there's an isometric pixel art game idea I'd like to start working on and I'd handle the code but drawing out the pixel details and textures seems terrifying to me
@thog @neon It'd be great if something like an "extensive pixel art tutorial for programmers" existed, where we could learn everything step-by-step and start implementing polished pixel art into our games. unfortunately I'm afraid that getting really good at it means sacrificing a lot of programming time for that, basically learning a whole new skill from scratch with all the sub-skills necessary (color theory, style... etc)... but comprehensive book(s)/tutorials would help & save some time
@neon http://opengameart.org is like an all-you-can-kill zombie buffet for #gamedev.
@mdhughes Doesn't feel like it's mine though. Even if I'm bad at art, the visuals of my game are still an integral part of the creative expression, and it feels like using existing public materials takes something away from that.
Or something like that, ignore my pretension.
@neon My options are extremely crappy 2D art, extremely slow production of mediocre 3D art, or OGA free art that looks awesome.
@neon why is pixel art cheating?
@FimbulFlower Not all pixel art is cheating, but it's easy to make not-that-good-art with pixel art. This is based on the observation that the amateur gamedev scene has a very large portion of games that have pixel art, even if it isn't supposed to a retro game otherwise.
@neon why not using free assets packages?
@minitrope Doesn't feel like it's *mine*, and I think it detracts from the creative expression. Though I think that's just me being overly critical, I don't really mind if others do it.
@neon
The best way I've found is using paper and different drawing instruments. I have no fucking clue how to paint, but give me a piece of paper and some drawing tool with 5 different colors, and I'll come up with _something_ I can use in a game jam.
First time I did this was with a whiteboard and whiteboard pens. You just claim it's your own art style, and you're done 😛
@jon_valdes I have a whiteboard, and I like using it. Thanks for the idea!
@neon I've used https://www.piskelapp.com to do pixel art sprites before. It's nice and simple and fun to use, so it could be worth a shot.
It works all online, so there's nothing to install.
@neon well I honestly do pixel art most of the time because I'm in the same position as you, I suck at graphics