Some NES-Style Level Art

[Bynary Fission]

It's been almost six years since I made a thread in this forum...ahh, how time flies. I've been starting work on a game in the past few weeks, and I am aiming for an NES* look graphics-wise. I know basically *nothing* about pixel art - I've been looking up lots of guides on topics like shading, dithering, lighting, etc. These are the results - I don't think they're too bad but hopefully they are convincing enough to hide the fact that I'm artistically declined. (be sure to zoom in on each one - I was hoping it would allow for more zoom but oh well). So without further ado, here are the (metaphorical) pencil-tests I've managed to come up with. Titles given may not reflect the final product.

*I'm not actually adhering to the NES's graphical limitations in these images. If an NES were to try and render these it'd probably burst into flames. I'm merely reaching for the aesthetic.



#1 Diabetes Land
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...elmock-up2.png

This was the first made out of these four images. I liked how this turned out, but the clouds lack shading as I wasn't sure how to correctly do it when I made this. I've contemplated using a cut of The Root of the Problem as the music for this level.
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#2 Oceanside
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...0Art/Stage.png

The shortest one out of the four. I like how the ocean turned out, but the pillars seem to stick out a little bit.

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#3 The Golden Tower
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...WIPversion.png

https://soundcloud.com/bynary-fission/the-golden-tower

This is about 60% complete - I figured I had enough finished to get some feedback. You'll notice I left some of the tile pieces on the bottom. This one has a musical jingle to go with it!

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#4 Nightmare Castle
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...mareCastle.png

Okay, this one is cool as hell. I get a total Castlevania vibe from this, which is just as well seeing as how I was listening to Akumajou Densetsu's (Castlevania 3) soundtrack while making this. I really like the way the mountains look - doing that kind of lighting is really difficult for me.



I've learned quite a bit about making pixel art while crafting these, and I can feel myself getting better each time I do it. I've got so much more to create and so much more to learn, but this is a very effective way to do it, I think. These were all made in MSPaint, with a tiny bit of help from Paint.NET for a few minor things.