Who loves and hates pixel art, and why?
polycounter lvl 6
This is an odd question, so I'll try and be clear:
We're working on a game that juxtaposes high and low fidelity, and plays with some ideas around past/future as a consequence. We're currently working on how to frame/market our project. I believe that any topic at large tends to have more or less popular ways of framing it. This is good to know because using what people already think is a good jumping off point for making our game more accessible, conceptually!
Do you think there are more common stories surrounding pixel art or high fidelity art these days? what do you think they are? For example, some might be:
Super curious to hear your thoughts on this!!
We're working on a game that juxtaposes high and low fidelity, and plays with some ideas around past/future as a consequence. We're currently working on how to frame/market our project. I believe that any topic at large tends to have more or less popular ways of framing it. This is good to know because using what people already think is a good jumping off point for making our game more accessible, conceptually!
Do you think there are more common stories surrounding pixel art or high fidelity art these days? what do you think they are? For example, some might be:
- Pixel art is hipster bullshit.
- Pixel art is a neurotic fixation on the past.
- Pixel art is saving us by ignoring the absurd bloat of modern games and returning us to when games were games
- High fidelity art is quality and refinement.
- High fidelity art is the unconscious pursuit of realism without necessity or justification.
Super curious to hear your thoughts on this!!
Replies
That said, I'm not completely sure what you're asking in your post? Stories? Do you mean you want to know what the various arguments are for/against pixel art being used on modern media? If so I'd say you should ignore such arguments. There are plenty of extremely successful pixel art games being made these days, and pixel art styles can vary wildly, so most people who hate it likely do so for misguided reasons (seen too much shovelware / asset flips and now think of those as representing all pixel art, or think pixel art is stealing resources that could be used for another art style they prefer).
Sorry, it's a weird question so asking it is tricky. Yeah, by stories I suppose I mean something like "commonly held ideas about what pixel art is and what it means." Basically in our game, we're using low-fi and hi-fi art to represent different ideas. The premise of the game is a conflict between those ideas. That's all well and good, but the problem is that I'm not just free to make low-fi and hi-fi art mean what ever I want. I think what I made is clear, but it's occurred to me lately that I haven't done a good enough job being in contact with others, and how they already see the entire topic. This will inform perhaps little adjustments that I could make to help my project make sense for more people more intuitively. Does that make sense?
Also, an update form other conversations I'm having.
I don't like all pixel art games, but when they are well done, i like them. Well crafted things will be cool always.
https://twitter.com/jmw327
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D458BiCWkAAKuMZ?format=png&name=medium
I must be misguided
Look - this analogy is actually wrong, but maybe it's helpful... imagine that I'm making a jar for two ants to be placed inside and shaken up to fight one another. Only those ants are people who either love or hate lowfi and hifi art, I'm looking for how to get them riled up. "heeyyy pixel art fan... this guy tells me you're indie pixel trash! What do you think about his love of hifi art??"
Terraria, Shovel Knight, Owlboy, Hyper Light Drifter, Stardew Valley, Nuclear Throne, Enter the Gungeon, Hotline Miami, Katana Zero, Cross Code, Freedom Planet, Axiom Verge, Broforce, Celeste, Undertale, Blasphemous, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Sonic Mania, etc.
Party Hard 1 & 2 (2 is pseudo 3D), Chasm, Owlboy, Moonlighter, Dead Cells, Forager, Gaveyard Keeper... i could make a huge list.
BTW, i still enjoy metal slug games or super metroid. They aged very well in contrast to 3D games.
As to statements made in OP, I wouldn't agree with any of that and think you may be over thinking things. If you dunno what style to choose, just weigh pros and cons. You can speculate about market interest forever. If you don't habe real relevant data and education to understand and use data intelligently, best thing is to go with style you know you can do well and deliver on time.
Also important to note artist opinion on styles will be different from gamers opinion. Not the same demographic.
Also not a fan of too much pixel lighting and shadow effects. Don't mind a bit of rim lighting or reflections, but when a game has pixel art with depth of field, soft shadows, waving grass, reflections, etc, all at once, makes my eyes bleed.
I generally prefer pixel art that is more rooted in the past, has similar limitations and restricted pallets, obviously directly influenced by certain games and certain styles.
pixel or optimized /blocky)voxel still reduce significant amount of labor work and performance at the sametime, aesthetically still acceptable because the pattern is consistent and easy to recognize.
easily optimized by default. (digital art bound to pixel at its core.)
so thats why it still popular among small dev and some audiences regardless the current gen can render way more detail than that
some pixel and voxel art can still be mixed with current gen element such lighting and effect .
Doing bad pixel art is fast, hence a lot of little indie games / game jams use it.
Doing good pixel art is hard.
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