#Unique Custom Pixel Art

[coquettebeautiful]

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[tinypixeldoll]

it's not about what i want anymore, mitzy. it's about makin the best of what i have.

-pearl

[8pxl]

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BLUESKY

Hiya! Curious about joining bluesky but intimidated by all the features? Already on bluesky but want to learn more? Then welcome to my quick guide on getting started and navigating bluesky!~

What is Bluesky?

it’s a social media site that’s owned by no single person or company. it's aim is to bring back the early days of twitter before bots, elon musk or algorithms took over. Personally I find the site really cozy, wholesome, and engaging. my Bluesky account for example

What’s unique about Bluesky?

→ CUSTOMIZATION: ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎your timeline is very easy to control. There’s tons of options, so be sure to go through each tab in your settings. some options include: turning off autoplay, changing the order in which threaded replies show, changing DM settings, content preferences and lots of visual app settings.

→ MODERATION LISTS: human made, mass blocklists. These are public lists of accounts that when you subscribe to you automatically block or mute everyone in that specific blocklist. A great way to avoid unwanted content, and interactions. ✦ Moderation lists I recommend will be below the cut

→ STARTER PACKS: recommendation lists on who to follow, made by users. You can even curate your own starter pack of recommendations! ✦ Starter pack recommendations will be below the cut

→ FEEDS: public timelines, basically. There are a lot of feeds you can join, or you can even create your own. I made a feed featuring just my pixel art so it doesn’t get cluttered with text posts or other photos in my media tab. ✦ I’ll post feeds I recommend below and link you to a tutorial on how to create your own feed

→ BLOCKING/MUTING: bluesky has a great blocking system. When you block someone they can no longer see, or interact with you. They also have a feature to make your blog inaccessible unless logged in. you can also mute specific people, delete post replies, and even detach your post from a reblog. You can also mute specific words, phrases, tags etc.

→ NSFW: bluesky allows NSFW content, including artwork, porn, lewds etc. They also have a great moderation page to avoid the content completely, censor the content, or show it if you’d wish. ✦ just go to settings > moderation > toggle on NSFW settings and it’ll let you heavily moderate.

→ LABELS: this is a really cool feature on the site, you can subscribe to certain pages that enable a lot of fun/useful labels that help you in different ways! (like pronoun tags, artist tags etc) ✦ Labels to browse will be posted below

→ COMMUNITIES: the vastly diverse communities really feel like the best parts of tumblr. since you can so heavily curate your experience, it can really feel like a calming oasis. Mine is mostly artists, and other creatives.

there’s also a large community of professional artists, art directors, authors, celebrities, and even the best shitposters from twitter. the app really is what you make of it but it’s thriving right now.

RECOMMENDATIONS & LINKS BELOW ⬎

→ MODERATION LISTS:

HATE SPEECH: NAZIS | MAGA | MAGAv2 | MAGAv3 | TRANSPHOBES & HOMOPHOBES | FAR RIGHT | FAR RIGHTv2 | FAR RIGHTv3 | ELON MUSK FANBOYS | ANTI-BLACK | ANTI-VAX

NFT/AI/CRYPTO: MASTERLIST | AI/NFT | AI/NFTv2 | AI FANBOYS | CRYPTO | NFTs

SPAM/SCAMMERS: SPAMBOTS | BOTS | CONTENT SCRAPERS | CONTENT FARMING

✦ to block or mute everyone in the blocklist at once, click subscribe in the top right corner:

→ STARTER PACKS:

ART: PIXEL ART | PIXEL ARTv2 | WOMEN OF PIXEL ART | BADASS DIGITAL ARTISTS | MAGIC THE GATHERING ARTIST | PAINTERS OF BLUESKY | INDIE COMIC CREATORS | LGBTQIA+ COMIC CREATORS | WEBCOMICS ULTIMATE COLLECTION

GENERAL: WOMEN OF BSKY | AUTHORS | LGBTQ NEWS

SHITPOSTERS: JUNIPER | JUNIPERv2 | MASTERLIST | SCIENCE SHITPOSTERS

✦ for more niche starter packs, use the search function. search your specific interest and ‘starter pack’ and you’ll find some!

→ FEEDS:

DISCOVER | WHATS TRENDING | MENTIONS | ART | TRENDING ART

THE GRAM: a timeline for exclusively image posts from those you follow. no textposts etc. ONLYPOST: similar to the gram, it shows a timeline of only those you follow. no reposts, just original posts. 📌: a way to bookmark posts. just reply with the pin emoji.

✦ there’s tons of others feeds as well! just use the feed tab and you can browse feeds or search for specific ones.

✦ TUTORIAL ON HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM FEED FOR YOUR ART/POSTS

→ LABELS:

SKYWATCH: most popular label. Lots of useful labels!

AI Labels: identifies AI users, can also enable hiding the posters.

Pronouns: self explanatory but useful. can add a badge with your pronouns!

✦ you can search for additional label bots on bluesky!

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:

✦ EXPIRIENCE ENHANCING TOOLS RECS ✦ CLEARSKY: TRACK BLOCKS AND BLOCKLISTS ✦ SKYFEED: CREATE CUSTOM FEEDS EASILY ✦ use the block function often. do not entertain trolls or hate speech. ✦ as well as starter packs, there’s also lists! lists can be used in the same way to create curated lists of accounts. it’s a good way to keep track of specific genres of posters you’re interested in, and finding new ones! ✦ hashtags: use them! they’re beneficial in boosting your post. you can even link hashtags in your bio making you easier to find. another method of making you more visible is if you post an ‘interest’ post! basically just type things you’re interested in and it’ll help people find you / vice versa ! ✦ update your profile first thing, like bio avi etc. make a small post so people know you're real. interact and engage! the communities there are so welcoming!

I think that covers abt everything i wanted to cover! Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading lol

[numbpill]

helpful links & resources for web graphics

(✿◕‿◕)♡ here's a list of pages from carrd, neocities, tumblr, and rentry where you can find pixel dividers, favicons, transparent pngs, and other graphics to decorate your site.

carrd resources

✧ gifcity.carrd.co – a collection of blinkies, buttons, pixel dividers, stamps, and image masks. contains bright and flashing colors.

✧ decohoard.carrd.co – an archive of decorative images, including banners, stamps, dividers, favicons, pixel art, and more.

✧ enchantments.carrd.co – features backgrounds, dividers, gifs, and links. site navigation is hidden in the page titles.

✧ storagespaced.carrd.co – still being built, but already has sections for dividers, stamps, buttons, blinkies, and more.

neocities resources

✧ pixelsafari.neocities.org/dividers – a huge collection of pixel dividers sorted into themes like hearts, stars, ribbons, plants, music, and more.

✧ y2k.neocities.org – an aesthetic archive of 2000s-era graphics, including transparent PNGs, buttons, and banners.

✧ gifcities.org – an archive of old Geocities gifs, perfect for a retro web aesthetic.

✧ sadgrl.online/graphics – provides pixel decorations, dividers, blinkies, and stamps.

tumblr resources

✧ luigraphics.tumblr.com – custom rentry graphics, icons, favicons, dividers, banners, and more.

✧ sweetparty.tumblr.com – posts a variety of pixel dividers in different colors and themes.

✧ vaniillamyk.tumblr.com – specializes in dividers, including unique black and red polka dot designs.

✧ oldwebstuff.tumblr.com – a blog dedicated to collecting and posting graphics inspired by early 2000s web design.

rentry resources

✧ rentry.co/pixel-dividers – a curated list of pixel dividers and decorations.

✧ rentry.co/oldweb – a hub for nostalgic web graphics, including favicons, stamps, and icons.

✧ rentry.co/webcore – focused on Y2K and webcore aesthetics, offering backgrounds, dividers, and transparent images.

extra resources

✧ stickpng.com – find transparent PNG images in various categories.

✧ iconsdb.com – free icons in customizable colors.

✧ subtlepatterns.com – seamless background patterns.

✧ blingee.com – make custom glittery images.

(¬‿¬) if you know of any other good resources, feel free to drop them in the replies! i plan on making a neocities page just for keeping up with potentially EVERY single resource site i can find.

ps ps- i am desperately in need of some pretty serious dental work (thanks depression) and would graciously ask you to check out my custom themes and resources on my ko-fi, it would help me a lot and i need some really expensive work done basically to avoid having dentures or no teeth at all as embarassing as thatt is to admit. i am also homeless, livng in my broken down car as i type this, so any support financially is pretty much a dire need and something i would appreciate beyond words. sorry for the negativity, dont take it as a downer, im smiling right now!! :P

check out my ko-fi!

[lowpolynpixelated]

Bloodborne PSX One of the best fanworks on the web

Though the PS4 boasted and still boasts an impressive library of releases, for many (myself included) the system served to be bought for initially one purpose, to be the Bloodborne Machine. Most of the people in my life who had a PS4 during its generation either bought one exclusively to play Fromsoftware’s Nightmare Hunting Adventure or had initially got one solely to play the game and ended up getting more games afterward. It’s a phenomenon the game industry sees time and time again, with previous generations having swathes of fans buying entire consoles for one or two games. As far as games go though, Bloodborne is at the very least worth the price of entry. At the time, it was heralded as Fromsoftware’s most cutting-edge and impressive game to date. A gorgeous gothic world filled with creatures ripped straight out of H.P Lovecraft’s nightmares, a haunting soundtrack showcasing beautifully composed choral scores and a combat system that incentivized aggression and speed to achieve brutal and bloody efficiency. It’s no wonder then why Bloodborne still has such a large following behind it. Fans of Fromsoftware have hoped for a sequel or PC port year after year to largely disappointing results. But where the community shines is in its fanworks. 

From fanart, comics, music, animations, and even fan-made video game spinoffs, the game has been shown a monumental amount of love since its debut in 2015. One of these fanworks was released back in 2022 and has since become one of the most famous pieces of fan-made content surrounding the game, this of course, being BloodbornePSX by LWMedia. An incredibly impressive feat of coding and art direction, the game serves as a “Demake” of Bloodborne’s first Yharnam segment, made to look like and play as if it were made on the very first PlayStation console. With some custom-made areas and an entirely unique boss to boot the perfectly paced experience is both a treat to fans who have been orbiting the game since its earliest days and new fans looking for the best and brightest fanworks to interact with. 

The game has since gone on to be covered by a variety of news outlets all over the web, along with its creator receiving much-deserved attention for her efforts. One Lilith Walther (AKA b0tster on social media) holds the title of developer for the project. A long-time video game enthusiast and FromSoftware fan herself, she’s had quite an impact on the community I’m sure she’s very proud to be a part of. Later in the article, we’ve got an interview with Lilith herself about both Bloodborne PSX and her current project, “Bloodborne Kart”, but first, let’s talk a bit more in-depth about BBPSX.

(Official launch trailer for Bloodborne PSX, uploaded January 31, 2022 by LWMedia on Youtube)

Bloodborne PSX:

So, what exactly is Bloodborne PSX? To start, let’s answer what precisely a “Demake” is first. Demakes often have the goal of remaking the likeness of a game either stylistically, mechanically, or both, as if it was developed on retro/outdated hardware. Famous examples of Demakes include “The Mummy Demastered” developed by Wayforward as a sort of tie-in to the 2017 film “The Mummy” in the stylings of a 16-bit run and gun adventure against armies of the undead, and “Pixel Force Halo” by Eric Ruth games which take the prolific XBOX franchise and shrinks it down to a Mega Man-esque platformer reminiscent of the NES’ 8-bit days. Demakes are intensely attractive looking, not only into the past of video games and their developments but just how creative developers can be with games that they love and appreciate. Bloodborne PSX hits as hard as a Demake can in my opinion, blending masterfully recreated graphics with perfectly clunky early PSX gameplay quirks that go above and beyond to make the game not only LOOK like it belongs on the nearly 30-year-old console but feel right at home on it as well.

(A screenshot depicting the player character “The Hunter” facing off against two fearsome Werewolf enemies. Screenshot sourced from the Bloodborne PSX Official itch.io page)

Gameplay:

Starting off with the masterfully recreated clunk in the gameplay, Bloodborne PSX “shows its age” by hearkening back to a time when being seamless just wasn’t an option. Much like adventure action games of the past (and much UNLIKE its modern inspiration), you’ll be cycling through your inventory delightfully more than you’d expect. Equipping keys, checking items, and even the trademark weapon transformations are all done through the wonderfully nostalgic menu and inventory screens. Taking one of the foundational parts of Bloodborne’s combat system and making it such a more encumbering mechanic is nothing short of sheer genius when it comes to ways to really make you feel like it’s 1994 again. On top of this, the Hunter’s movement itself has been made reminiscent of classic action titles. Somehow, both stiff enough to feel dated and fluid enough to make combat that same rush of bestial fun found in the original, it goes a long way towards the total immersion into that retro vibe the game sets out to give the player. Anyone who grew up with Fromsoftware’s earlier titles like Armored Core and the King’s Field series will be very familiar with this unique brand of “well-tuned clunk”.

(A delightfully dated looking diagram showing off the controller layout for Bloodborne PSX’s controls. Image sourced from the Bloodborne PSX Official itch.io page)

Graphics:

Speaking of old Fromsoftware games, though, let’s talk about the absolutely bit-crushingly beautiful graphical work on display. As I’m sure you’ve seen from the videos and screenshots included in the article, BBPSX’s art style and direction are nothing short of perfect for what it aims to be. While playing, I couldn’t help but notice every little detail (or lack thereof) in the environments meant to emulate the experience of a game made on 30-year-old hardware. Low render distances, chunky textures, blocky polygonal models, just the right amount of texture warp, it all blends together to create an atmosphere that I can 100% picture being shown off on the back of a jewel CD case with a T for Teen rating slapped into the lower corner. While playing, something rather specific that called out to me was the new way enemy names and health bars were displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen while fighting. As a big fan of the King’s Field games, this small detail went (probably too much of) a long way toward my love of how everything’s meant to feel older. Other games trying to match the more specific feel of King’s Field, like “Lunacid” created by KIRA LLC, also include this delightful little detail, a personal favorite for sure. 

(A screenshot depicting the second phase of Father Gascoigne’s boss fight, showing off the game’s perfectly retro art style. Image sourced from the Bloodborne PSX Official itch.io page)

Sound design/Soundtrack:

But where would a game be without its sound and score? No need to fear, however, because Bloodborne PSX comes complete with a chunky soundscape that will make you want to check and see if your TV is set to channel 3. A haunting set of tracks played by fittingly digital-sounding MIDIs ran through filters to sound just as crackly as you remember backs up crunchy sounds of spilling blood with low-poly weaponry. Original sounds from Bloodborne have been used for an authentic sounding experience, but have also been given the CRT speaker treatment and sound like something you remember playing on Halloween 20 years ago. If you watched the launch trailer featured above then you know exactly what I’m talking about. The Cleric Beast’s trademark screech and Gascoine’s signature howl after his beastly transformation have never sounded so beautifully dated, and I’m here for every bit of it. Even the horrific boss themes we know and love from the original Bloodborne have been brought through this portal to the past. One of my favourite tracks, the Cleric Beast boss theme, might just sound even better when played on a 16-bit sound chip. It really cannot be understated just how much weight the sound design of the game is pulling. In my opinion, the only thing missing is that sweet sweet PSX startup sound before the game starts crackling through the speakers of a TV in the computer room.

(The Bloodborne PSX rendition of the Cleric Beast’s boss theme. Created by and uploaded to Youtube by The Noble Demon on March 20, 2021)

Interview with the developer:

Before writing this article, I had the absolute pleasure and privilege of talking with Lilith Walther about some developmental notes and personal feelings about inspirations and challenges that can come with the daunting task of being a developer. Below are the nine (initially ten, but unfortunately, a bit of the interview was lost due to my recording software bugging out) questions I posed to Miss Lilith, along with her answers transcribed directly from the interview. 

I’d like to start this section of the article by saying Lilith was an absolute joy to talk to. During the interview, I really felt like she and I shared some common ground on some topics regarding how media can have an impact on you and what sorts of things come with video games as an art form. After some minor technical difficulties (and by that, I mean my video drivers crashed), I started off with something simple. The first question posited was: “What got you into video games initially?” Lilith’s response was as follows: “When I was a kid, the family member of a friend had a SNES lying around. I turned it on and didn’t really understand. I was a guy on top of a pyramid, I walked down the pyramid, and some big ogre killed me. Later I learned that was A Link to the past.” and after a brief laugh continued, “A couple years later my parents got a Nintendo 64 with Mario64 and Ocarina of Time and that was it. Never put the controller down since then.” 

She then went on to describe what precisely about Nintendo’s first foray into 3D Zelda had hooked her. “I’ve heard this story so many times. It’s like you’re not even playing the game. You’re just in the world hanging out in Kokiri forest collecting rupees to get the Deku shield, and the game expects you to! It was just, ‘run around this world and explore,’ and that really hooked me.” I couldn’t agree more with her statement about her experience. Not just with a game as prolific as Ocarina of Time but many experiences from older console generations that could be considered “the first of their kind”, or at the very least some of the earliest. Lilith also described her first experience with a PlayStation console, stating: “Later on I got a PS2 which played PS1 games. I didn’t end up getting a PS1 until around the PS3 era, so I guess I’m a poser. I remember my sister bringing home Final Fantasy 9 when it was a relatively new game. If it wasn’t my first PS1 game it was definitely my first Final Fantasy game. Of course I went back and played 8 and 7 afterwards.” A solid answer to a simple question. 

The second question I asked was one starting to move toward the topic of Bloodborne PSX and its namesake/inspiration. Or at least the family of systems it was released on: “What PlayStation console was your favorite and why?” Lilith’s answer surprised me a bit. Not because I disagreed, quite the opposite, actually. But with such a big inspiration for her work being games from the PSX-PS2 generations, what followed was a pleasant bit of insight into one of her favourite eras of gaming, to quote: “I can give you two answers here.” To which I assured her she was more than welcome to, but she was set on having something definitive. “No no I’m only going to give you one answer. I can give you the correct answer that I don’t want to admit, but it was the PlayStation 3. It’s so embarrassing but I genuinely was hooked into the marketing of the whole ‘The cell processor is the smartest thing in the world’ and all that. It really seemed like the future of gaming and I was all about it. I think I owned an XBOX360 before but I did eventually get it and really enjoyed it. It took a couple years for some of the best games to come out but I really did.” A few examples she cited as being some of her most memorable experiences on the console were Uncharted 2, Journey, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Warhawk. All games I’ve seen on several top 5 and top 10 lists throughout my life within the gaming space. A delightful show of affection for a generation personally very dear to me as well, in which she ended the segment by declaring “Hell yeag”, a bit of a catchphrase she’s coined online.

Getting into the topic proper, my third question was one about her personal relationship with Bloodborne: “How did Bloodborne impact/appeal to your interests?” A question that received perhaps my favourite answer of the whole interview. From her response: ”Oh that’s a big one. Going to the opposite end of the poser spectrum, I was a Fromsoftware fan before it was cool. One of the games I played religiously on my PS2 was Armored Core.” A statement which made more sense than perhaps anything else said during my time with her. “Then later in the PS3 era everyone was talking about Dark Souls, this was when I was in college. I finally caved and got it and saw the Fromsoftware logo and thought ‘Oh it’s the Armored Core people!’ I played and beat it, really enjoyed my time with it. I skipped Dark Souls 2 because everyone told me to hate it, I still need to go back to that one.” 

It’s something I would recommend anyone who hasn’t played Dark Souls 2 to go and do. “Then Bloodborne came out and I thought ‘Alright this is the new one, gotta play this one’ and I was a huge fan of all the gothic stuff in the aesthetic. And how do I explain this, I do really like Bloodborne. I like the design, and the mechanical suite of gameplay, as a video-gamey video game it’s very good.” The tone shifted here to something a bit more personal. “But as well, I was playing it at a specific time in my life. I came out in 2019, I know Bloodborne came out in 2015 but I was obviously just playing it non-stop. It was just one of my ‘coming out games’, you know?” For those who maybe don’t understand the statement there, “coming out” is a very common term used within the Queer community to describe the experience of revealing your identity to those around you. Whether it be to family, friends, or co-workers, almost every queer person has some sort of coming out story to tell. Lilith is speaking in reference to her coming out as a trans woman. She elaborated: “Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I just feel like when you make a decision like that, that part of my life just ended up seared into my brain, you know? Bloodborne was there, so now it’s just a part of me. And it definitely influenced some things about me. It was there because I was working on Bloodborne PSX at the time, but it had an impact on something I’ve heard a lot of other Trans people describe.” She went on to describe the concept of “Coming out a second time” as sort of “finding yourself more within your identity” and becoming more affirmed in it. She described both Bloodborne and her development on Bloodborne PSX influencing large parts of her life, a good example being how she dresses and presents. As a trans woman myself, this answer delighted me to no end. I, for one, can absolutely 100% relate to the notion of media you experience during such a radical turning point in your life sticking with you. There are plenty of games, shows, music, and books that I still hold very near and dear to me because, as Lilith stated, they were there. All the right things at the right time.

Halfway through our questions, we’ve finally arrived at one pertaining specifically to the development of Bloodborne PSX: “What are some unique challenges you’ve faced developing a game meant to look/play like something made on retro hardware?”

Lilith answers: “So there’s two things, two big things. One is rolling back all of the quality of life improvements we’ve gotten over the years in gaming. Not automatically using keys is always my go-to example.” Something as well I mentioned in my short talk about the game’s gloriously dated feeling gameplay above. “That was definitely very very intentional. Because it’s not just the graphics, right? It was the design sensibilities of the 90s. Bringing that to the surface was very challenging but very fun. Another big part was, since it was one of the first 3D consoles, I wanted to recreate the hype around the fact that ‘ITS IN 3D NOW!’ So if you go into your inventory you’ll see all the objects rendered in beautiful 3D while they slowly spin as you scroll through them.” This is a feature I very much miss seeing in modern video games. 

She continued, “I think the biggest one was the weapon changes. Bloodborne’s whole thing was the weapon transformations. Like, you could seamlessly change your weapons and work them into your combo and do a bunch of crazy stuff, and I kind of said ‘that needs to go immediately.’ So now you have to pause and go to your weapon and press L1 to transform it, that was extremely intentional. So once I had those three big things down it all just sort of fell into place. Like the clunky UI and the janky controls. You need jank and clunk, and I think that’s why Fromsoft games scale down so nicely, because they are jank and clunk.” 

A point I couldn’t agree with more. Despite all the modern streamlining and improvements to gameplay, Fromsoft’s ever-growing catalog of impressive experiences still contains some of that old-school video game stiffness we’ve (hopefully) come to appreciate. She went on to make a point I was very excited to share here in the article, “It was just a lot of trying to nail the feel of the games and not just the look, right? Like I’m not trying to recreate a screenshot; I’m trying to recreate the feeling of playing this weird game that’s barely holding together because the devs didn’t know what they were doing.” In my humble opinion, something she did an excellent job with. 

Fifth on the list was a question relating to her current project, Bloodborne Kart, a concept initially drawn from a popular meme shared around social media sites like Tumblr when the buzz of a Bloodborne sequel was keeping the talking spaces around Fromsoft alight: “Anything to say about the development of Bloodborne Kart or its inspiration?”

Lilith answers: “So first off Bloodborne Kart is less trying to be a simulation of a PS1 game and more just an indie game. It’s not trying to be a PS1 game, I just want it to be a fun kart racer first. Starting off of course is Mario Kart 64, that’s the one I played back in the day. But I looked at other games like Crash Team Racing and Diddy Kong Racing, but also stuff like Twisted Metal of course. I always used those as a template to sort of look at for design stuff like ‘how did they handle what happens to racers after player 1 crosses the finish line.” The next portion of her answer was initially a bit confusing but comes across better when you consider certain elements present in BBK’s battle mode. “And also Halo, like for the battle mode. I had to do a battle mode and it kind of just bubbled to the surface. Split Screen with my sister was such a big part of my childhood. Thinking about Halo multiplayer while I was making the battle mode stuff.” 

Her answer to the previous question began to dip into the topic of our sixth question: “Are there any unique challenges or enjoyable creative points that go into making something like Bloodborne Kart?”

As she continued from her previous answer: “One of the biggest quirks of the battle mode I had to figure out was how to tell what team you were on at a glance, and that came back to Halo again. I started thinking about how you could tell in that game and it hit me that the arms of your suit change to the color of whatever team you’re on. It was just something I never even thought of because it’s so seamless. So that gave me the idea to change the kart colours, and that’s the most recent example of me pulling directly from Halo. It’s wild how a small change like that can turn your game from something unplayable to something fun.” I would agree. Tons of small details and things you don’t think about go into making seamless multiplayer experiences. Some of which we take for granted nowadays. She then made a point about one of the most challenging aspects of BBK’s development, “The most challenging thing was definitely the Kart AI. AI is just my worst skill when it comes to game development among the massive array of skills you need to make a game. It’s really hard to find examples of people coding kart driving AI, You know? You need to make a biped walk around you can find a million tutorials online but if you need to make something drive a kart, not really. I was really on my own there. A lot of the examples out there are very simulation oriented. Like cars using suspension and whatnot, but I’m making a kart racer. So I started simple, I put a navpoint down and if it needs to turn left, turn left, if it needs to turn right, turn right. And I just kept adding features from there.”

Moving onto our last three questions, we started to get a little more personal. Question seven being: “What’s your favorite part of Bloodborne Kart so far?”

Her answer was concise in what she was excited about most, quote: “The boss fights.” Short and sweet but she did elaborate. “Translating a big part of Bloodborne is the boss fights. So I made a short linear campaign which is basically AI battles and races strung together. Some of those stages are just boss fights which are unique to the rest of the game. When you make a video game you sit down and you make all your different modes of interactions, and then you make a multi-hour experience mixing and matching all those different modes in more complicated ways. I think the most interesting part is when that style tends to fall away and it ends up building something entirely unique to that experience.” An example she gave was the infamous “Eventide Island” in Breath of the wild, it being a unique experience where the game’s usual modes of interaction are stripped or limited, forcing you into a more structured experience that ends up being a majorly positive one. “That’s what the boss fights are in Bloodborne Kart. They do multiple game mechanics like a chase that ends in a battle mode. Like Father Gascoine’s fight where he chases you, and after you blow up his kart he turns into a beast and picks up a minigun.” That sounds absolutely incredible. It’s very easy to see why she’d pick the boss fights as her favorite element when they’re clearly intended to be such unique and memorable experiences. 

Our last two questions veer away from the topics of development proper and focus more on our dear dev’s personal thoughts on the matter. Question eight posits: “What’s your personal favorite part of being a game developer?”

After some thought, she gave a very impassioned talk about something she considers to be the best part of the experience: “When people who aren’t game developers think about game development they think of things like ‘oh well you just get to play video games all day and have fun’ but it’s not! Except for the 2% that is, and it’s near the end of development. When all the pieces fall into place and you start actually ‘making the game.’ Game development, especially solo, you’re so zoomed in on specific parts. Because you’re not making a game you’re programming software that’s what making a game is. You spend months working on different systems and then you actually sit down and make a level, and you hit play and it you go ‘Oh my god, I just made a game’. That part is what sustains me. It’s magical. That’s the best part when it comes to true appreciation of the craft aside from the reception.” An answer that I don’t think I could’ve put better if I tried. 

My last question is one that I consider to be the question when it comes to interviewing anyone who works on video games. Perhaps a bit basic, but heartfelt nonetheless: “Anything to say to anyone aspiring to be a game developer?”

Lilith’s answer: “Yes. Just do it. For real. This is what I did and it always felt wrong until I looked at more established devs echoing the sentiment. You cannot plan a game before you’ve started making one. The example I always bring up is the team behind Deus Ex wrote a 500 page design document for the game and almost immediately threw it out when they started development. Just start! You’re going to have unanswered questions and I think that trips people up. Don’t start with your magnum opus idea, start with something simple and achievable. I feel like a lot of people set out with the goal of making a triple-A game, and that’s good! But it can’t be your first game. Game development is creating art, just like any other form of art, and it’s like saying ‘my first drawing is going to be the Mona Lisa’ and it just doesn’t work like that. You need practice and development, and it’s difficult to see that because games take so long and so much, so it’s definitely seen as a bigger undertaking. But it’s still art. You’re still making mistakes and learning from them for your first project. Your next game will be better. View your career as a game developer as a series of games you want to make, and not just one big game.” A perfect response to an otherwise unassuming question. 

Lilith’s passion and love for video games were reflected very clearly in every response she gave during my time with her. Her dedication and appreciation for the art form can be seen in every pixel of Bloodborne PSX, as well as the development logs and test builds of Bloodborne Kart. I really do think that the way she answered my final question speaks volumes to the type of attitude someone should take up when endeavoring to make art as intensive as a video game. Whether it’s fanwork of a game that’s important to you or an entirely new concept, do it. 

(developer of Bloodborne PSX Lilith Walther, image provided by Lilith Walther via Twitter)

Closing:

If you’d like to check out the positively phenomenal experience that is Bloodborne PSX  I’ve included a link to the official itch.io page below the article, as well as a link to the official LWMedia Youtube page where you can check out Lilith’s dev logs, test videos, and animations about her work and other art. Thank you so much for reading, and another very special thank you to Lilith for setting aside some of her time to talk to me about this article. Now get out there and cleanse those foul streets!

Links:

Bloodborne PSX official itch.io page: https://b0tster.itch.io/bbpsx

LWMedia Official Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/@b0tster

Lilith Walther Twitter page: https://twitter.com/b0tster

[project-lumen]

Want to join Project LUMEN as a UI artist?

For other positions, see script writer and background artist.

In case you don’t know, project LUMEN is an in-development indie game adaption of the Life series, a Minecraft YouTube series created by Grian. Featuring a full RPG experience: battles, a branching timeline with limitless choices, custom and unique visuals from our talented team of artists and, of course, lore: there's a path for everyone to take.

During this second application round, a new position has opened, *drum roll* UI artists! 

A quick debriefing about UI, it stands for user interface, meaning that you are going to be the ones behind what the players see when playing the game, menus, prompts, all that good stuff. Are you like Grian and cannot help yourself when it comes to buttons? Well, this is the position for you! You will make plenty of buttons, trust me.

If you wish to apply, there are a couple of things to keep in mind, of course: first, it is preferred that you have at least a bit of knowledge when it comes to pixel art and how to animate sprites, since that is the artstyle the game will rely on. Second, you will be working closely alongside the Big Boss as he codes. He’ll work on the game’s skeleton while you craft its skin. There exist concept sketches of how menus will look like, if you want some guidance, but you can do whatever you want if you so desire.

This is a very exclusive job, just so you know. You will have the most fun. Definitely. We are looking for 1 or 2 people to fill this role, so, if you want to apply, do it quickly! Come make buttons! So make sure to apply when applications come out on the 30th of april, and get in before they close on the 20th of may!

[2headedb0y]

Back to working on the customization options for the character creator at the start of the game. Working on getting more clothing options and accessories in (getting rid of the ugly placeholder hats etc.). See this post and this older one for more info on that.

Also got rid of the weird giant red flowers that were locked to the twin tail hair before. Kind of made it hard to accessorize that hairstyle when those were already "built-in."

And obviously you can be a variety of colors in terms of skin/hair/eyes, these are just "base values" shown that hues can be shifted from in the generator.

I've added more in than this but I didn't feel like making samples of all the new stuff.

Also made the Save menu a little more user-friendly, like showing information on each unique save file (like the in-game location you saved at, amount of $ on that save, in-game date and time and which characters you've met, in case anyone wants multiple save files and needs to keep track of them without having to load a save just to see where they are). RPG Maker also doesn't come built-in with an option to delete a save file from the save menu for some reason, so that's been added too.

EDIT Also, none of the clothing or hair options are locked to the body types, but some of the outfits might not layer properly on certain types (mainly the largest body type with broader shoulders will clip through a lot of the smaller-framed clothes). Unfortunate but that's a limitation of working with 2-D pixel art

[cow-stealin-gal]

commission brainstorming

Items on sale: ttrpg pixel art characters

So I’ve been thinking taking commissions and selling pixel artwork.

Here’s what I came up with:

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Pixel Art commissions (2 per month)

I’ll draw your oc in pixel art website and send you the gif and file!

I work best in 3 hour drawing sessions, but I can only do 3 sessions in a given month (9 hrs max).

For best results, please provide a color scheme and reference of your oc.

if you would like a dynamic pose, please provide a dynamic pose reference.

OC sprite

$15 for a detailed oc on an 80 x 80 pixel canvas.

Features

Full colors

whole body (or one side I guess)

fabric folds

Shading

Customization options

Background options

No background (aka stand alone sprite) [+0 hrs]

solid color background (floor + wall + shadow) [+0.5 hrs]

simple background (living room with a window, floor textures, a few accessories) [+1-2 hrs depending on accessories and colors.]

simple background will add a $5 price tag to a $15 image.

Character pose options

Stiff statue pose (your character faces towards you) [Roughly 1-3 hours $12]

Dynamic pose (your character has some life) [3 hrs best $15]

Sprite options

Black border (gives the character colors a nice pop) [+0 hrs]

Borderless (pixels have more “breathing room” and allows the pose to stand out better) [+0 hrs]

Overall:

$12 statuesque oc sprite (no bg/solid color)

$15 dynamic pose oc sprite (no bg/solid color)

$20 dynamic pose oc sprite + simple background

Examples!

Left: Paprika Whitterstone (100 x 100 pixels)

Right: Cheyene Kastravo (old version) (80 x 80 pixels)

Left: Madeline Rivera in three different outfits

Right: Lydia Katheere with two different weapons

Paprika Whitterstone sprite from Temple Exploration piece

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Pixel Art Painting

$40 to $60 for a full scene oc artwork, featuring your oc in a dynamic pose within a setting of your choice!

Features:

Dynamic pose

Full colors

Unique background

shading and lighting

A signature

Rules

Please provide a handful of references for unique locations

I can only accomplish 9 hours of drawing or 3 drawing sessions (might take a week or longer for me to finish the drawing due to energy)

Multiple characters will add more time and effort to create the piece ($60 price tag)

Customization options

size options

50 x 50 canvas [6 hrs for $40]

80 x 80 canvas [6 hrs for $40]

120 x 120 canvas [9 hrs for $60]

largest: 125 x 125 canvas [9 hrs for $60]

Aesthetic options:

Borders: nearly every accessory has a black border

Borderless: no black borders anywhere

Bonus feature:

Can be used as a phone wallpaper

Examples!

Left: The Barbarian (Feat. Paula Dendafter) canvas size: 52 x 52 pixels

Right: Temple Exploration (feat. Paprika Whitterstone) canvas size: 125 x 125 pixels

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Splash Art

A full-body artwork with gorgeous details (save for the face T~T), a figurine stand, special effects, and a signature. Only for $70

Features:

Large sprite

Borderless

Dynamic pose

special effects and accessories

canvas size: 130 x 130 pixels

Rules

Please provide references for dynamic poses

Please provide a color scheme of the character

Please provide a reference of the character

The drawing will take at least 6 hours or 2 drawing sessions.

Lydia Katheere Splash Art by JL. Canvas size: 130 x 130.

[thecozycat]

💙 Flashback Friday #4 💙 - TheDollPalace

Before high-res avatars and AI-generated profile pics, we had TheDollPalace—a pixel art paradise where you could create, dress up, and collect digital dolls. It was the ultimate aesthetic flex in the early 2000s internet. If you weren’t making custom dolls for your forum signature or your Piczo page, were you even online?

The site offered endless customization—backgrounds, outfits, accessories—and there was something weirdly satisfying about curating your collection. It was a space where creativity flourished, with users making their own custom dolls and even pixel-editing them to be truly unique.

TheDollPalace faded away as social media took over, but it’s proof that people love to create just for the joy of it. Today’s Small Web movement embraces that same energy—handmade digital art, personal aesthetics, and online spaces that feel crafted, not commercial.

👉 Did you make pixel dolls? Do you still keep a collection of them somewhere online? Do you think sites like this could make a comeback in today’s internet? Let us know!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want to help the Small Web movement grow? Join us on other platforms. ♥

FB Page & Group: facebook.com/thesmallweb facebook.com/groups/thesmallweb Twitter/X: x.com/smallweblove Tumblr Community: tumblr.com/communities/thesmallweb Mastodon: indieweb.social/@thesmallweb

[satoshi-mochida]

Pixel art horror, life simulation, and action RPG hybrid Neverway announced for PC - Gematsu

Publisher and developer Coldblood Inc., and publisher Outersloth have announced Neverway, a blend of horror, life simulation, and action RPG, co-created by the pixel artist behind Celeste. It will be available for PC via Steam. A release date was not announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Neverway is a blend of horror, life sim, and action RPG. After Fiona quits her job, she starts over on a farm and becomes the immortal herald of a dead god. Keep your life from falling apart while searching for Neverway, a nightmare reality that is slowly leaking into yours. Co-directed by the pixel artist of Celeste and with music by Disasterpeace.

Make Friends

Meet (or date!) more than 10 charming characters with unique routines and storylines. Each bond unlocks buffs and combat abilities that make your journey a little easier. Will you lie to them or tell them the truth?

Fight

Neverway features a top-down, fast-paced combat with an emphasis on player expression. Craft items to customize your playstyle, and unlock combat abilities through your friendship bonds.

Rebuild Your Life

Farm and craft items, prepare meals, or just decorate your homestead. Time progresses in three blocks, and you choose when to advance: morning, afternoon, and evening. One day at a time.

Key Features

Co-created by the pixel artist of Celeste.

Original soundtrack by Disasterpeace.

A slow-burning horror RPG with dynamic cutscenes.

Meet (or date) more than 10 charming characters.

Fast-paced combat, optimized for keyboard or controller.

Customize your playstyle with crafted items and combat abilities.

Farm, fish, craft, and build a new life on a remote island.

And remember to pay your debt at all costs…

Watch the announcement trailer below.

Announce Trailer

[coquettebeautiful]

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[tinypixeldoll]

you drew stars

around my scars

and now i'm bleedin

(just a preview version)

[vexbloom]

   Greetings and Welcome to my The Sims 4 CC Coven!

      My name is Vexbloom, some of you might already know me as an equine artist under Vakrai. You may also call me Rai [raɪ] or Vex, I prefer they/them pronouns.       VexbloomHollow is my art alias, and a new project I am very excited to work on!

      Navigation

      TERMS OF USE · FAQ · BOOSTY · PATREON · DISCORD · VK · GALLERY ID VEXBLOOMHOLLOW · VH

      About

      I’m a multimedia artist, both by profession and as a hobby. I’ve been creating digital art for over 15 years, with the last 10 years dedicated to doing it professionally.       My work spans digital painting & illustration, animation, motion graphics, and video effects. Recently, I’ve started learning Blender, to delve into modelling and animation.       Other than that, I’m a plant parent with an ever-growing collection of green babies, an enthusiast for all things equestrian, and a music geek. I love bird watching, director's theory cinema, and art, especially jewellery and pottery.

      The Sims franchise holds a very special place in my heart, I first fell in love with this pixel universe back when I was a wee little kid, playing since the very first game released. The Pets and Making Magic dlc’s were my absolute favourite, still bringing back the fondest memories!

      My favourite aspects of the game are building, painting animals in cas, and creating intertwined households with unique looking characters.

      With the addition of horses to The Sims 4, I’ve begun dipping toes into modding and creating custom content, which I’m very excited to share with you all! I hope to put my skills to good use, bringing high-quality equestrian CC to all the virtual stables!

[toshidou]

The 141, except it's a Tattoo and Piercing studio, owned and ran by John Price. He bought the shop when he was 20, taking the dilapidated building from an eyesore, to one of the most reputable and famous tattoo parlours in the UK.

His team is small, but curated by John himself, and he prides himself on the talent he's secured over the nearly 20 years he's owned his shop. People don't just flock to the 141 for his longstanding passion and expertise in tattooing, nor for his flawless execution of designing perfect thought out sleeves. They come for his team, too.

There's his longest working, and most popular artist, Ghost. Known for his mysterious appearance and personality just as much as his work. A master of both the new school tattoo style, and more modern takes on needlework, he'll tirelessly work to make sure every piece of work he tattoos is unique. His art focuses more on the macabre, often showcasing the weird and the wonderful on his socials, when he does eventually post.

Johnny "Soap" Mactavish got his name because of his clean lines and flawless technique, a master of fine line and delicate tattoos, not that his appearance gives that away. Covered in both ink and piercings, topped off with an electric blue mohawk, he's a sight to behold, but don't let his looks distract you from his sheer talent. He's known for being the most energetic artist in the 141, more than happy to chin wag with his clients for the full duration of their tattoo. Yet despite talking non-stop, his work remains entirely flawless.

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick started out as Price's apprentice, struggling through college and debilitating art block when Price found his art displayed at his university's gallery. John took him under his wing, and with his help, he mastered the art of hyper-realistic tattoos. Some of his clients travel across the globe just to get his work on their skin, trusting no one but him to give them the perfect tattoo.

Farah Karim is the most recent addition, but a valuable one at that. Specialising in mandala, and geometric designs, Farah creates works of art that border on spiritual. She prides herself on her precision needle work, and steady hand, known for more often than not free-handing her tattoos with no stencil. Her dot shading and line work is pixel perfect, and she'll stand for nothing less than the very best for each and every one of her clients.

Gary "Roach" Sanderson is the studio's resident piercer. He might be quiet, but he has a long list of loyal customers who come to him, and only him to get pierced. He makes his own jewellery, spending hours fashioning unique and gorgeous designs out of titanium and gems. No one creates jewellery like him, meaning his books are full years to come.

Between them all, they create a studio full to the brim with creative ideas and inspiration, never running dry of the passion they hold for the work they do. Which is a good thing, considering their list of clientele only continues to skyrocket higher and higher.

[mendelpalace]

Keep Driving - Release Date Trailer

It’s the early 2000s, and you’ve just bought your first car. A long, slow summer lies ahead. Hearing about a festival on the other side of the country, you fire up your engine, plot a course on your map, and hit the road. How, if you get there at all, is up to you. Keep Driving is a management RPG about slowly making your way through a procedurally generated pixel art open world. Pick up hitchhikers with their own personalities and stories; upgrade, customize and repair your car. Solve challenges on the road using a unique turn-based ‘combat’ system, using your own skills and whatever’s lying around in the glovebox to make it through. About the Developer: Y/CJ/Y is an indie game studio based in Gothenburg, Sweden, consisting of Josef Martinovsky and Christopher Andreasson. Previous projects include The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, Sea Salt and POST VOID.

Keep Driving drops February 6th!

[mister-e-muss]

Backlog Report. Another month has come and gone. Surprisingly, I only have one singular game to talk about this time around.

Harvestella

This game had the unfortunate start of being announced when the Switch was already being flooded with farming simulators, so a fair amount of people wrote it off by virtue of over saturation. Those that were more interested in it mostly looked forward to it as “Final Fantasy Meets Stardew Valley.” However that comparison is mostly because people don’t play RPGs or Farm Sims, so it’s really just the first example they can list off the top of their heads. I feel like “Rune Factory x NieR x Etrian Odyssey” is a much more accurate comparison.

I’ve played a fair amount of Rune Factory, but it’s never really been an obsession for me. I’m not too deeply motivated to keep farming and greeting villagers daily for their own sake. I prefer more meat and density to my games than wide sandboxes. To that end, Harvestella fit my tastes to a tee, as it places a much higher focus on narrative compared to RF. It has a very unique take on fantasy/sci-fi fusion, and doesn’t take too long to set up its mysteries and hooks. I’m a sucker for ‘Seemingly medieval world swerves hard into science fiction’ type of stories.

As for presentation, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The environments are varied, appropriately themed, and bursting with color and personality. (Except for the places where they don’t, but that’s no purpose.)

Here are a few screenshots to illustrate:

However, there is one problem with the presentation: No Voice Acted Dialogue. Not every game needs voice acting, mind you. It’s just as much a consideration as a capped frame rate, or a pixelated art style, or cel shading. Not every game will run at 120FPS at 2160p resolution, or use Star-studded industry legends in its cast. However Harvestella is odd in that the playable characters do have voice acting, but only in battles. It hampers the cutscenes a bit because the models rely on reusable animations a lot, and without any kind of snappy voices, cutscenes can feel stiff. There’s also the shock of taking a character into battle and Wow Brakka sounds exactly Nothing like what I was reading him. It’s just odd to me because more than enough games at least use a ‘character is [blank] emotion’ type of sound bytes as extra character-specific punctuation marks. They had enough budget to give all their characters battle lines, but couldn’t extend that to include an ‘AriaShockedGasp.mp4”?

The gameplay is a little bit basic. It’s not particularly innovative in its farm sim or job-changi action rpg halves, but it is very solid, with a sizable amount of customization and a satisfying loop of rewards. Hell, there were moments where I shunted story progress entirely just to do all the sidequests I could. The bosses in particular are some highlights to me, as the unique Break system makes each and every one of them a puzzle in how to maximize damage, and when to press your advantages.

In summary, Harvestella by no means reinvents the wheel. It does, however, provide a smooth and fun ride while it lasts. It has a demo on the eShop, I highly recommend you play that and see if it hooks you.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: the music kicks ass so hard.