Pixel artist looking for partner

Hi! I'm an amateur pixel artist grown up on the NES games. I really liked the console (we couldn't afford a SNES, so I played it till the late 90's). I saw this NES comminity and I wondered if I could join somebody to make a game on my favorite console? I prefer the sidescroller genre, but rpg's are also good. (I'm not too good with shooters, like Gradius, but I could try it.) I attached some of my NES inspired pieces, others can be found on my ≠ page. We can discuss this here, or you can PM me (as I see there is a feature for that).

I don't know how long will it be available, but here, take a look:

(EDIT: I attached the pic instead of a linked image hosting.)

I like your portraits.

Hey your work looks really good. It looks like you've been working on these for quite a while. Curious why you're just now getting around to putting your work into a real game. You obviously have a passion for it.

The designs I saw look like SNES. Do you have anything 8-bit style? Although doing SNES graphics is more work, so I wouldn't imagine you'd have much trouble designing for the NES.

@dougeff: Thanks!

@darryl.revok: I'm making games since 2008 (approximately), however only a few went through the whole process (because leaving partners, mostly). But this way I have many tilesets, spritesheets, level plans etc., and I know how to design and make game art, I just need a proper partner who can stay through the development. I'm fed up with minigames for net play and mobiles.
I don't really have 8-bit, because when I made it, programmers begin to say that they want more colorful versions, so I "upgraded" the art. Although the blue dwarf with the faerie were made for a 8-bit like game and has a good design documentation, I even used the NES palette found on the internet. (Ok, not 3 colors + transparency but close to it.)

And yes, I think I can manage with the restriction of the NES, however I would need a little help here and there, the wiki wasn't too informative about this part. (Or maybe it's more simple than I think.)

If you stuck to the palette and three colors, I'd imagine the developer would be the one translating your images into actual NES CHR banks, so I doubt you'd need to know too much. There are a few restrictions that are important. The NES can display 64 sprite at one time, so you'd need to design your characters in consideration for that fact. That's usually not an issue, because characters sized 8 tiles would allow 8 characters on screen at a time, but it could be. There's also scanline stuff which I don't think is important to worry about on your end. You can overlap sprites to add more colors but that's taking one out of your 64. You probably know about the tiles, but if not, every image has to be divided into 8x8 pixel tiles. Sometimes that might change the way you'll draw things so you don't end up with an extra tile for one pixel. A lot of the tile adjustment in the NES CHR file though will probably be done by the developer. There are probably some more things I'm not thinking about at this moment.

I sent you a PM.

Yeah, I know about these restrictions. I made some research in the past. I have only small questions, but I will ask whoever I will work with

But, I also have found one of my NES character. He's a barbarian, and I have a lot bigger spritesheet, it's just an excerpt for showing. (I couldn't decide if I want him to have a sword, but I made the animations. The bowstring and the swing effect of the sword are missing because I wanted to make sure that the animation looks good then adding an effect.

That's probably a good idea, since in addition to the limitations of the console, the engine will probably impose some as well.

BTW, nice sprites!

Wow, someone who actually looks up the restrictions of a platform before attempting to make art on it.


I think it looks good, but in my personal opinion, I think it would look better with some shading and outlines to make it feel less flat I guess.

If I have to redraw it, I would do it like this (maybe with that alternate coloring). It's at least a 3 years old sprite, I learned many things since. But I like the simplicity of the character, it remembered me to Super Mario Bros, which I played many-many times.

The flat style looks like the early NES stuff. I don't particularly like it, but I don't hate it either. I do dislike things like Mario's bent forward knee (that's disturbing!), but I don't think your sprites have any of that. Anyway, I much prefer sprites with volume, and the new version looks pretty cool. The alternate color version reminds me of Chun-li though!

I also much prefer the volume sprite.

Are you still looking for a programmer? I'm looking into making games for the NES myself. The technical aspect looks like it's right up my alley, but I have all the artistic talent of a lump of coal.

Judging by your DA page, you're probably looking for someone that knows what they're doing already, but if you're okay with keeping it simple, at least at first, I'd be more than happy to pitch in.

Thanks for all of your interest! Currently I'm talking with somebody about a game, so I don't like to start another conversation. I really don't like to say no, but I have such a limited free time. I don't know if I can change the name of the topic, or if I could delete it. Maybe I will post some fresh mockups for the fun

The owner of the first post in a topic can edit its subject.

I look forward to whatever you're working on.

For the record, both of your Barbarian sprites are solid. The first looks like it's circa '87, the second, its '90 sequel.
I'd love to play both.

I don't much care for espozo's though, pretty lanky and awkward.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Here's a small project, maybe someone would like it and may join as a programmer - at least I hope so


The game is about a dwarf thief who collects gold and treasure to buy back his souls from some faeries. He goes through dungeons, trying to avoid monsters and traps. The gameplay is simple, Mario-like platforming with minor item usage. The background may be a bit too detailed, I want(ed) a more simple style, but I want to make a darker theme, so there's place for other's imagination.
If someone would like to join, let's talk about it here, or in pm.

Hey! Those graphics remind me a bit of the later Sunsoft games with the darker tone.
I'm always up for doing music and sound effects but that's not a particularly unique skill around here... and it also depends on how big this project would be. If it's a small NROM game, you should not expect to get a very advanced soundtrack. If there's at least one 8kB or 16kB bank available for sound alone then yes.

For music, I wanted to ask you anyway But first we need a game

I know I'm late, but that mockup looks excellent. I hope you found a programmer, because I want to play it already.

Paid or unpaid?

Have you started making a set of animations for the main character?

To Rahsennor: Thanks!

To tepples: It's unpaid. I do it because I like this and I want to cooperate with somebody who feels the same way. It's a hobby. To the other question: yes, I made all the animations for the main character (that I thought it would fit to the game). I could add others but I want to talk about that with a partner, because any other things are extra, like hanging on hooks or some story based animations.

One of the best tilesets I've seen posted here. I hope to see this project come to life!

Not to mention, the story premise I think sounds perfect for an NES game. Simple, to the point and understandable with a little bit of edginess and honestly not particularly cliche at all. (I feel cliche is sometimes almost impossible to avoid with retro games)

The character is really small. Could I venture to guess he uses this to his advantage in his explorations?

Don't sell yourself short. A game of this quality (with the right team) could definitely make some money. If you're going to put a year+ of work into it, why not try to make a cartridge release when it's completed? You could set up a profit sharing agreement with your team.

@dougeff: I'm not saying I wouldn't like to make a real cartridge, and some profit after that. That's the goal, and yes I would make a profit-share agreement, if that suits my teammates. But in my read, the question was: am I looking for a paid "cooworker" or not. And of course, I won't pay anybody. I'm not even capable of doing so, knowing the programmers' fee in my country - and I think that'd count as cheap in other countries.

That's the same reason why I never confronted anyone when I got to a dead end with my first project... as I couldn't make any decent graphics on my own and there was no certainity of me being able to finish everything and paying the pixel artist... So now if I ever get to be the sound designer somewhere I either want the $ in advance, or I'm fine getting an agreed % of the profit at the end (which wouldn't have to be that high, after all, sound design is a very easy part of the process) if I see that the project is actually going somewhere and isn't one of those "fangames" that die at best, after a few months in.

After a year I got some experience in making art for NES. I still work on a serious project, but I collected many ideas for a more lighthearted one. If someone need it, I offer my help again. I have my own ideas but I could work with somebody who want to do something specific. I'm open to some "piracy", for example I'd really love to make something for the Mario universe, for example a real Mario RPG for NES. If you see some potency in this, let's talk about it. One thing you have to know: as programmers do their things very differently, have some patience to explain me, what do you expect from me (especially for technical things, like file formats and like).

I'd probably take you up on that offer if I were working seriously enough on my project; your art is great!

Perhaps some other time when I can work reliably enough to bring others on to my project.
BTW, the link to your Deviant Art account seems to be broken.

@Marscaleb: I deleted my DeviantArt profile, and I forgot to change it here. Now the link leads to my PixelJoint gallery. It's not so big and well built like the DA was, but more than nothing. Anyway, when you feel ready for some game making, let's get in contact!

It's a me again

So, months have passed and it seems my original project is cancelled. As it seems cooperating only for hobby purposes doesn't going to work. But I really would like to make a game for the system with a real cartridge. So I decided to try it again (and I think last time) with some material motivation. I don't know if there is somebody who's willing to work like this, but I can offer money in exchange of the programmer's work. We can even write a contract. (Although I know that this won't be cheap, please consider that my second name isn't Rockefeller.) I'm open to discussion, please write me a private message if you are interested.

Long story short: I need a programmer. I can handle the design works from writing a design document to the real graphics. (I'm also open to ideas and critique, but that's an other question.) The first base is a game that works on a NES emulator, the second is a material copy (cartridge) of the game what works on a real console.

[CASE CLOSED] I found someone, thanks for your letters! I really hope it will work out!

For once, i'm glad a spambot bumps a thread, because this artwork is amazing.

I'm glad to hear that. I hope you post your work as it progresses. Would love to see whatever project you end up working on.

Some update after the long months.

Since nobody liked the dwarf character - I really don't know what's wrong with it -, I made a new hero to the same base.

That's pretty good! Lots of color and details for such severe restrictions!

I keep looking at it and going "there's no way that's only three colors... one, two, three... huh." That's a sure sign of some masterful pixelwork.

The new character is very well-drawn (strong silhouette good color contrast, easily trackable elements to assist in animation). However, I much prefer the dwarf. He looks less like a protagonist is expected to look than your new character which looks much more "typical" for a main character. Regardless, please keep posting progress. Your work is too good not to share!

I like both (had never seen this thread). The only problem I see with the dwarf is that both the orange and the green colors have a very similar level. I think it would look better if one was darker than the other.

Thanks for the appreciation! Originally I liked the idea of a dwarven thief better, because it was a bad protagonist, rude, greedy, who mocks the bosses. But I wanted to make a game and none of the programmers liked it. Anyway, I have all the animations for the dwarf (removed the bag in the final form), if I ever succeed to find someone to make the game, maybe he can have some "cameo" in it, or some role - but I know that changing characters is a bit hard on NES. We'll see. Now I have some free time during the summer, I want to work on the idea.

I'm seconding what everyone else already said, you've got skill getting a lot "character" out of the harsh limitations.
Regarding the dwarf/elf boy decision, i think the dwarf may have been a bit more original, but at the same time, you've managed to make the most out of the latter. It is very expressive; more so compared to similar designs. I'm honestly a bit envious of how you manage to make those few pixels so expressive All in all, great work!

I only see one area where i'd be able to make suggestions, if you want critique. The red and blue does clash a bit and can be hard to the eye when next to each other. This is unavoidable with the current subpalette (which i think is wisely chosen to enhance the expressiveness), but it can be mitigated a bit in the portrait at least by lightly reworking the shadows/depth a bit. I made an example partly as an excercise for myself, and partly to demonstrate, but i'll wait posting so you can chime in on whether you'd like to see it or not.

Frankengraphics: I'm open to any criticism, honestly I still modify my images here and there. Just one thing: let me keep your suggestions if I like them

That sounds very reasonable! Here's the suggestion. To help comparison: I've added black outlines to parts of feather, brim, and ear, and added a quick curl of hair behind the ear.

Ah, now I understand, sorry I doesn't speak the language with such fluidity I like the outcome, I will modify the portrait, thanks for pointing at the problem!

Some mockup I made from the parts of a level. It's a bit thronged, but I wanted to show some key elements.

I'm really loving the goat/baphomet-like creature! Perfect mix of frightening and cute. Edit: And the face in the wall

I'm struggling with the background. I can not decide if I should use:

a) black background with some minor but vital background elements (like a big fountain or monument) used only one. Like in Metroid, and leave the other space to ground type tiles and make them more diverse.

b) use some background everywhere I can with more repetitive patterns. (like in the later 80's). I attached something I made.

If there was a struggle, i don't see signs of it. It looks great! Top of the class.

The shading of the "triangles" (excuse my lack of vocabulary ) look a bit contradicting to what i was expecting, but it still works nicely.

Your image is shaded well enough that it's clear that those temples are part of the background, but as a general rule, I prefer to have simpler backgrounds when there's no secondary scrolling plane, to avoid confusion.

The struggle is that most of the NES games uses tiny "general" tiles to compose the background, so they could use them over and over again (with a different palette), and I think that's almost a form of art (like on the first level of Castlevania the base of the columns inside are as good to be the shape of the fountain outside and it looks great). But my backgrounds look like exactly what they are, and I think they aren't as great.

BTW Frankengraphics what did you "expect"? Do you mean the triangular pediment or the simplicity of the roofs?

I think the simplicity is great. There could of course be more work done to them, but you might want to save that for other things, and it looks clean as it is and the player's eyes are guided to the foreground by the increasing detail there.

In castlevania 3 level 1, for comparison, a lot of the nametable filled with plain gray tiles than you'd notice when simply playing. It works.

My remark was mostly regarding the light source (assuming it's a moonlit scene). The pillars are reflecting to the right, the majority of the rooftops are reflecting to the left, just as the foreground bricks, but still some other few are reflecting to the right once again. I did a mockup in photoshop. Ok if i upload?

Of course, let's see

Besides unifying the source/direction of light, i also mirrored the orientation of windows to reflect and support the different angles on the buildings, which would take a few more tiles. As always, feel free to use or improve on any of the alterations. EDIT: One thing that could help the perspective some more would be if the pillars in the far end on the short sides of the houses were less lit up. It would also help the scenery composition additionally as a whole to be percieved as intangible backdrop; but once again at the cost of at least new metatiles,and if you can't find a way to reuse tiles, also those.

Thanks the mockup, I will watch light source next time, however the roofs of the building turned right are a bit strange. Anyway I will try an other way, somehow I don't really like this polished background and I'm trying to make something more 'old school'.

Between your background as shown and aiming for something more oldschool, i immediately thought of the ending in battle of olympus with its gritty yet pretty scenery.

The fact that both walls on each building are the same color creates a perspective problem. Very cute graphics though, I'd just pay attention to that issue.

Got some new version. I don't like to inspired this much by other games, especially when I prefer Castlevania more than Battle of Olympus, but it looks better - I think.

I much preferthe the earlier one. I wouldn't worry too much about foreground / background as you are using temperature at the moment to effectively divide the two (warm is foreground, cool is background).

Not that it should matter, but i prefer your earlier too (but it's hard to pinpoint why, if it's a stylistic preference or if there's something else) - that said, the bold shadows on the wall piece and column looks very nice in the new one, especially on the left hand building.

One minor thing, i think the new one might look better if the light edge on the roofing panels on the right hand buildings was left and up, instead of left and down.

The shift in roof panels per row also make them defy their expected positions a bit to me, and draws attention. A unified diagonal line might be worth returning to, while keeping ther distinct-ness.

Thanks for the advice, in the end I decided to follow the games where the characters also lack of outlines (Metroid, Kid Icarus) and I will do background just where it's important, and everything else will be collidable or sprites.

I don't know how it will be shown, but a sublevel would look like this. Unfortunately it's more like a mockup, but without the ability to testing it is as it is

This will be the last picture posted. I may rushed the last piece, but wanted to show. I'm working on the graphics and I hope someday we'll get a real game. Everything is a mockup.

Awesome work ! Congrats !

Agreeing; great work! Your idea on "just the important details" really shines in your latest post! Hope you'll get it into a full game at some point

Those are indeed some very sharp pixels.

It's time I come here looking for a programmer/partner In the last year I was working with Lazycow on the comp project Wolfling, and I learnt a lot about the workflow and possibilities - and also about myself. So, in hope of finding somebody, I write about what I can do:

EXPERIENCE
- I'm experienced with platformers and jrpgs, also tried shoot em ups before. I'm open to other forms of games, but then I have to learn about how to create them (analyze and play games etc.). (Fantasy-like environments fit my style better, but I'm open to this too.)
- I made some level concepts before, some were working, some not. I'm slow at this and I should be capable of trying my ideas out - pen and paper rarely worked out.
- I have my own ideas and I'm a good at discussing the details of yours. I may be stubborn sometimes, but I rather compromise than doing nothing. I can not make a game alone, that's for sure and it's okay to make it of your thoughts and mine. (It's good to know who's in charge of what, especially when talking about the story and setting.)

WORKFLOW
- I'm free at summer, I could do most of the work till the end of august and some of them during december. Other times I'm slow.
- I need to know the technical limitation of the project to present the ideas. (Size of the sprite and tile sheet, possible scrolling type, room sizes etc.) I found out that programmers have different approach to the NES and are capable of different things. I prefer work knowing the limitations, than just planning and see if it's going to work or not.
- I like to communicate via e-mail, and I can use some of the project-organizing websites, such as Trello or Padlet.

GOAL
- I want to make a story driven game for the NES, if possible: with a working cartridge in a reasonable time. I'm patient but it's good to see the progress and would be good to finish it in 2 years.


If it fits your interest, please contact me in pm and let's discuss it.

I love it.