Devlog: How I spent 1.5 years learning pixel art to make a Muffles RPG

(a little music to accompany your reading if you want)

Hello gamers,

Big things are coming. Big, exciting, Muffle-tastic things.

Aaaaaand I can’t talk about any of those things yet so I wanted to share some early Muffles’ Life Sentence with y’all and talk about how I went from never having made pixel art to being the sole artist for an RPG.

As always, thank you to all of those leaving comments- I read them all!

Starting with Dee

The first ever character portrait I made was of Dee! This was before I really knew anything about Muffles. 

It was also before I knew anything about character proportions, perspective, dithering, and using symmetry. This is why Dee looks so different from almost every other character in the game- I was still figuring out my style and what the look of Muffles should be.

I ended up having to have another go at a Dee portrait when I made the ‘young Dees’ at the start of Episode 2, and you can see a lot more technique is being used.

Here’s some other portraits from around that time that show the transition from struggling to figure out what works, to having a liiiiiittle bit of confidence. It takes time, and a lot of failures, but one nice thing about using black/white on a 72 x 72 canvas is that you can iterate REALLY FAST.

Comparing new and old character portraits

We just looked at where I started- what did 1.5 years of making characters teach me about making a compelling and readable portrait?

Let’s look at… well, okay this character is a bit of a spoiler so I’m going to avoid saying their name. Just know you don’t see this face until the very last episode.

I’m using only outlining to show that the hair is a bit understated and pushed back. The suit they are wearing tells us they are concerned about appearance and think themselves refined in some sense. I am able to show a little bit of 3-dimensionality on the tentacles and use strategic asymmetry to indicate they are flapping about. Their eyes and brow indicate they are perhaps angry, perhaps obtuse. 

That’s a bunch of words to say I got better at making an interesting character. Because at the end of the day, that’s the only thing these techniques are worth having for. It all has to come together to make someone who at a glance you say ‘oh, interesting, what’s their deal’ and ‘oh, I think they got THIS going on’ and ‘I want to make out with them.’ 

The last one is not a stated goal and is actually something I never think about. This is why I’m still a dirt-poor game dev- if I was giving the people what they wanted, I could be rolling in that game dev DOUGH!

Probably not going to happen.

Works in progress

I didn’t end up recording screenshots of me working on art until preeeeetty late in the process of making Muffles. I didn’t even know that’s something y’all would want to see! But I’ll be keeping that in mind for the future… (makes mysterious hand gestures at you).

Fanart time

Aaaaand here’s fanart courtesy of lovely Alan from the Discord to remind everyone that no matter how good at art Bossy gets, Muffles fans will be better.

Holy crap, like- A LOT better.

Bossy you better step it up for the next game.

… in other news

HELLO everyone! How’s everyone doing? Things seem kind of hard right now. Do you feel that way too?

Like, it’s hard to point to any one specific thing, but all around there’s a sort of vibe of ‘why is this so hard’ and ‘can’t I sit on the couch and eat ice cream instead?’

Or maybe that’s just a me thing.

Goodbye, and have a lovely May! I hope your days are rewarding, your insights are profound, and your ice is creamed and probably birthday cake flavored.

(Comment your favorite ice cream flavor below.)