A Pixel Artist Renounces Pixel Art (2015)
Dinosaur Game 3d


                
                    I’ve wanted to write this
                        article for some time now, and this seems like the perfect opportunity
                        to do so. For those of you who are aware of Dinosaur Game and our
                        recent release, Auro for iOS and  Android, you know that
                        we spent literally years producing carefully handmade, meticulous pixel
                        art. After weeks of work, I just finished the most recent piece. The
                        upcoming PC port of the game needed a new title screen image, as the
                        game will be in landscape view.

                    
                        A million billion hours, only 45 colors!
                    
                    I hope it’s clear from this image that I love pixel art. Auro
                        was a love letter to the amazing stuff Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, and
                        SNK produced in the 90s. That art was probably the primary reason I got
                        into this field in the first place. It’s a beautiful form, and some of
                        my favorite pixel artwork is being made today.
                    That said, the word “renounce” is not just click bait. Auro is likely to be the last Dinofarm Games title to feature pixel art.
                    Our team has been debating this
                        for a long time, because we all unanimously love the aesthetic. The
                        debate arose from the occasional anxiety we would get from the “HD this,
                        HD that” fetishism that began in the early 2000s. In a way, our
                        culture’s obsession with higher and higher resolutions made us defiant.
                        It reinforced our stance on pixel art purism.
                    But in the last year, I’ve come to a very different conclusion. It’s not about what I like. It never is.

                    “HD fetishism” has always been around
                    HD is the current buzz word
                        used to market both hardware and software. The “high” in “high
                        definition” is relative. 25 years ago, “16 bit graphics” was the
                        operative word, but it was ultimately the same concept; 16 bit graphics
                        was just the the HD of its time. But as you all now, everything is on HD
                        now, from games to movies or even gaming channels on youtube, here is a
                        list of the the top YT channels
                    Creators understand that screen
                        size/resolution is just a canvas like any other. A good artist can make
                        anything from a Gameboy screen to a 60 inch LED look good. Problems
                        arise when it comes time to convey to a non-artist what constitutes
                        quality art. It takes a lot effort to explain how this:

                    
                        The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the original Gameboy
                    

                    has much better art than this:

                    
                        Bubsy for SNES
                    

                    However, it is easy to
                        explain that the second image has a higher level of technology. To the
                        average person, I’m sure it’s self-evident. Some may  even be so
                        taken with the spectacle of added color and resolution that they might
                        think Bubsy has the better artwork!
                    I could write you an entire book on why that is absolutely not
                        the case, but that’s the thing – it’s not the audience’s responsibility
                        to read that book. It’s my responsibility deliver them quality in a
                        language they understand.

                    “The H-est D”
                    Artists of any era tend to
                        create with the best, most current tools available to them. Technology’s
                        primary function is to make human life as easy and efficient as
                        possible. This is no different in the case of art production technology.
                        Greater production technology means fewer limitations imposed by the
                        medium.
                    All mediums have their
                        limitations, however. Just as the canvas has its edge, graphics
                        processors have their thresholds. In the earliest days of game art, the
                        extreme technological limitations created serious adversity.
                    We all get how pixels basically
                        work. A computer divides a display into squares, and each square can be
                        assigned one RGB value at a time. The total squares supported by the
                        hardware is the device’s “resolution.”
                    This square grid is the
                        smallest possible subdivision of detail available to an artist. It’s
                        very much like tile/mosaic art – you can only add as much detail as your
                        smallest available tile.

                    
                    

                    Early game artists had precious few “tiles.”

                    
                        “NOTHING IS OVER!!”
                    

                    This constricted medium turned
                        good artists into problem solvers. Good artists looked at the display
                        like a mosaic artist, and not so good artists looked at it like a rock
                        and chisel.
                    
                        “Your worst nightmare.”
                    

                    In Mighty Final Fight (pictured on the left above), Guy’s eye is constructed with illusion in mind. By strategically grouping colors and observing their relationships, more complex shapes and forms were implied. The use of flesh tone under the eyelash and on the iris even implies other colors!
                    The pixels in Mighty Final Fight
                        contain actual information. To illustrate, I drew a higher- resolution
                        extrapolation based on the information coded into these little squares.
                        As you can see, I was able to infer a ton of detail and depth from Guy,
                        but even though both examples use virtually the same amount of pixels, I
                        could barely do anything with Rambo.
                    Techniques like those used in Mighty Final Fight, we have only retroactively
                        come to call “pixel art techniques.” If the artists of the time had
                        access to better production tools, I’m sure they would have been
                        thrilled. “Pixel art” was never a thing – nobody was thinking “I think we’ll go with pixel art for this game.” Rather, they were simply working in the “H-est D” available to them.

                    Pixel art: a form after the fact
                    Only now, after the fact,
                        is “pixel art” an elective aesthetic style. In the early 80s, IBM PCs
                        could only display 4 colors for a full screen illustration(black, white,
                        cyan and magenta). Blending colors was impossible, so artists would
                        “checker board” two colors together. At a glance, this looks like a
                        color exactly halfway between the two. This technique is called dithering.

                    
                    

                    Back then, they had to
                        dither. Nowadays, it’s used to achieve a look(art by Larwick on
                        Pixeljoint) Modern screens can literally display colors upwards of a billion.
                    I think it’s safe to say that
                        the tricks of the trade employed to make primitive games look good are
                        no longer required. Yet there is a small, but vibrant community of
                        enthusiasts who not only keep these techniques alive (art by Snake on
                        Pixeljoint), but even add to the form with bold expressionist
                        techniques(art by Calv on Pixeljoint).
                    This community takes pride in doing extremely complex work(art by jamon on Pixeljoint) while keeping the color count very low.
                    The biggest sticklers and
                        purists consider the use of alpha(semi-transparent pixels), or
                        software-side lighting/shadow/particle effects a form of cheating.
                    All these aspects of the
                        community culminate into a sort of sport-like atmosphere, similar to the
                        remnants of the Jazz music scene. While these communities are full of
                        dexterous, blistering performers and highly talented craftsmen, they are
                        also very small and very insular.

                    “It’s good, but kind of pixelated…”
                    This sort of “inside baseball” aspect of a niche movement causes problems when it comes to communicating with people.

                    
                    

                    
                    

                    Sometimes the word “pixelated”
                        is used in a derogatory sense, and sometimes not. Either way, anyone who
                        uses the word clearly doesn’t grasp the concept that pixel art is a
                        deliberate, predetermined art style. And it’s not just with us. The
                        Reviewer of the SNK fighter King of Fighters XIII over at IGN had this to say about the sprite work:
                    “While they look a bit pixelated, the character models look quite good”-IGN review of KOF XIII

                    
                        “quite good.”
                    

                    This sprite is not “quite good.” It’s among the best 2D animation ever made in a video game. However good it is, it’s good in spite of it being “pixelated” according to many.
                    Out of curiosity, I wondered what kind of treatment a game I consider to have pretty ghastly art got.

                    
                        Street Fighter IV
                    

                    Yes. I think Street Fighter IV is a garish, sloppy eyesore with sub-par animation. Let’s see if IGN agrees.

                    
                        *spit take*
                    

                    The shoddy SFIV received a higher art score than one of the best looking games to date, and I believe it’s all due to a pixel tax. To demonstrate what I’m driving at, let’s put SFIV’s animation under the microscope.

                    
                    

                    At first glance, it looks
                        serviceable. I think animators and artists can spot the issues right
                        away, but to the average gamer, it’s perfectly clear and fine looking.

                    Anyone remember Street Fighter III: Third Strike?

                    
                        God I miss those days.
                    

                    SFIII’s animation is orders of magnitude better than SFIV’s. It’s not even close, but perhaps it’s still not totally evident at a glance.

                    
                        night and day
                    

                    Chun-li’s body in SFIII
                        works like a whip cracking. When every frame is a new drawing, it
                        allows for things like flowing drapery, muscles flexing and unflexing,
                        the natural sort of warp the body takes when it moves in extreme ways,
                        etc. The effect is nothing short of magical.
                    While I’ve seen far worse than Chun-li in SFIV,
                        the animation is just kind of dead and sloppily done. There is no
                        urgency, and many of her limbs and facial movements seem bizarre and out
                        of place. Because of this, SFIV Chun-li  looks like she’s posing for a photo shoot, whereas SFIII Chun-li looks full of adrenaline and intensity… almost as though she were in a fight!

                    To
 be clear, SFIV’s bad animation has nothing to do with it being 3D. I’m
not saying SFIII is superior because it’s 2D. I’m saying it’s superior
because it’s better art/animation. Pixar, for example, produces some of
the most genius animation I’ve ever seen. Conversely, tons of American
                            TV has terrible 2D animation.
                    Is the difference clear yet? Hopefully it is to most people. But look how long it took me to explain that. Now watch this:
                    Street Fighter IV is in 1080p
                    Street Fighter IV runs at 60 FPS
                    Street Fighter III, on the other hand, is pixelated.

                    
                        Regular D
                    

                    See how quickly that takes?
                        That’s because I’m communicating in a language that the average person
                        living in this time can understand. When they see SFIII or KOFXIII,
                        they don’t see the unbelievable craft that went into it, or if they do,
                        they have to first reconcile what they see first, which is the
                        magnified image above. They have to pay the pixel tax.
                    Same goes for another term highlighted above: “retro.” Auro
                        wasn’t supposed to be “retro.” To me, the “retro game” aesthetic isn’t
                        just pixel art, but an appeal to the specific sounds, feedback, and look
                        and feel of a specific set of old school games. While it’s true that Auro
                        was an homage to my favorite game art, I never intended for it to be
                        “retro.” I just wanted to make great pixel art, yet it inexorably gets
                        lumped in with the retro aesthetic.
                        But here’s the clincher. It’s not their fault.

                    
                        “Retro?” Poppycock! I’ll have you know I’m quite jiggy with it!
                    

                    The Artist’s Responsibility
                    Though I never intended for Auro to be a “retro-style” game, what I intended doesn’t matter at all, and it’s 100% my fault for failing to communicate in a language people understand.
                    As a game developer, time is the most valuable resource a human can give you.
                        Nobody owes us their time or attention. As such, when someone gives us
                        their time, an implicit agreement is made and we are now in debt to that
                        person. We owe it to them to deliver value for their time, and to
                        deliver it efficiently.
                    I am an illustrator/animator. The kind of value that
                        illustrators/animators are responsible for is distinct among other types
                        of visual artists. We must establish meaningful intent as close to instantaneously as possible. By meaningful intent, I simply mean that the audience has to internalize the concept, motion, emotion, perspective, etc. of a piece right
                        away. The second the audience asks “how can he bend that way without
                        breaking his spine,” or  “Why is he shooting where he’s not
                        looking,” we have failed them. They don’t owe us the time to
                        look at our work in the first place. They certainly don’t owe us the
                        time to squint their eyes and try to make sense of our work.
                    Meaningful intent applies to medium as well. In
                        choosing to make our game with pixel art, we have accidentally taken on a
                        war on two fronts. My job was to make Auro’s art polished, inviting, and clear to the audience, not to also educate the audience that pixel art is a deliberate style.
                    It’s not their problem that
                        they don’t know what pixel art is, and it’s not their fault. Choosing
                        pixel art was ultimately self-serving and wound up confusing and even
                        frustrating people. This is all because we failed to embrace the medium.

                    Embracing The Medium
                    Earlier I mentioned that every medium has limitations. I
                        also mentioned that artists endeavor to eliminate these limitations so
                        that nothing comes between them and their vision. Paradoxically, good
                        artists also embrace limitations. Limitations force ingenuity and
                        innovation, as well as push a form forward.
                    Pixel artists appropriate the limitations that existed 25
                        years ago and self-impose them. Though this causes confusion among
                        general audiences, it has made for some of the most advanced, ingenious
                        pixel art yet (art by Fool on Pixeljoint).
                    Keeping the color count low, as mentioned before, isn’t
                        just for the sport of it. A harmonious palette creates a cohesive
                        piece(art by Thu on Pixeljoint). This principle, along with many others,
                        applies to all visual art, pixel or otherwise.
                    No matter the period, there were artists who embraced the
                        limitations of their time. That could mean using pixel art techniques
                        to make the most out of a low resolution screen…

                    
                        Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for GBA
                    

                    …rather than digitizing high resolution 3D models and cramming them into a low resolution sprite.

                    
                        Diablo for PC. Or as I like to call it, Anti-Aliased Antfarm: Muddy Colors Edition!
                    

                    Embracing the medium could mean working with a low polygon model by using simple, symbol-like textures…

                    
                        Grim Fandango for PC
                    

                    rather than against it by stretching a compressed photograph across a polygon slab.

                    
                        Goldeneye for N64
                    

                    Modern screens are so huge in
                        terms of resolution, pixels are virtually invisible. To demonstrate how
                        huge we’re talking, I looked into how many NES screens(256×240) fit on
                        the iPhone 6 plus. The total comes to somewhere in the ballpark of 50!

                    
                        Talk about a “jump” in technology!
                    
                    When every pixel was visible to the naked eye, it made sense
                        for an artist to hand-place each and every one. Nowadays, it’s no
                        wonder people think something is wrong when they see games like ours on
                        an iPhone 6 screen.

                    
                        Screenshot for our poor, pixelated baby, Auro! 
                    

                    Pitfalls of Post-Pixel Pixel Art
                    Not only did my purism give my audience the chore of
                        deciphering a language they don’t understand, but by not embracing the
                        medium, we ran into all kinds of practical problems.
                    Some devices blur Auro. Some devices stretch it. Some devices letterbox it. No matter how hard I worked to make the art in Auro as good as I could, there’s no way a given person should be expected to see past all those roadblocks. Making Auro with higher-resolution art would have made it more resistant to constantly-changing sizes and aspect ratios of various devices.
                    Many developers who try to achieve the retro aesthetic
                        overlook how much magnification is going on, resulting in not one, but
                        several different resolutions at once. Not only can this be unsightly,
                        but it’s “showing its strings,”which defeats the purpose of limiting
                        your resolution in the first place.

                    
                        The Escapists by Mouldy Toof Studios for Steam
                    
                    Evidently, even some retro game enthusiasts want to get
                        rid of pixels so badly that they would rather have a computer smear the
                        art like runny makeup than appreciate the pixel art for what it is. A
                        few years back, the Hebrew University and Microsoft set out to
                        “depixelize” pixel art through a new anti-aliasing(pixel-smoothing)
                        algorithm.

                    
                        I don’t care what you have to do, just GET RID OF THOSE SQUARES!
                    
                    The hand-placement of the squares is precisely what makes
                        this kind of art valuable. If anyone besides artists should appreciate
                        that, it’s retro game enthusiasts. When even they are splintering on this issue, I think it’s time to face the chiptunes.

                    Dinofarm’s Art Moving Forward
                    It is with a heavy heart that I endeavor hang up the old
                        pencil tool for all of our future games. To any dismayed pixel art heads
                        out there, the good news is, we will continue to support Auro with expansion material, ports and other new content. Since we’re at the point of no return with Auro,
                        all future art for it will still be pixel art. Like I said, I love
                        pixel art, so on a personal note, I’m happy to be able to scratch that
                        itch for a while.
                    As for the future, I’m planning to shed purism and do my
                        best to mature. I plan to embrace the medium, whatever that may be, and
                        make the best art I possibly can. No level of technology or spectacle
                        can match the careful, hand-done touch of an artist. There are no
                        shortcuts, and there are no algorithms. There is no cheap way to make it
                        good, only relatively good ways to make it cheap.
                    Anyone think those smoothing algorithms above actually
                        improved the pixel art? I wouldn’t blame you, as the smooth lines are
                        speaking a more modern language. That said, I’ll close by illustrating
                        my larger point with, well, an illustration. Pixel art, 3D art, mosaic
                        art, stop motion art, etc. are just mediums. Don’t let the medium come
                        between you and your audience. Speak in a language people can understand
                        so that they can actually see what makes your work great without a tax.
                    Working in high resolution doesn’t prevent us from making great game art. I am not endorsing phoned in, safe, “sellout” cynicism.
                        Take risks. Challenge people. Slave over your work until it’s perfect.
                        That’s why we become artists in the first place. Never lose that. What
                        I’m saying is, The things that made pixel art great are the same things
                        that make “HD” art great. Artists must make the decisions, not
                        computers. Instead of hand-placing squares, hand-place curves. Good art
                        is good art, and nothing beats the real deal. Embracing the medium
                        simply ensures that everybody else knows it.

                    
                        Embrace the medium!
                    
                

                
            