Sprites?

[Tanukitsune]

I recently got in a discussion with someone about pixel art and sprites...

He said he studied Game Design and that sprite is simply resuable art, ANY form of reusable art!

I say sprites are pixel art used in video games, only when used in video games or when ripped from one...

Does what he say make any sense?

[Jake]

I think that distinction depends on who you ask.

[toblix]

Yeah, it's probably not a standardised term.

[elmuerte]

Sprites are not equals to pixel art, not since alphachannels became usable. Pixel art can be a sprite, but not the other way around. Also, sprites can be reused, but they don't have to be. A sprite is nothing more than a 2D pre-rendered image.

[Tanukitsune]

But it's a Video game only term, right? According to him a clipart comic is sprites...

[DanJW]

I used to use the term to describe animated 2D elements in a game, although I was once informed that it can refer to anything animated including 3D and basically means 'asset'. Or something. I like my meaning better.

I'm pretty sure webcomics are not sprites. They often use screengrabs of sprites as a starting point.

[ysbreker]

You can have sprites in webdevelopment aswell. I think a sprite is a big image containing several smaller images. And depending on what needs to be shown show that part of the sprite.

[elmuerte]

But it's a Video game only term, right?

Nope, it has also been adopted in webdesign: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/sprites/

[toblix]

I think defining a sprite is a little like defining a book.

[Thrik]

Clearly the word has different meanings in different contexts, but with regards to what your friend was saying I think he's pretty much right. In today's games, a sprite is any kind of 2D element other than a texture. They can be fixed on a particular axis, or they can always face the player at the same angle no matter where in the environment they are.

A modern example of a sprite is each particle of smoke in a game like Half-Life 2 — many of them come together to produce the illusion of actual smoke. This extends to all the various particle effects you see in games like Team Fortress 2 too, such as bullet ricochet flashes and the 2D 'Medic!' icon that appears above players' heads. Those aren't textured 3D models — they're sprites.

I suppose this crosses into general 3D modelling too, as similar sprite-based particle systems are used to produce the various effects you see in film and television.

[Tanukitsune]

Nope, it has also been adopted in webdesign: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/sprites/

I don't think he was thinking of this when he mentioned sprites?

What this guy was saying that ANY FORM of reusable art is called a sprite and that any comic that reused art was a sprite comic.

[Thrik]

Sounds like bollocks. What you're saying just sounds really confusing and not in line with anything I've encountered before.

[Thrik]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_comic

Seems like your friend just got a bit confused.

[Tanukitsune]

What the....

That article classifies Diesel Sweeties as a sprite comic?

.....

The article doesn't make sense! An original sprite comic is a pixel comic...

And according to Wikipedia this article is contradicting itself...

The guy told me that Kris Staub of Starslip Crisis called his own strip a sprite comic because he recycled art...

[DanJW]

So some guys used sprites to build a webcomic, and then later webcomics authors think the word means 'template' or stencil or asset or whatever... doesn't make them right, just makes them ignorant.

[nonamermcgee]

.deleted

[Thrik]

Just basically seems like a colloquial/niche thing that kind of became a comic genre in its own right... or something. And then you've got people (including someone who edited that Wikipedia article) mixing up pixel art comics and sprite comics.

Whatever the case, I think it's safe to say your friend is mistaken. I can't find anything to back up his interpretation, nor does it fly with my own reasonably broad knowledge of the area.

[syntheticgerbil]

They are sodas.

[Jake]

What the....

That article classifies Diesel Sweeties as a sprite comic?

.....

The article doesn't make sense! An original sprite comic is a pixel comic...

And according to Wikipedia this article is contradicting itself...

The guy told me that Kris Staub of Starslip Crisis called his own strip a sprite comic because he recycled art...

I don't know if I'd call Diesel Sweeties a sprite comic, but one could argue that R Stevens made his own sprites and then made a comic. He surely doesn't re-draw that pixel art every day. A suspect argument to make,and not one which I'd ever state as my own opinion, but maybe a dude said a thing? I don't know....

Why isn't there a "slowly flies away out of frame" smiley?