We've seen quite a debate recently about the merits of retro low-poly game art. Former Final Fantasy programmer Koji Sugimoto isn't a fan of the revival, but the survival horrors Sorry, We're Closed and Crow Country show that gamers are drawn to the nostalgic look of blocky characters and environments.
Many 3D artists working in Blender the aim for photorealism. But if you do want to create visuals that look like they could come straight from the original PlayStation, one developer is offering a package of free tools that provide a simple one-click solution for instant '90s gaming vibes (also see our guide to the best places to get free game assets).
Fawkek describes PSX Retro Tools as a complete toolkit for creating authentic low-poly, low-resolution, dithered graphics. It's designed for 3D artists, indie game developers, and retro enthusiasts, providing a quick and easy one-click setup for customisable retro-style rendering.
The tools include a Low-Poly Simplifier that can automatically decimate and triangulate meshes for PSX aesthetics and Low-Resolution Texture Baking to bake all object materials into a single low-res texture, preserving UV layout and palette.
There's a Texture Generator (checkerboard, gradients, for texture painting) with limited color palettes, Color Dithering (Bayer, Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson, and more, with adjustable scale) and a Vertex Wobble Geometry Nodes-based vertex jitter effect in the style of PS1;
Add in Shadow Controls for Low Resolution Shadows mode and full shadow disabling and quick PSX resolution render presets with colour depth options, AA toggle, and shadow toggle, and you have a full package of tools or creating that vintage PlayStation look.
You can download PSX Retro Tools for free from Itch.io, where Fawkek also provides instructions for installation. See our own roundup of Blender tutorials for more on the open-source 3D software, and see our piece on the best video game art styles for more inspiration.
