Two sets of nice PNG graphics free via Lost Garden

Dan C over at Lost Garden posted two sets of game tiles for free ... PlanetCute and SpaceCute.

http://lostgarden.com/2007/05/dancs-miraculously-flexible-game.html

In PNG format for bitmapped games. Great graphics. Free. Grab then while they're hot. Recommended.

You have to scour the page for the PNG download link so here it is.

http://lostgarden.com/PlanetCute PNG.zip

http://lostgarden.com/SpaceCute PNG.zip

His essay about game design are also recommended reading ...

http://www.lostgarden.com/Directory.htm

 

Thanks for the heads up, those are some cute graphics indeed!

 

So these files were created using Microsoft Expression ...? Meanwhile IE7 still can't render PNGs properly...

 

Offtopic, but I semirecently discovered you could bully IE into rendering png24s with transparency:

http://graveck.com/fixes.js

Proof is on our site. Might not work for everything. Nevermind if IE is still broke.

-Jon

 

nice blog. thanks for the url.

cheers.

 

Beyond cute! I love that super clean implementation! Every pixel counts. I dig the blocks that represent water or land in a psuedo 3D representation.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to use these within Unity, specifically putting the grass/ground whatever texture on a cube etc. But they are lovely, aren't they? Like aNTeNNa trEE said, clean and every pixel counts.

 

Danc is a great artist and a brilliant writer. His articles are fantastic if you're not already a reader.

 

The article on evolutionary game design is absolutely brilliant. It's a must read.

 

Yes it is. Along with ideas about how short games rock, and why we should be sharing our ideas about games with other developers. Great reading usually.

One of my faves on the list is this one (and the Gamasutra link) ...

http://lostgarden.com/2005/10/article-how-to-prototype-game-in-under.html

 

The best definition of "game" I've ever come across came from some guy at EA who said (I paraphrase) a game is an enjoyable activity along with an excuse for repeating that activity. It's a very good and simple definition (actually, I think, better that Danc's -- the whole "risk reward" model is a bit overemphasised; I can think of plenty of exceptions).

What Danc's article is good for is emphasising the fact that you need to build the enjoyable activity first so that you can refine it. Too many games start off on the "refinement" (chrome-plating the machinepistol, as another game designer put it) and never get around to getting the core thing -- the enjoyable activity -- right.

 

Exactly right. I prefer playing with "toys" than playing games.

 

That article really is quite awesome. I sort of learned the "evolutionary design" thing just as what I ended up doing... Its interesting to see it in words, and it made me think about game designs.