EDIT: Super Happy FunFun PNG Formats + comparison to original scan!
In a time when people are vectoring like mad to achieve a crispest effects, or painting like made to achieve the smoothest effects, I have decided to take a step back and wholy embrace the unloved quanta of digital art, the pixel, in all of its boxy glory. Thus I present to you a vision of what Katamari Damacy would have looked like had it been released 10 years ago -- in other words, Katamari Damacy meets SimCity 2000.
This wall began when I was browsing the Namco site looking for some refs for a simplistic "Katamari Crossing" type of wall I had in mind, but when I saw this wall with the Prince rolling a katamari through a city, the composition reminded me of isometric pixel art. Never one to pass up an opportunity to try a new style, I decided to recreate the wall as pixel art. After reading a few articles from Computer Arts Showcase and staring at the top pixel artworks from DeviantArt, I jumped right in.
There were about 30 'base' buildings. It took the better part of a month to make them all and then populate the city, building it up like Legos. Definately the most detail-intensive wall I've ever made.
I need to learn a lot more about isometric pixel art. I still can't get the hang of lighting and how the heck you're supposed to add highlights.
The name of the wall is a play on the "We Heart Katamari" name.
I realize that this image makes an utterly awful wallpaper. I mean, where the heck did my icons go?
Still, it was an extremely fun experiment. I even hid myself in the wall.
Just goes to show, you're never too old to learn a new technique.
More resolutions at DA! Desktop Anime. I highly recommend viewing the 1920x1200 version first, no matter what resolution you end up using, since that's the one where you can see all the details I put in.