Connect the Dots: A Pixel Art Competition

[The 100 Mega Shock]

The Dots, Connected

Awarded for contributing to the Get-Together 8 Pixel Art Contest.​

Third's The Charm

Awarded for placing third in the Get-Together 8 Pixel Art Contest.​

Second Helpings

Awarded for placing second in the Get-Together 8 Pixel Art Contest.

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And many more.

Pixel Art, Dot Graphics, Sprites - all terms used to talk about graphics created from the simplest things displayed on our computer screens, the pixel. By carefully manipluating the placement and colour of each individual pixel, artists have been representing a massive range of characters and places for over 30 years. This event is for anyone from the budding spriter to the experienced pixel artist to come together in celebration of Pokémon pixel graphics for fun and community spirit.


Get ready for Big Money*, Big Prizes† - I love it‡

The challenge is simple - create the best piece of art you can weilding the simple yet powerful abilites of pixels. Use any type of computer graphics software, from the humble Paint to specialist applications like Graphics Gale, or fully-featured graphics suites like Photoshop and GIMP.

As long as what you're drawing is in some way related to Pokémon, there are no other restrictions in terms of theme. Consider ideas like a summer scene, a scene of companionship, or rivallry - or just draw your favourite Pokémon, whatever suits you best.

If you're uncertain about drawing pixel art and wish for help and advice, be sure to check out the Pixel Art forum.

Format
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Maximum Image Size: 256 x 192 px


(Equivalent to a single DS screen)


Maximum Colour Count: Unlimited

Animation: None

The preferred image format is either PNG or GIF. (More on this below)

Amendment: Original works only. No editing or cutting together existing sprites will be allowed.

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Three Big Rules
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As this is a pixel art event, there are a few rules which apply to all images submitted as to ensure that they can be classified as 'pixel art' along with being in a state that can be adequetely judged.


1. Entries must not be saved as JPG files.

JPG images are what's known as a 'lossy' format, which sacrifice some detail in the image to lower the file size. This is barely noticable on large images like photos, however the compression techniques don't know what to do when they find pixel art, and cause the destructive effect you can see above. Any submissions that appear to have been saved in JPG and affected by the compression will not be considered valid.
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2. Entries must not show signs of automatic resizing (enlargment or shrinking)

Using a drawing program to automatically enlarge or shrink an image causes the pixels to be distorted, either blurring them or casuing the size of each pixel to be irregular and 'jumpy'. Both of these effects make it harder to accurately dicipher pixel art and as such, any entries that show signs of pixels that have been resized and therefore distored by computer will be deemed invalid.

It is preferred that entries are submitted in their original size. If you need to make an image larger, people can use the zoom function in their web browsers, or copy it into a program such as Paint and use the zoom tool from there, without modifying the original image.
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3. Entries must be drawn in pixels only

Most drawing software allows the user to draw with both simple pixels and smoother brushes, what are known as 'anti-aliasing' - as seen on the second part of the image.

This is an event for pixel art, as a result submissions must only be drawn in pixels, not using the smooth anti-aliased tools seen above. You can use whatever program or tools to draw with, like lines or shapes as long as they don't cause this effect.
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Submissions
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Submissions can be made by including your entry along with your post.You can upload your image to any image hosting service such as [URL="https://www.imgur.com"]Imgur​

, Tinypic, Photobucket and many others.

Users who do not have the ability to add links to their posts may sumbit theirs via adding them as attachments to their posts ('Manage Attachments'), and other members who prefer to do this are also free to submit their entry this way.

The submission period ends on Thursday July 21 at 11:59 PM, after which no more entries will be accepted. Shortly after, the entries will be evaluated and judged by myself and the lovely Luke and Abnegation, looking at the qualities of the concept of the piece, how well it has been designed, and the quality of the pixel art itself. Everyone who enters the contest with a valid piece will recieve the aforementioned particpation emblem in appriciation of their effort and contributions to the community while those who submitted the top three entries will also recieve special individual emblems, guaranteed to be a conversation piece for years to come.



Good luck for anyone who wishes to enter, and have fun.


*no actual money is involved
†prizes are not that big
‡i dont
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FIN​

 

[.Aero]

Regular | Shiny

I expected more participation in this thread when I originally saw it. D: I'm very surprised to see it hasn't gotten any action at all. :<

Also, this is my first attempt at spriting ever (if that matters at all ;] ).

 

[켄니씨]

Well Areo san,since only you applied by now there's a big chance you'll be first,will see if I can stick anything together later

 

[Dialga111]

I'll try to sprite something today, if I don't manage to finish it, I'll just enter something I already have =D

 

[Superjub]

Warning: The Jirachi sucks... a lot. XD

So, I was debating between Jirachi, Espeon and Blaziken. I chose Jirachi because I thought I could base it around the white rock in Mossdeep. It's not entirely accurate, but there is a white rock. XP And a Jirachi, obviously. The Jirachi's palette is from the B/W sprite, and I'm fairly sure the rest of the palette is custom. It's 100 x 100. An yes, it's third eye is open. :P I just thought that since the pixel art is based on a Hoenn palce, I may as well have its eye open like the R/S/E sprite. :D And I always imagine the white rck as being shiny and smooth, IDK why though. XD


Good luck everyone. :)

 

[Bluerang1]

Sprites of my Fakemon Flaringo. It's on image so one entry, just displaying it =)

 

[Chandler612]

My take on Tepiggy! Also I know its very bad!

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

Great submissions by everyone so far.

If I'm right there's about 32 hours remaining in the G-T for entries.

 

[Dialga111]

Ok, here is my entry: :)

The map isn't finished, it's still missing routes and cities. The markings mean the locations. The red one is a Haunted mansion, and the blue one is a desert. Blue means it can only be found at night.

 

[-ty-]

About not using the anti-aliasing tools... What if we don't use any tools to give a more smooth anti-alias effect? Since there is not a palette restriction I can overshade to make a smooth-ish image.

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

yeah that's fine

it's easy to tell when people have smoothed by hand. it's just using auto tools which tend to make small images messy and hard to distinguish

 

[Giovanni Boss]

Guess I'll be using Smilancien as an entry then. With regular and shiny sprites together.

Hope it's still time to submit my entry, otherwise, just ignore it. xD

 

[vaporeon7]

Mine is junk, but I tried...
And hey, it was my first attempt at using pixels.

Phantore, the Haunted Sand Pokemon.
Steel/Ghost

 

[-ty-]

Cubbery

(Cub+berry)​

Vineyard Pokemon​

 

[死神さま]

With the GT8 extension,will the deadline also?

I'm spriting as fast I can T.T

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

yes

Great - your time has been extended.

 

[死神さま]

Thanx,but the answer wasn't complete.When's the deadline?

 

[Logiedan]

I was afraid I couldn't make it, but I guess the deadline extended. I might make some edits to this, but for now i'll call it finished.

Kyogre
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15 Colours
Took about 10 - 14 hours
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[Kevin]

Here is mine. A Snivy on a grassy hill (it looks very pixelated though).

 

[Pera]

uuhhh I have a question,

can I submit my mixed sprite? as in I made a sprite that came from two, three different pokemon.

<- see what I mean?