1. SHOW ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING OF PIXEL ART CREATION TECHINQUES WITHIN A MODERN INDUSTRY SETTING
Knowledge & Understanding

2.USE PIXEL ART DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF PROFESSIONAL PIXEL ART
Application

3. CRITIQUE AND PRESENT PIXEL ART PIECES WHILST COMPARING AGAINST CURRENT INDUSTRY PRODUCTION METHODS AND THEORIES, PLAYER TESTING AND USER EXPERIENCE.
Analysis & Enquiry

4. CREATE VIDEOS THAT DEMONSTRATE ANIMATED PIXEL ART EXAMPLES EFFECTIVENESS OF MODERN CULTURAL THEMES WITHIN A GLOBAL SETTING
Communication

This module covers the skills required to produce Games Industry style Pixel Art and design skills.

The module will cover the following topics

• Pixel Art Setup; Programs, file types, beginning an image.
• Pixel Art Concepts Dithering, Anti-Aliasing, Jaggies, Banding, Noise.
• Creating a Palette and the Painting Processes
• Modular / Tile Sprite Construction
• Sprite Engine Testing
• Sprite Presentation & Scaling
• Sprite Effects
• Sprite Creation Packages
• Character Sprite Creation
• Character Sprite Animation
• Character Item Sprite Creation
• Environment Sprite Lighting
• Environment Sprite Assembly

2 hour lecture/tutorial per week delivered as 8 weeks intensive Lecture/Tutorial followed 4 weeks of surgery sessions each semester.

2 hours per week. The module will be delivered using a combination of lectures, demonstrations and supervised tutorials. The majority of the work will be of a practical nature and students are expected to use their independent study time to consolidate this work

Anderson B, 2016 Learn to Create Pixel Art for your Games –Udemy. [online]. Available at: https://www.udemy.com/learn-to-create-pixel-art-for-your-game/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017].

Batchelor J, 2016 Learn Professional Pixel Art & Animation for Games–Udemy. [online]. https://www.udemy.com/learn-professional-pixel-art-animation-for-games/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017].

Rogers S, 2006 Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design, ISBN-13 978-1118877166

Silber D, 2015, Pixel Art for Game Developers, ISBN-13 978-1482252309

Wright L, 2006, Character Design for Mobile Devices; Mobile games, icons, and pixel art, 978-2940361120

Digital Academy Forum
Photoshop / Pyxel Edit
Premiere
After Effects
Microsoft Office
Unreal Engine / Unity
Retro / Mobile Game Access

Coursework 100%

Create 2 Pixel Art Asset Packs for games based around specific themes / emotions. This will include a mixture of environment, character, items and level effect pixel art presented as a series of videos / animated gifs.

All artwork should be designed based on set game framework / perspective.


Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 3 and 4

This module introduces the core concepts of pixel art, from low resolution 16 colour sprites to industry relevant creation of larger tiles and higher requirements, with the assignment focusing on development of tile sheets and developing pixel art for modern engines such as Unreal Engine 4.