Pixel Art for Game Developers

252 Pages·2015·43.43 MB·English

by  Daniel Silber

Computer Science & Engineering / Computer Graphics
“Pixel Art and Pixel Art games are very popular and the technique is a great
way for independent creators to create very good-looking games with limited
resources. It’s frankly shocking that there hasn’t been a resource like this
before ... a very timely book.”
—Chris Totten, George Mason University, Washington, DC, USA
Uncover the secrets to creating stunning graphics with Pixel Art for Game
Developers. The premier how-to book on Pixel Art and Pixel Art software,
it focuses on the universal principles of the craft.
The book provides an introduction to Pixel Art, its utility, foundational
elements, and concepts such as light and shadow. It offers tutorials on
creating animations and serves as a functional guide for the most common
methodology in 2D game development.
Gamers love the retro feel of Pixel Art, and lucky for you it is easy to create.
You'll love the tiny file sizes that will reduce compile times and help your
game run faster. Providing you with the skills to create the characters and
environments needed for 2D games, this book will help you:
• Create tilesets to build game environments
• Understand light and shadow
• Work efficiently with pixels
• Use atmospheric and linear perspective
• Create professional-quality Pixel Art
This book has chapters dedicated to theory as well as step-by-step tutori-
als, both of which describe the process explicitly. Whether you are an artist,
programmer, indie developer, or certified public accountant, after reading
this book, you'll understand the steps necessary to create production-qual-
ity Pixel Art graphics.
K23868
ISBN: 978-1-4822-5230-9
90000
9 781482 252309

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Contents
Preface:WhattheCrapIsPixelArt?,xi
Acknowledgments,xvii
CHAPTER 1 ▪ Why Pixel Art? 1
1.1 PLAYERS LOVE PIXEL ART 1
1.1.1 SweetNostalgia 1
1.1.2 ContemporaryandRelevant 2
1.1.3 PixelArtIsIconic 3
1.2 IT MAKES YOUR LIFE EASIER 4
1.2.1 SmallerFileSizes 4
1.2.2 AnyoneCanCreatePixelArt 5
1.2.3 SpendLessTimeDoingBoringStuff 5
1.2.4 ItWorksWellonVerySmallScreens 6
1.2.5 PixelArt:It’sBetterthan3D 7
1.2.6 AllYourFriendsAreDoingItandIt’ll
MakeYouCool 8
CHAPTER 2 ▪ Pixel Art: The Technology of
Yesterday…Today! 9
2.1 WHY NOW? WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? 9
2.2 WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR 10
2.2.1 Artists 10
2.2.2 Programmers(FireYourArtistandDoItYourself) 10
2.2.3 PixelHobbyists 11
2.2.4 IndieDevelopers 11
2.3 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK? 11
v
vi Contents
CHAPTER 3 ▪ Who Am I and Why Do I Know So Much
about Pixel Art? 13
DISCLAIMER(S) 15
CHAPTER 4 ▪ Software: Set Up Your Working
Environment 17
4.1 WHAT NOT TO USE 17
4.2 MY SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATION 18
4.3 OTHER OPTIONS FOR PIXEL ART SOFTWARE 18
4.4 A BRIEF GLANCE AT GRAPHICSGALE 18
CHAPTER 5 ▪ Making Pixel Art: Doing Lines 23
5.1 STRAIGHT LINES 23
5.2 DIAGONAL LINES 24
5.3 CURVED LINES 25
5.3.1 AvoidtheLoneWolf 25
5.3.2 MakeEachSegmentLengthProgressively
LongerorShorter 25
5.3.3 BewaretheCircleTool 26
5.3.4 MakeLovewiththeCutandPasteFeatures 27
5.4 LINE WIDTH 27
5.5 ANTI-ALIASING 28
EXERCISE 5.1: CREATING A LINE DRAWING SPRITE 29
Step 0: Download and Install GraphicsGale or Other
PixelArtSoftware 30
Step1:CreateaNewProject 30
Step2:DrawaHeadandFace 31
Step3:DrawtheBody 35
CHAPTER 6 ▪ Coloring inside the Lines 43
6.1 4-BIT PALETTE 43
6.2 FILL TOOL 44
6.3 CREATING GRADIENTS 47
6.4 PALETTE SWAPPING 51
Contents vii
6.5 PALETTE SIZE AND TIME CONSIDERATION 57
6.6 CHOOSING COLORS 58
6.7 TRANSPARENCY 64
EXERCISE 6.1: COLORING THE SPRITE
(FROM EXERCISE 5.1) 66
CHAPTER 7 ▪ Drawing Secrets Revealed: It’s All Smoke
and Mirrors 71
7.1 SHADING 71
7.2 CAST SHADOW 74
7.3 SHADOW DIRECTION 76
7.4 ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE 77
7.5 LINEAR PERSPECTIVE 80
EXERCISE 7.1: SHADING THE SPRITE
(FROM EXERCISE 6.1) 84
CHAPTER 8 ▪ Animating Pixels: The Shock and Horror
of Being Flashed by a Pixel 89
8.1 USING THE PROGRAM FOR ANIMATION 90
8.2 ONION SKINNING 91
8.3 PIXEL FLASHING 93
8.4 CORE ANIMATION CONCEPTS 95
8.4.1 AnticipationandFollow-Through 96
8.4.2 SquashandStretch 98
8.5 GAME-SPECIFIC CONCERNS 102
8.6 SUMMARY 104
EXERCISE 8.1: CREATE AN IDLE ANIMATION
(FROM EXERCISE 7.1) 104
SimplifytheSprite(SuggestedbutOptional) 105
TheSimplestPath 106
CHAPTER 9 ▪ Tiled Backgrounds 109
9.1 TILE SIZES 110
9.2 SETTING UP THE TILEMAP WORK AREA 111
viii Contents
9.3 TEXTURES THAT REPEAT ON YOU 112
9.4 CREATE A TILE LIBRARY 118
9.5 DITHERING AND OTHER PATTERNS 118
9.5.1 HowtoCreateOrganicDither 118
9.5.2 PatternedDither 119
EXERCISE 9.1: CREATING A TOP-DOWN TILE SET 121
Step1:CreateaNewProject,GetaHistoryLesson 121
Step2:TurnonYourGrid 122
Step3:PrepareYourPalette 123
Step4:CreateOurFirstTile 129
Step5:CreateaGrassVariation—Aswellasa
BlendTile 134
Step6:ItIsn’tEasyBeingGreen—Movingon
toSand 138
Step7:VariationElationfortheGame’sDuration 149
Step8:RockingOut 154
Step9:Water 162
Step10:PutItAllTogether 165
EXERCISE 9.2: CREATING A SIMPLE SIDE-VIEW
TILE SET 167
CHAPTER 10 ▪ You’re Doing It Wrong: Things to Avoid 207
10.1 BANDING AND “SUPER PIXELS” 207
10.2 TOO MUCH ANTI-ALIAS 209
10.3 POOR LINE QUALITY 210
10.4 WEAK PALETTE CHOICES 211
10.5 TOO MUCH COMPLEXITY 212
10.6 FLASH SHADING 213
10.7 NO TEXTURE 214
CHAPTER 11 ▪ Interviews with Game Developers 217
11.1 AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES PETRUZZI
OF DISCORD GAMES 217
Contents ix
11.2 ANINTERVIEWWITHJOCHUMSKOGLUNDOF
CRACKSHELL 220
11.3 ANINTERVIEWWITHDAVEPRESTONOFHEART
MACHINE 223
CHAPTER 12 ▪ Resources 227
12.1 ONLINE RESOURCES 227
12.2 BOOKS 227
12.3 PIXEL ART SOFTWARE 228
CHAPTER 13 ▪ Afterword: Some Thoughts on Why
I Wrote This Book 231
INDEX, 233