I’m looking to build Pixel icon, UI, and so forth assets for the store. I’ve looked through the store a bit and so far not found a lot of high quality pixel assets (maybe I haven’t looked deep enough yet? or they’re part of large pixel dev environments?). I started working on weapon sets to be used in an inventory/treasure capacity: swords, hammers, staffs, etc. and have about 30+ images so far. Samples of this work are below. I have a few questions about this process, having already looked through the asset sales information page(s).
I see people are posting at least one large image of the pack and then all (?) assets are displayed that exist in the folders. What is to prevent someone from simply stealing all the images?
Most of the items I see are painted in some form or other, not pixel work. Is painted work preferred over pixel work? Is there a problem with the small size of pixel images? Do phone, handheld, or other such games want small pixel work? I was considering putting 1x, 2x, and 4x sized images in the packs (my base size fits into 32x32 space, so 2x = 64x64 and 4x = 128x128). The samples below of various types and color swaps are at those sizes to give an idea what that looks like.
I’m looking at various packs and see a lot similar to…25 icons with 5 color swaps = 125 total images (maybe also blank and black backgrounds for each). Is this a format that’s proven popular/useful for developers? For about this number of images what might be a good price point? Other devs I know have suggested making separate packs and a discounted mega-pack of all others together.
I’m curious what people’s initial response is to the quality of this work. Whether people would be interested in it if they were considering making a pixel/phone/pad game? Is this in a useable format?
Definitely a sore spot for the asset store. I love the swords you’ve posted, they look great!
As for your questions
Nothing really, I mean things get stolen all the time. I’d think it would take some effort to somehow print-screen the textures from the previews or something and then resize it to make it look nice.
Not sure what others think/know , but I like pixel art and use small 32x32/64x64 in my games lots of times. I don’t see a problem with them.
To be honest, if it looks good and it has all the icons that I want and need, then i’ll get it. I also do think it’s a good idea to make separate packs as well if the themes are different. (I.E. - “Winter Pack”, “Spring Pack”, “City Life Pack”). Kenney from OpenGameArt did something similar, except all his work are free, but nonetheless he had one huge pack that combined all his previous works.
They look pretty good, reminds me of stuff people would use in an RPG-Maker game. I’m also 100% confident that there is a definite way to use your work in that format.
Yes that’s what I’m saying, but some people may not know how to scale them correctly. If you don’t scale with Nearest Neighbor (preserve hard edges) or whatever the equivalent is the graphics will look very bad. Default Photoshop scaling is Bicubic, which doesn’t keep pixel art sharp, instead attempting to make things as smooth looking as possible. So I’d probably scale everything up 2x and 4x myself to prevent any possible problems.
Now that you’ve released the first pack, you should definitely make a thread in Community Showcases - Unity Discussions to announce the release and take feedback. Feel free to post updates eagerly and often, as long as it’s with an update. Since the Unity forums move slowly in general, it doesn’t hurt any. Here’s a good example of an Asset Store thread: Shader Forge - A visual, node-based shader editor - Community Showcases - Unity Discussions
Also include a link to the thread you make in your asset store description so potential buyers have multiple avenues to contact you for questions/comments.
Also if you’re concerned about having a preview that’s more inconvenient to copy, you might do a youtube video with a moving watermark.
I’d edit your description to something like:
This package contains 50 total icons.
10 Sword-type icons with 40 alternate colors
Each graphic is 32x32
Each on either transparent or black background
These icons are designed to show character weapon progression throughout a game or item changes due to reforging or enchantment.
Coming soon!
Packs with various weapon class types, as well as potions, armor, and other necessary assets.
Next up:
Pack 2 - Bashers and
Pack 3 - Staffs are currently in production.
Developer feedback and suggestions are welcomed.