CHALLENGE: An Alien Artefact

Astronauts have just returned home to Earth from the planet Pyxl. The planet was deserted, but evidence was found of a long-gone civilization.

For this challenge, your goal is to depict an object that was found on planet Pyxl.

The astronauts noted that all objects they found on the planet were completely different to objects that exist on Earth.

Optional Bonus Challenge: Tell us about your object in the description - its uses, how it was created, who it was used by, etc...

Canvas size - Max 100 x 100.
Colours - Max 25.
Transparency - Required.
Animation - Optional.

---

CHALLENGE RULES

• Participants have until this upcoming Sunday at midnight (12AM Pacific) to submit their entry (strict). Don't forget to check the 'Submit to weekly challenge' checkbox.
• Only new pixels allowed.
• Open to all members.
• Posting WIPs in this thread or in new threads in the WIP section is highly encouraged, but ONLY SUBMIT YOUR FINAL ART.

---

CHALLENGE JUDGING

• Every Sunday at midnight (12AM Pacific) the previous week's entries are judged.
• Every week a new voting poll will be posted for previous week's entries.
• Winner announced the following week.

---

CHALLENGE PRIZES/GOODIES

• Top three finishers will receive an award displayed in your PJ gallery profile for all to see and envy.
• Top finisher gets to call the following week's challenge...sweet.
• 'Participation' ribbons will be given for all who enter.
• No matter what happens you get challenged :)

---

CHALLENGE VOTING

Vote now for your favorite pixelart in this week's challenge!

---

CHALLENGE AWARDS

The An Alien Artefact pixel art challenge is complete and we have three new champions. This week's challenge awards go to the following pieces:



Thanks so much to all who took the time to vote and participate in the challenge!

Don't forget that transparency is required.

Pretty cool stuff Whisper Heart. The stone looks particularly interesting.

Edited by ADrawingMan - 16 December 2013 at 2:04pm

What??
I don't see that being said anywhere in the challenge.
just saying..

Nah, as long as it follows the rules and the theme, they'll take it. In fact I'm kind of looking forward to how people interpret this one, as it's kinda weird.

Edited by Daimoth - 16 December 2013 at 8:44pm

I have made a long description to explain this image. It is supposed to be a disk with beveled sides, but I am not sure if it looks as it should...


Edited by Otto - 17 December 2013 at 10:45am

otto thats pretty cool, but the person graphic on it makes it seem less alien.  Try changing the person in some way to look less human.

Here's my work in progress:



I'm still tweaking it, and messing with colors. this is my most detailed pixel piece ever, and only using 5 colors (not including the greys which will be removed)

I would love some feedback and thoughts on it :) I have a backstory I'm going to include in the final upload, but what do you guys think so far?

I'm scared to animate it since ive never done a pixel animation before and it's a bit daunting rofl

Edited by phraktol - 17 December 2013 at 4:18pm

Whoa phraktol! Those colors look totally cool and it does indeed look like something extraterrestrial. I already have a favorite for this challenge :D

@jalonso: yeah, I totally have to redo that part from the beginning - I'm not even sure I want curved lines over there.

Question, does the name "Pixl" in any way indicate the type of civilization on the planet? Like, should the artifact look like something blocky and pixellated but in a 3d world?

Thanks! I appreciate it :D I'm putting a lot of effort into this design so its good to hear some encouraging words!

So do I.

That last one is extremely cool though. You have my vote already. Looking forward to seeing how it looks with transparency.

I do think the dark blue stands out a bit too much where you've used it for shading. If it was intended to make the thing look like it glows, that might work. But right now it just looks sort of misplaced, in my eyes. Especially on the bottom bit. But on the top bit, it looks like it's a reflection of light, which is cool.


I would clean it up a bit, work on readability. Right now, it's hard to make out what the shape is, and what kind of texture it is. Dithering is extra challenging when you're working at this tiny scale, with an unfamiliar object of alien origin.


Very nice idea, I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

I don't really feel qualified to provide edits, but I've tried to do it here anyway. I feel that your piece needs more colour and more distinct shadow. The "mask" is nearly spherical, so you should shade it like a sphere, right? And your palette arrangement doesn't make sense to me, because the dark brown doesn't work as a base for the dark purple, nor have you used it together with the green or grey elements, as far as I can tell. By the way, a lot of people will tell you never to use plain grey without any colour in it. Instead, try a grey-ish blue, or yellow or green.

The tube isn't shaded very well in my edit, because I wasn't sure if the light came from behind or in front of the mask, so I just left it.



Edited by CELS - 19 December 2013 at 3:36am

Yeah, I had a feeling my Holy Cross Custom Palette had some issues...

Thanks for the comment, CELS! I'll work on this today evening and make some update trying to put into practice all of that useful info ^^

I think this is gonna be my final version. Anyone have any thoughts or input on the design before I upload it? I'd love to hear your critiques!

I considered animating it spinning, actually, but i think that's a little bit beyond my current skills lol, honestly i dont even know where i would start... frame by frame animation scares the hell out of me haha, but maybe i'll bake on the idea and see if i can muster up the stones to give it a try :P
Thanks for your input!