Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya, solo creator of the indie freeware hit Cave Story, spoke recently at GDC about the meticulous planning he did to make his game absolutely perfect.

Rather than compete with the “shiny PlayStation 2” graphics of the time, Amaya said everything was based around 16x16 pixel artwork at a 320x240 resolution to appeal to a younger generation. Planning each character down to the color and pixel, choices like only having the main character sporting the only red clothing in the game and having all shirts without sleeves seem like minor touches that would go over most peoples’ heads. Of course, he made sure that the white face and large head of the protagonist would display expressions the best, and catch the players’ eye as much as possible.

derkasan via thekartel.com »