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Golden Axe Pico 8 Demake
🕑 Added 2015-11-16 19:22:22 +0000 UTC Pico 8 is a "fantasy console", a modern virtual machine, simulating some old-school restrictions, such as 16 colors, 128x128 resolution and limited space for music and code. For some reason, it really inspires me to make pixelart for. So I decided to demake the first beat em up I ever played, Golden Axe. It ended up taking a full week, all told.16 colors and a 128x128 resolution can hold *so* much information!
There’s no secret knowledge: at such small resolution I try to be as bold as i can with my pixel clusters: I never use 50% dithering, and generally stay away from single-pixel clusters. This is what enchants me about the craft of pixelart. It’s not just a small resolution and a small palette, you need to embrace the limitation and do the most complex pixel placement decisions, until you find an optimal configuration that 1. conveys the forms you want to convey and 2. doesn’t produce banding and vagueness.
It’s basically math, but the kind of math that relaxes you.
So here's a glimpse into my process
Oh, and I also tracked the "Battle Field" theme for Pico 8. Chiptunes are so cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o2mfvxIEa8
Comments
Thanks so much Sam! It's actually a Cabinet 45 degree projection! The castle battlements (merlons) are closer to Cavalier projection (ie 45 degree, but the depth is not foreshortened), because that felt right.
Lovely stuff! Out of interest, what's the sort of mathematical angle you worked with on this one? Is it known as cabinet projection or something?
