You thought my last game, The Unprintable Magenta looked ugly? :P Can't blame ya
(https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/images/games/1978_2.png)
Well, you've seen NOTHING yet! Hi-res is a thing of the past. VGA? Meh! Let's turn the resolution down low. WAY DOWN! Chunky Atari gfx style!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9fxmUEXUAIBNRm.png)
Orrrr... Let's get really freaky & fake lo-res by resizing the image - and THEN coloring it using EGA palette! With some crude dithering!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9gN_RQW4AIGYt7.png)
What do you guys think? Is this too much? How does the dithering look on your current display? Is it smooth/just slightly fuzzy with pixels clearly visible - or are there any weird artifacts/interpolation?
Also, what resolution should I go for? With the smaller versions barely over 40px tall, I think can safely go for faux 180px height (scaled 4x to work under in 1280x720px screen resolution) - but I might even try 120px & see how that works. Haven't decided on the type of gameplay yet, either - the taller ones being more suitable for a regular point&click & the smaller ones would work better in, say, a platformer. Also wondering about fonts: pixelated vs classic computer font?
Either way, i'm definitely having fun with the dithering, trying to get more color out of EGA. Yes, I'm weird - and proud of it! 8-)
(https://media.tenor.com/images/fab0bbf2eb62ed8b58ff9ae70a1ec3ee/tenor.gif)
It is the perfect exercise in futility: computers don't need EGA - and neither do people. Most gamers are sick of VGA as it is. But me, I'm fascinated with artistic minimalism & the resemblance between dithering and primitive color printing techniques. It's just fun - even if it's fun just for me.
I think go for it. Why not?
I like it, and love seeing how good artists can make something ugly into something lovely like that. (nod)
Honestly, the weird type of dithering makes my brain and eyes feel weird. The disconnect between the sprites being low res, but the dithering being high res creates an uncanny effect. Which isn't to say it looks bad.
Quote from: Fitz on Thu 20/06/2019 15:08:41
It is the perfect exercise in futility: computers don't need EGA - and neither do people. Most gamers are sick of VGA as it is. But me, I'm fascinated with artistic minimalism & the resemblance between dithering and primitive color printing techniques. It's just fun - even if it's fun just for me.
Haha fair enough, I was just joking though. I love it when people do weird or completely out-there stuff just because, or because it's fun, or because a demon told them to in their dreams, who cares. I personally hate how this looks (laugh) but I ab-so-lute-ly LOVE that you're following your crazy vision!
Fair enough :) I do like to take creative risks. Another route of my experimentations is optimization. How can I make things smaller, lighter on the system - or less time consuming for me :P I do recognize here the artistic goal defeats the practical purpose bc the dithering is extra work - so I might indeed cut that if I decide to make these animated.
I don't mind being the resident weirdo ;) One thing I do regret is alienating gamers with weird gameplay. Not sure this will turn into a game. I've talked with a buddy running an 80's/synthwave music channel on YT about making this into short pixely music videos. Which might work! I'm a storyteller firsrt and foremost, and I love these characters - so whatever form or medium I can use to unleash them upon the world will be fine ;-D
I hope you let us know if those videos come to fruition, that sounds like a really cool combination :)
Thanks :) I most definitely will! In fact these past few years of me not making new games since Magenta (back in 2015) were very much about making music videos instead - also using AGS. Because that's just how I roll (laugh) You can see them on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2enDBzvQi8&list=PLsIceqwD4HJT_Z0IwN9iDDVdGbUqzAeOs).
And here's my opus magnum! :grin:
Dude this is so cool!!!! 8-0 And the song itself is a complete throwback to my 90s goth clubbing years, hahah. Thanks for sharing, love it!
I would say that the dithering is a cool idea, but unfortunatly it hurts my eyes, not because it's ugly in any way, but the effect is straining for my eyeballs, a similar feeling as to when you are looking directly at a bright lamp.
Pixel art should ideally be posted like this:
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/dz52ETy.png[/imgzoom]
I like that version best btw :)
True! It should also be playable at that resolution ;)
So yeah, it seems the undithered version is a better choice for practical reasons. For one, I think I've already given people headaches with my puzzles, don't need to graphics to help me there (laugh) And secondly - if I were to advertise it anywhere, the dithering would be most likely messed up by compression algorithms (either by whatever twitter does or just generally jpg butchering the image sharpness).