Pixel art more widely adopted in indie games
Game makers take to this nostalgic art style because it is easy to master and free software is available
In pixel art, dots of specific colours are positioned to create shapes.
Pixel art, the signature art style in Super Mario and Flappy Bird, has seen a resurgence in indie games in recent years. The hard-edged building-block look is quickly becoming a definitive art style commonly used in indie games.
It's nostalgic for many 20-years-old and 30-years-old gamers who, growing up, played pixel art games, such as Sonic and Contra
But pixel art is not only about nostalgia. Some game makers also use it to differentiate their games commercially.
For example one game's characters have to escape a crumbling cave and unlock as many treasures as they can. As the game is very fast and arcade-like. So, pixel art, which people associate with similar games sets the right expectations from the get-go.
The look attracts the right kind of gamers who like to buy the game, so it is important from a commercial perspective.
Pixel art, made by positioning pixels of specific colours to create shapes, is also more accessible than 3-D art. The three-dimensional art may involve complicated modelling, or digital painting, which requires specific skills for mixing colours.
Game studios might need to pay extra to hire artists with these skills and such costs burden studios which are on a tight budget.
Pixel art is easier to get into as beginners can experiment with the positioning of pixels to create their own characters.
Free pixel art software, available from sites such as
www.makepixelart.com and
www.pixelartor.com, has also made the art form more accessible. There's room to grow in this art form.
However, it is not without its challenges. Good pixel art is distinguished by its hard edges and minimal blurring.
But software, such as Photoshop, applies a slight blurring effect when objects are rotated.
You might need to manually draw the objects at each angle to maintain the hard-edged look.
Most game engines also have blurring built in, so sometimes you need to code your game manually so it does not look blurred.
Nevertheless, pixel art is a distinctive art style and it's pretty easy to animate. You probably don't need to make the eyes and hair move when a character is moving, therefore gamer artists will be using it more often.
