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NES sprites outta PixelBlocks - pics

Brelston

Member
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:

100207_pixelblocks_obs3--screenshot_large.jpg


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

http://www.gamesradar.com/us/wii/ga...1044&sectionId=1006&pageId=200710039376553066
 

arne

Member
YOU STOLE MY IDEA.

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

dextran

Member
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.
 

Brelston

Member
dextran said:
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

Banned
Naked Snake said:
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
 

Brelston

Member
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).
 

Brelston

Member
Nice!

I'll retaliate with my nonsensical choice of Batman.

100207_pixelblocks_obs10--screenshot_large.jpg


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.
 

Brelston

Member
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.
 

Tenbatsu

Member
Naked Snake said:
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.
street_fighter_2_turbo.jpg
 

YYZ

Junior Member
Marty Chinn said:
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

Banned
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.

cloud.jpg
 

Coen

Member
keiichi said:
Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.
156954571_9d7c32b898.jpg

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

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Marty Chinn said:
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.
 
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. :(
 

Saoh

Member
keiichi said:
Here are a few i've done. Definitely need a lot of blocks though which makes it expensive.
138693064_b1b80fbcd4.jpg

156954571_9d7c32b898.jpg

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

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

Strap on your hooker ...
drizzle said:
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!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
Shit, this thread rules. Someone deserves a commission check cause you guys just sold me some pixelblocks.
 

Whimsical Phil

Ninja School will help you
PixelBlocks are pretty awesome. I made these a while ago...

PixelBlocks_MegaManMet_small.jpg


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

PixelBlocks_BubMario_small.jpg


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.
 

dock

Member
379058699_1e86647467.jpg


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

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

cloud.jpg
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

Axel Hertz
Brelston said:
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:

alucard.gif


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.
 

Sapiens

Member
Tenbatsu said:
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.
street_fighter_2_turbo.jpg


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.
 
Sapiens said:
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.
 

bolak

Member
Propagandhim said:
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
 
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