I don’t normally talk about what other people are doing. This is a site dedicated to Dust Scratch Games after all, and I am a rather selfish fellow. But sometimes, something comes up that just knocks my socks off.
Here is a group of guys from rural Australia who are working on something called “Sprite Lamp“, a dynamic 2D-lighting mapping tool for game development. It doesn’t sound like much… why not just have a point light in your environment and move it to where you want light to be? Well, with 2D art and 2D planes, that light gets reflected the same for the entire sprite, and it appears this new tool offers a way to define the effect light has from certain positions on a sprite. The result is some incredibly detailed art, making 2D pixel art look new again.
Granted, my latest game project simply pastes the 2D sprite on a curved surface, which naturally reflects light like a 3D object anyway, but this tool offers a new level of detail that artists could really make good use of. Certainly, it may come in handy in my future projects as well. And it’s just great to see people finding new ways to incorporate 2D art. I can’t wait to see what people make with it!
Here’s their website, and their kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/finnmorgan/sprite-lamp-dynamic-lighting-for-2d-art
Way to go, Australia dudes from Snake Hill Games!
