.

[Vlajdermen]

it's interesting to see a game apply pixel art to gameplay which doesn't traditionally use it.

You haven't been around for long, have you?

Pixel art is common in DOS RPGs like Dark Sun but SitS is much more tied to Windows RPGs like the Infinity Engine games, which don't use pixel art

What does it have to do with operating systems?

Nothing per se, but the visual styles of one era and the other are noticably different.

SitS is a tribute to Darklands and wears it on its sleeve

I didn't know that, but then again I've never played Darklands. Something to consider when I finish the game I guess.

 

[JDR13]

I see a lot of people posting screens of old 2D games, but I don't think that's what he means by pixel art.

HoMM for example is not pixel art. Neither are old Sega Genesis games. Those were just standard 2D games for their time.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I don't even know what pixel art means this day and age, but mid-nineties 2D PC aesthetic is the best aesthetic (westwood, nwc, dreamforge, lucasarts et al). None of the modern "retro" games, even if PC-focused, came close to emulating it. They either look low-talent and/or low-effort (in other words: shit) or like 8/16bit console titles. OK, I guess some of the adventure games, particularly the QFG-like ones, made a decent effort, so kudos there.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Pixel art then:

Pixel art now:

 

[DraQ]

Pixel art is great if great, shit if shit.

Spoiler

Just like everything else.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Spoiler

1. Defender of the Crown, Map of Britain, Jim Sachs

2. Agony, Loader Screen 1, Franck Sauer

3. Agony, Owl animation, Franck Sauer

4. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Sunset, Jim Sachs

5. Unreal, Title Screen, Franck Sauer

6. Unpublished, Loading Screen, Franck Sauer

7. Amiga Lagoon, Jim Sachs

 

[RoBoBOBR]

Poll with no KC option? OP is a fag.

 

[Falksi]

 

[tritosine2k]

...

Pixel art? Rather "kitsch" has a new element, pixels. "kitschy art" - fits.

...

These are "sprites" and "backgrounds".

 

[Viata]

Man, I know every single game Falksi posted there. Truly a great gen.

 

[tritosine2k]

Kev Inkline the meme-coin grifter upset about his kitsch "art"

 

[Kev Inkline]

Kev Inkline the meme-coin grifter upset about his kitsch "art"

Dude, those are early nineties Amiga games' background/intro screens and Psygnosis owl sprites you're referring to, I don't quite know what you're even talking about it.

To me pixel art is first and foremost a technique, 'art' as in a skill acquired. From that pov, what you're saying is akin to something like noting that 'Baldur's gate backgrounds are kitsch'. Maybe so, but so fucking what? It's a game.

 

[tritosine2k]

OK. Then it (artists working around very real hw limitations) has to do with whole different-era phenomenon of "pixel-art" ,what ?

 

[Kev Inkline]

What has to do with what?

 

[tritosine2k]

Aren't you supposed to look at these amiga images with some CRT scanline method? As it was intended ? Opposed to the later kitsch stuff that's exactly about that edgy pixel stuff.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Well-done pixel art has that same kind of style to it that you get from a really well-done painting or drawing. Its the kind of thing that I've only seen the absolute best 3D graphics do in comparison. Bad pixel art looks like blobs on a screen and I'd honestly prefer bad 3D graphics or text to that.
That said, some of the stuff we think of as pixel art isn't really. Some of the late DOS and late Amiga stuff is more akin to an early digital drawing than true pixel art. Assuming it isn't straight up a scan of analog artwork, which you can argue about. I know I would call some background work in late DOS adventure games that instead of pixel art. Shadow of the Comet in particular uses a wide mix of techniques, including scanning actors faces.

 

[Humanophage]

Not a fan of the overly low resolution stuff that imitates consoles. Very fond of small pixels though. Pixel art before the mass switch to 3D was getting perfect, like HoMM3 landscapes. Here's a good pixel size for pixel art, the volcano looking especially nice.

That's too large and flat, despite the fair use of colours and not being tasteless:

 

[anvi]

I think graphics are the least of gaming's problems.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Aren't you supposed to look at these amiga images with some CRT scanline method? As it was intended ? Opposed to the later kitsch stuff that's exactly about that edgy pixel stuff.

I am not sure it affects much of their visual appeal, to me Amiga screenshots looks pretty much the same as they did in 320x200 resolution, even on a modern pc screen.

Say this picture:

That being said, I'm willing to grant you that of the posts you quoted, the two last pics in Zed Duke of Banville post are indeed kitschy, and not quite what you'd consider pixel art, at least least it wouldn't be the first thing associated with the notion.

Also, to fully appreciate Amiga aesthetics, you'd need to experience it through playing, preferably on a real Amiga, static images won't do justice.

 

[tritosine2k]

Emphasizing pixels as "artistry" simply turns stuff extravagantly kitschy with high frequencies ( a CRT cannot even reproduce because gaussian "pixels" ) poking your eye :

“Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them.”

― Brian Eno, 1995

 

[Kev Inkline]

Andy Warhol paints Debbie Harry on an Amiga


This isn't pixel art, not sure if it's art, but certainly pixels involved.

 

[tritosine2k]

Andy Warhol paints Debbie Harry on an Amiga

This isn't pixel art, not sure if it's art, but certainly pixels involved.

pixels involved , yeah ,intermediately, not before, or even after. And with 90's CRT "crosstalking" pixels (it's lines really) it's very doubtful individual pixels amount to consideration. UNLIKE now/recently, when they want to poke you in the eye brick by brick




...

 

[Harthwain]

What game is this screenshot from?

 

[Haba]

2D is better for nearly everything.

But I don't care how the result is achieved, as long as it looks good.

 

[DraQ]

2D is better for nearly everything.

But I don't care how the result is achieved, as long as it looks good.

2D is not better because of how limited it is.

It's like saying that hand crafting every frame is better - sure, a hand-crafted frame can always be better than anything a game engine can render and fart out, but handcrafting 2D graphics for any and all situations (and resolutions) is way beyond prohibitive.
In a way 3D is just an incredibly flexible way of procedurally generating 2D graphics on demand.

Not to say I don't adore great 2D art, no matter the technique, mind you.