Pixel Composer

There's a lot of work that goes into making pixel art, and you probably witnessed the result firsthand on many popular indie games: the textures themselves are indeed very important, but the effects play just as crucial of a role in the visual presentation and atmosphere of the game.

There are various ways to go about creating VFX for your pixel-based game, and Pixel Composer is a prime example of such a program: this node-based VFX tool allows users to drop their art in, then add various effects to it to create a more immersive visual presentation for their game.

The software only requires to be unpacked from its archive, and then the user can proceed from there — launch the executable, and delve into the program's functionalities. The tutorials presented to you at the beginning can work well to familiarize you with how the tool operates, guiding you through the many ways to alter your pixel art.

We chose to base our work around the provided sample projects, and found that the program is indeed quite convenient to operate. Add your pixel art, then play around with the node-based interface to customize it to your heart's content. Effect collections range from various filters and 3D tricks, all the way to particle generation, transitions, and transformations.

The nodes operate in a comprehensible manner: there's an input and an output to each node, and adjoining them would grant you different results based on their properties. The sample projects exemplify this: you can add a Color node in order to change the aspect of your art, a Mirror one in order to simulate movement, plus a Particle one to help boost the depth of the art.

Pixel Composer is a neat tool that helps users further develop their pixel art, its intuitive, node-based interface lending itself especially well to a smooth, efficient workflow, accessible to anyone.