How should I go about creating Pixel Art?

[Tusk]

@iamthwee

Pixel art is going to take a long time.

Have a look at this guys blog, there’s a few time lapse giving you an idea of what it takes, plus bear in mind non of those are animated for game dev.

http://pixelshuh.tumblr.com/

ooh very nice, looks like he takes a day to do 1 or 2 pic

[Tusk]

@RockoDyne

And sometime this month Anima2D should be going free since that was picked up by UT. So now there shouldn’t be much need for external tools with that workflow.

wow didn’t know that I wonder how much Unity paid for Anima2D? and how much did it cost before they removed it from the store?

One thing I have to say that I love about Unity is the bright grey GUI. I live on a tropical island so I love my big open sliding windows with lots of strong warm breeze and natural sun light, unfortunately UE4 UI is black and there is noway to change it so my glossy monitor reflects like crazy. Yes I could have bought a matte monitor but its not good for my eyes I don’t like the haze I just love the perfectness of glossy screen it means no hazy coating its like looking at the screen in all its glory a bit like laptop screens.

In Unity it comes with a bright grey UI so praise the lord. lol

[RockoDyne]

@Tusk

and how much did it cost before they removed it from the store?

~$50 I think. I thought Puppet2D was more expensive, but it’s listed at $30 now.

[Tusk]

@RockoDyne

~$50 I think. I thought Puppet2D was more expensive, but it’s listed at $30 now.

wow then thats good value isn’t it? Unity with a $50 package free. So that pretty much reduced the costs hmm.

When can we expect it to be released in Unity?

[hippocoder]

@Tusk

Bro Force looks like something 1 man could accomplish.

Would take one man 2 years minimum, just bear that in mind. I’d say 3 for a finished product assuming you didn’t need to do R&D and were experienced.

But if you were aiming at far less scope then 3-6 months is feasible, assuming again you’re already experienced. So bear in mind the project scope as well. I would recommend a very small title to test the waters first.

[hippocoder]

@iamthwee

However if you just want to make a 2D place holder and animate using bones it is possible. For example, I did the following in blender but using bones. It is a bit of an overkill, especially when you have tools like spine 2d

This stuff is kind of going to be native soon, judging by the beta forum and blog.

[RockoDyne]

https://blogs.unity3d.com/2016/12/02/unity-expands-2d-offerings-with-anima2d/
I think it’s just being left on the asset store for now.

[iamthwee]

How long did TOB take and how many were on the team?

[iamthwee]

@hippocoder

This stuff is kind of going to be native soon, judging by the beta forum and blog.

True but I still can’t stand animating in anything outside blender, but that’s just me

[GarBenjamin]

I agree with @hippocoder . Don’t just jump right in to making your dream game right out of the gate. I mean sure you can make a version of your dream game. Or a piece of it at least. That is fine and would be the most helpful. But do a much smaller version of it. Something where you can focus on the underlying systems and mechanics without having to also manage the full scope.

Doing this will help you to figure out the problem areas and be able to develop the underlying tech needed that you can plug into your “real” game. Alternately, you can develop the “real” game itself in bite size pieces kind of like modules.

For example maybe you make a small game focused around two short levels only. First it is just getting the player character moving through that level interacting with the environment including rescuing the hostages. Reach the end of level one. Go to level two. That gets you a very tiny game complete (albeit without enemies and only environmental obstacles). More importantly you take that and now have your player controller, level interaction and game structure to handle transit from level to level all ready to plug in to your real game OR you just build on to it.

So your next iteration has you either building a new game or updating the same game adding enemies for example. One of the things that makes the Metal Slug games so interesting is the variety of ways enemies enter the playfield. Climbing and swinging/sliding across vines, dropping in from helicopters, coming in on boats, etc. Again they make heavy use of their environment and use it to get to you.

And once you get it all working then it becomes a matter of just assembling it all and focusing on the level design and making the real levels and tying it all together.

You certainly don’t have to follow that kind of project plan. I am just suggesting you break it down and tackle things bit by bit. In each iteration you will learn very important things. What to do and how best to do it. And what not to do and how not to do it.

[neginfinity]

@iamthwee

True but I still can’t stand animating in anything outside blender, but that’s just me

By the way, you can animate stuff directly in unity. It is awkward, but can be done.

[Tusk]

@GarBenjamin

I agree with @hippocoder . Don’t just jump right in to making your dream game right out of the gate. I mean sure you can make a version of your dream game. Or a piece of it at least. That is fine and would be the most helpful. But do a much smaller version of it. Something where you can focus on the underlying systems and mechanics without having to also manage the full scope.

Doing this will help you to figure out the problem areas and be able to develop the underlying tech needed that you can plug into your “real” game. Alternately, you can develop the “real” game itself in bite size pieces kind of like modules.

For example maybe you make a small game focused around two short levels only. First it is just getting the player character moving through that level interacting with the environment including rescuing the hostages. Reach the end of level one. Go to level two. That gets you a very tiny game complete (albeit without enemies and only environmental obstacles). More importantly you take that and now have your player controller and level interaction ready to plug in to your real game OR you just build on to it.

So your next iteration has you either building a new game or updating the same game adding enemies for example. One of the things that makes the Metal Slug games so interesting is the variety of ways enemies enter the playfield. Climbing and swinging/sliding across vines, dropping in from helicopters, coming in on boats, etc. Again they make heavy use of their environment and use it to get to you.

You don’t have to follow that kind of project plan of course. I am just suggesting you break it down and tackle things bit by bit. In each iteration you will learn very important things. What to do and how best to do it. And what not to do and how not to do it.

And once you get it all working then it becomes a matter of just assembling it all and focusing on the level design and making the real levels and tying it all together.

Thanks I am following a youtube video from the bracleys guy so I will have an idea how to do a simple 2D game admittedly his game is a little more than just a simple 2D game but this is a good thing. He even gives away some awesome royalty free stuff on his site aswell.

[iamthwee]

@neginfinity

By the way, you can animate stuff directly in unity. It is awkward, but can be done.

Yeah I know, but don’t you find it hideously tedious especially when the viewport in blender is so fast, you know, set up quad view, right click a bone, press r to rotate, move then hit ‘i’ to insert a keyframe.

Compare that with unity, well… yeah.

[neginfinity]

@iamthwee

Yeah I know, but don’t you find it hideously tedious especially when the viewport in blender is so fast, you know, set up quad view, right click a bone, press r to rotate, move then hit ‘i’ to insert a keyframe.

Compare that with unity, well… yeah.

True, but the problem is that you can’t animate unity component parameters (light strength, particle system emission rate, enabled/disbaled flags, etc) in blender.

[GarBenjamin]

Wouldn’t it be awesome if the Asset Store had kits of pixel art that you could simply buy to make your version of Metal Slug (or for me to make my Gladiator/Rastan style game)?

Yes indeed it would but here we are in 2017 and there is still virtually nothing available to make pixel art games.

I go back and forth on this. Sometimes I think of making a game. Sometimes I think I should just hire artists to create pixel art I can sell in packs on the store. Basically I’d like to see art there to make any game I can think of. Metal Slug? Sure just get these 4 packs! Rastan? Sure just get these 2 packs. Choplifter? Sure just get this pack.

Just seems ridiculous to me the state of things. End of rant.

[Tusk]

@GarBenjamin

Wouldn’t it be awesome if the Asset Store had kits of pixel art that you could simply buy to make your version of Metal Slug (or for me to make my Gladiator/Rastan style game)?

Yes indeed it would but here we are in 2017 and there is still virtually nothing available to make pixel art games.

I go back and forth on this. Sometimes I think of making a game. Sometimes I think I should just hire artists to create pixel art I can sell in packs on the store. Basically I’d like to see art there to make any game I can think of. Metal Slug? Sure just get these 4 packs! Rastan? Sure just get these 2 packs. Choplifter? Sure just get this pack.

Just seems ridiculous to me the state of things. End of rant.

hmm if I get good at pixel art maybe I will sell it on the asset store?

I wonder how much cut Unity takes and how much it costs to wire transfer money world wide to my bank account?

[GarBenjamin]

@Tusk

hmm if I get good at pixel art maybe I will sell it on the asset store?

I wonder how much cut Unity takes and how much it costs to wire transfer money world wide to my bank account?

I don’t know the answer to these questions but many people around here do.

I know how much money you earn will be based on two things… 1) how much potential demand there is for your pixel art and 2) how well you market it to get those potential customers to the page to see it.

[rakkarage]

or buy…
http://oryxdesignlab.com/product-sprites/

Kenney - itch.io

https://henrysoftware.itch.io/ (self promotion)
https://itch.io/

[GarBenjamin]

@rakkarage

or buy…
http://oryxdesignlab.com/product-sprites/
https://kenney.itch.io/
https://henrysoftware.itch.io/ (self promotion)
https://itch.io/

Problem is you cannot buy it. Because each asset pack is limited and very few 2D art assets work together. I have checked out thousands of them over the years on numerous sites. And in the end I never was able to build any game that I wanted to make.

[impheris]

not another pixel art game please -.-
someone had an idea, to make players feels nostalgic… and that was very cool, but thats enough -.- its not creative anymore… its not unique
Everybody is copying that idea, I have seen great concepts minimized to pixel -.-
there are many others styles of games… hand painted its great too and very popular… or you can make it realistic or low poly like super hot… there are several ways and styles of graphics and even more creative and unique