Pixel Art Class - Art Styles for Indie Games

Heya, Pals!
Since Ludum Dare results don't come out for another week I thought I'd wait for the recap video. Until then, here's a little analysis of art styles throughout the pixel art space and the considerations you might want to make in pursuing one.
Thanks for watching!
Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
0:28 - Pixel Art Styles
4:55 - Stylistic Domains
7:27 - Examples across the Indie Scene
17:58 - Challenges
20:26 - Case Studies
29:59 - Final Thoughts
32:39 - Outro
Games Referenced (per row):
Pong
Pitfall
Shovel Knight
Frogatto and Friends
Iconoclasts
Chasm
Owlboy
Kada Bura
Undertale
Cave Story
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
kingdom: New Lands
Eastward
Songs of Conquest
Heart Forth Alycia
Jump King
Blasphemous
Hyper Light Drifter
Dead Cells
Octopath Traveller
Sword & Sworcery
Celeste
Fez
The Last Night
----
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Become a Patron at / adamcyounis
Download assets and games from the stream at uppon-hill.itch.io/
Later, pals!

[@ronnieketchum1241]

I just can't explain HOW GOOD those soft non-outlined modern pixel art games look. Like pixel art with modern light physics, *chef's kiss.

[@oniontherock7204]

darkwood is a great example

[@Ravisherrr]

This video is great. What I think the community needs from this video is a part 2 describing the different method of perspective within each style of pixel art. For instance, objects that might appear more 3d as a background novelty or the tile set that isn't just a side view (shovel knight, the messenger) but rather a realistic surface a character moves on (blasphemous, chasm).

[@AdamCYounis]

I would like to go into more detail in future videos, maybe one for each "domain", as I wasn't able to really get into specifics techniques for process. I'm not sure I have the experience to cover all of pixel art with the level of authority I usually speak with, though. There are so many techniques and approaches that I'd totally be out of my depth if I were to take the usual approach of jumping into Aseprite and explaining rendering techniques one style at a time.

[@Ravisherrr]

@@AdamCYounis I think that if you touched on the specific domains to the extent of your ability, the community would be satisfied. Thank you for posting original content worth subscribing for.

[@cactusninja7514]

Wow, there are some really solid diagrams in here.

[@vgel]

this is a small thing but i really appreciate the chapter labels in your videos, they help make the video easier to actually learn from instead of watch once and forget

[@DaPlaidBoxers]

Adam, I VERY rarely comment on any KZbin videos; I listen/watch while at work and not signed in to my account, or on the TV. I felt compelled to tell you that I sincerely appreciate your videos and you inspire me to explore game development as a hobby. With two small children and a full-time job, I have been thinking about the game ideas I have and what I could reasonably achieve. Your videos are always educational and inspiring and I just wanted to say thank you, pal.

[@xcreenplay7264]

17:14 As a artist im working on a comic book in pixel art style and "the last night" game style looks so inspiring 😀

[@zeststreams]

You looking for a pixel artist?

[@TrashDevT]

among us, i found among us i suddenly found among us

[@annmarieroyal]

:0 (if you want) send the link when it's finished! Good luck on your comic book

[@ThatOneGuyYouSawAMonthAgo9576]

@@zeststreams Are you one?

[@zeststreams]

@@ThatOneGuyYouSawAMonthAgo9576 yes

[@gavinmcc.518]

Absolutely love your tutorials. I just started getting into pixel art, and I mostly watch your videos when I'm creating my sprites! Only been at it for a week, but I've done 5 sprites so far. Thanks for the content, I appreciate you greatly my friend.

[@domedin9894]

Start by doing 8x8 pixel art it’s easier and theirs less room for error and you can get good at small scale lighting too. I also recommend starting with outlines they really help define the character (and everything else try to be consistent) because if you don’t outline it might be extremely unclear what is player and what is ground. I haven’t moved up to 16x16 and I’ve been doing it for 3 months but I probably will soon but since I’m also programming in unity my art is moving a bit slower than yours might just go when your ready. A good 8x8 sprite is better than a bad 16x16

[@gavinmcc.518]

@@domedin9894 so I've beeb working with a bunch of different canvas sizes, but it seems that I feel most comfortable in 32x32 currently. I want to limit myself to 8x8 for a week or so, to get a better idea of outlines and the character design. I made 5 different pixel projects last week! Told myself at least three a week so it can help help improve. I'm still very new to it but really into it. Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it a lot

[@domedin9894]

@@gavinmcc.518 your welcome I hope it helps you

[@TheOriginalDuckley]

@@gavinmcc.518so it’s been like a year. How’s progress!!? 🎉

[@gavinmcc.518]

@Duckley haven't been working on pixel art much recently. Classes are picking up. I plan on making my first personalized sprite & animating it slowly over the next 2 months

[@CrystalWaveMachine]

I love how chill yet informative your videos are Adam, Always an absolute pleasure to watch. Thanks for all the time and effort you put into these! Keep up the great work ^^

[@joshhshapiro]

Fantastic explanations and review of styles and their characteristics. This really helped give me a better idea of the genre. You also have a great voice for teaching! So calm and chill. I could listen for hours.

[@neoDarkSquall]

Your videos are amazing my friend. I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of guides about pixel art over the years, in order to improve and understand. Many have helped me but yours are on another level.

[@brunosousadeoliveira7050]

I just found your channel mate, you are literally answering all of my questions. I want to develop my first game in pixel art. Your content is super helpful for people that is starting at this world. Thank you bro

[@RestfulCoder]

Hey Adam. I really enjoy your videos. They're done very well, and you're a very clear, calming presenter. I appreciate that they're presented naturally and are realtime vs. edited.

[@tedbendixson]

I love your videos because I always come away with some sense of "I hadn't thought about it that way." Keep doing what you do. This is super helpful 🙂

[@scroptels]

your analysis are always really interesting, helps me concider different aspects of the pixel art medium.

[@gallow_]

Great video as always man, always appreciative to hear your thoughts on art

[@kaboart4jesus]

This video is giving me such a nice framework. My mind is running creatively with a lot of ideas within the limitation concept.

[@pauladeensbuttbutter]

I love undertale, stardew, and deltarune style. Very charming and unique

[@drakesayshi3321]

I don't really like undertales style and Stardews styles is alright but not great

[@markatdrache1314]

Terraria yessss

[@Fl0rescencee]

@@drakesayshi3321Damn. Can you do better tho?

[@drakesayshi3321]

@@Fl0rescencee maybe, but Delta rune style is fire

[@Fl0rescencee]

@@drakesayshi3321 I agree xD

[@piousthepious]

This was a super informative analysis of art styles. Thank you so much!

[@chosencode5881]

My favorite video you've done so far! Keep killing it homie!

[@deslaya7777]

great video! I love the idea of using pixelated graphics to create some mystery/ambiguity. a character without a lot of defined facial features can feel more open to personal interpretation, or a world with blocky colors can feel like a hazy window into a dream

[@jordan4longshaw]

Really interesting topics, and really enjoyable to hear a conversation on :) Listening to stuff like this really makes me want to make more and more

[@kg30004]

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery will always be my favorite

[@mitchgeek]

Hey Adam. I really admire your content. It really shows the value of deconstructing the games I love, to learn where I can make improvements in the games I’m developing. I’d love to see a video on how you use Leonardo for the production of your content.

[@aFewBitsShort]

Thanks for introducing me to Songs of Conquest. I love the grainy mature style.

[@fishingtrippy]

It's very helpful to understand the challenges associated with each style! Thank you.

[@janmatejkubik1987]

I love this type of heavily analytical approach to explaining a topic/view on topic 👍

[@Shadow1The]

God bless man, just got started and this helped me alot. I am an author and writer, 3d artist and pen and paper artist, but i have always liked pixel art as a medium. This helped me decide some of the routes i can go. Gold.

[@CasualChris247]

oh wow i really needed this thinking of a style to go with for my rpg. Thanks for this video

[@paveladventures5665]

What a joy! Great classification! Thank you, Adam!

[@EddiePedalo]

Your videos are always exactly what I need, in my constant existential game dev crisis. Two years into my indie journey, I'm confident in my code, but I've barely scratch the surface with the aesthetics. I'm producing a slew of competently designed, but hideously ugly games. I didn't realise when I started how important the visuals were going to be, but it reminds me that, as a kid buying 8 bit games, I would always immediately turn over the box and look at the screenshots to judge whether a a game was worth buying. IMO people are more likely to buy and enjoy an average game that is pretty, than a clever game that looks bad. Games are 5% sound, 15% gameplay,, and 80% art.

[@Lakatu]

I’m definitely the type to fall for a game just because it looks nice, and forgive a lot of gameplay shortcomings just because it’s pretty lol

[@TimConceivable]

art definitely sells games, but there are plenty of examples of games with very simple or even bad art, but good gameplay that are still enjoyed by many. VVVVVV, Dwarf Fortress, and Rim World are immediate examples that come to mind.

[@AcIdBARRY]

more like 50% art 30% sound and 20% gameplay imo

[@souldatrickster1828]

This was very informative with teaching so many design choices, I can’t wait to experiment more on this. Thank you for the lecture Adam

[@Erickhetfield]

The Last Night is one of the most amazing looking games (that don't exist yet) I've ever seen. I've seen the kind of argument made here, being used not so nicely very often in the community. "The value of pixel art lies on low resolution. If it's high-res, than it's just digital painting". I don't agree. I used to play a lot of MegaMan X4 when I was a kid. I took me years to realize that the game was Pixel Art. I always thought games from the PS1 era used some sort of special "photoshop" to be made and only looked pixelated due to the resolution of the console. The same thing happened years later with Symphony of the Night. The next generation, on the PS2, pixels were (mostly) replaced for polygons. I think The Last Night is kinda in the same fringe area and embraces it. It's the kind of stuff you need to pay atention to notice the pixels, and could definitely be done using photoshop or a 3d software like they clearly know how to use, and definitely know that it would take a lot less work and time. But they didn't. Pixel art is not used as a response to a limitation, or down-resed or tiled to take less time. It doens't scream at you, pointing every pixel. It's subtle and deliberate. The artists are pushing the medium to it's limit, while preserving the process and its essence. Marvel vs Capcom 3 went 3D and modern, and even though it looks good, it just doens't look as good or feel the same as MvsC 2.

[@StylizedStation]

Amazing presentation, subscribed :)

[@truefriendskissonthelips6602]

really nice break down and enjoyable and authentic talk to listen to not like most trying too hard youtubers. thanks for the upload

[@joserics]

I really liked your video, other explanations tend to take for granted that all pixel art should be like the shovel knight style, I didn't even knew the minimalist approach, will try to pull of a mix of minimalist but with little more colors 😅 thank you!

[@thomassynths]

This is a very high quality video. Thanks for making it!

[@omegaminoseer4539]

As is often the case, Adam proves his mastery of the medium by condensing all of the classes of Pixel Art into terms that even I, an everyman, can understand. I have found that there is a style out there which fits my 2.5D expansionist fantasy. I loved your description of why the beauty of "The Last Night," seems muddled, in spite of the gorgeous cyberpunk thematic. I was never able to put into words why it looked a bit... off. You were more than elegantly capable of doing so.

[@nomad_composer]

Excellent presentation, well prepared and great delivery!

[@leemartin7579]

An extreme amount of value in this video. I am new to this space, but far from an artist; I am just simply interested in the subject, perhaps to introduce my kids to this field. New Subscriber. I appreciate the great content and detailed breakdown that is simple enough for a noob like me to understand.

[@Johncllctn]

i have nothing to do with pixel art or even indie games and i still watched it, because your way of explaining things is so understandable and interesting and sooo calming i love it so much!

[@fatma-ww9wp]

really good video, didn't know I needed this until now

[@tiagofernandes8389]

Pixel art is simply beautiful and fun. Waiting for many more games like this.

[@goldenpotato392]

I was looking for a video like this! I am starting with my first game and I chose to go with pixel art, as it goes well with rpgs. But I couldn't figure out the style I wanted, and this video explained everything so I can pinpoint what I want to create and explore exactly what I need

[@oskarherpai2484]

Dude deserves more views. Wonderfully informative.

[@bitbraindev]

Great video here. Also good to see that I am on a good track with my own minimalist artstyle.

[@twilightazure]

The Brackeys of Pixel Art Style. Love your tutorials!

[@sacul5709]

I'm just getting into pixel art and this video was extremely interesting, I'll 100% check your other videos .

[@lauraa3282]

If you keep giving such good advice, I'm never going to finish anything... because I keep learning new things and wanting to implement them to what I'm doing!

[@malgrimvarrakhun9749]

Man, I can't believe how good of a teacher you are. As far as explaining concepts and then exploring them in greater detail, you're going professor mode

[@CypressDahlia]

Regarding The Last Night: I think the value of it being pixel art is that pixel art still does read better than other forms of 2D (vector, illustration, etc.) due to its inherent limitations. I think mainly due to lack of anti-aliasing and the hard limit on details.

[@Lighthare]

I plan on making a RTS games soon and this helped a lot picking a style for my game

[@JayantVermaYT]

The last night is hands down the most beautiful pixel game I have ever seen... Such a shame that it never got released

[@kzvonov]

Hey, it so thoughtful, thanks for sharing your experience)

[@StevieSouthOfficial]

You are a wonderful teacher, thank you. I learned a lot from this video

[@pixeljourney6880]

I loved last night, it gives a totally new feeling to games. this video was very useful, it solved my question with my own style

[@guitarsandmusiciguess]

really nice video! i'm trying to make an undertale-like game, and this helps me figure out what i want to do for the art, since i don't wanna copy undertale too much. thanks :)

[@aster7132]

I always appreciate how good pixel are games is like stardew, owlbow, undertale etc. They give me a very classic style like chill vibe. Didn't know there's a whole topic about pixels.

[@sherekhangamedev]

Man, great Essay, the way you analyze and categorized the styles, it reminds me to the ones of Chris Solarski I had on a Gamification course. Kudos!

[@nickseverny1298]

I'd argue that with The Last Night, pixel art is a signifier of an experience and a very important one. I'm reluctant to say "retro experience" here despite most of the indie games I personally enjoy are following the footsteps of the older, pre-3D gaming genres and tropes. There's certainly a difference between what is considered AAA-experience and this "chamber music" feel that pixel art is capable to invoke. By stripping away all the purist restrictions, or rather by overpowering those with masterfully implemented modern technology, pixel art of The Last Night only gets to reveal its core function. Wow that's heavy lol

[@vickyvittles]

Great video! Wouldn't Castlevania Symphony of the Night be considered an early example of a game with a post-bit art style? When the PS1 launched, everyone was expecting 3d games only, since it was a novelty at the time, so it made sense for Konami to explore many more 2d techniques for pixel art, so that they could "match" the other 3d games in terms of graphical beauty. Also, the jump in technology from the SNES/Genesis to the PS1/N64 allowed for many new technical tricks to be applied. In my opinion, the game aged very well, since it applied new techniques to pixel art, which was already very well defined and explored.

[@Hachikii]

Thank you, i love pixel art. I have now good recommendation list to buy from.

[@hear-and-know]

Thank you, very helpful, clear and concise :)

[@igorthelight]

A few more great looking pixel art games: * The Messenger (two different pixel art "worlds") * Sea of Stars (very beautiful!) * Children of Morta (also pretty good)

[@Santosos255]

I love Dead Cells, and Hyper Light Drifter Style!

[@lyingpancake95]

These discussions are great. I can definitely see GDC reaching out to you in the future to talk about Insignia.

[@deddrz2549]

I love Momodora's style, its at the sort of perfect resolution where theres just enough information in the pixels to sort of imply both the fluidity of the motion and the anime style its going for, like with each movement it feels like I'm seeing something with higher detail being distilled into the best possible pixels to represent that motion, especially in the limbs.

[@MadsterV]

In response to "would The Last Night have had the same impact if it was using just 2D sprites?" I'd say definitely no. It was the single reason it blew up and many games followed in it's footsteps (and actually released). It was a modern, novel look with a retro soul, like steampunk or even some types of cyberpunk (the neon-bathed kind at least).

[@paulvictor7489]

I really like hisez pixel art tbh, I just love sprites, idk what it is, but it's just something I love.

[@calcite_dragon]

Great video, gonna help me a lot!

[@SHOTTA3xD]

This newer 2d 3d mixture is really beautiful.

[@im_skrunkly]

dead cells is by far my favorite. i think its just because it uses colors in such a nice way.

[@brunoserranoroche29]

Great video man , appreciate it!

[@Spamkromite]

The style I'm going to use is one forgotten in the MSDOS SVGA times. The 2 people from the UK that did it are no longer with us and I want to make them a homage so that everyone would remember their beautiful style that none seemed to adopt despite of how beautiful it was. I'm studying their style very hard and hope I'll be able to pass on the style and immortalize it eventually, just like how Undertale and others harkened to styles of the past. Well, it's a long way for me in pixel art work but I shall persevere ⚔

[@peng6220]

This is also really interesting relative to the recent "lofi" style that uses just straight up 3d with really low fidelity textures. I've been a big fan of that for a while but i never considered how it could almost be in the same vein as Octopath or TLN

[@jedgrahek1426]

I really enjoy this level of analysis of pixel art, even from the standpoint of having zero artistic talent (meaning I can't draw to save my life, not that I have zero creative motivation in general...), and just having a lot of appreciation and nostalgia for it from the games of my childhood... I don't know if you're familiar with it, but I always think of Seiken Densetsu 3 as being kind of a high-water-mark for pixel art of that era... of course lots of beautiful stuff continued to be made specifically for fighting games, from SNK in the late 90's with stuff like Last Blade 2 and Garou, the Metal Slug Series, Street Fighter Alpha and 3 series... and really never stopped, with ArcSys coming in with Guilty Gear, BlazeBlue, and Persona Arena to take up the slack during the PS2-3 era, and by the time they went 3D there were a ton of indie developers making 2D fighting games. Is there any other genre that kept up the tradition so well from back then until the recent rebirth of pixel art via the indie scene in the last decade? Perhaps 2D shooters, but even most of those, even Touhou, were 3D to some extent after a point in time. I'm sure JRPGs did also, I recall Radiant Historia being very very beautiful, and that was a late DS game. Metroidvanias, also, I suppose. Anyway, what's neat about Seiken Densetsu 3 in particular is that it has the same kind of super high quality pixel art as games like Chrono Trigger or Tales of Phantasia, but it also has a continuous day-night cycle which is so well made that one cannot really perceive clear distinct changes in the colors while playing, it truly looks like all the colors of everything are gradually changing with the movement of the sun, as they would in modern 3D games that very commonly do that with modern tools that just weren't available on the SNES. I've always marveled at what they had to do to get it to look so good and smooth, I can't recall any other legit 2D game from back then on that technology doing that kind of thing. If you're ever looking for a video idea, day-night cycles in pixel art games in general with SD3 as an example could be interesting.

[@GameArts1]

This was really nice, deserved a sub. Great line up of pixal art examples. Imo Momodora is a really beautiful game and works well with the action platform / dark souls vibe. Of course octopath is maybe one of the ''best'' on the list, but for indi quite a tough cookie to crack The last knight I can appreciate as an artist but damn it's hard to tell what's going on, all examples look like ''a piece of art'' dunno what the gameplay is about though. Nonetheless, minimalistic approaches such as kingdom two crowns are also so classic and timeless. Going to check out a review of sword & sorcery because it looks interesting. I love pixel art games and you clearly show that there is no defined way of doing them and that there is still a lot to explore. Good luck to all indi devs out their, stay strong.

[@simpson6700]

if you haven't seen the last night in motion, you should really check out the trailer, these still images don't do it justice

[@sammo7017]

A game that I appreciate its pixel art is Warspear Online, thanks for your video 💚

[@delilu]

Really interesting analysis! Honestly just wanted to comment on that :b

[@chekote]

I don’t think you can really appreciate the art of The Last Night unless you see it in motion. If you only view the still images, then it’s a lot easier to come to the conclusion that you have where you wonder if the pixel art is justified. I loved the video BTW. I always learn so much from listening to you. You have great insights. ❤️

[@nangld]

Wonderful analysis! ❤

[@stuartdalrymple]

From someone who grew up with an NES, Octopath Traveller (1 & 2) is simply stunning 😍

[@microdavid7098]

Adam inventing terms that may potentially be used in game development terminologies in the future

[@TsukatsukiRio]

I’m a simple man, I see Momodora I click it and like it

[@simpson6700]

i believe the pixel artstyle for the last night is important, because it was one of the first instances where we saw high quality post processing mixed with pixelart. i always shied away from using post processing for my pixelart, instead i would draw that effect on a separate texture and blend it with the scene. the last night came out of the blue and showed everybody that you can break the rules and go nuts with your artstyle.

[@user-mm7sw3tz5o]

This video is sooooo good!!!ty

[@andrzejkulakowski]

That was helpful and entertaining!

[@TheSensationalMr.Science]

don't know if this is helpful or not but I think this would be what I would describe the parts of an art-style: 1. color choice (the warmth or coldness of an piece of art [tone]) 2. shape choice (angular or thin-line [or how the kids call it CalArts style] [how bendy the art is or isn't]) 3. level of layers (details on the work, whether there is one layer like with in under-tale's protagonist [3 layers{eye,head,hair}], and then there is complex like the intro of the video [5 layers{glasses,eye,head,silhouette of head, and hair}]) 4. lighting and shading (soft:painterly, very gradual change;cell: cells of different warmth or coldness to emphasize dark or bright areas) 5. realistic or stylized (does it conform to reality or is it exaggerated in some way?) Hope you have a great day & Safe Travels!

[@zeek7567]

Thanks for this!

[@THEspindoctor84]

I didn't go to school for art, game design, or anything like that...but I'm pretty sure this is collegiate level

[@dollynho8832]

love your videos! just curious, what is that black and white game to the left of shovel knight?

[@DanteDerette]

Wooooooooooow. This video is awesome!!

[@marc13bautista]

Nice. Recently in love with Flesh, Blood, and Concrete's art style (both traditional and pixel) so this video was a coincidential godsend.

[@lucasinunas]

Good video as always!

[@kjgsreact]

I love eastwood, chef rpg and stardew style

[@JeffPenaify]

God I just want the consistency to be able to develop the game I can’t stop thinking about lol.

[@paulvictor7489]

I love minimal so much and I’m really trying to do it for my first game. But it’s so hard to make the characters readable and distinct for me, especially when trying to make fighting animations or walking, feels like everything just becomes a mess so quickly. Would love some tutorials specifically on how to make unique and readable monomial character sprites !

[@tylergoodwyn1534]

This is a legendary video

[@patgeozap9488]

Great work! , i've been watching ur videos recently, and i learned a lot from it.. i just want to know where u do ur pixel art, because i'm having trouble using pixel studio, some tools aren't available on it.. anyways great vid, hope to learn more from u. thanks a lot

[@ankelive8903]

I think it might be Aseprite? It's another pixel art specific program (that needs getting used to), but the tilemap mode isn't officially out yet, so you can't test how different parts for together easily.

[@KnotKingdom]

I appreciate the breakdown here and definitely need to check out some of the games mentioned here. I’ve always wondered about the mmorpg maplestory and where that fits in, since their background sprites have a painted look. Seems to me thy had a mix of styles of the characters being more retro inspired and background sprites having a max-bit look.

[@arewenot]

this couldn't have arrived in a better time. I'm really struggling making art for my game it's been almost a month now and the only thing I did good was make a small little house smh