What do you guys think of pixel art in games and in general?

[default]

Hey guys, question is in the title. I've been thinking on this for a while now, and I've come to realise just how much I love pixel art, for many many reasons. I love it for its abstraction, its total purity and its reliance on minimalism. I also think that when done right it can look amazing.

But it has some negative connotations in the indie gaming world. It's often dismissed as lazy, unsophistocated or pandering to nostalgia, which while I can see where they are coming from I really don't agree with. Pixel art has evolved into its own aesthetic style these days, along with cell shading and such.

I'm kind of asking this because I'm starting work on a new little game project of mine and trying to nail the perfect aesthetic. For what I'm doing, low-fi pixel art seems to be the way to go (along the lines of Swords & Sworcery), but I'd like to hear your opinions as a pretty darn broad group of gamer-types.


I'll leave you guys with a few of my favourite examples of the genre:

(that last one is one of mine I decided to sneak in there..)



Thanks guys.

 

[Zhukov]

I actually really like it.

Well... I like some kinds of it. The more detailed varieties. I love me some well animated sprites.

Sadly most pixel art I see in games is butt ugly. Usually because it's trying to look like an old NES or SNES game. Which were butt ugly.

I'd love to see some modern pixel art games that use the style while still taking advantage of modern machines.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

When pixel art is really well done, it just looks alright, and when it's not really well done then it looks downright ugly and makes things difficult to distinguish from each other.

Quite a bit of the time looking at pixel art for long gaming sessions hurts my eyes. Like Hotline Miami for example, it's a great game and it's a ton of fun, but I can't look at it for more than 20 minutes or so at a time.

So yeah, it's not exactly something that I prefer.

 

[Magix]

I don't mind it, but if "modern graphics" (what the hell do you call the opposite of pixel art? It's still made of pixels ) are well done, they can actually have an impact on me. Whereas like Dirty Hipsters said, pixel art is just there to get the job done. I'm young enough to where I was only there for a little bit of the pixel art times, so there's no real feeling of nostalgia either.
But again, it gets the job done so I don't really mind it. And I can understand that for a low budget development team or even someone who's just working on a game alone, pixel graphics can be the cheapest/easiest way to get the job done. Hell, I'm just trying to make my first 2d platformer in Java at the moment and I'm doing pixel art.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I'll stomack it for the most part but you aren't doing yourself any favors, to me it's just lack of graphical fidelity not some amazing art direction.
If you can't do better then fine I'll squint a little to get passed it, but if you are purposefully making that eyesore we best part ways, there is no small number of indies I put down because of this nonsense.

 

[default]

It seems to be very one way or the other when it comes to pixel art. You either love it and enjoy it for what it is or you hate it (for totally legit reasons), as illustrated by Mr.K. It's like jazz I guess.

But making things literally painful to look at is a massive risk, you really have to be careful which a lot of people don't realise and end up making their games hard to watch. In my eyes you need to combine pixel art as an aesthetic with modern graphical effects for it to really work. Personally I have zero nostalgia for the pixel times either. My first game was Quake when I was 4.

 

[Nouw]

I've come to appreciate these indie games for their own unique charm; it's just so lovely to look at. My first of these was Lone Survivor which I absolutely adored, next came Hotline Miami which I loved just as much. Now I look forward to Catequesis, a survival horror RPG, and Hotline Miami 2.

 

[josemlopes]

I dont dislike it, and it can work great for the game but give it a reason to look the way it is (for example Hotline Miami as it is set in the 80's) otherwise its just a lazy excuse.

 

[Magix]

I dont dislike it, and it can work great for the game but give it a reason to look the way it is (for example Hotline Miami as it is set in the 80's) otherwise its just a lazy excuse.

Lazy excuse? Do you realize how much talent or money it takes to pay for a graphical designer? Indie companies can't afford that, it has nothing to do with being lazy

 

[josemlopes]

I dont dislike it, and it can work great for the game but give it a reason to look the way it is (for example Hotline Miami as it is set in the 80's) otherwise its just a lazy excuse.

Lazy excuse? Do you realize how much talent or money it takes to pay for a graphical designer? Indie companies can't afford that, it has nothing to do with being lazy

It still is a shortcut, I dont really blame them to be honest (there is a reasons why they are indie devs, right?) but if the only reason to be pixel art is money then it really doesnt hold up as much when it tries to be all artsy with its artstyle by giving other bullshit justifications.


It all comes down to "why does it look the way it looks?", there needs to be a reason for it too other then money to remain its artistic integrity. Not that it automaticly makes a bad product but as the choice of artstyle is concerned it was poorly chosen.

 

[Sandjube]

I liked it in stuff like Hotline Miami and Jamestown, so I think it can work pretty well.

 

[Adultism]

I love it, I also consider Cell Shading to be a huge plus as well (Talking about you Wind Waker). I love colorful of pixely. If you've ever played Hotline Miami that game is a good example of pixel combat. I don't really think that graphics make the game, despite most of my friends and a lot of people online saying that it does.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

I like it. But I feel that often there's sometimes too much emphasis on using retro for the sake of spectacle without trying to do the game right. I loved the artstyle of Sword and Sworcery, but I hated the gameplay and writing and wanted it to burn in a fire.

I would like to see more games do the style of the GBA Castlevanias, and I hope to forward a project that does just that.

Also, that shot of your own work is very nice, what do you work with?

 

[loa]

I don't like it if it copies the mistakes of old games like super noisy backgrounds, banding, bland color ramps or purposefully shitty walkcycles.
It can be an asset when used well but that takes effort.
Unfortunately, using pixel art in itself is often used an excuse to put no real effort into it.

 

[NoeL]

<---- Does that answer your question?

I love pixel art, and am a pixel artist myself. But I don't like the look of Swords and Sorcery or Hotline Miami (why is that game getting brought up so much?). I'm more a fan of 16-bit JRPG type stuff. I'm actually in the process of remaking the first Zelda game with some swankier graphics. Some stuff below:

Spoiler

 

[Nazulu]

I always loved pixel art, but the way most indie games use it put me off for some reason.

I remember the classics on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, and with a quick comparison I notice they are usually more colourful and they have good contrast between the different patterns and objects. Also, I'm not much of a fan of the stick figures in your examples, sorry.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

I love it for so many reasons.
There are times when it's unnecessary, and it's obvious when a company are trying to shoehorn it in for nostalgia. But all in all, I have to say some of the best looking games of the past 3-4 years have been pixel art stylized.


Your image looks fantastic too. I love the way you've added light pink and cyan tones either side of your foreground image. It makes it feel very 'digital', which juxtaposed with your samurai-esque fighters looks rad as fuck. Is there anywhere I can find out more about your project?

 

[Erttheking]

I actually really like it.

Well... I like some kinds of it. The more detailed varieties. I love me some well animated sprites.

Sadly most pixel art I see in games is butt ugly. Usually because it's trying to look like an old NES or SNES game. Which were butt ugly.

I'd love to see some modern pixel art games that use the style while still taking advantage of modern machines.

Ugly?

http://selectstartgames.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/super-mario-world.jpg

Why my good sir, you have offended my opinion, we shall duel to the death through the ancient internet trial of replying to posts with passive aggressive comments, HAVE AT THEE!

Nah I'm just kidding. I disagree with your opinion, but I respect it.

Frankly I think that more often than not, sprites actually age better than a lot of 3D graphics so I tend to rather like them. Has anyone seen any screen shots from PS1-PS2 era graphics? They haven't aged well.

 

[Clowndoe]

It's fine by me, and most importantly, it's way better than trying to make a 3D game and having it end up looking like Poser-porn models. There are times when that's just another way to convey what the gameplay is like, and in those cases there's really no substitute.