• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

I just want to express my happiness that Indie games are moving away from 8-bit graphics and towards 16-bit graphics

Exellus

Exellus

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
2,348
Don't get me wrong - my first video game console was a Sega Master System and my second was an NES, but I was never a lover of these OLD, OLD-SCHOOL graphics. I have nostalgia for Mario 3, classic Mega Man, and that's about it.

Meanwhile I feel like SNES games still look good TO THIS DAY. I've been waiting a long time for Indie games to stop chasing the NES-era ultra low pixel sprite look and start joining SNES era stuff. I love me some good spritework.

Things like Owlboy, Sea of Stars, and Cosmic Star Heroine look great to me.

Hope to see more like this going forward.
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,014
UK
I really love how 8bit, 16bit and 32bit games look, so I'm happy to see indie games use any of those styles really well
 
Orioto

Orioto

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,716
Paris
I agree and some of those games are actually way more than 16bit level of graphics. They would have not run on 32bit neither i'm pretty sure.

I love when we have that sense of a missing 2d generation with let's say.. ngc/ps2 era pixel art games that we didn't really have back then cause it was not cool anymore.
 
RPTGB

RPTGB

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,189
UK
Orioto said:
I agree and some of those games are actually way more than 16bit level of graphics. They would have not run on 32bit neither i'm pretty sure.

I love when we have that sense of a missing 2d generation with let's say.. ngc/ps2 era pixel art games that we didn't really have back then cause it was not cool anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The Saturn did it's best to keep that flag flying ;)
 
PersianPrince

PersianPrince

Member
Feb 12, 2019
1,655
I'm happy there are many different styles of pixel art. My favourite are 8 bit and 16 bit but there seems to be something for everyone. I dont think we are going to stop seeing pixel art games anytime soon.
 
Vitamin_B_Complex

Vitamin_B_Complex

Member
Jan 21, 2019
2,902
Exellus said:
Don't get me wrong - my first video game console was a Sega Master System and my second was an NES, but I was never a lover of these OLD, OLD-SCHOOL graphics. I have nostalgia for Mario 3, classic Mega Man, and that's about it.

Meanwhile I feel like SNES games still look good TO THIS DAY. I've been waiting a long time for Indie games to stop chasing the NES-era ultra low pixel sprite look and start joining SNES era stuff. I love me some good spritework.

Things like Owlboy, Sea of Stars, and Cosmic Star Heroine look great to me.

Hope to see more like this going forward.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I can't wait for the first proper PS1 style indie games. Like fully fledged game, full of detail and minutia but having the PS1 look.
 
Akita One

Akita One

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,626
Yup, and actually most of them that you think are 16-bit are actually 32-bit, often including alot more colors per moving character along with special effects and elaborate backgrounds...these games could never run on a SNES or even a NeoGeo.

I've always said: 2D pixels games need to have at least PS/N64 graphics, and that 3D polygon games need at least 360/PS3 graphics, in order for me to like the graphics of a game.
 
I KILL PXLS

I KILL PXLS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,521
Same though I don't think this is a recent trend. I can think of way more 16bit+ looking indie games than 8bit looking ones in the past 10-15 years. But yeah, even as someone who grew up with the NES as my first console, I can't go any further back graphics wise than 16bit. I find 8bit a little too ugly and lacking too much detail/color.
 
FirLocke

FirLocke

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
202
Me too. I love how graphics are progressing in the indie space. A Short Hike brought the PS1 childhood outta me!
 
werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,319
Exellus said:
Things like Owlboy, Sea of Stars, and Cosmic Star Heroine look great to me.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

All of those games are more 32-bit style than 16-bit. They exceed actual 16-bit consoles in at least 1 category - color, resolution, effects, and storage.

In making games, I've long held the belief that you have to target the nostalgia not the reality. That's why to get the 16-bit nostalgia, it's better to aim for something that's more 32-bit style.

I've also lost count of how many people have called our games 8-bit, even though none of them fall under that category. Cosmic Star Heroine REALLY doesn't look 8-bit.
 
Judau

Judau

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,745
Vitamin_B_Complex said:
I can't wait for the first proper PS1 style indie games. Like fully fledged game, full of detail and minutia but having the PS1 look.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There's a horror game called Back In 1995 that seems to have PS1 look and gameplay. I don't know if that's what you're looking for.

werezompire said:
Cosmic Star Heroine REALLY doesn't look 8-bit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Wow, you weren't kidding. The characters themselves look at least 16-bit, and the enviornments look far beyond what a PS1 would have been capable of, let alone what an 8-bit console would have been capable of.
 
Mirage

Mirage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,558
werezompire said:
All of those games are more 32-bit style than 16-bit. They exceed actual 16-bit consoles in at least 1 category - color, resolution, effects, and storage.

In making games, I've long held the belief that you have to target the nostalgia not the reality. That's why to get the 16-bit nostalgia, it's better to aim for something that's more 32-bit style.

I've also lost count of how many people have called our games 8-bit, even though none of them fall under that category. Cosmic Star Heroine REALLY doesn't look 8-bit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think that's a good way to go. Like Shovel Knight is a more updated approach on what it's going for.
 
Lightjolly

Lightjolly

Member
Oct 30, 2019
4,573
Vitamin_B_Complex said:
I can't wait for the first proper PS1 style indie games. Like fully fledged game, full of detail and minutia but having the PS1 look.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Anodyne 2
58.jpg
 
werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,319
Raging Spaniard said:
those three go waaay beyond what the SNES, and probably the Saturn, could ever do
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

To go into greater detail on Cosmic Star Heroine since that's what I know...

Cosmic Star Heroine has a native resolution of 480 x 270. Your average SNES game has a resolution of 256 x 224.
CSH uses far more colors than a SNES could handle.
Looking at a sprite sheet, Chrono Trigger's main character had around a couple hundred frames of animation. Cosmic Star Heroine main character sprites tend to have a few hundred ANIMATIONS (each of which has several frames).
The maps in Cosmic Star Heroine aren't grid-based, but are drawn as full layer images. The average map has one image for the base, one for the foreground, and one for shadow.
There's a lot of music and it's not chiptune.
The cutscenes were patterned after the Sega CD Lunar games, but have more colors than the Sega CD could have done.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,569
I'm very happy to see more 32-bit-looking 2d stuff now.

To be fair with the "8-bit" look, a lot of the modern stuff just focused on the fake NES colour palette style. It's not like there was ever an overdose on replicating the graphics of other 8-bit consoles and computers. I'm fine with seeing more stuff inspired by less popular classic areas.
 
jett

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,653
We've been getting 16/32-bit quality indie games for a while now. What I found more interesting is that the number of 3D indie games is increasing.
 
Ashgar

Ashgar

Member
Oct 28, 2017
246
georaldc said:
CrossCode is another game you should check out. Probably more of a 2D 32 bit level though
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
CrossCode is great, but it's definitely going for the "memory" of 16-bit games and not the reality. For starters, the effects are way beyond what anything of that generation (or even the next) could do.

Also CrossCode is great and more people should play it.
 
B. Spaceman

B. Spaceman

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,296
Spain
I like that some indie sequels are going 16 bit style, after the first being 8 bit



 
Relic

Relic

Member
Oct 28, 2017
631
It's just nostalgia from the devs + what the market wants right? If you were born in 1980, 10 years ago you'd be 30 - a few years into a career with money to spend on your hobby.

Plus, crappier graphics are easier and cheaper to make. As the indie scene matures and gets big funding behind it, it's natural for it to grow in scope.
 
Fadewise

Fadewise

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,210
People wanting low-poly PS1 style games seem insane to me. Sprite graphics can be legitimately attractive, whether 8 bit, 6 bit, or Hi-bit style, but I just see no redeeming quality to low poly stuff other than nostalgia.
 
Skunk

Skunk

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,065
Whether these retro games are period-accurate or not, I definitely agree with the premise of this thread. "8-bit" modern games wore out their welcome with me almost immediately.
 
Ctrl Alt Del

Ctrl Alt Del

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,312
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fadewise said:
People wanting low-poly PS1 style games seem insane to me. Sprite graphics can be legitimately attractive, whether 8 bit, 6 bit, or Hi-bit style, but I just see no redeeming quality to low poly stuff other than nostalgia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'd rather have some 128 bits-styled games, but there's a lot of charm with low-poly models talking and a character portrait that's meant to represent them showing up on screen, Persona style.
 
werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,319
Fadewise said:
People wanting low-poly PS1 style games seem insane to me. Sprite graphics can be legitimately attractive, whether 8 bit, 6 bit, or Hi-bit style, but I just see no redeeming quality to low poly stuff other than nostalgia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

We've been experimenting with mixing the two. Low poly 3D objects but then texturing them with retro sprite art & then adding modern effects. Kind of like Octopath Traveler with a less Minecraft-y look to the environment. Early tests have gone really well (we're rebuilding old stuff from our games and from famous RPGs in this style to see how they look) so I think we'll probably make a game in this style after we're done with our current project.
 
SickNasty

SickNasty

Member
Mar 18, 2020
1,250
Fadewise said:
People wanting low-poly PS1 style games seem insane to me. Sprite graphics can be legitimately attractive, whether 8 bit, 6 bit, or Hi-bit style, but I just see no redeeming quality to low poly stuff other than nostalgia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's all personal preference really. I see no appeal in pixellated/16-bit graphics other than people must be nostalgic for them, while I'm super pumped for the new wave of Hi-res early 3D style graphics because that's what I grew up with. Different strokes for different folks.

Night of the Consumers has a great look:
germfood.itch.io

NIGHT OF THE CONSUMERS by germfood

RETAIL IS HELL
germfood.itch.io germfood.itch.io
 
Yesterday

Yesterday

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,285
I don't I don't know why I bothers me when people say that pixel art games are going for an old school look. Some people want to use sprites and aren't trying to pay homage to an older system, I'm just tired of seeing "retro inspired!" when the game looks like no retro game that has ever existed.
 
XaviConcept

XaviConcept

Art Director for Videogames
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,900
werezompire said:
To go into greater detail on Cosmic Star Heroine since that's what I know...

Cosmic Star Heroine has a native resolution of 480 x 270. Your average SNES game has a resolution of 256 x 224.
CSH uses far more colors than a SNES could handle.
Looking at a sprite sheet, Chrono Trigger's main character had around a couple hundred frames of animation. Cosmic Star Heroine main character sprites tend to have a few hundred ANIMATIONS (each of which has several frames).
The maps in Cosmic Star Heroine aren't grid-based, but are drawn as full layer images. The average map has one image for the base, one for the foreground, and one for shadow.
There's a lot of music and it's not chiptune.
The cutscenes were patterned after the Sega CD Lunar games, but have more colors than the Sega CD could have done.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Thanks for the analysis, I just knew from the get go that the animations plus the raw env assets put it way past the SNES, Saturn maaaaybe, but it would be a very inefficient idea, the Tales of Phantasia remake is about the level you should expect.

I do think its hilarious to say "moving towards 16 bit". The move has been made, surpassed, cleared, made obsolete long time ago
 

Deleted member 45414

Banned
Jun 26, 2018
3,829
As long as the game is fun, I couldn't care less if it uses pixel graphics or the like. Not every indie dev is gonna be a visual artist capable of your preferred artstyle, but that doesn't mean they can't make great and meaningful games.
 
zoodoo

zoodoo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,731
Montreal
I don't mind 8 bit. What I don't like are smooth flash like looking games with characters animated like puppets. Insta turn off
 
Pargon

Pargon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,994
Manfred said:
Yup, I am glad that the CGA scene is taking over, 4 colors is enough with talent.

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That's a cool aesthetic, but it's not how CGA graphics were supposed to look.
CGA was supposed to be displayed on a composite monitor, which transformed those 4-color graphics into a wider range of colors.
Pink, Cyan, Black, and White are what you got when you displayed CGA graphics on an RGB monitor.
 

Deleted member 23046

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,876
Pargon said:
That's a cool aesthetic, but it's not how CGA graphics were supposed to look.
CGA was supposed to be displayed on a composite monitor, which transformed those 4-color graphics into a wider range of colors.
Pink, Cyan, Black, and White are what you got when you displayed CGA graphics on an RGB monitor.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh I have totally forgot this, thank for precisons.
For youngsters this is what we are referring to :
en.wikipedia.org

Color Graphics Adapter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

GDGF said:
Uh.....this looks amazing!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yup! Haven't played the game but is well-ranked on Steam.
 
super moustique

super moustique

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,615
Vitamin_B_Complex said:
I can't wait for the first proper PS1 style indie games. Like fully fledged game, full of detail and minutia but having the PS1 look.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Like this one ? :P



Exellus said:
Things like Owlboy, Sea of Stars, and Cosmic Star Heroine look great to me.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Those are neither 8 nor 16 bits games though !

Manfred said:
Yup, I am glad that the CGA scene is taking over, 4 colors is enough with talent.

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


This looks fucking neat.
 
Last edited:
PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,040
Fadewise said:
People wanting low-poly PS1 style games seem insane to me. Sprite graphics can be legitimately attractive, whether 8 bit, 6 bit, or Hi-bit style, but I just see no redeeming quality to low poly stuff other than nostalgia.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-05-27%2Bat%2B2.13.19%2BPM.png


012.jpg


056.jpg


You can create legitimately appealing visuals with the PS1 look with proper art direction. I'd play a game that looks like this over another run-of-the-mill-shiny-grafix game in a heartbeat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.