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[Dascu]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0c/cd/96/0ccd96756eacb895dc16d01b66ee7354.jpg[IMG]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

[IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/82/AvP_arcade_gameplay.png[IMG]

but its so much of this 8-bit stuff [B]or this minimalist skinny jeans garbage[/B][/QUOTE]
Yes, there's been quite a few of those. I think there's enough variety out there, but I agree this style in particular has become a very boring approach.

 

[Falk]

I just want more games that look and animate like Metal Slug

Spoiler

I can be patient

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

Maybe they really like Custer's Revenge. Who are we to judge (!!!)

 

[ShemhazaiX]

I think it's worth mentioning that a lot of these games are made by small studios that unlikely have the money to create high resolution art work for their games and pixel art is relatively easy to learn.
Also it looks nice. :[

 

[Kinyou]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

but its so much of this 8-bit stuff or this minimalist skinny jeans garbage

I actually really like that style.

Though something as beautiful as the AvP game sure wouldn't hurt either.

 

[More_Badass]

Some modern pixel art

Rain World | The Last Night
Death's Gambit | Do Not Cross
Slain | Children of Morta

 

[Pancake Mix]

Yes, it's been done to death these past 5 years unfortunately. I'm not too happy that many month's PS+ selection has games with this art style that I really don't enjoy. People complain about AAA games being too risk-adverse, but indie games should take risks too, not insist on being "retro" 2D platformers. If your budget has determined a 2D platformer, don't be afraid of a modern art style!

 

[aw350]

I'd like to see more 16bit style graphics. The 8bit aesthetic is getting played out.

Like this which is from a recent game:

Freedom Planet

(This does look better than '8-bit' for sure. And I agree on pixel art stopping being 'retro' these days.)

 

[Ishida]

So you want an awful filter over your games to make it look more like your terrible CRT you had when you were younger?

I don't understand this line of thought.

To be honest, me neither.

And this is coming from a massive retro fan who still has his old Atari 2600, NES and SNES hooked up to a CRT TV.

 

[More_Badass]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

but its so much of this 8-bit stuff or this minimalist skinny jeans garbage

You're comparing a game with the funding of big publisher/developer Capcom...to the work of indie devs?

 

[diffusionx]

Oh yes. These games look horrible, not just by themselves but put next to actual 16-bit games. There are some good looking ones but they eschew this convention entirely. Maybe it appeals to kids who think this is how games used to look?

 

[Mithos]

Some modern pixel art

Looks good, at 1 pixel = 1 pixel, stretched onto a 1920x1080 or higher screen not so much.

 

[VariantX]

So you want an awful filter over your games to make it look more like your terrible CRT you had when you were younger?

I don't understand this line of thought.

But yes, the "retro" pixel look has been played out at this point.

To be fair, old games tend to look better on CRT monitors because they took those scan lines into account. Slapping scanlines on a game made today may not improve its visuals as much

 

[TheCongressman1]

I love it. I don't always love every execution, but there's just as much artistry to be found in that style as any other. I don't like it when people sum it up to being lazy art. Sometimes that may be the truth, but don't devalue everyone.

 

[Red Liquorice]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

but its so much of this 8-bit stuff or this minimalist skinny jeans garbage

I have to agree with this actually. And I largely think the first example is often down to lack of ability rather than artistic choice. Sprite work in the 8-32 bit era could be absolutely beautiful and stunning art. Stick figures are not.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Yes, it's been done to death these past 5 years unfortunately. I'm not too happy that many month's PS+ selection has games with this art style that I really don't enjoy. People complain about AAA games being too risk-adverse, but indie games should take risks too, not insist on being "retro" 2D platformers.

Indie games take all kinds of risks and no, not everything is pixel art (though there is a ton of variety and beauty there as well) and a 2D platformer by a long shot (look up The Witness, Yooka-Laylee, Firewatch, Indivisible, Ghost of a Tale, A Hat in Time, Cuphead and countless others).

 

[HarryKS]

When they all try to look different, they end up looking the same.

 

[aw350]

Yes, it's been done to death these past 5 years unfortunately. I'm not too happy that many month's PS+ selection has games with this art style that I really don't enjoy. People complain about AAA games being too risk-adverse, but indie games should take risks too, not insist on being "retro" 2D platformers. If your budget has determined a 2D platformer, don't be afraid of a modern art style!

Some key words that seem to be way overused in game descriptions due to fashion:

'retro'
'difficult'
'rogue-like'
etc...

There's also 'open-world', but somehow I like it more.

 

[nkarafo]

So you want an awful filter over your games to make it look more like your terrible CRT you had when you were younger?

But that's how the games actually looked. If you don't want to make your game look like that then why use fat ugly pixels anyway? What kind of retro feeling you get by that?

Also i agree about the poor artworks as well. We get square heads and skinny leg figures all the time. But there are very few Capcom pixel art CPS1/2 Neo-Geo equivalents.

 

[WarMacheen]

Some modern pixel art

Thanks for the screens they look interesting

 

[SmokedMeat]

I'd like to see more 16bit style graphics. The 8bit aesthetic is getting played out.

Like this which is from a recent game:

Freedom Planet

Agree, but that would require more work.

 

[binarymelon]

I have no issue with accuracy as some do, but the sheer volume of "retro" games is getting tiring. Especially since there's quite a bit of shovelware getting released now in the indie friendly environment.

 

[More_Badass]

Looks good, at 1 pixel = 1 pixel, stretched onto a 1920x1080 or higher screen not so much.

Considering a game like Rain World is coming to PSN and Vita and is specifically designed for 16:9 widescreen displays...

 

[True Fire]

It's just the 80s kids who grew up to become indie developers. Soon the 90s kids who grew up with 3D platformers will become indie developers and we'll get a tidal wave of games like Yooka-Laylee.

 

[entremet]

Some modern pixel art

Names of these?

 

[gelf]

It's worth baring in mind that many of these indies making these sorts of lo-fi games will not have manpower or budget to make art and animation like the best of the 16bit era and up. They were the AAA games of their time and had the best designers working on them.

It's pretty mindblowing when some manage it though. Freedom Planet is incredible.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Some modern pixel art

Gorgeous stuff.

Wonder when that Last Night Kickstarter will hit.

 

[AmyS]

I'd like to see more 16bit style graphics. The 8bit aesthetic is getting played out.

This.

 

[Beerman462]

I kind of like how the CRT mode in Mario Maker (unlockable with the 30th anniversary amiibo or by pressing down + a + b during loading) adds a colour change on top of the faint lines and blur.

You're right on how developers factored in the effect of scanlines and such though. They actually helped give some texture and sprite designs added form. You can't replicate that in emulation, however you may try. Again, that's one reason I'm happy with Mario Maker in that its actually a kind of super polished version of how the games used to look - they weren't going for accuracy. Everything has crisp lines, and nice little shadows..

That's a damn decent filter. I like it.

Some modern pixel art

Rain World | The Last Night
Death's Gambit | Do Not Cross
Slain | Children of Morta

Thanks for including names. I will check these out.

 

[RazielCuts]

I think with everything some can be lazy af -

McPixel

1000000

It's the 'Let's do retro but we can't/ won't hire a pixel artist.'

But then some of them can be really nice -

Crawl

Sword and Sworcery

 

[More_Badass]

Thanks for the screens, would have been better with names, they look interesting

Added the names

You can find more here

Have you seen this thread? Lot of good looking modern pixel art games there

 

[Nishastra]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

I feel like these super-low-res pixel artstyles are the "programmer art" of the modern day. If your character's limbs are one pixel wide in a solid color, pretty much anyone can draw and animate them quickly and easily.

So think of it that way. If not for an artstyle like that, some of these games probably wouldn't exist.

 

[WarMacheen]

Added the names

You can find more here

Thanks mate, I changed my post after seeing your edit. Def going to check them out

 

[PixyJunket]

Like what, an interview or something?

Yes. You said "all developers back then had these attributes in mind."

So back it up.

You don't need that, there are plenty of examples in old games, all you need to do is compare how they look in raw form in an emulator and then play the real thing on a CRT. You will see how things get shaped up and start making sense. Even small things that were a bunch of pixels before take shape and become something that looks like an object. Even colors change sometimes and some effects are dithered on purpose so that the CRT can smooth them out and make them look like transparencies (which sometimes gets ruined if you RGB mode your console for sharper image quality).

These are many examples if you look into it.

So you are speaking for countless artists on behalf of your own assumptions and opinions.

I'm sure they appreciate it.

I played my retro game consoles on a Commodore 1702 and later through a TV with S-video.

The images I saw were closer to the sharp, top image you provided.

You shouldn't assume that everybody played through cheap TVs using RF to get your exaggerated bottom image, especially in the 16-bit era.

 

[Shang]

I'm just tired of bad, disingenuous pixel art that looks nothing like old games looked, but is "retro".

 

[Munin]

I hate this shit. When people started doing sprite based games on their own, I was hoping to get something like all those classic early to mid 90s Japanese games

but its so much of this 8-bit stuff or this minimalist skinny jeans garbage

I think you vastly underestimate the amount of work that goes into something like your second example.

 

[Diablohead]

Yep we need more 16 "bit" sprites or at least sprites bigger then 32 x 32 in dimension, it's long overdue.

 

[The Elite]

I think we may have had this thread or something similar to it just recently.

Either way, I agree.

 

[More_Badass]

I'm just tired of bad, disingenuous pixel art that looks nothing like old games looked, but is "retro".

Pixel art isn't always meant to be retro or trying to look like old games

It's just an art style. Some devs try to emulate older games, while many others don't

 

[JordanN]

Agree, but that would require more work.

Would it really?

Going 8-bit to 16-bit wasn't anything like 16-bit to 3d polygons was. Both generations also used the same resolution (240p), so the art is still filling the same space.

I wish there was more ambition to overlook the "more work" aspect.

 

[Durante]

I never liked it.

Something like Rain World, which does things only really made feasible by its aesthetics is different of course.

 

[diffusionx]

I think you vastly underestimate the amount of work that goes into something like your second example.

I think he estimates it properly, he would just like to see games that look good instead of games that look bad. So would I. Games are hard to make, it's part of the deal.

 

[Muffdraul]

I've been gaming since the early 70s but somehow I've never been prone to the sort of nostalgia that would make me want new games that resemble old games. Watching games constantly evolve and go forward has been one of the primary pillars that has kept me interested and engaged all this time. I loved 2D 16 bit games in their day and there are many of them that I still love in my heart, but have zero desire to see them come back.

 

[Auctopus]

It was fun for the first couple of years but it's so dialled in now.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Things like these (random pictures of random games to see what i'm talking about)


Ok so old games looked like that because the resolution was too low. I get it, it's "retro style" graphics or at least that's what the developers aim for. However, let's not forget that old TVs didn't display the graphics this way. They were smoothing out the images by default and there were also visible scan lines.

In fact, all developers back then had these attributes in mind. Look at this old example for instance:


See some other examples here: http://www.fantasystrike.com/forums/index.php?threads/crt-filters.6920/


As you can see, the above picture is the unfiltered image, as it looks on a modern display. This is how most modern "fat pixel art" games look. However, the image below is what the developers actually aimed for. They had this filtering in mind when designing their pixel art. Games weren't supposed to look as blocky and as sharp as the first image. And you also need scan lines.

So yeah, i get this is "retro style" but it's more like how emulators look on modern displays instead of how the actual games looked on the CRTs. So it doesn't really succeed at being retro in the end. Which is my main complain about this overused art style. Especially now that i'm into RetroArch and can't go back to emulators with no CRT emulation.

I'm sure that there are exceptions and some of these games can look great (Binding of Isaac perhaps?). There are always exceptions.

Thoughts?

I can agree w/ just about all of this. Although there are some pixel art games on the horizon that forego the CRT/scanline replication look and still look phenomenal (The Last Night, Freedom Planet, NGEV's games in particular), that comes down to artistry decision in lieu of not adhering 100% to the CRT/scanline look. A lot of other "retro"-style pixel art games just look tacky and cheap, not just because of the lack of CRT distortion and scanline implementation, but because of artistic decisions that don't look well together. This could be anything from an incohesive color palette to an awkward mesh of super-deformed sprites on photo-realistic background rips (without an intentional jab at comedy), or whatever. Those are decisions no amount of technology is really responsible for.

Personally I would love for more retro-style games to attempt the artistic creativity of fare like Yoshi's Island, or the Sonic games, or Metal Slug or even Street Fighter III and Garou (massive number of frames aside; that could be a tall order for a small team), but if we're being honest most bitmap/raster-focused indie artists just either aren't skilled enough or dedicated in prioritization to pull that off. We're talking about a heap of games usually developed by one/two person teams, mind, so if they have to prioritize anything, it's the game code and game mechanics, and that's perfectly understandable.

But a good bit of time to me it seems like a lot of "retro"-style pixel based indie games just use that title in name only, where aside from doing away with the intended features of CRT distortion and scanlines, they also end up looking like a weird cross between 8 and 16-bit games in terms of visual technology, but not having quite enticing art styles (I guess this is a bias of mine, I prefer anime/manga style visuals over most Western comic/cartoon visuals in games) and some frustratingly seeming like they could go the extra mile but shortchange themselves in order to fit what's become the commonly accepted "retro" style (Slain! is one of the better examples of this).

 

[Ysarus]

I'm pretty sure some people choose styles like this because they aren't great artists, or they just want to focus on other aspects. It's easier to get a game to look okay (not amazing) that way than when you're drawing large sprites and using huge palettes.

I just don't see how it's a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, I understand people being tired of it, but If it means more indies get to finish their games relatively quickly with reasonable budgets, I'm fine with it. As much as I like my games pretty, not everyone can do eye candy.

 

[Dreamwriter]

In fact, all developers back then had these attributes in mind. Look at this old example for instance:


See some other examples here: http://www.fantasystrike.com/forums/index.php?threads/crt-filters.6920/


As you can see, the above picture is the unfiltered image, as it looks on a modern display. This is how most modern "fat pixel art" games look. However, the image below is what the developers actually aimed for. They had this filtering in mind when designing their pixel art. Games weren't supposed to look as blocky and as sharp as the first image. And you also need scan lines.

Everyone trots out that image, but you realize that almost no actual games did that, right? Final Fantasy VI was very well known for its awesome art. Very few 16-bit games had that effect, and even fewer 8-bit games. Also, many TV sets from the era were high quality, had very sharp edges and no visible scanlines and didn't create that effect. And computer monitors were definitely that way, but there were computer games that used pixel art that looked like your first examples.

 

[More_Badass]

I think he estimates it properly, he would just like to see games that look good instead of games that look bad. So would I. Games are hard to make, it's part of the deal.

Well, he's comparing a game made by Capcom to games made by indie devs. And that's not to say indie games can't compete graphically with AAA games, but comparing an indie game to a game made with a Capcom-level budget is just silly

 

[Durante]

Everyone trots out that image, but you realize that almost no actual games did that, right? Final Fantasy VI was very well known for its awesome art. Very few 16-bit games had that effect, and even fewer 8-bit games. Also, many TV sets from the era were high quality, had very sharp edges and no visible scanlines and didn't create that effect. And computer monitors were definitely that way, but there were computer games that used pixel art that looked like your first examples.

No CRT technology looks like an LCD.

 

[PdotMichael]

You know that PC games had 2d games and they weren't a blurish mess like console games.

Some people overdoing it with their scanlines fetish.

 

[Warm Machine]

I used to love playing the arcade Golden Axe at this one place as it with running on an absolutely gorgeous RGB monitor that was as close to pixel perfect as I'd seen at that time. I hated blurovision and I always tried to avoid it.