uRARE — art iteration archive

All 20 procedural pixel-art versions + 1 illustrated-style demo. Saved 2026-05-04.

Illustrated-style demo (vector SVG, curves + gradients) — single proof-of-concept

Approach: Vector SVG with curved paths, linear/radial gradients, decorative line-pattern background. Bust portrait of horned demon with skull mask + glowing eyes + cloak with chest sigil. Hand-coded entirely original sprite, no copying.

Pros: more painterly than pixel, gradients give depth, recognizable character.

Cons: still feels procedural/template-y, can't compete with hand-drawn Hashmasks; would need 15-20 of these for variety.

v20 — pixel art, 15 base + 3 rare types, masks + items, rainbow palette

What: 15 character types (knight/viking/samurai/demon helm + wizard/alien/robot/ghost/demon face/skull/jester/angel + mummy/vampire/executioner) + 3 rare (Crown/Lord/Phoenix) + mask overlays + held items. Tier-aware palette weights.

User: "These last ones look okay. Common improved. Wraith decent. Nightmare looks good."

Hot pink still over-rolling. Some types (robot) hard to spot.

v19 — added jester + angel; cleaner Common bg

12 base types. Common bg simplified (no sparkles). Pink overrolling identified.

v18 — pivoted from helmets-only to mixed creatures

Added wizard/alien/robot/demon face/skull/ghost as separate creature types beyond helmets. Dropped great helm and plague doctor.

v17 — full rainbow palette + bright backgrounds (dark theme dropped)

User said: "we aren't killing unicorns anymore." Switched dark themes to rare flavors, opened up rainbow palette across all tiers.

v16 — added wizard hat + alien helm types, cleaned Commons

8 helmet types. Common bg cleaned (no sparkles). User: "robots aren't really visible."

v15 — rare-only helmet types + dramatic overlays

Crown / Demon Lord / Phoenix helmets at higher tiers. Wings / multi-eye / soul-wisp / floating / halo overlays. Mythic backgrounds.

v14 — first helmet pivot (6 types + plumes/gems/damage)

User: "ya these are cool this is the right idea." First time the art landed.

v13 — cursed medallions (rule-based circular amulets)

First successful rule-based pivot. Looked clean but user wanted more variety.

v12 — final horse pixel attempt (3 poses, brighter palette)

Bigger horses fill the frame, brighter contrast. Galloping pose still weak.

v11 — demon portrait identity (clear demonic features)

User: "kind of look like robots." Too geometric.

v10 — bust portraits with backgrounds (more visual content)

Added shoulders/cloak/bg elements. Still felt plain.

v9 — Nouns-style chunky horned heads

User: "okay but plain."

v8 — cursed eyes (giant single eye fills canvas)

User: "eh these are not cool."

v7 — side-profile horned skulls

User: "still pretty unclear."

v6 — forward-facing horned skulls

User: "look like punks with mohawks."

v5 — forward portrait dark unicorn heads

First forward-facing portrait attempt.

v4 — side-profile head-only attempt

Mane dominated, face buried.

v3 — full-body horse with multiple poses

User: "they don't look like horses." Still figurative-art ceiling issues.

v2 — first full-body horse iteration with shading

Added body shading + tier features.