Pixel Art for Game Developers

Is the art for your video game taking too long to create? Learning to create Pixel Art may be the answer to your development troubles. Uncover the secrets to creating stunning graphics with **Pixel Art for Game Developers**. The premier how-to book on Pixel Art and Pixel Art software, it focuses on the universal principles of the craft. The book provides an introduction to Pixel Art, its utility, foundational elements, and concepts such as light and shadow. It offers tutorials on creating animations and serves as a functional guide for the most common methodology in 2D game development. Gamers love the retro feel of Pixel Art, and lucky for you it is easy to create. You'll love the tiny file sizes that will reduce compile times and help your game run faster. Providing you with the skills to create the characters and environments needed for 2D games, this book will help you: * Create tilesets to build game environments * Understand light and shadow * Work efficiently with pixels * Use atmospheric and linear perspective * Create professional-quality Pixel Art This book has chapters dedicated to theory as well as step-by-step tutorials, both of which describe the process explicitly. Whether you are an artist, programmer, indie developer, or certified public accountant, after reading this book, you'll understand the steps necessary to create production-quality Pixel Art graphics. **Praise for the Book:**__Pixel Art and Pixel Art games are very popular and the technique is a great way for independent creators to create very good-looking games with limited resources. It’s frankly shocking that there hasn’t been a resource like this before ... a very timely book.__―Chris Totten, George Mason University, Washington, DC, USA Is the art for your video game taking too long to create? Learning to create Pixel Art may be the answer to your development troubles. Uncover the secrets to creating stunning graphics with Pixel Art for Game Developers . The premier how-to book on Pixel Art and Pixel Art software, it focuses on the universal principles of the craft. The book provides an introduction to Pixel Art, its utility, foundational elements, and concepts such as light and shadow. It offers tutorials on creating animations and serves as a functional guide for the most common methodology in 2D game development. Gamers love the retro feel of Pixel Art, and lucky for you it is easy to create. You'll love the tiny file sizes that will reduce compile times and help your game run faster. Providing you with the skills to create the characters and environments needed for 2D games, this book will help you: Create tilesets to build game environments Understand light and shadow Work efficiently with pixels Use atmospheric and linear perspective Create professional-quality Pixel Art This book has chapters dedicated to theory as well as step-by-step tutorials, both of which describe the process explicitly. Whether you are an artist, programmer, indie developer, or certified public accountant, after reading this book, you'll understand the steps necessary to create production-quality Pixel Art graphics. Praise for the Book: Pixel Art and Pixel Art games are very popular and the technique is a great way for independent creators to create very good-looking games with limited resources. It’s frankly shocking that there hasn’t been a resource like this before ... a very timely book. ―Chris Totten, George Mason University, Washington, DC, USA Uncover the secrets to creating stunning graphics with Pixel Art for Game Developers. The premier how-to book on Pixel Art and Pixel Art software, it focuses on the universal principles of the craft. The book provides an introduction to Pixel Art, its utility, foundational elements, and concepts such as light and shadow. It offers tutorials on creating animations and serves as a functional guide for the most common methodology in 2D game development. Gamers love the retro feel of Pixel Art, and lucky for you it is easy to create. You'll love the tiny file sizes that will reduce compile times and help your game run faster. Providing you with the skills to create the characters and environments needed for 2D games, this book will help you: Create tilesets to build game environments, Understand light and shadow, Work efficiently with pixels, Use atmospheric and linear perspective - Create professional-quality Pixel Art, This book has chapters dedicated to theory as well as step-by-step tutorials, both of which describe the process explicitly. Whether you are an artist, programmer, indie developer, or certified public accountant, after reading this book, you'll understand the steps necessary to create production-quality Pixel Art graphics. Book jacket Front Cover 1 Contents 6 Preface: What the Crap Is Pixel Art? 12 Acknowledgments 18 Chapter 1 Why Pixel Art? 20 Chapter 2 Pixel Art: The Technology of Yesterday...Today! 28 Chapter 3 Who Am I and Why Do I Know So Much about Pixel Art? 32 Chapter 4 Software: Set Up Your Working Environment 36 Chapter 5 Making Pixel Art: Doing Lines 42 Chapter 6 Coloring inside the Lines 62 Chapter 7 Drawing Secrets Revealed: It’s All Smoke and Mirrors 90 Chapter 8 Animating Pixels: The Shock and Horror of Being Flashed by a Pixel 108 Chapter 9 Tiled Backgrounds 128 Chapter 10 You’re Doing It Wrong: Things to Avoid 226 Chapter 11 Interviews with Game Developers 236 Chapter 12 Resources 246 Chapter 13 Afterword: Some Thoughts on Why I Wrote This Book 250 Back Cover 252