NeoGAF

Brelston · (10-03-2007, 08:38 PM)

Heya.

I spent a lot of time this summer making NES characters out of PixelBlocks, so we decided to post them on the site (GamesRadar). Nothing fancy, just pics like so:

Thought you all might be interested it having a look. It's very addicting...

http://www.gamesradar.com/us/wii/gam...10039376553066

test_account · (10-03-2007, 08:51 PM)

Looks really nice! :)

JDSN · (10-03-2007, 08:55 PM)

Crushed is gonna have a nerdasm when he sees that. :lol

arne · (10-03-2007, 09:00 PM)

YOU STOLE MY IDEA.

except i never really finished mine and posted them. i'll do it and post. :( sad.
damn you. /envy

dextran · (10-03-2007, 09:03 PM)

oh - you make them 3-4 blocks thick. I was making mine 1 pixel deep. They keep falling apart that way. That's a lot of $$$ but well worth it.

iconoclast · (10-03-2007, 09:04 PM)

This is so awesome. I need to order some of these blocks.

RiskyChris · (10-03-2007, 09:05 PM)

I'd buy these if they didn't have a weird perceived angle.

Naked Snake · (10-03-2007, 09:11 PM)

What are PixelBlocks and where can I buy them?

Brelston · (10-03-2007, 09:11 PM)

Originally Posted by dextran:

oh - you make them 3-4 blocks thick. I was making mine 1 pixel deep. They keep falling apart that way. That's a lot of $$$ but well worth it.

Oh they're only 1 thick. I double up the feet so they can stand easier, and the Mega Man/Link combo was made by a co-worker, and he doubled them up all over. Link is solid as a rock.

Oh wait, the Metroid is double too. Yeah it had to be, otherwise it fell all over the place.

Zer0 · (10-03-2007, 09:26 PM)

Originally Posted by Naked Snake:

What are PixelBlocks and where can I buy them?

dont bother pixelblocks looks nice on teory but they will rip off your wallet,even big box have limited quantity of pieces to make anything decent

PolyGone · (10-03-2007, 09:27 PM)

no FF1 Blackmage? failure!

BobFromPikeCreek · (10-03-2007, 09:28 PM)

Wasn't there a HUGE thread about this like a year ago? Anyone less lazy than me want to volunteer to find that?

Brelston · (10-03-2007, 09:32 PM)

I assumed SOMEone would have done this before, I just had never seen it. If there are others I'd love to take a look. Ryu and Kuros are my faves, but I did really like making Firebrand.

And yes, PBs are very expensive and require a lot of sets to get what you want. However, if you plan ahead, you can make many things from one big order. Just pick characters that don't share colors or can be multiple colors (like Kirby or Mega Man).

keiichi · (10-03-2007, 09:38 PM)

Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.

Brelston · (10-03-2007, 09:42 PM)

Nice!

I'll retaliate with my nonsensical choice of Batman.

I've wondering how big a modern day sprite would be in real life. Like if you tried to build Alucard or something. I figured a Torterra from Diamond/Pearl would be the size of a desk.

MarkMan · (10-03-2007, 09:50 PM)

Originally Posted by keiichi:

Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.

AWESOME.... Love this one :)

radioheadrule83 · (10-03-2007, 09:52 PM)

OMG Mario in the boot... I don't even know if they sell these PixelBlocks in the UK, but I want them. Lots of them!

Brelston · (10-03-2007, 11:46 PM)

Their online site should say if they ship to other countries. I would assume so. I've also seen them in-store in Santa Monica, at Puzzle Zoo.

Naked Snake · (10-04-2007, 05:37 AM)

Originally Posted by keiichi:

Fuck, this is beautiful.

Marty Chinn · (10-04-2007, 05:53 AM)

Maybe I'm confused, but is there a reason not to do these out of Legos? Wouldn't it be cheaper?

Tenbatsu · (10-04-2007, 05:56 AM)

Originally Posted by Naked Snake:

Fuck, this is beautiful.

True classic indeed. Its amazing back then that the developers got a constraint on the amount of pixels they gonna work with (eg. squeezing the art of each SF2 characters faces into that small pixel space). This constraint makes the developers optimize the usage of each pixels to the fullest which I think is a very good thing. But as the hardware gets more and more powerful, this so called "constraint" seems to be a lost art.

YYZ · (10-04-2007, 05:58 AM)

Originally Posted by Marty Chinn:

Maybe I'm confused, but is there a reason not to do these out of Legos? Wouldn't it be cheaper?

yea it would be I think, but they don't have the same effect. I wouldn't mind using legos if I could find exact instructions online on how to make a sprite from ________ (I'm too lazy to figure it out myself).

tnw · (10-04-2007, 06:45 AM)

What I think is interesting is that 10 years ago people would probably have shunned these 8-bit designs as being ugly and 'last gen'.

I wonder if people will have nostalgia for Final Fantasy VII-ish early 3D stuff. I do actually.

Iam Canadian · (10-04-2007, 06:57 AM)

That Magnet Man one is excellent. Mega Man easily had some of the best sprites on the NES.

Coen · (10-04-2007, 07:03 AM)

Originally Posted by keiichi:

Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.

Hey, I made that with HAMA peggles. :O
I'll go and make a photo of it.

mrklaw · (10-04-2007, 07:06 AM)

Originally Posted by Marty Chinn:

Maybe I'm confused, but is there a reason not to do these out of Legos? Wouldn't it be cheaper?

lego actually released 'lego mosaics' which is basically a box full of 1x1 blocks, and a semi transparent base which you can lay over a picture to 'trace' it with the 1x1 blocks.

Router · (10-04-2007, 07:11 AM)

Not PixelBlocks but still awesome.

Giant Robot · (10-04-2007, 07:55 AM)

Originally Posted by Router:

Not PixelBlocks but still awesome.

No one messes with Adam We.

I actually challenged Adam West to a shouting match at E3 last year.

Tempy · (10-04-2007, 11:42 AM)

Where would one be able to buy this in the Netherlands?

ThirstyFly · (10-04-2007, 12:21 PM)

I'm tempted to dig out my old childhood lego and see what I can make.
I want to try to make a 3D version of a 2D sprite.

God knows how dirty that lego is though. :(

Vashu · (10-04-2007, 12:27 PM)

Originally Posted by Tempy:

Where would one be able to buy this in the Netherlands?

Quoted For I Want To Know This Too!

Doc Evils · (10-04-2007, 12:28 PM)

Those are pretty cool.

Saoh · (10-04-2007, 12:33 PM)

Originally Posted by keiichi:

Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.

SO AWESOME IS NOT EVEN FUNNY!! :O me wants!!

the ones on games radar are amazing too, i want megaman and link! :D

ferricide · (10-05-2007, 06:49 PM)

it may not be the most economical choice, but amazon.com sells them, which means anyone in the world can order them.

http://www.amazon.com/s/102-6335617-...Mozilla-search

it's called google; use it =)

Shig · (10-05-2007, 07:08 PM)

Originally Posted by Marty Chinn:

Maybe I'm confused, but is there a reason not to do these out of Legos? Wouldn't it be cheaper?

I made a few, turned out well.

drizzle · (10-05-2007, 07:20 PM)

Originally Posted by Shig:

I made a few, turned out well.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...shig/legos.jpg

While lego does a god damn good job (damn, i wish my parents didn't throw out all my lego.. ), pixelblocks are translucid.. :)

It adds a nice effect... but lego ones kick ass too.

Duane Cunningham · (10-05-2007, 07:20 PM)

Originally Posted by tnw:

What I think is interesting is that 10 years ago people would probably have shunned these 8-bit designs as being ugly and 'last gen'.

I wonder if people will have nostalgia for Final Fantasy VII-ish early 3D stuff. I do actually.

There's kind of a "late PS1 look" that I actually have a fondness for and can't quite put my finger on it. Tomb Raider 3, Vagrant Story, Gran Turismo 2, Tekken 3... I don't know what it is, but there's a solid, unified visual style across those latter day games. The textures are blurry and bad by today's standards, but the polygons don't come apart at the seams. I don't know.

Shig · (10-05-2007, 07:26 PM)

Originally Posted by drizzle:

While lego does a god damn good job (damn, i wish my parents didn't throw out all my lego.. ), pixelblocks are translucid.. :)

It adds a nice effect... but lego ones kick ass too.

Yeah, but like he alluded to, it's much cheaper. I made those out of $16 worth of legos, with plenty left over.

LiQuid! · (10-05-2007, 07:35 PM)

Shit, this thread rules. Someone deserves a commission check cause you guys just sold me some pixelblocks.

Kalorii · (10-05-2007, 07:43 PM)

This reminded me of sprites made out of Perler and Hama beads by Schala.

http://www.pbase.com/schala/perler

Whimsical Phil · (10-05-2007, 07:47 PM)

PixelBlocks are pretty awesome. I made these a while ago...

I ran out of yellow blocks while making the Met. That explains the orange patch on its helmet.

Because I used up all my yellow blocks on the Met, I had to substitute orange blocks for Bub's spikes and cheeks. Those couple of clear blocks under Mario's foot are just to keep him balanced.

I've also joined the pieces together with clear craft glue (this glue, to be specific). It keeps them from falling apart when I pick them up, and because the glue is clear, it doesn't interfere when light passes through the blocks.

One of these days, I need to order more blocks to replace the substitute colors and to build a few more models.

Naked Snake · (10-05-2007, 08:02 PM)

Damn these are really beautiful, how much would it cost to do a couple of NES sprites in PixelBlocks?

dock · (10-05-2007, 08:02 PM)

I did some stuff like this with Hama beads. I also bought some mini-hama beads that are super tiny and great for finer detail characters. I'm half tempted to do another one of these soon. Choosing sprites and figuring out what colours you have is always the trickiest part.

dock · (10-05-2007, 08:08 PM)

Originally Posted by tnw:

I wonder if people will have nostalgia for Final Fantasy VII-ish early 3D stuff. I do actually.

We had some physical 'rapid prototype' models made of our low-poly 3D characters (400 triangles). They're deliciously angular. I like the look of low poly characters :)

drizzle · 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Brelston:

I've wondering how big a modern day sprite would be in real life. Like if you tried to build Alucard or something. I figured a Torterra from Diamond/Pearl would be the size of a desk.

That's easy to find out. What's the size (in centimeters, please) of each pixelblock?

this:

is 37x43 pixels

Alucard is not that big.. :D

The main problem with 16 and 32 bit pixels, the way i see it, would be the amount of colors used.

japtor · (10-05-2007, 08:48 PM)

a friend wanted me to post his triclyde:

Sapiens · (10-05-2007, 09:22 PM)

Originally Posted by Tenbatsu:

True classic indeed. Its amazing back then that the developers got a constraint on the amount of pixels they gonna work with (eg. squeezing the art of each SF2 characters faces into that small pixel space). This constraint makes the developers optimize the usage of each pixels to the fullest which I think is a very good thing. But as the hardware gets more and more powerful, this so called "constraint" seems to be a lost art.

I know what you're saying, but what we lose in the art of limitation we gain in new gameplay. Graphics are not everything.

I mean, they pushed 2D as far as it could go.

Propagandhim · 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by Sapiens:

I know what you're saying, but what we lose in the art of limitation we gain in new gameplay. Graphics are not everything.

I mean, they pushed 2D as far as it could go.

Not until we get a HD Street Fighter with SF3 quality animation.

EDIT: Oh, you mean back then.

Propagandhim · (10-05-2007, 09:45 PM)

Are there instructions for videogame sprites? I can't imagine making one of these just by eye.

bolak · (10-05-2007, 09:57 PM)

Originally Posted by Propagandhim:

Are there instructions for videogame sprites? I can't imagine making one of these just by eye.

If you zoom in enough, it's not really a problem to do them by eye. Alternatively, you can turn a grid on, which can help a lot for the more complicated sprites.

---

Here are mine: CLICKY