# PS1 / Lo-Fi 3D Revival (PSX Aesthetic)

> Indie games and their artwork that rebuild the look of late-1990s console and PC 3D on modern engines: few polygons, tiny low-resolution textures that warp as the original PlayStation's affine-only mapping did, dithering, grain and distance fog over murky, dark earth tones. Puppet Combo's horror games 'modeled after early PlayStation games and VHS' and Dusk's Quake-like shooter set it going; the Haunted PS1 community made it a scene, with game jams and digital Demo Discs whose menus and manual booklets imitate the era's demo discs.

- Period: 2015–present
- Where: North America, Western Europe, Global / networked
- Origin: Independent horror and shooter developers recreating late-1990s PlayStation and PC 3D: Puppet Combo (Ben Cocuzza, Brooklyn; Power Drill Massacre, 2015), David Szymanski's Dusk (New Blood Interactive, 2018), and the Haunted PS1 community, which the Irish developer Breogán Hackett grew from a Discord server for low-res horror developers before opening it on itch.io in March 2018
- Branch: Digital native
- Also known as: PSX aesthetic, PS1 aesthetic, PS1-style graphics, Lo-fi 3D horror, Retro 3D horror
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/ps1-revival/

## How it works

- Build scenes from few polygons and wrap them in tiny, low-resolution textures with hard, unfiltered pixels.
- Let textures warp and swim across surfaces as affine mapping made them do, instead of correcting the perspective.
- Hide the edge of the world in fog or darkness and keep the palette murky, dark and earthen.
- Finish the frame with dithering, grain and a low output resolution so it reads as a 1990s screen.
- Package the work as a pastiche of the era: demo-disc and compilation menus, manual booklets and pixel-font capitals.
- Mostly aim at unease: use the crude render to make familiar places and bodies feel wrong, though the same look also carries cute platformers.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (defining)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (defining)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Bitmap & pixel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/bitmap-and-pixel/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Monospace](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monospace/) (occasional)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (defining)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (defining)
- [Analogous harmony](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/analogous-harmony/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (characteristic)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (defining)
- [Glitch](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/glitch/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [3D render](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/3d-render/) (defining)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (characteristic)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Motion & broadcast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/motion-and-broadcast/) (defining)
- [App & OS interface](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/app-and-os-interface/) (occasional)
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (occasional)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (occasional)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (occasional)

Avoids: Chrome & 3D render, Gloss & highlights, Frosted glass, Flat, Pastel, Fluorescent & neon, Iridescent & holographic, Generous white space, Modular grid, Calm & contemplative, Luxurious & glamorous, Script

Palette: #0d0d0c, #2b2a24, #5c5446, #8a8f86, #6b1d16, #c9c2a8

Typefaces: Bitmap and pixel fonts in capitals for menus and HUDs, in the manner of the PlayStation demo-disc and Namco Museum front ends the Haunted PS1 Demo Discs model their menus on (a working description: the scene has no settled typeface canon), Title cards and on-screen lettering borrowed from VHS tapes and late-1990s survival-horror title screens, as in Puppet Combo's games modelled on early PlayStation games and VHS, Low-resolution texture lettering painted into the 3D world itself (signs, posters, labels) at a few pixels high, so the words blur and warp with the surfaces

Known for: Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2020 (itch.io, 6 February 2020; 17 games including Dread Delusion, Fatum Betula, Heartworm and Sauna2000); Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 (25 March 2021; 25 games, with a downloadable DIY Demo Disc Kit and a manual booklet); Haunted PS1 Demo Disc: Spectral Mall (28 August 2022) and Flipside Frights (11 January 2025); Dusk (David Szymanski / New Blood Interactive; early access 11 January 2018, full release 10 December 2018), with low-resolution, limited-palette textures meant to emulate Quake; Puppet Combo: Power Drill Massacre (2015), Nun Massacre (2018) and Murder House (2020), modelled after early PlayStation games and VHS

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Bitmap & Pixel Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bitmap-pixel.md) (1977–1995)
- Influenced by: [Low Poly Illustration](https://stylogeny.com/styles/low-poly.md) (2012–present)
- Influenced by: [Analog Horror Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/analog-horror.md) (2015–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Indie Sleaze](https://stylogeny.com/styles/indie-sleaze.md) (2006–2012), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Witch House Graphics (Symbol Names and Haunted Web Imagery)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/witch-house-graphics.md) (2010–present), 51% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Glitch Art & Datamosh Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/glitch-art.md) (2001–present), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Nordic Noir Book Cover](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nordic-noir-cover.md) (2005–present), 45% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Weirdcore & Dreamcore](https://stylogeny.com/styles/weirdcore.md) (2019–present), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Sovietwave](https://stylogeny.com/styles/sovietwave.md) (2012–present), 43% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia, Haunted PS1, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_PS1
- Haunted PS1, Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 (itch.io), hauntedps1.itch.io/demodisc2021
- Grace Benfell, The Haunted PS1 Demo Disc Series Looks to the Past to Create a New Future Outside Corporate Games, The A.V. Club (24 October 2022), avclub.com/haunted-ps1-demo-disc
- Wikipedia, Dusk (video game), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusk_(video_game)
- Wikipedia, Puppet Combo, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_Combo
- Wikipedia, Texture mapping (affine mapping on the original PlayStation), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_mapping
- Wikipedia, PlayStation technical specifications (GPU dithering, fog, output resolutions), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_technical_specifications

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “PS1 / Lo-Fi 3D Revival (PSX Aesthetic)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/ps1-revival/