Pico-8 game mockup
Added 2015-09-07 23:29:09 +0000 UTCSo I made a fictional game mockup. I used the Pico-8 palette at half the Pico-8 screen size (i.e. 64x64 pixels)
Working on such a small scale is very challenging but very rewarding. Details are kept to a minimum, but my design philosophy for these is that big glamour shots/cutscenes can immerse you in the game world enough that you forget you're playing a less detailed sprite avatar.
The beauty of pixeling in this size is that you don't want to hide the pixel grid. Of course square-ish pixel clusters and shapes always read better, that's embracing the power of the pixel. But at any rate, these carefully selected pixel clusters can stand on their own, without anti-aliasing, without dithering, blurring, extraneous detail. These can be zoomed in infinitely, with no loss of quality, every pixel is where I want it to be.
About the theme: since I went with a japanese Giant Robo theme, I styled everything to fit. The names of the mechs, their distinctive logos, even the title screen of the game. I find that paying attention to those details goes largely unnoticed, but if you don't get them right it ruins the polish of the piece.
Attached is a gif of my progress.
Thank you for your continued support <3
