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I read somewhere that "Good Pixel Art has Shading."

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Malenko:
Thoughts?

I find that pixel art can be fantastic either way. Sometimes shading can enhance an image or give it more depth but sometimes it can make it look like ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. I mean look at Spiderman in Arcades Revenge vs the Spiderman from Maximum carnage. the MC looks like hes made out of chewing gum. This is pretty fair comparison considering they are on the same system and run the same resolution (please don't say how swell he looks in MvC2 compares to SNES)

I added some crude shadowing to the eyeball enemy for the game I'm working on, but I dont think the zombie I made would benefit much from having a second grey tone along his pant legs

The attached image is mine and while fine for public use Id rather not see it in another commercial product. If you are a pixel artist, this would be a great place to show off YOUR work (hell I might even commission you for help with my game)

saint:
Can we see side by side with and without shading?

Malenko:

--- Quote from: saint on June 15, 2011, 11:13:33 am ---Can we see side by side with and without shading?

--- End quote ---

you want me to shade the zombie or "unshade" the eyeball?

Vigo:
I come from a family with a lot of artists, I can't help but comment.  :lol

Interesting question to be asking now, years after video game art has any real constraints with color or resolution. Isn't pixel art right now an intentional limitation? I guess then it falls upon what kind of feelings and emotions you want to invoke, just like any art. It would be like comparing pointilistic art to impressionistic art. You can't say what style itself is better, but there is a better style for invoking a particular feeling.

I think shading is usually better at invoking a sense of realistic surroundings, or an realistic feeling on entire setting. Like a dark shadowy forest or an abandoned mansion. A less shaded image with bold colors is much more memorable and striking in your mind. You imagination creates a caricature from the simple imagery and intensifies the emotions behind it. Of all the video games I have played, some of the older games scared the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of me the most; they only had a handful of colors and a crappy resolution to use, my imagination did the rest.

RayB:
Unshaded only really works if you want a very flat 2D look to your game (or a very specific retro look, like "NES style"). I always preferred shaded to add dimension, help define objects as seperate from backgrounds, etc.

The next question you'll be asking yourself then is smooth shading or hard shading?

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