I've been thinking about the OG textures recently, and I realized something: I can easily tell when texture or model is going for a "Programmer Art" aesthetic, but I have no idea how to describe what that aesthetic actually is, what rules it follows.
No other "pixel art" game seems to have captured the same vibe as Minecraft did—including (post-1.14) Minecraft, so I figured it might be fun to pick the aesthetic apart and try to properly define it, trace its predecessors and inspirations, etc.
There's some irony in having any semi-serious conversation about these textures—I've already given them more thought than Notch and co. ever did when they made them—but who cares? It's fun to yap.
What patterns or inspirations do y'all see in the classic Minecraft aesthetic? For instance I feel like I see a lot of common ground with the aesthetic of dungeon crawlers of the late 90s-early 2000s (which makes sense given Notch's prior work).
I've been thinking about the OG textures recently, and I realized something: I can easily tell when texture or model is going for a "Programmer Art" aesthetic, but I have no idea how to describe what that aesthetic actually is, what rules it follows.
No other "pixel art" game seems to have captured the same vibe as Minecraft did—including (post-1.14) Minecraft, so I figured it might be fun to pick the aesthetic apart and try to properly define it, trace its predecessors and inspirations, etc.
There's some irony in having any semi-serious conversation about these textures—I've already given them more thought than Notch and co. ever did when they made them—but who cares? It's fun to yap.
What patterns or inspirations do y'all see in the classic Minecraft aesthetic? For instance I feel like I see a lot of common ground with the aesthetic of dungeon crawlers of the late 90s-early 2000s (which makes sense given Notch's prior work).