What I remember being the most impressed with about the art style of this game, apart from how richly they used their 256 colors, was how they also used palette cycling to provide very smooth background animations for trickling water, lava effects, and (my favorite) the spiral light fixtures in Atlantis itself (like at 12:00). They even used it to gradually brighten pitch-black environments, like your eyes were getting used to the dark, to give you a little help when you were struggling with "find the light source" puzzles. It's all ancient history now of course, but at the time it was obvious that this was a labor of love for the artists, animators, and programmers.
You're absolutely right, Todd. There is so much more I could have spoken about, but it's those little details that really added to the whole. Thanks for watching!
Just stumbled on this because I had been watching playthroughs of the game. Great vid. I already loved the way it looks; I think it's aged fantastically as far as pixel art goes. And when you mentioned that it was done basically by a primitive Photoshop, that just blew my mind.
6:29 roboscoping; the original one that did that was the creator of Prince of Persia, that made his brother do all the jumps, movements etc. and then translated that in a few pixels on the screen for the prince. It's not that Lucasfilm created this.
It may be a long time ago, but I'll never forget playing Atlantis and The Dig together with my brother. On a sidenote, for those of you who miss games with this kind of art direction, check out Thimbleweed Park.
This was a fun and informative artistic review. I learned a lot about art that normally isn't covered in game reviews. Appreciate the work and research that went into this. Hope to see more videos of this depth.
@@Jimzip Hi! great video! check out this playlist of the FATE of ATLANTIS ORCHESTRAL SCORE, hope you'd like it :) th-cam.com/video/LfTgRQGdyDY/w-d-xo.html
Cool review. Yes the best Indy game and one of the best Indy stories in general! Although you forgot to talk about one of the coolest feature: When you come into a dark room it slowly brightens up like your eyes getting used to it.
That's an excellent point! I actually never noticed this, but it's just another example of the small, loving details the team put into this game. Thanks for pointing that out! ^^
A shockingly tasty looking game for its time. It had everybody drooling at its gorgeous visuals. I had no PC back then but I was stuck looking at the pics shown in games magazines. Another fantastic looking adventure game released two months before Indy IV the same year : Darkseed, with many visuals supervised by HR Giger himself.
As I understand it, all of the final versions of the pixel art, whether scanned or hand-pixeled, went through DPaint (aka Deluxe Paint). The tool started its life on the Amiga, though I think LucasArts switched to the PC version (DPaint Animator) when the need for VGA versions arose, as the original chipset Amiga could not display a 256 colour, 18-bit palette. As pixel-pushing software goes, I have to say that DPaint was head and shoulders above the competition for a very long time, and deservedly so. I still miss how intuitive its interface and shortcuts were.
Interesting. Thanks for the info! Amazing how far we’ve come tech-wise in the last couple of decades. For example, I just saw the demo for Unreal Engine 5 two days ago. Mind-blowing!
@@Jimzip - You're welcome. Arguably, it's more like three and a half decades in the case of DPaint! DPaint had some really interesting features, such as the ability to "stencil" off any number of colours in the palette, which functioned in a similar manner to layers and paths in Photoshop if you needed non-destructive editing in certain parts of the image. One last bit of trivia - Guybrush Threepwood (of Monkey Island fame) actually got his name from one of DPaint's concepts - i.e everything you drew with was called a "brush"; including selecting an area of the image to stamp it down somewhere else. The protagonist didn't have a name at that point, so he was just a guy, but his file was apparently called "GUYBRUSH.BBM" to let the developers know what format it was in. And - as they say - the rest is history.
True, I also found a number of things in DoD that reminded me of earlier chapters in Indy, from the sets to the mood it set, I think the creators did their homework!
I was expecting a more detailed analysis, you didn't even showed that picture from the Azores island which they painted over it, there was no analysis of Crete at all, no Montecarlo, no Thera island (beautiful backgrounds, you have to play without Sophia). When you reached the lava maze you just skipped it, it's one of the most moody backgrounds ever done. You also didn't notice those weird pixels that are like hanging from the final atlantis building, what are those supposed to be ? wires ? And finally, you never mentioned the color cycling technique used all over the game, from the lucasarts logo, to the water effects in crete, to the lava in atlantis.
Thanks for your in depth comment, DarkMoe. It seems you noticed a lot about this game that I missed. While it's not possible to cover every aspect in a video like this, I look forward to your video on the topic, which I'm sure it'll be far more in depth!
8:45 I'm guessing it's just your plain old nearest-neighbour downscaling. It usually translates to some rows of pixels being removed the further away Indy walks. I would be super surprised if someone told me they had something similar to ImageMagick's _liquid resize_ (Google it). But it does look crisp, yes. Who knows with those Lucasarts wizards!
machaineà You think? I had wondered of that was the case, as well. But check out the facial details and fingers in some of the downscaled animations. They seem really clear and usually nearest neighbour removes eyes and ears or makes things pretty ugly. 😁 But you could be right!
@@monsieurouxx +Jimzip - Have a look at this : wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/SCUMM/Technical_Reference/SCUMM_6_resource_files Specifically the "SCAL" section. The general method used for "actor" pathfinding is mentioned in this article : www.limulo.net/website/game/scumm/scumm-boxes-walk-matrix.html I hope this helps!
@@monsieurouxx - Correct. Now do a find for "scale" in this article : www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/196009/the_scumm_diary_stories_behind_.php Apparently they had eight different display routines depending on what an "actor" was doing, and used the most appropriate one for how the "room" was defined.
What I remember being the most impressed with about the art style of this game, apart from how richly they used their 256 colors, was how they also used palette cycling to provide very smooth background animations for trickling water, lava effects, and (my favorite) the spiral light fixtures in Atlantis itself (like at 12:00). They even used it to gradually brighten pitch-black environments, like your eyes were getting used to the dark, to give you a little help when you were struggling with "find the light source" puzzles. It's all ancient history now of course, but at the time it was obvious that this was a labor of love for the artists, animators, and programmers.
You're absolutely right, Todd. There is so much more I could have spoken about, but it's those little details that really added to the whole. Thanks for watching!
Just stumbled on this because I had been watching playthroughs of the game. Great vid. I already loved the way it looks; I think it's aged fantastically as far as pixel art goes. And when you mentioned that it was done basically by a primitive Photoshop, that just blew my mind.
What a great video. I love this game! I too played it twenty years ago and felt the same in the labyrinth!
6:29 roboscoping; the original one that did that was the creator of Prince of Persia, that made his brother do all the jumps, movements etc. and then translated that in a few pixels on the screen for the prince. It's not that Lucasfilm created this.
Thank you for paying homage to one of my favourite games of all time. I salute you, sir.
It may be a long time ago, but I'll never forget playing Atlantis and The Dig together with my brother. On a sidenote, for those of you who miss games with this kind of art direction, check out Thimbleweed Park.
The Mark Ferrari backgrounds are amazing. The water in the canal is beautiful.
Thanks for reminding me how awesome this game was.
This was a fun and informative artistic review. I learned a lot about art that normally isn't covered in game reviews. Appreciate the work and research that went into this. Hope to see more videos of this depth.
That's great to hear, dtape. Thank you! Working on it. :)
@@Jimzip Hi! great video! check out this playlist of the FATE of ATLANTIS ORCHESTRAL SCORE, hope you'd like it :)
th-cam.com/video/LfTgRQGdyDY/w-d-xo.html
Cool review. Yes the best Indy game and one of the best Indy stories in general!
Although you forgot to talk about one of the coolest feature: When you come into a dark room it slowly brightens up like your eyes getting used to it.
That's an excellent point! I actually never noticed this, but it's just another example of the small, loving details the team put into this game. Thanks for pointing that out! ^^
@@Jimzip Yeah this is still impressive. But with all the tech many modern AA games don´t have that grade of detail.
you really deserve more subs
Thank you! 😉 That means a lot!
Wonderful video, thanks mate, subscribed 👍
Amazing! Come back to TH-cam, we need you. your videos are great
Alécio Leite That’s very kind. 😁 Working on it. 🖖🏼
Very nicely done!
Can you please do a review of my favorite game: The Dig?
The pixel art in that game is absolutely stunning!
I am astounded to say I never knew that game existed. But yes, it really is stunning! Thanks for the suggestion. 👍🏼👍🏼
Dial of Destiny reminded me of this game in many ways
BEST INDIANA JONES GAME PERIOD! should have been the 4th movie
Absolutely! 😁
But it WAS the 4th movie. There WAS NEVER a movie with crystal skulls and flying lead fridges!
@@obtainerofrareantiquities4452 Huh? A movie with crystal skulls and flying lead fridges? I also have no recollection of such a thing… 😜
A shockingly tasty looking game for its time. It had everybody drooling at its gorgeous visuals. I had no PC back then but I was stuck looking at the pics shown in games magazines.
Another fantastic looking adventure game released two months before Indy IV the same year : Darkseed, with many visuals supervised by HR Giger himself.
As I understand it, all of the final versions of the pixel art, whether scanned or hand-pixeled, went through DPaint (aka Deluxe Paint). The tool started its life on the Amiga, though I think LucasArts switched to the PC version (DPaint Animator) when the need for VGA versions arose, as the original chipset Amiga could not display a 256 colour, 18-bit palette. As pixel-pushing software goes, I have to say that DPaint was head and shoulders above the competition for a very long time, and deservedly so. I still miss how intuitive its interface and shortcuts were.
Interesting. Thanks for the info! Amazing how far we’ve come tech-wise in the last couple of decades. For example, I just saw the demo for Unreal Engine 5 two days ago. Mind-blowing!
@@Jimzip - You're welcome. Arguably, it's more like three and a half decades in the case of DPaint! DPaint had some really interesting features, such as the ability to "stencil" off any number of colours in the palette, which functioned in a similar manner to layers and paths in Photoshop if you needed non-destructive editing in certain parts of the image. One last bit of trivia - Guybrush Threepwood (of Monkey Island fame) actually got his name from one of DPaint's concepts - i.e everything you drew with was called a "brush"; including selecting an area of the image to stamp it down somewhere else. The protagonist didn't have a name at that point, so he was just a guy, but his file was apparently called "GUYBRUSH.BBM" to let the developers know what format it was in. And - as they say - the rest is history.
turricaned tc Hah! That’s brilliant. I never knew! Monkey Island was a fantastic game. One of my childhood favourites.
Excellent video. Instant subscribe from me.
Also, Australian/American/Irish?
Australian / Canadian. 😉
Dial of Destiny was very reminiscent of this game, in the best way.
True, I also found a number of things in DoD that reminded me of earlier chapters in Indy, from the sets to the mood it set, I think the creators did their homework!
I was expecting a more detailed analysis, you didn't even showed that picture from the Azores island which they painted over it, there was no analysis of Crete at all, no Montecarlo, no Thera island (beautiful backgrounds, you have to play without Sophia). When you reached the lava maze you just skipped it, it's one of the most moody backgrounds ever done. You also didn't notice those weird pixels that are like hanging from the final atlantis building, what are those supposed to be ? wires ? And finally, you never mentioned the color cycling technique used all over the game, from the lucasarts logo, to the water effects in crete, to the lava in atlantis.
Thanks for your in depth comment, DarkMoe. It seems you noticed a lot about this game that I missed. While it's not possible to cover every aspect in a video like this, I look forward to your video on the topic, which I'm sure it'll be far more in depth!
@@Jimzip will start my video analysis soon, I already covered many games so far, but in a different light of course. Thanks for your answer !
This vid made me play the game
I played "Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis" in 1992, and it's superior to "Crystal Skull" as a movie.
I agree! 😁
8:45 I'm guessing it's just your plain old nearest-neighbour downscaling. It usually translates to some rows of pixels being removed the further away Indy walks. I would be super surprised if someone told me they had something similar to ImageMagick's _liquid resize_ (Google it). But it does look crisp, yes. Who knows with those Lucasarts wizards!
machaineà You think? I had wondered of that was the case, as well. But check out the facial details and fingers in some of the downscaled animations. They seem really clear and usually nearest neighbour removes eyes and ears or makes things pretty ugly. 😁 But you could be right!
@@Jimzip yeah maybe but in that case I can't identify the algorithm (and I have some humble knowledge in that field). It would be a cool discovery.
@@monsieurouxx +Jimzip - Have a look at this : wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/SCUMM/Technical_Reference/SCUMM_6_resource_files
Specifically the "SCAL" section. The general method used for "actor" pathfinding is mentioned in this article :
www.limulo.net/website/game/scumm/scumm-boxes-walk-matrix.html
I hope this helps!
@@turricanedtc3764 super interesting! But I think it just defines the scaling of the character depending on where he's walking on the screen?
@@monsieurouxx - Correct. Now do a find for "scale" in this article : www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/196009/the_scumm_diary_stories_behind_.php
Apparently they had eight different display routines depending on what an "actor" was doing, and used the most appropriate one for how the "room" was defined.
Why'd you stop making tutotrials mate?
I'd like to get back into them soon. :) Just not enough time lately.
I just discovered your videos and I really like your art and videos! Do you still do pixelart?
I do! But I just haven't had time recently to do more videos. Thank you for watching anyway! I hope to get back to it all soon.