Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/13/tool-to-create-pixel-art-parti.html
…
4 Likes
PixaTool is 2/3rds off right now as well.
1 Like
Dear God I miss GeoCities!
1 Like
This feels like cheating. I figure if you’re going to go with the pixel art aesthetic, the graphics should be done authentically, the way we did it back when “pixel art” was just “art” - by hand, pixel by pixel procedurally or with a primitive paint tool.
It just depends on your perspective:
ARTIST: Doing this algorithmically is cheating. It’s lazy and inauthentic. The art should be done manually, after observing the natural world!
ENGINEER: Doing this manually is cheating. It’s lazy and inauthentic. The simulation should be made algorithmically, after observing the natural world!
9 Likes
I read the headline, and was all excited for news about the band Tool…
Back in my day, we created pixel graphics the right way, using PEEK and POKE commands…
3 Likes
Ah, the Commodore 64.
The C128 had so much better graphics commands.
1 Like
Interesting, I immediately thought of the ZX Spectrum. I managed to crash mine several times with ill-advised pokes.
A ZX Spectrum, flung in frustration, would sail away much, much farther than a C64.
1 Like
ANIMATOR: Oh cool a tool to help me cheat more and get this thing finished in time.
1 Like
PEEK and POKE were common to many dialects of BASIC, as well as a number of other high-level languages in that era. It was a way to directly read/write values in memory, particularly those related to hardware features.
Yeah, about the only way to write graphical games in ZX Spectrum BASIC was by POKEing directly to the screen memory map. I’d inevitably get the maths to calculate the addresses wrong, write god knows what to god knows where, and have to reboot.
Did the ZX have a “killer POKE”? I know the Commodore PET did. I think the C64 did, as well, although it might have been an accessory.
Edit: found a list of killer POKEs. No Sinclairs, but lots of Commodores. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_poke
That is exactly what I thought. 
Apple II(e)!
Pfft - if you’re going to commit to the aesthetic, commit to getting very little done, too!
I recollect finally addressing (no pun intended) the issue by writing a program that allowed me to draw on-screen using the joystick, then print out the associated PEEKS and POKES that would get me that image (which I could then write down and type into the relevant code). A great help - that now seems insane.
1 Like
When I want to commit to the aesthetic I fire up my Mac Plus. But when I want to get paid, utilities like this are perfect 
1 Like
I joke, but to be serious, it isn’t really in keeping with traditional pixel art - smoke and fire, etc. done with particle effects end up looking very different from hand-drawn sprites. Of course, “pixel art” is highly inconsistent in its aesthetics and how much it’s actually trying to replicate old game graphics, so…
1 Like
Yes, there are definitely branches of pixel art which grown way beyond nostalgia or any direct attempt to imitate the limitations of old game graphics, sometimes to great and sometimes not so great effect 
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
