Hi, I would think that this is a common question, but I couldn't find any useful information at gd and google doing a basic search, so here goes.. [long story] As a beginner game programmer, I've made my first graphical game which is a Pong clone and for my next project, I want to make a 2D scroller. I'm miles away from being an artist though, and when I tried to replica a pipe in Super Mario, the result was a solid ugly green color with no depth whatsoever. [/long story] Do you know of any useful guides that focus on 2D game graphics targeted at my level? I'm not trying to do anything advanced, just want to learn how to create some basic 2D graphics which has a nice enough look and feel. What paint program do you recommend? I have access to Photoshop and Aftereffects..

I struggled with raster art (i.e. pixel art) for a while trying to do the same things as you. It didn't work out so well for me. Then I tried vector art* instead, and I found it much more to my liking. Now I use Inkscape to do vector graphics. It takes some getting used to, but it might be worth it in the end. It's not 'better' than raster art, it's just different. Maybe you will like it better, maybe you won't. But it certainly is worth a shot given that Inkscape is free. Adobe Illustrator (IIRC) that is also a vector graphics program that you might have access to given that you've got Photoshop, but I'm not sure.

* In vector art, you move around shapes rather than changing pixel's colors. If you make a circle, it stays there, as a circle, rather then changing into a clump of pixels. This means that you can work in terms of circles, squares, points, etc. instead of pixels that represent them. Then, when you're happy with your art, you export it to a raster image file and treat it just as if you had drawn it in Photoshop.

well im more of a pixel art person. Try www.pixeljoint.com.it has lots of links on tutorials and software(i preffer graphics gale). the pros ar that you can make retro style graphics or even try a modern approach. but the idea is that you have control over each pixel. some tutorials even use ms paint only.
you might want to take a look.

That is definitivly something to try out! I'm not giving up on pixels just yet, though. I was thinking to draw basic shapes in photoshop or any equivilent program and then learn to use filters and effects to make it look neat enough to fit into a game..

Thank you for your insight, Ezbez. I'll download Inkscape and give it a shop.
Thanks for the link, blackplasma, I'll check it out.

As an alternative try World Creator

Another thing to consider is using a 3D modeling program to make the objects that will be in your game, and then render them (converting them to 2D images in the process) to get your sprites. Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario RPG are two well-known examples of games that did this. Depending on the textures and the rendering mode you use, you can achieve a variety of different styles, including e.g. realistic, cell-shading, cartoony, and so on.