Art types (RTP, DS, XP)

I see lingo thrown around like: "RPT style" or "looks like DS sprites". Im very nubish when it comes to the community. What is the difference in these terms when it comes to style? (RTP, DS, XP, Mack, .ect). How does one make a DS sprite?  as an example.

each style are diffirent from each other but it is depend of what you mean ''the sprite'' or the face?

I know the Mack and XP sprites are 1.5 times taller than the VX Ace RTP chibi style sprites (48 vs 32 pixels).  I think there are differences in color palette and lighting between the styles as well.  Lighting sounds strange for a 32x32 pixel sprite, but if you look closely, the sprites are carefully "shaded" using related colors, to give the illusion they are being lit from a particular angle.

The real deciding factor is the tileset you choose to use.  If you're using the stock RTP, stick to stock RTP style sprites.  If you're using the Mack tileset, you need to use Mack style sprites.

While many of the tileset packs sold are compatible with RTP sprites, some like the Pixel Myth Germania one, are not. 

It's important to match your sprite and tileset styles, or things will look strangely "off" in your game.  I think Mack and XP style sprites also use a different lighting style than the Chibi style (VX Ace) sprites.  So you can't just put in Mack sprites and say "These are Giants in my world."  It'll still look off.

I don't know all of the specifics either, but the best advice is always to match the tileset style and the sprite style.  VX Ace and its built-in Character Generator create VX Ace style Chibi sprites.  Next best is to match the tileset style to a sprite style the tileset author says is compatible.

Chibi style is a synonym for VX Ace RTP style, and it is a fairly popular sprite type, despite the sprite's rather odd appearance (if adjusted to life size, a chibi sprite would appear to have a head 3 feet tall!).  Most resources are compatible with it, and VX Ace comes with a slew of default Chibi sprites for NPCs --- monsters, "injured" NPCs and the likes.

Maybe it is me, but I cannot see any difference in RTP sprites and DS sprites whatsoever, especially as they are at 32 x 32 size. Is the difference microscopic or something?

RTP stands for Run Time Package and it's the resources that come with the engine. Most of the time when people just use RTP they mean Ace's RTP. There is also a VX RTP (which may be exactly the same as Ace's RTP with less stuff, I can't see any differences), and XP's RTP. The DS version of the engine was never released in the US so the staff put in a lot of work and edited the DS's RTP to work in Ace, which is available in the store. That one isn't really called an RTP. As for Mack, he's an artist who made a lot of tiles and sprites in his own style and made them freely available. These all have different styles for the artwork, some of them are pixel, some aren't, the sprites are different sizes, some have different proportions, and so on.


bgillisp: The DS sprites have a simpler style with black dots for eyes, bolder outlines and highlights, and less colors used for shading. They're also proprotioned differently, smaller bodies, more stylized face shapes.

About all I can ever see is a slight face difference. Shading, eyes, maybe on one or two sprites it stands out, but the rest...can't see it. I think maybe if they weren't 32 x 32 I'd see it more, but at that tiny a size, I just don't see it.

Here's a comparison

the ds style is far more cute D: ! 

Archeia, which one is that sprite in the DS pack? I don't see that one in mine.

It isn't in the DS pack, it's one she made herself. It's one of the Members+ perks.

I figured a direct comparison of the same character will make it easier for you to see the difference between the art styles.

Thanks everyone. Maybe there should be a pined thread of acronyms and commonly use terms. It may help someone who doesn't know the "lingo" to stay involved.  

It's not yet complete, and because of that it's not yet pinned - but the link in my signature will point you to a topic where I started putting such info (and a lot more) together.

Yes, if it is the same character then I can see it. But if they are two different characters, then nope, it just appears that they are different people to me, though occasionally one has bigger eyes than the other. That's what I meant. But either way, since all my art is placeholder at the moment anyways, I figure it will change when and if the game is done anyways.

BTW, do we get those sprites to use if we get members+?

Yeah, that one plus a bunch more. There's a thread for DS styled stuff that's permanently available and it's not uncommon for other DS styled stuff to show up as part of the monthly assets. In fact, there are some in the current stuff which will be cycled out really soon so if you're going to join up you should do it sooner rather than later.

@bgillisp: one big thing, is that they have diferrent color pallette. DS uses a bit more muted, pastel color pallette, while RTP has strong bold black even and the saturation is bumped up. Both of them look pretty good on RTP tiles or so, but the RTP sprites feel a bit unfitting for the DS tiles, because of the pallette.