Graphics Pixel Art: 1 to 1 Resolution or Upscale Sprites

[11clock]

I have made games with two kinds of ways to do low resolution. I either make the game natively that low resolution, or I double the resolution and upscale the sprites by 2x. I wanted to know others' opinions on which is preferred.

From my own experience, the latter choice allows for much smoother movement, but you lose authentic value of retro style games, and there is lower performance.

 

[kburkhart84]

Another option(likely the best) is to natively render at the lower resolution, and then upscale the screen in one big go(not the individual sprites but the whole screen). This lets you get a fuller screen without sacrificing the crispness of pixel art, and also makes you move only pixel by pixel. If you upscale graphics only there are more "game" pixels, meaning you get smooth movement, but some is sub-pixel, so it isn't like real pixel art at that point.

 

[11clock]

Another option(likely the best) is to natively render at the lower resolution, and then upscale the screen in one big go(not the individual sprites but the whole screen). This lets you get a fuller screen without sacrificing the crispness of pixel art, and also makes you move only pixel by pixel. If you upscale graphics only there are more "game" pixels, meaning you get smooth movement, but some is sub-pixel, so it isn't like real pixel art at that point.

What exactly is wrong with sub pixels?

 

[kburkhart84]

It isn't directly that there is something wrong, more the fact that your movement unit is no longer the same size as your graphical pixel unit. If you wanted "purity" with your pixel art game, this would be a no-no. If not, it isn't that important.

 

[gamedev4life]

the flexibility that the upscaling method provides tilts it its in favor over using original low res sprites. with upscaled pixel art youre able to rotate and zoom pixel art WITHOUT PIXEL DISTORTION which is a major plus, among other things. hotline miame comes to mind for example.

 

[Carnivius]

the flexibility that the upscaling method provides tilts it its in favor over using original low res sprites. with upscaled pixel art youre able to rotate and zoom pixel art WITHOUT PIXEL DISTORTION which is a major plus, among other things. hotline miame comes to mind for example.

I haaaaaaaaaate when sprites rotate in a higher resolution to what they are scaled up to resemble. Absolutely hate it. If I start seeing 'diagonal pixels' in a supposedly 'low res' game I lose a whole ton of respect and enjoyment for it.

 

[Nocturne]

I haaaaaaaaaate when sprites rotate in a higher resolution to what they are scaled up to resemble. Absolutely hate it. If I start seeing 'diagonal pixels' in a supposedly 'low res' game I lose a whole ton of respect and enjoyment for it.

I just knew you'd post in this topic and say just that!!!!! lol! Don't play my game Skein then... That said, I do feel the same sometimes... if a game is going for a "pure" retro pixel art look and feel and then throws in sub-pixel lighting or effects etc, then I find it quite annoying, but if the game uses pixel art purely for its aesthetic value and aren't trying to capture a specific era feel, then I have no problems with a rotated pixel, nor effects such as bloom, etc...

And on the subject of upscaling, I will say that you can upscale and still maintain crisp pixels with no interpolation when rotating. Simply set the app surface to the base resolution and not the viewport/window resolution.

 

[gamedev4life]

I haaaaaaaaaate when sprites rotate in a higher resolution to what they are scaled up to resemble. Absolutely hate it. If I start seeing 'diagonal pixels' in a supposedly 'low res' game I lose a whole ton of respect and enjoyment for it.

trust i know exactly what you mean and i hate it too, but pixel distortion is FAR WORSE!