🧱Textures & Materials
Texturing is pixel art, a 2D style that can make your creations look more realistic, even with the blocky 3D style used in The Sandbox Game.
Simplify a rig with these resources. Replace excess voxels with more attractive and detailed 2D surface texture.
2D Texturing
Texture on a 2D surface is the illusion of material type, light source and intensity, and depth. Texture is achieved through color choice, using recognizable patterns for different material types, and applying techniques to create shine, damage, etc.
Pixel Art 101
The Pixel Art Tutorial is a great resource to get started and:
Learn the vocabulary to make pixel art
Compare great examples and non-examples of pixel art techniques
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Excellent Texturing Resources
The Big Texturing Tutorial is a simple yet fantastic visual reference to create depth, material types, and damage on a 2D surface. Click the link to open the tutorial for an expanded view.
The Pixel Art Textures Tutorial graphic breaks down common 2D textures into two simple shades to show basic patterns found in them.
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The Pixelblog - 2 - Texture tutorial has great tips about natural textures.
It can also guide your creative process to make modular foliage as repeatedly used models in a 3D rig.
It can also help you carefully texture block surfaces to create more natural feeling patterns when blocks are blocks are placed next to each other in an Experience.
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Light and Shadow
No matter what medium used to create art, light is a huge part of reaching the right result.
Light comes from a certain direction, hits materials differently, and reflects off of nearby objects in the real world. How will your creations emulate that?
Light behaviour can be used in Game Maker to change the mood of an Experience, but most often an asset will be designed with carefully chosen colours to create mood, texture, and depth in an asset.
Learn more about light for creating the illusion of texture and materials from these recommended resources:
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