Hello. Are you tired of seeing indie games with 2d pixel art, or do you welcome it as an immortal art style? Compared to 3D games of the past, 2D art tends to age a lot better (see Final Fantasy VII, and Pokemon Crystal Version) because the style doesn't attempt to reflect real life (the poly count keeps rising with each new gen console).

The reason I ask is because I want to use the art style in my next game project (this one could possibly be released at some point). I personally like the style, although it's taken me a long time to become good enough at it to make game graphics. Of course, I don't want people to go "Ugh, another 2D indie game!" when they see my game. I know some are going to feel that way anyway, just because it's a saturated market these days (akin to the WoW and Monster Hunter clones in the MMO scene).

For people who like simple, colorful graphics, I don't think it'll be that big a deal. Because there are already so many titles that use this style, what do you feel can be done differently to make the style even better?

Some images below, as food for thought:

Realm of the Mad God

Pokemon...Yellow? (It's been a while.) Edit: Gold/Crystal too because Lugia and Ho-Oh are here.

I purposely chose the more simple-looking ones because I think it's interesting how--even though these graphics are so small and simple--each character sprite is distinguishable from the others. The difference a pixel makes, I suppose. Although...I can't really tell you what all of the Pokemon are because even back then I thought some of the sprites they chose were so different from the actual Pokemon that it didn't make much sense [to me, at least].

If you're an indie programmer with no budget for an artist, then pixel art is a good way to go. Are there lots of bad games with pixel art? Yes. But there are bad games with great textures and lighting too.

I like what you're doing there with the thin lines around the big pixels.

On the other side, I've seen people post that they are sick of pixels and ignore any games that have this style.

1. If your game has good balance, is fun to play, and does something new, then the graphics just need to be "good enough" so it doesn't look cheap and dirty.

2. Who is your audience? If you're going for a market that is saturated and sick of pixels then you need something else. If not, then go for it.

3. You can always get a great alpha version with people playing it and then find a friend to do the art.

You can get tired of pixel art?

If you're an indie programmer with no budget for an artist, then pixel art is a good way to go. Are there lots of bad games with pixel art? Yes. But there are bad games with great textures and lighting too.

Describes me exactly. Haha. You're definitely right about that. Implementation matters. Unfortunately, when there are a lot of bad examples, it becomes harder to find the good ones!

I like what you're doing there with the thin lines around the big pixels.

I thought it was an interesting style too. As a side note, I didn't make this game. I heard about it from a friend.

On the other side, I've seen people post that they are sick of pixels and ignore any games that have this style.

1. If your game has good balance, is fun to play, and does something new, then the graphics just need to be "good enough" so it doesn't look cheap and dirty.
2. Who is your audience? If you're going for a market that is saturated and sick of pixels then you need something else. If not, then go for it.
3. You can always get a great alpha version with people playing it and then find a friend to do the art.

1. I agree.

2. I'm still trying to figure that out. I want to go for a guild-oriented online role-playing game where players can form parties, do quests, make quests, and just have a good time playing a casual RPG online with others.

3. True (but first I'd have to make friends who do pixel art!). You're right about getting a playable version done first, though. I'm trying my hand at it for as long as I'm able to do more than programming/music/design/etc. because I don't really want to waste anyone's time by bringing them into a project that doesn't have a deadline (or a vague idea of one) set in stone. It would be a real letdown for everyone, and I don't have any industry experience yet.

You can get tired of pixel art?

I don't, but a lot of people do.

I just posted about this stuff on my blog. You can go laugh at my pixel art. It will make you feel better.

http://www.indiegameprogramming.com/new_blog.php

Not really fond of pixel art that much myself... been there in the 80's and 90's, done that, was joy back then, but had my fill.

I am not saying that I don't enjoy taking some old SNES Games and play them again.... yet on todays large flat screens, I couldn't take bad analog connections and low resolutions anymore... that is why I got me a RetroN5.... mostly because of glorious HDMI out, but also because of the ability to Antialias games to 720p.

Now, as for newer games, I do enjoy pixel art from time to time, if artfully done. I really liked what Fez did with the style. Yet I do think it is overused lately.

Just a small correction: You most probably where talking about FF VI in your opening post. FF VII was the first 3D entry in the series, and at least for me, the beginning of the end of the FF series. A too baroque story, too silly costumes, and cutscene overload. Cannot compare to the alltime classic that is FF VI. But I am drifting offtopic...

Its not really true that 2D art inherently ages better than 3D, its just that the stuff we remember fondly (or at all) was that which came from the heyday of 2D technology -- The SNES, GBA/DS, Genesis, and Neo-Geo or other arcade platforms. No one really thinks Atari or Intellivision 2D sprite art cuts the mustard anymore. In the same vein, when we think of "retro 3D" we think of the Playstation/Saturn/N64 and early PC titles -- which are the Ataris and Intellivisions of 3D graphics in the mainstream. We only just made it to comparably advanced 3D to the SNES' 2D with the last generation I'd say -- maybe even the current generation.

I haven't seen many 3D games that embrace an early-3D asthetic -- there was a Kickstarter recently for a modern throwback to Quake-era FPSes (with art and design tropes to match), and it actually looked really good. I can count the number of retro 3D games I've seen that don't just look cheap on one hand with room to spare -- though, I've not spent much time looking.

But 2D art is definately lower-fidelity than 3D, and that makes it significantly easier to produce. That's not to say that great 2D sprites are easy, but they're just more forgiving of imperfections, which means there's usually fewer iterations (note: this applies less to very large and high-color sprites, but I don't think we're meaning to talk about that here).

I just posted about this stuff on my blog. You can go laugh at my pixel art. It will make you feel better.

http://www.indiegameprogramming.com/new_blog.php

My first thought was..."Wow, you really like dogs." It's actually quite good, in my opinion. I like the pottery story you mentioned there. Practice makes perfect, that's for sure! I noticed that when I do certain things over and over again, I get progressively better at them (and find ways to do those things more efficiently). My pixel art didn't start improving until I stopped caring about how imperfect they were and just started churning out art and forcing myself to keep them (in a dedicated folder appropriately titled Art Dump). Over time, I developed a method to doing sprites and I'm not as inclined to press delete anymore (they're not necessarily good, but I don't think they're bad at this point).

Not really fond of pixel art that much myself... been there in the 80's and 90's, done that, was joy back then, but had my fill.

I am not saying that I don't enjoy taking some old SNES Games and play them again.... yet on todays large flat screens, I couldn't take bad analog connections and low resolutions anymore... that is why I got me a RetroN5.... mostly because of glorious HDMI out, but also because of the ability to Antialias games to 720p.

Now, as for newer games, I do enjoy pixel art from time to time, if artfully done. I really liked what Fez did with the style. Yet I do think it is overused lately.


Just a small correction: You most probably where talking about FF VI in your opening post. FF VII was the first 3D entry in the series, and at least for me, the beginning of the end of the FF series. A too baroque story, too silly costumes, and cutscene overload. Cannot compare to the alltime classic that is FF VI. But I am drifting offtopic...

That's perfectly understandable. I think it's mostly just preference. I don't play a lot of video games anymore, so I had to ask this question for those who do. Thanks for the input!

I did mean FFVII (sorry for not being clear in the main post). I was comparing the first edition of 3D Final Fantasy to the latest edition of 3D Final Fantasy (and old 2D Pokemon to new 2D Pokemon). I wasn't putting FFVII down at all. I have the PS1 multi-disc case sitting on my dresser. It was a good game, for sure (I still haven't beaten it though)! Also, FFX is an equally amazing game, and I've recently gotten through half of that title. Those two are said to be the best of the FF series. I was only comparing the progression of the 3D graphical style, and how much has changed.

Some of the early 3D games that are more stylized than realistic (like FF7) age pretty well, actually. The image above looks like an up-res screen from the PC version or maybe an emulator. It looks pretty good as is, and doesn't appear all that different than WOW, say. A higher resolution and better texture filtering can go a long ways all on their own. But it didn't look that good on the PS1, not by a long shot. That's acutally one of the key differences between upgrading a 2D game vs. a 3D one -- you can't really up-res a sprite game without changing it -- scaling algorithms like Scale2x can look good, but they can introduce some noise; 3D games can be scaled to any resolution and you're never less-sharp for it.

Early 3D games that tried to be realistic tend to be ones that don't age as well. Look at any of the early 3D sports games, for instance, or military shooters on PS1 or PS2.

My first thought was..."Wow, you really like dogs." It's actually quite good, in my opinion.

Thank you. I was just doing pics of my dogs for my wife. She thought it would be fun. I'm training for the next Ludum dare, and art is not my strong area.