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Spriting Guidelines

Design Guidelines

The design for sprites on Paradise should follow the likes of media such as Alien, Fallout, Half-Life/Black Mesa, and Star Trek. Generally, aim for cassette retrofuturism, an aesthetic based on what the future would have looked like from the perspective of the mid-1960s to the early 1990s.

This can be applied in several ways. Machines will be offwhite or beige. Machines and objects should be clunky, bulky, and clearly dated equipment that has survived to the current era, such as magnetic-tape data storage or fax machines.

When designing departmental clothes, there are a few things to be considered.

For all roles:

Roles of the same department should generally use the same palette for the main body, with the exception of Service. For example, Engineers and Atmospheric Technicians have a yellow body color, but the secondary color changes, being orange for Engineers and blue for Atmospheric Technicians.

For working-class roles (engineers, miners, roboticists):

  • Simple collared uniform. This will be the same as other roles, except with its own unique coloring and patterns.
  • Overalls
  • Soft caps
  • Corporate (alternate style) uniform. This can be clothing pertaining to the role (such as an atmos tech in a hi-vis firefighter’s uniform), or a simple color swap.

For higher-up roles (heads of staff, dignitaries):

  • Separated shirt and pants
  • Primary color should match the department they lead
  • Secondary color should be silver, gold, or any other fitting color.
  • Any amount of alternate outfits, ranging from ridiculously posh to casual or practical wear.

Spriting Guidelines

Spriting is an art form, and it varies depending on what’s being sprited for. Here are some standards used on Paradise when creating sprites.

  1. Almost all sprites are drawn at a 3/4 top-down 45-degree angle. Sprites should be orthographic, meaning there is no perspective. If a sprite gets smaller as they move into the distance, the perspective is off.

  2. Almost all sprites are drawn on a 32x32 canvas. Anything larger than 32x32 should be separated and labelled as such.

  3. Directionals, the sprites used for different directions, should be limited to 1 for static objects that do not need to turn and 4 for objects that must be able to turn, such as mobs and clothing. The use of 8 directionals should be limited to certain items, such as those with arrows that point diagonally.

  4. Light comes from directly above the object. This should be taken into consideration when shading, especially with indents and various irregular shapes.

  5. When choosing a palette, it is highly recommended to utilize hue shifting. Hue shifting is adjusting the hue alongside brightness. Darker colors become colder, or more blue, and lighter colors become warmer, or more yellow. Cold and warm vary depending on the hue you start with. This creates more vibrant, dynamic sprites.

  6. Outlines should also be affected by the lighting and coloring on the object, and should be a darker variant of the primary color.

  7. Typically, avoid adding shadows underneath objects, machines, mobs, or other structures.

Common Mistakes

  1. The use of solid black or otherwise unfitting colors in outlines. Outlines should be a darker variant of the primary color.

  2. Too many colors, especially when representing a light source or gradient. Limit the palette and work with what’s available. Typically, 3-5 colors is ideal for any given sprite, though it’s not restricted to use more or less.

  3. Using one hue and its shades instead of hue shifting will result in a dull sprite.

  4. No source of light, causing inconsistencies in shading.

  5. Pillow shading, a form of shading in which light comes from the center of the object. Avoid pillow shading entirely.

  6. Staircasing your pixels rather than placing them directly diagonal from each other can cause lines to be much thicker than they should be. Avoid staircasing whenever possible unless the intent is for a portion or outline to look thicker.

The following image shows an example of staircasing on the left, with a more appropriate outlining on the right.

  1. Orphan pixels are pixels that are isolated from other pixels of the same or similar pixels. They create contrast and distract the viewer.