Crafting Our Own Pixel Editor: The Journey to Independence
In the spirit of old-school game development, we decided that relying on massive, memory-hungry modern software was slowing us down. We needed a tool designed specifically for our workflow in creating pixel art games. So, we built one.
Our goal was to create a high-fidelity, no-nonsense image manipulator that gets out of the way. We needed the essentials—cut, paste, transform, layers, and precise line and painting tools—but without the "visual clutter" that modern suites often impose.
A major motivation was self-reliance: we wanted control over bug fixes and compatibility, not waiting on third-party updates.
On the way, we found inspiration everywhere, from Photoshop and MSPaint to the classics. Interestingly, as we progressed, we discovered that our approach shares a lot of DNA with the legendary Deluxe Paint—an incredible piece of software we only fully appreciated after starting our own development.
Coming from traditional art backgrounds, adapting to digital work has been a challenge, but it has also pushed us to build a tool that feels more tactile and intuitive.