programmer art

{{Short description|Temporary or placeholder art}}

{{distinguish|algorithmic art}}

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In video game development and overall software development, programmer art refers to assets created by programmers.

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| footer = An example of what programmer art might look like in a video game. The programmer art will often be quite low-quality until it is replaced with a real sprite.

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Programmer art is made when there is an immediate need for an asset that does not yet exist. When this happens, a programmer will often use or create a placeholder, meant to be replaced at a later time before the project is published.{{cite book |last1=Watkiss |first1=Stewart |title=Beginning Game Programming with Pygame Zero: Coding Interactive Games on Raspberry Pi Using Python |date=2020 |publisher=Apress |isbn=978-1-4842-5650-3 |pages=111–130 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-5650-3_5 |access-date=11 March 2025 |language=en |chapter=Graphic Design|doi=10.1007/978-1-4842-5650-3_5 }}{{cite book |last1=Bond |first1=Jeremy Gibson |title=Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C# |date=4 July 2014 |publisher=Addison-Wesley Professional |isbn=978-0-13-343962-5 |page=421 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40T1AwAAQBAJ |access-date=11 March 2025 |language=en}}

The term programmer art can encompass any art created by programmers. These assets can serve various purposes, such as quick testing of features, behind-the-scenes reasons, or even being intended for end-user display. The effort invested in an asset depends on its context and whether it will be replaced or not. Generally, programmer art is a placeholder graphic, meant to be replaced.

It is a recurring trope for programmers, who are often believed to be logical-minded, to have little experience with or interest in creating art. It is somewhat seen as a contrast, leading to the creation of the term.

In indie games, programmer art is often the norm as small-time developers rarely have dedicated artists or budgets for professionally made assets. It can also be a deliberate choice as some end-users prefer it for its authenticity.

Common forms of programmer art include stick figure sprites in side-scrolling games, fuchsia textures in games using 3D models, and grid textures for level geometry. Games with a "top-down" perspective tend to use alphanumeric characters and simple 2D graphics to represent characters and landscape elements.