Hand drawn assets --advice needed on what to do about sizing

Community
#1

I understand sprites are typically very small (8x8, 16x16, 32x32, etc). I’m not good at pixel art, but I can sketch on paper. I drew my sprites and background objects, scanned them, and then turned them into vectors in Photoshop. The original size of my main sprite is a relatively gargantuan 719x943 @300 ppi resolution.

Once loaded into GDevelop, I resized my main character down to 24x32 and surprisingly it still looks okay even though it’s very pixelated. I’m worried about some of my other drawings though, because they have finer details.

I think my options are to:

  • Leave things their original size and cross my fingers that the game works in the end
  • Resize them like I did with the main character and accept the loss of detail
  • Attempt to physically redraw everything way, way smaller
  • Give up

Asset stores don’t have the things I need in similar styles. Hiring an artist would be cost prohibitive.

Seasoned game creators, what would you do? Also, are there any other options I’ve overlooked? I’ve followed tutorials before but this is my first original game.

EDIT: Found part of the problem. GDevelop accepts PNG and JPG files, which are both raster, not SVG (vector) so there will be loss of resolution with scaling.

1 Like
#2

Hi Kale! :smiley:
I use hand-drawn sprites in my own games as well, so I suppose I could give a few pointers.

Since your game uses small sprites, it might be a good idea to shave off details to prevent the sprite from looking too busy. Keep the details simple & minimal for visual clarity.
If you still wish to include the highly detailed designs in the game in some way, I suggest using character portraits that may appear from time-to-time, which can include the more intricate details.

As for sprite sizes, feel free to break conventions if you deem it beneficial or necessary. 32x32 is probably very small for a modern game, & you could maybe go for 100 pixels or beyond. Perhaps try 75x100 pixel sprites & see if it fits your game?

#3

Good to know that they can be larger. I will scale up. Thank you!

1 Like