Crash Site

Hey folks. I decided to make Pixelcast releases available to the public day 1, because I think it's more fun for everyone if the larger community can experience it all together. While this nullifies early access privilege, Patrons are still privy to exclusive sketches and insight about the process. Things move pretty fast in the video, so I always try to supplement some
explanation.

As usual, I started this process by making thumbnail hand sketches to work out a concept. I like to keep these tiny, and vague to leave ample room for improvisation when I start pixeling. Also, the aesthetic of hand drawing is much different and sometimes contradictive to what looks good in pixels, so most efforts to render detail in the sketch are superfluous. Especially for me, my pixel art style is quite different than my tendencies with a real pencil.

After I have a rough concept in mind aided with tiny thumbnail, I usually make a rough pixel version to establish the color palette and better define composition. However, in this case I hit record and went straight for the final design after making the thumbnail. That's why there is no refined palette at the start like in most of these videos. The elements of the concept are all so familiar territory for me that it comes together quite smoothly, but you're getting to see a bit more raw process as I deliberate on forms, position, and colors.

As with many of my landscape artworks, I start by making a color gradient that represents the sky and ground. Here, I can capture much of the desired mood through color, and establish a sense depth with atmospheric perspective. After that, it's business as usual, playing with geometry and light to make simple architectural forms.

Colors are being picked from the large palette in the top left, which is a custom palette made with my personal method detailed in Pixelblog 1.

At certain points you might notice a checkerboard grid appear on the screen. This is a layer I keep on hand to easily dither large areas, since Photoshop doesn't have a dithering tool like some pixel art specific programs.

I've been doing this so long I sometimes overlook the simple questions. What else would you like to know about the process? I'm happy to share all.

6 hours real time process
198x128px
28 colors
Photoshop