> [!question] Prompt > Prototyping workflow for a pixelart based mobile game. I can draw pixel art on ipad using pixaki, but development would happen on a Windows PC. Below is a compact, battle-tested pipeline that lets you sketch pixel art on your iPad with Pixaki and turn it into a playable mobile prototype on a Windows PC. Feel free to pick and mix steps—the important thing is keeping transfers loss-free and your pixels razor-sharp on every device. --- ## 1 Plan your technical “box” first —then create art |What to lock in|Why it matters|Typical choices| |---|---|---| |**Base resolution**|Every asset must be an integer multiple of this to stay crisp when scaled.|320 × 180 or 640 × 360 scale cleanly to most phones and tablets ([What are the right resolution, aspect mode, and scaling for pixel art ...](https://forum.godotengine.org/t/what-are-the-right-resolution-aspect-mode-and-scaling-for-pixel-art-games-for-mobile/94804?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [Godot 4.4 Settings for Pixel Art - itch.io](https://itch.io/blog/806788/godot-44-settings-for-pixel-art?utm_source=chatgpt.com))| |**Tile / sprite grid**|Keeps walk cycles & hit-boxes aligned.|16 × 16 or 32 × 32| |**Palette**|Lets you recolor quickly and keep file sizes tiny.|DawnBringer-32, AAP-64, etc.| Once those numbers are fixed, you can draw with confidence that nothing will need “just one more resize”. --- ## 2 Create & export art on the iPad 1. **Draw in Pixaki** - Use layers for character/body parts; keep each animation in its own frame range. - Turn on the pixel-perfect preview to spot stray sub-pixels. 2. **Export** - **Sprite sheet**: _Export → Sprite Sheet_ → choose PNG, set columns, leave magnification at 1 for 1-to-1 pixels. Pixaki stitches frames left-to-right, top-to-bottom ([Export - Pixaki](https://pixaki.com/user-guide/export/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) - **Individual frames** if your engine’s animator or TexturePacker will assemble them later. 3. **Sync to Windows** - Pixaki project bundles (.pixaki) **must** live in iCloud Drive, Working Copy, or Readdle Documents; Dropbox / Google Drive mangle the package structure ([Gallery | Pixaki](https://pixaki.com/user-guide/gallery/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) - Install **iCloud for Windows** or the free **Working Copy + GitHub** combo so every export drops automatically into a folder on your PC ([Set up iCloud Drive on your Windows computer - Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud-windows/set-up-icloud-drive-icw0144825a5/icloud?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) (Tip: on-device Git via Working Copy lets you commit art right from the iPad without leaving the couch.) --- ## 3 Asset touch-ups & organisation on Windows |Tool|What you’ll use it for| |---|---| |**Aseprite**|Last-minute palette swaps, onion-skin fixes.| |**Tiled** (+ **YATI importer** for Godot)|Rapid level layout; Tiled™ maps (.tmx) import cleanly into Godot 4 via the YATI addon ([GitHub - Kiamo2/YATI: Addon to import Tiled maps into Godot 4](https://github.com/Kiamo2/YATI?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [YATI (Yet Another Tiled Importer) for Godot 4](https://godotengine.org/asset-library/asset/1772?utm_source=chatgpt.com))| |**TexturePacker** (optional)|Packs many tiny sprites into one atlas to reduce draw calls on mobile.| |**Git**|Versioning for both code and art. Push from Working Copy on iPad or from VS Code on PC.| Folder convention example: ``` /art /characters/hero /tilesets/forest /ui /code /levels /build-scripts ``` --- ## 4 Drop assets into your engine and iterate ### Option A Godot 4 (open-source, small APKs) 1. **Project Settings → Display → Window** - Size = your base resolution (e.g. 640 × 360). - “Stretch Mode = canvas”, “Stretch Aspect = expand” keeps integer scaling on most screens ([Display Scaling in Godot 4 - chickensoft.games](https://chickensoft.games/blog/display-scaling?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) 2. **Turn off texture filtering** (Import dock → Compress → Lossless, Filter = Off). 3. **Use AnimatedSprite2D** or **SpriteFrames** for quick animations. 4. For tilemaps, enable the **YATI** importer; drop your `.tmx` maps into `res://`. They appear as ready-made scenes. ### Option B Unity 2024 LTS + 2D Pixel Perfect 1. Install the **2D Pixel Perfect** package. 2. Add a **Pixel Perfect Camera** component: - Reference Resolution = your base resolution. - Assets-per-unit = sprite height (e.g. 16). - Enable “Upscale Render Texture” for mobiles; Unity handles integer scaling automatically ([2D Pixel Perfect | 2D Pixel Perfect | 3.0.2 - Unity](https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.2d.pixel-perfect%403.0/manual/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) 3. Import sprites with **Filter Mode = Point, Compression = None**. (Need more flexibility? The open-source Pixel Perfect Camera add-on lets you script custom scaling rules ([SirGFM/Unity-Pixel-Perfect-Camera - GitHub](https://github.com/SirGFM/Unity-Pixel-Perfect-Camera?utm_source=chatgpt.com)).) --- ## 5 Rapid test-on-device loop |Engine|One-click deploy|Hot reload / debug| |---|---|---| |Godot|`godot --export-debug android` (needs Android SDK) or the built-in “Android → Run” button.|Remote inspector over USB; tweak scripts live.| |Unity|Build & Run (Android) or Unity Remote 5.|In-Editor Device Simulator shows dozens of phone resolutions.| Keep _filter mode_ on the device set to **Nearest** when you test—phones sometimes apply smoothing by default. --- ## 6 Automate the boring bits - **GitHub Actions**: build an Android APK on every push and attach it to the commit. - **Fastlane** (if you add a Mac later) for iOS builds and TestFlight uploads. - **Sprite sheet rebuild script**: watch the `/art` folder and re-export atlases whenever a PNG changes. --- ## 7 Polish & extras - **Shaders**: simple “scale 3× then outline” shader gives selectable sprites without redrawing art. - **SFX**: generate retro sounds with **bfxr** or **ChipTone**. - **UI mock-ups**: Figma → export PNG → engine. --- ### Quick reference checklist - Lock base resolution & grid size - Draw in Pixaki → Export PNG / sprite sheet - Sync via iCloud Drive / Working Copy - Touch-up in Aseprite, pack with TexturePacker - Import into Godot or Unity with pixel-perfect settings - Test on device, iterate, automate builds That’s it! Once you’ve run through the loop a couple of times it becomes second nature, and you can spend your time where it matters—making charming pixel art, not fighting scale settings. Happy prototyping, and let me know if you’d like code snippets or shader examples for any of the steps. > [!info] Additional notes > - [Working Copy](https://workingcopy.app/) is a free Git client for iOS which would work nicely with Pixaki or Procreate. Allowing you to update game art on the iPad and commit to the changes straight to the game's Git repo. > - The [godot-ci](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/godot-ci) project can be used to build a Godot game on GitHub/GitLab when you create a new release. It can also automatically deploy the game to [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/), [GitLab Pages](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/pages/) and [Itch.io](https://itch.io/).