How to Make 2D Art for Games in Сollaboration with Outsource Game Company

CEO & Founder at RetroStyle Games | Jan 19, 2023

Do you recall your first computer games? We are confident that they were 2D isometric games, for sure. However, as technology advanced, designers were able to incorporate significantly more originality and variation into their work, resulting in the wide range of 2D aesthetics found in games these days.

We’re going to try to provide you with as broad an understanding as possible of 2D styles, how to work with them, and how to create games with the best art styles and delight millions of players worldwide. Can 2D technologies do this? You will be surprised when you dive into this text and learn more about how simple shapes can create something incredible. Of course, our 2D game art outsourcing studio will help you in this way.

What is 2D Art for Games?

Characters, objects, and the surroundings are created using only two dimensions – height and breadth. 2D art is utilized in numerous well-known titles and games like Super Mario or Badland and is still a common choice for game style. It isn’t as difficult or time-consuming as 3D modeling for games.

You can create a 2D character concept art or an entire universe on paper and then turn it into a genuine game asset. Furthermore, because it is not centered on graphics, users may focus on the gameplay rather than the landscapes or character appearances.

Another distinguishing element of 2D game art is that it allows players with extremely basic controls and navigation throughout the game. As a result, it will take you a few moments to figure out how it all fits together in a title. Even if 2D projects are simple and have a restricted ability to explore the game’s universe, millions of people enjoy these games.

Examples of Different 2D Game Art Styles

If you want to create the best 2D game art, you first need to get acquainted with all the styles that the world of two-dimensional art hides within itself. As technology has advanced, there have been more and more of these styles. But for now, we want to focus our attention on the most important ones that the game 2D artists use in their work.

Pixel Art Game Art Styles

Pixel art is probably one of the most often-used styles in the industry. In a pixel art picture or digital image, a pixel is a square or basic shape that makes up a tiny section of a character, object, or location. Thousands or hundreds of these pixels are typically combined to produce a single object. Although most people link pixel art animation with early video games and arcades, it is vital to highlight that it is still extremely popular.

Vector 2D Game Art

This is a second important art style, but “art diversity” could be a better phrase. Vector art, like pixel graphics, is created digitally using special-purpose tools. It does not, however, divide images into pixels, instead relying on mathematical methods and storing data as polygons, dots, lines, and color data. Those that know how to generate vector art laud it for its smaller image file size in comparison to pixel-based images, as well as the greater quality when enlarging or zooming out on images. Vector art can be classified into various styles, with the common feature of being of high resolution and detail.

Monochromatic 2D Game Art

Although there is no commonly acknowledged definition of monochromatic game art, artwork and designs are dubbed monochromatic when they use a very limited color palette, usually just one or two colors. Moreover, a variety of hues and tints of this color(s) are also employed to differentiate between objects, locations, and portions of a picture. The most prevalent hue for such art is black, with most elements in this color and the rest distinguished by white or gray shades.

Flat art

Flat art is rather self-explanatory. In games, flat design displays objects, people, and situations with little depth or volume. There is no devotion to realism or physics as is common in cel-shaded applications. Instead, artists that create such art have a tremendous level of artistic flexibility in their work. Unless they borrow from other forms, flat designs and models all have distinct appearances with no shared feature.

Tips for Choosing a Game Art Style

Building up a high degree of art excellence is a common issue for indie developers. Although obvious, maintaining the greatest level of art quality necessitates extensive polishing and extra iterations during game development stages when we need to move forward and maintain a consistent flow of provided content. Constrained budgets may result in a budget constraint and ultimately production halt. It’s important to remember that the art style is still heavily influenced by the gameplay. It is not always required to have a high-resolution graphic aesthetic with immaculate pixel-perfect elements for a game to be engaging and addicting.

Making 2D game art of decent quality art is sometimes more important than aiming for completely unattainable graphics at the Cyberpunk level. So, when do we cease honing the craft? – We believe that the playtests reveal that the players are sufficiently immersed in the game and are pleased with how the art style conveys the major gameplay aspects and aids in navigating through the user-friendly UI and menus.

Because each art style for video games has advantages and disadvantages in terms of gameplay, technology, and visual aesthetics, it is difficult to find a sweet spot for your project. As a general guideline, be realistic about the team’s expertise and available resources, and keep in mind that the graphics of the game should represent the main characteristics of the gameplay.

Furthermore, it is critical to understand that the game’s art has a significant impact on immersion and audience likeability. As a result, don’t decide on the graphic style of the title until you’ve studied it and established a foundation for its basic structure. Before choosing aesthetics, the best strategy is to first decide on gameplay. After constructing an early prototype and testing it sufficiently to collect playtest data, you may begin investigating the art style that will allow the game to better exhibit its features.

How to Make Art for 2D Games

Some games draw influence from the journal sketching style or give assets a flat, paper-like look, but hand-drawn designs are rarely employed outside of 2D game concept art or board games. As a result, anyone wishing to create assets for a video or computer game should expect to spend a significant amount of time in front of a desktop.

Normally, you can make 2D art with your computer’s default program (e.g., Paint for Windows), but this will not be enough for professional design. You will require specialized software to complete the tasks at hand. For example, if you only need to build a character model, a background, an interface, or something else (relatively) simple, you may need a tool that is distinct from the one used for bitmaps, sprites, and animated components.

Game Art 2D Software

The 8 most popular 2D game art software are:

Unreal Engine: Unreal Engine is an open-source 2D game engine developed by Epic Games. It’s open-source nature allows developers to customize and extend the engine to suit their specific needs.
Unity
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
GIMP
Adobe Photoshop
SketchBook Pro
Inkscape

Several of these tools have a steep learning curve and are best utilized by experienced 2D artists and designers, while it is absolutely possible to become effective in this subject through studying and experience.

AI Tools in Modern Game Art 2D Creation

Gigapixel AI

This AI-powered tool revolutionizes the way game artists upscale images. In 2D game development, Gigapixel AI allows for the enhancement of older game assets to modern standards, breathing new life into classic visuals without losing their original charm.

Midjourney

As an AI-based design tool, Midjourney introduces a new era in game art creation. It allows artists to explore and generate unique visual concepts at an unprecedented speed, significantly aiding in the brainstorming and concept development phase.

Stability AI

Stability AI’s contribution to game art is in its ability to generate high-quality assets quickly, using AI algorithms. This tool can be a game-changer for small teams or individual developers, allowing them to produce a variety of art styles efficiently, which is crucial in maintaining a cohesive visual identity for the game.

Establishing a Process

Based on our experience, we have identified several main stages of game development that are suitable for any genre and type of game, whether it is 2D or 3D.

1
Idea
A difficult and important stage at which your game is born. It’s good to have a brainstorm with a team of designers and developers and also involve marketing specialists so that your idea is not only attractive and unique but also meets the needs of the gaming audience.
2
Plot and narrative development
The fundamental concept is to work on a story including your protagonist and antagonist as well as your universe. Here, we compose the entire story arc, including every twist we think should be included.
3
Design of the character and the environment
Here we work on 2D character design services according to the requirements of the plot and the type of game we are making. From stylized and casual to cartoonish and realistic 2D game environment design, we excel at creating a wide variety of styles.
4
Game tests and prototyping
They are critical components of game design. Game testing allows you to learn a lot about the many flaws in your game, and we can even record our players’ reactions to which parts affect them in which way. Excited or frustrated? Tell us what twists you were anticipating and how they reacted.

Working with Layers

All high-end graphic arts and animation software tools use layers. Layers can be found in Photoshop, Illustrator, and many other Adobe graphics tools. They are available in Maya, Animate, Poser, and the open-source Blender software. It could be hard-pressed to find a good animation or graphic design program that doesn’t support layering. Here are some benefits of using layers in 2D graphics:

Working with layers in animation allows you to composite animation scenes without having to put everything together properly in each frame.
Layers allow you additional editing freedom and a technique to protect things from merging on one layer when they need to be separated from another.
Layers can be adjusted, allowing you to change the order of things displayed and hence the composition of your scene. Do you like that green tree in the background to be in the spotlight? Quick. Simply reverse the layer order.
Single layers can be temporarily turned on and off, allowing operators to concentrate on one aspect of a project at a time without being distracted by the various layers.
We can use layers to apply effects to individual elements of a single graphic. Want to animate simply a few skeleton bones without influencing the others? Make a layer of it.
Transparency can be applied to a single element in a file by placing it on a layer and applying the effect to only that layer. You’ll be able to glimpse into the layers beneath.
Experiment with special effects by using a brush tool to test the impact of an effect on the layers above it without modifying them.

Tips for Making 2D Art for Games

First of all and foremost, we must emphasize that the process of creating 2D game art is multistaged and multilayered. It entails a great deal of planning, scheming, debating, and theorizing. Just don’t get the impression that 2D game art is the sun around which everything orbits. No, it all begins with fundamental game design questions and outlining key points of the upcoming product.

You must decide on the game’s style before turning to your digital drawing board and assigning early concept jobs. Will it be lighthearted and cartoonish, or realistic and down-to-earth? Will the graphics be pixel art, flat art, or monochromatic? You can also include some amazing visual elements to make the game art look like it’s from a comic book or anime.

When answering the questions above, keep three crucial aspects in mind:

The view of the audience;
The lore of the game;
The project’s genre;

Each art style in 2D games has a unique audience with specific expectations and requirements.

Finalizing the Artwork

The first stages of creating 2D game art or a finished game are just as important as the final stages when all the tests are done and the feedback from the beta players is received. 2D artists and concept artists must be on the same wavelength, focusing on the concepts created at the very beginning, and moving toward the finish line. This will help you avoid obvious differences in the vision of the project as well as the result, which may not meet your expectations.

Adding Effects

The color palette, blurs, flashes, and shadings all affect the visual content of your game. To make it visually appealing and exciting for players, you should look into the CGI and VFX differences.

Most open-source software allows you to create a variety of eye-catching effects. Not only are visuals used, but the audio is also used to create a complete immersion in the gameplay. This is an important step in the game, but it’s worth moving into one of the final phases when most of the product is done and your 2D artists can take the time to refine the game art.

Conclusion

As you see, creating 2D art for games can be a rewarding and creative experience. With the right tools and techniques, you can create stunning artwork that will bring your game to life. A deep understanding of modern art styles and video game design creates the groundwork for a future project.

Today, 2D artists create in-game visuals and assets as well as isometric game assets and promotional pieces; thus, their importance cannot be overstated. We understand that many programmers may not have the expertise in creating game art, particularly for intricate and high-budget projects that involve large teams. Be sure to read our article on how programmers can create game art.