Real pixel art, or low res 3d?

[CrazyMLC]

As someone who has dabbled in pixel art, animation this fluid seems like it would be a pain to make in such detail. I'm really curious how all the art was made, I'd personally be super interested in a big blog post writeup on it or something.

Does that already exist and I've just missed it?

[Anger]

yeah I've noticed the animation and how it's semi 3D, it gives a momodora RUTM (with certain doors and animations) vibe and i enjoy it alot. It's done very well.

[Carduus]

Hi there, most of animations are 3D prerendered with a pixel art shader, but some , more simple, are hand made.
We wrote a full article here if you are interested in the full process :)

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=59381.40

Thanks!

[CrazyMLC]

Awesome! Thanks for the reply.

[Gast]

Originally posted by Carduus:

Hi there, most of animations are 3D prerendered with a pixel art shader [...]

Neat, definitely has that feel to it.
The first guy you talk to after starting the game - the knight in armor fella - looks hand pixel'd, are you going to update him?

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by Carduus:

Hi there, most of animations are 3D prerendered with a pixel art shader, but some , more simple, are hand made.
We wrote a full article here if you are interested in the full process :)

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=59381.40

Thanks!

Sorry if I'm necroing an old thread here, but are you by any chance aware of other games that do this? I really like the look.

[Stalkholm]

This game really does have a unique and beautiful aesthetic. Dead Cells may not even be live yet, but I'm already eager to see what you guys come up with in for your future games.

Hopefully Dead Cells is less 6th Sense and more A New Hope.

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by kirinelm:

This game really does have a unique and beautiful aesthetic. Dead Cells may not even be live yet, but I'm already eager to see what you guys come up with in for your future games.

Hopefully Dead Cells is less 6th Sense and more A New Hope.

You know it's in Early Access right? Not being a smart alec, just making sure you know. It's "live" in that sense. And further along than a LOT of early access games.

[DeathKnight.]

Originally posted by Carduus:

Hi there, most of animations are 3D prerendered with a pixel art shader, but some , more simple, are hand made.
We wrote a full article here if you are interested in the full process :)

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=59381.40

Thanks!

Do you guys plan on releasing some sorf of filter to make the game look like less pixel arty? Similar to how Isaac does it.

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by DeathKnight.:

Originally posted by Carduus:

Hi there, most of animations are 3D prerendered with a pixel art shader, but some , more simple, are hand made.
We wrote a full article here if you are interested in the full process :)

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=59381.40

Thanks!

Do you guys plan on releasing some sorf of filter to make the game look like less pixel arty? Similar to how Isaac does it.

The problem is I think a good portion of the game IS actual pixel art. A lot of the backgrounds, etc. In other words, what you see is what you get. Allowing people to clean up the filter on the 3d stuff would probably result in characters that clash harshly with their environments. You really find it that off-putting in its current state? I know a lot of people argue that pixel art is overdone, but it works really nicely in this game and looks very warm and natural to me.

[DeathKnight.]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk:

Originally posted by DeathKnight.:

Do you guys plan on releasing some sorf of filter to make the game look like less pixel arty? Similar to how Isaac does it.

The problem is I think a good portion of the game IS actual pixel art. A lot of the backgrounds, etc. In other words, what you see is what you get. Allowing people to clean up the filter on the 3d stuff would probably result in characters that clash harshly with their environments. You really find it that off-putting in its current state? I know a lot of people argue that pixel art is overdone, but it works really nicely in this game and looks very warm and natural to me.

I dont find it off putting or find it overdone. I was just wondering if they were thinking of releasing something like that.

[Sparrowhawk]

Gotcha

[CrazyMLC]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk:

Sorry if I'm necroing an old thread here, but are you by any chance aware of other games that do this? I really like the look.

It's a similar technique to rotoscoping, or making a drawing by tracing film. That technique was present in Delphine games like Flashback or Another World. Prince of Persia did the same approach.
As far as more modern games that use 3d rendering in place of film in rotoscoping, Ghost Trick comes to mind. It's a bit more obviously 3d models, but the way it's rendered makes it look similar to pixel art. Many other games probably do something similar, but it's just hard to tell because of how effectively it's pulled off.
While different, Guilty Gear Xrd uses untweened animation and special filters to make 3d look like 2d animation. There's a really nice GDC talk about it that gets pretty technical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhGjCzxJV3E