Hi guys.

Newbie pixel artist here. A wannabe , should i say

I already did some work in the style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEopZAmMd1E

But now me and buddies are creating a RPG that is aimed at all nostalgic gamers - trying to recreate feeling of D&D Gold box and RPGs of the age.

But in same time graphic should be attractive for everyone 

So I really want that old school pixel art feeling , but sprites will be quite large , and feature a lot of D&D type monsters. Also there has to be lot of dungeon walls and furnishings.


Any tips , tricks , recommendations , examples , ideas ?


Thanks


p.s :

Should i worry about palette ? Limit the colors ? Will this make the art look "old school"

If yes - could you recommend me a good palette ? Because there should be a lot of large monster sprites , inventory , and dungeon walls










Edited by Lobotomist - 14 February 2011 at 2:50am

Interesting.

So , what you are saying - the way towards getting this old school pixel art feel - is limiting the palette ?

Now.

2 things

First off , i am more of a drawing guy, i have not good eye for colors :(

So creating palette myself will be a disaster

Second - 16 colors palette , is bit too drastic.

I need to make at least 40 monsters , dungeon backgrounds , items , portraits ...etc

I think bit more generous palette would be in order , dont you think ?


Now only if someone could recommend me a good generic palette ?
( like this one for example http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=4306.0 but with more colors )

I'm not telling you to use the NES-palette, I used the site to show the NES limitations, colors on screen at once, colors per sprite and sprite/tile sizes.
Colors alone don't give the old-school look.

Besides NES has a palette of 56 colors, of which 16 can be shown on screen at one time, or 25 with background colors. So you can pick your colors from the 52 for each level. At least that's how I understand it.

Obviously you don't have to abide by all these rules but it would certainly give the classic style if done correctly.

Why don't you just create a mockup with a palette you like, post it in the WIP-section and go from there?

Take a look at this


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_videogame_consoles_palettes

Edited by Leroy - 18 February 2011 at 6:18am

It's impossible to recommend a palette, but since it looks like that's what you're after, what about this.



It's 128 colors from Atari 2600 NTSC format

Edited by Leroy - 18 February 2011 at 12:14pm

Bit old by now, but man, 16 colors is nothing. look at the original gameboy and see what can be done with 4.

And i'd say color restrictions, sprite size, and overall resolution all have an effect on making something seem "old school".

And simplification of animations and such too to an extent (For example, River City Ransom, where your character will grab a roast and shove it in his mouth and chew happily... or a bowl of soup!)

you use 20 colors,not saying you have to but you can do alot with just 8 color


E:  >:(


Edited by jalonso - 18 April 2011 at 7:50pm