222 Pixel Art for Game Developers
. How have players responded to your game’s aesthetic?
We’ve had a great response on our graphics.
Bonus point question: Do the Artists on your team have any tips or
techniques they’d like to share with us?
I’m the artist and this was my rst Pixel Art ever, but I think if you just
sit down and apply yourself, you’ll get it aer a while. Most issues artist have
withPixelArtseemstobeanglesoflight,butit’snotreallythathard,you
justneedtothinkinD,butdrawinD.
Thanks for the guidance Jochum!
FIGURE 11.7 Screenshot from Hammerwatch.
Interviews with Game Developers 223
11.3 AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVE PRESTON OF HEART
MACHINE
FIGURE 11.8 Screenshot from Hyper Light Drier.
I had the pleasure to speak with Alex Preston of Heart Machine about
their game Hyper Light Drier.
Hyper Light Drier is a gorgeous D Action RPG heavily inuenced by
early -bit and -bit games. The game was funded through Kickstarter in
September of with , backers and raised signicantly more cash
than they hoped for. Hyper Light Drier is being built using breathtaking
Pixel Art (Figures . through .) and we have this unique opportunity
to nd out more about their process.
FIGURE 11.9 Screenshot from Hyper Light Drier.
224 Pixel Art for Game Developers
. Why did you and your team choose Pixel Art for the game?
I love the aesthetic and I grew up with blocky games...but it was
originally a choice of eciency. I had originally imagined creating
the Art for the game in a high resolution, fully illustrative style but
itbecameclearthatitwouldjusttaketoolong.Therewerethingsthat
Iwantedtodointhegamethatwouldhavebeenimpossibleforasin-
gleperson,atleastwiththevarietythatIneeded.SoPixelArtjustt
the bill for eciency and it turned out to be more than that.
. What advantages and disadvantages have there been using Pixel Art?
Disadvantages: It was sometimes hard to express certain specic
things like emotions because we have such a limited canvas size. It
is also dicult to make rounded objects if we don’t want them to look
crumby.
Advantages: The constraints allowed me to do a lot and focus on
things that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I think it was the
rigidstructurehaskeptmeinline.Itallowedmetodocreativethings
I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
. I noticed it doesn’t seem like you use any outlines, which is kind of
uncommon. Can you tell me about your decision to do that?
Thereareacoupleofexamplesofpixelstylegamesthatwere
being made without outlines before Hyper Light Drier—and now
everybody and their mother is doing it <chuckle>.SuperTimeForce
was a good example. Also the guys from Capy—they have some
fantastic artists and they were dabbling in that style before.
Swords and Sorcery also had some no-outline stu going on, and
I think they really helped push it into popularity. Fez also did that
to a degree. I was mostly inspired by that set of games that were
mainstream-ish and able to really showcase what could be done with-
outathickblackoutline.AlthoughmyArt—myillustrativestyle—isn’t
really line work anyway.
Interviews with Game Developers 225
FIGURE 11.10 Screenshot from Hyper Light Drier.
. How have players responded to the aesthetic?
Very positively. I am a very private person usually, so it was a very
unusual thing for me to have such a public and intense reaction to
what I’m working on.
WegotalotoffanartfromtheKickstarterlaunchandthatfeltcrazy
tome! It wasn’ton my radar that peoplewould reactthatway. I put the
Art out there because I wanted to make the game...And to get all of
that intense reaction to it—it was great! It is great.
. HaveyoucomeacrossanysurpriseswhilecreatingArtforHyperLight
Drier?
This is the rst time I’ve made a game at this scale with a team and
I’m responsible for a lot of things. There are a lot of twists and turns in
game development and there have been surprises all the time. There’s
alottogureoutwhenmakingtilesormakingenemysprites.I’mnot
sureIcouldnameoneinparticularbecausetherearesomany.
. Are there any things that you built forHyper Light Drier thatyou are
particularly proud of? Particular favorites?
Building the whole game is kind of my favorite right now
<chuckle>. If you need a specic example...there were some ninja
frogs that I made recently that I really enjoy.
226 Pixel Art for Game Developers
. What single thing do you think makes the biggest dierence in the
success of a piece of Pixel Art?
I would say color choices.
. Doyouhave any tipsortechniquesthatwouldbehelpfultothereaders
of the book?
The thing that’s worked best when I’m doing any kind of Pixel
Art—whether it be character or environment—is just being aware of
everything that it’s going to interact with.
Thismaybemoretrueforourgamebecausewedon’thaveoutlines.
With solid colors it can be really challenging to make things pop out.
I think just being aware of where the piece of Art is going to be placed
inyourgameandthe thingsarounditbecausethoseassociationsreally
matter. You need to be aware of color, composition, and value in order
for something to either blend in or stand out.
Youcan’tdesigninabubble.
FIGURE 11.11 Screenshot from Hyper Light Drier.
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