ID:468437
 
I'm looking to start up pixel art again and I've always had/still have trouble with picking my colors. So I've been looking for a professionally made palette that I could use throughout an entire game. I was thinking of 16 colors, but would that be too much?

I'm going for an overall style similar to this:
http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/article/747/747462/ summon-night-swordcraft-story-2-20061122051331960.jpg
(random image I found on google images)
16 colors for your whole game??? really? if you're going for a similar style to that you'll probably be going from 64-128 colors. It's hard to maintain a large amount of colors, what i do is stick to 5-6 grey colors, and slowly change it to the correct color for each object. You don't need to have someone make you one, just do some experiments and test the colors.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/864/houz.png (andrew did all of that, using his work as an example)
Oh wow, I didn't realize I'd be using that much color. I'll look into how I should go about making my own, but I don't see a good outcome of this. I'll update the progress here.
I'm not saying you can't do it with 16 colors. It'll just look bland on certain objects.

For example old school gaming. the black & white 1 bit games or the 4 bit games. But just think of yours with more color.
If you're making a short game/piece of art then yea 16 colors is fine. Any thoughts of what game you're making though? Maybe it'll give us a clue on how many colors you'll be able to use and what you wanna make.
I'm not sure on a game idea quite yet but I imagine something single-player that would be the length of an average gameboy advance title or perhaps a bit shorter. I'm looking at a maybe 10-20 hour game max? I'd also be going towards realism but not to an extreme extend. The image I showed as an example is a bit too bright for my taste.
What place or environment will the place be in? You just have to ask the questions yourself to figure out how everything will look, planning ahead will give you less a burden on the palette. It's good to have a list of what you want and what it'll look like, and some references would be nice. The color shouldn't matter because i said before you can do a color change easily.

If you have a portfolio or any recent work to show, we can get some ideas on how you work and what you're capable of. This is up to you though. I just wanna see what you're capable of with how you handle some colors and what not.
I'm thinking of a puzzle type game set in the future with both interior and exterior levels and environments. Which would include futuristic houses/factores and grass, trees, water, rocks, etc. I will definitely be using references because that is the only way I create art, both by hand and with pixel art.

I wish I had some art to show but I don't really have anything from any of my past projects nor have I ever kept a portfolio to begin with. But my drawing capabilities are mediocre at best. I am currently trying to improve upon them, and brush up on my programming, which is why I'm interested in this.
http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/ forum_posts.asp?TID=9890&PN=1
Jal, is an amazing pixel artist, you can properly learn a lot just by skimming through his wip/thread. It's a mock up but someone is making it into a game i believe. You can see his palette creation too.

Back on subject though, over time you can add more and more colors or remove some and replace some others. The idea really is to use a placement color and work off that. You should have a universal color that can work with anything. Just remember to not over burden yourself.
I might just use Jal's palette because the overall color of the art seems to fit what I'm going for. I just need to read and see if he's allowing it for public use. If not, I;ll try to create my own palette. But do you have any advice on how it should be structured? I see his go in many directions and connect at certain points, is there rhyme or reason behind it?
You can take his palette without even worrying, it's not against the rules to take colors. Don't ever worry about taking another artist palette. Most artist have their own way of seeing each color. It's pretty simple when you look at it, basically each color corresponds with another and form a nice shade/light, what goes good with another...etc

http://www.pixeljoint.com/2009/10/03/2938/ Pixel_Artist_-_Syosa.htm syosa has a good explanation on how he makes his.
Ah I see thanks for all the helpful links. I'll work with Jal's palette and create my own once I gain some color management experience. Thanks again.