Scott Pilgrim EX: Tribute Games on Pixel Art Pipeline, Animation and Collaborative Work

Scott Pilgrim EX builds on the legacy of the original 2010 game while introducing new systems and scope. What were the core design pillars guiding this new entry?

Jonathan Lavigne: I had 3 pillars in mind to define the game's direction:

• The 1st one was that chaos was going to be a force of creativity during combat. So having interactions between players, weapons, the environment, and the physics tuned to generate this chaos during encounters was a prime directive.
• The 2nd one also relates to combat. While Scott Pilgrim EX has an open level structure and RPG elements, I wanted the players' movesets and the enemies' AI to strongly focus on offering a challenge similar to traditional arcade beat 'em ups: to become successful, players must learn to control the screen. Their designs needed to enforce that.
• The 3rd and final one relates to the interconnected nature of the areas in the game. We wanted to make a game where you can explore without any idle time or padding. So each area is small, dense with ingredients to see and discover, and throws varied encounters to help spice up the experience.

The game embraces a modernized retro pixel art style. How did you approach evolving that visual identity while staying true to the original aesthetic?

The Netflix series has a beautiful Japanese anime style, so we thought we'd infuse a bit of that into our game to make it fresh and stand out from the 2010 game. That said, we wanted Scott Pilgrim EX to have its own identity, so we had our artists develop this new style with the input of Bryan Lee O'Malley. That process helped ensure we had something that felt new and yet faithful to the source material.

Can you walk us through your pixel art pipeline, from concept art and sprite creation to animation and final in-engine implementation?

The steps for the creation of the sprites look like this:

• First, we have an illustrator (Jonathan Kim, Mike Luckas, or, in some cases, Bryan) make hand-drawn visual concepts for the characters.
• Once they're approved by Bryan, our character artist and animators work on a lineup of the sprites based on those sketches (just an idle pose to nail their size and proportions).
• Then, there is another round of approvals that leads to making sketches for keys of the main actions (especially for player characters, in the case of simpler characters and enemies, this step is skipped).
• The animators create all the necessary animations.
• And finally, we implement all of these animations in the engine using an in-house tool that allows us to set all the frame data (hitboxes, special properties, sfx messages, etc.)

What tools and software are central to your workflow for pixel art, animation, and effects?

Besides our custom tools, we mostly use Aseprite and Photoshop.

The game features a large cast of playable characters with distinct movesets. How do you structure your animation and combat systems to support that variety while maintaining consistency?

Early in the development, I created a document that was basically a grid of all of the animations or states required for each type of character. This grid would include a very rough sketch that illustrated the intended use of the action, a name to keep a consistent naming convention, and some additional notes when necessary. Animators used it as a blueprint when they started working on a new character. The unique moves, however, were dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

From a technical standpoint, what engine are you using, and what made it the right fit for a side-scrolling action game with both retro visuals and modern systems?

We've been using the same in-house engine since we made Wizorb back in 2011. It was initially built with XNA, and it now uses MonoGame. All our tools are custom, and our games are written in C#. MonoGame is tailored for 2D games, so it remains the best choice for us.

The soundtrack by Anamanaguchi is a key part of the experience. How does audio integrate into your pipeline, especially in syncing with gameplay pacing and tone?

Patrick Tremblay: Our team and Anamanaguchi worked closely throughout production to create an audio experience that not only pays homage to traditional beat 'em up games and previous Scott Pilgrim media, but that, more importantly, follows the game's multiple changes in tone, intensity, and even time periods! We were in constant communication with the band and developed a great working relationship where every new idea, feature, and mechanic was shared and tested to determine how to best support it with the appropriate piece of music.

Not only were they able to keep up with the pace, but they even delivered more tracks than what had been planned, which resulted in a game that's really rich in musical styles and tones. We're incredibly happy with the final result, how it gels so well with the gameplay, and how it pushes the limits of what a beat 'em up soundtrack can be!

As a team, how do you structure collaboration across art, design, and engineering when working on a project with such a strong visual and nostalgic identity?

Jonathan Lavigne: We use various production management tools such as bug and task tracking, online mood boards, etc. However, the key to a smooth production is strong communication. I'm not a fan of spending the day in meeting rooms, but what I mean by communicating is that we make all of the information available as clearly as possible and make sure that all members of the team share the same vision. In our case, our producer and I acted as some sort of communication hub: if anything isn't clear, just ask us!

A second key aspect I'd say would be that everyone on the team respects the expertise of others and tries not to overstep. While challenging what a teammate is making can be positive when pushing for improvements, it can become counterproductive if everyone starts second-guessing everything. Our team has a very strong sense of collaboration, so that went really well.

Looking back, what were the biggest technical or creative challenges in bringing Scott Pilgrim EX to life, and what lessons did you learn from the process?

I'd say the biggest challenge was creating something entirely new from an existing IP. In a sense, it was a bit trickier than making a completely new creation because we had pre-established rules dictated by the IP, and at the same time, we didn't have the exact story and characters already established, typically provided when working on a licensed IP.

Finally, are there any behind-the-scenes materials, such as sprite sheets, animation breakdowns, or in-engine tools—you can share to help developers better understand your workflow?

Credit: Scott Pilgrim EX. Toronto Suburbs Level Background Sketches, mockups, and final background art illustrated by Lead Artist, Background Artist, Stéphane Boutin, moveset frames illustrated by Jonathan Kim.

Jonathan Lavigne: Here's a glimpse of the 2 main proprietary tools we use. The first one is for the implementation of the animations, and the other is used to build levels and menus.

Tribute Games

Interview conducted by David Jagneaux