World of Anterra Pixel Art and Palette Swapping
World of Anterra uses hand-animated pixel art and palette swapping to multiply its asset library. Learn how the art is made and why recolours matter.
How the pixel art is made: hand-animated assets first
The pixel art in World of Anterra is built from hand-animated assets, and the developers at 81monkeys describe the game as "100% human made" on its Steam store page. Rather than generating art through a single pipeline, the studio layers several systems on top of that handmade foundation: a palette swapping system, a custom animation layering system, and height maps that give flat 2D sprites a sense of depth. The developers have documented these systems in Steam announcements, though the exact number of individual assets in the game is not officially documented.
What palette swapping does
In a Steam announcement on palette swapping, the developers explain the technique plainly: palette swapping is where all the colours of an asset are swapped for new ones by the game engine. They note it was first introduced in video games back when computers lacked the resources to manage large amounts of assets, letting developers reuse assets and animations by changing their colours.
In World of Anterra, the motivation is different. The team states that modern pixel art assets are tiny compared to 3D game assets, so they do not have to worry about limiting their asset count. The palette swapping system was added to extend the asset library without requiring the art team to redo every asset each time.
How recolours expand the asset library
According to that same official announcement, palette swapping is not a shortcut that replaces unique art. The developers are explicit that this does not mean fewer unique assets with swapped colours. Instead, it means that any number of the hundreds or thousands of hand-animated assets in the game can be scaled up to 2, 3, or even 10 times the amount. The stated knock-on benefit is that the game will have many more options for player customization.
Animation layering and player customization
The Steam description explains that World of Anterra blends hand-animated assets with player customization. Players build party members with a vast array of items and gear, and the custom animation layering system brings those combinations to life. The store page adds that the same system applies to NPCs and creatures. The precise limits of that system, such as how many gear layers can be combined at once, are not officially documented.
Height maps, shadows and effects
Flat 2D art needs help to fake depth. A Steam announcement on the studio's tools describes the Shadow Offset Map Editor, a custom tool created to generate height maps for game assets. A height map is a visual representation of the distance a pixel is supposed to be from the ground; it gives 2D assets 3D information so shadows know how far to climb up before wrapping around, and objects know how to clip and overlap correctly. The developers use tall grass as an example, where height maps let the game decide when each pixel of grass sits in front of or behind the player. The tool exists because making height maps by hand could take a designer or artist hours per asset.
Effects follow the same philosophy. In a separate announcement on explosions, the developers say their explosions are made by combining layers of hand-animated sprites with procedural effects. As Turn Based Lovers describes it, 81monkeys added modern effects to the retro RPG style, using hand-animated assets alongside real-time lighting for environments, water shaders, dynamic weather, and day/night cycles.
Where to see the art so far
The game is listed for a 2026 release on Steam, and according to its itch.io page, a free "Teaser Bundle 1" download includes a collection of concept art, a high-resolution "Dragon Eye" profile avatar, and a high-resolution wallpaper for desktop and mobile. That page also notes the project's status as in development, so none of the art systems above should be read as final.
