when you understand the basics.
Generally they'd do the broad strokes with less precise tools then go in and add details by the pixel. It takes time, to be sure, but they didn't actually go pixel-to-pixel for everything like you might think.
You might be able to get similar results by doing the source work in a larger format, sample it down, and then reduce the color pallete to 256 colors, possibly with dithering. That should look close, but not as good. Maybe 75% of the result with 25% of the effort?
You could also build up a toolset of various backdrops and objects for some things to ease your workload.
I have had a client once who wanted a super pixelized retro look for some backgrounds. I did an old school structure but normal colors and before sending the assets, I took each asset and lowered the color-depth to 16-32 colors. It might sound low but since I was doing it with separate assets, it avoided some pollution between colors that may happen weirdly when lowering the color-depth of a large image with a wide palette. For smaller assets you can do it directly with the right colors and hand-dither the gradiants.
I'm thinking that it might be fun to create a retro-styled adventure game that looks a lot like the old Sierra on-line games.
What tools were used to create this art originally? Are they any tools out today that would help me to create art in this style faster than they did back then? I get the feeling these images may have been created pixel-by-pixel.
