Sarek Lambert

Lizbox is a collection of specialized pixel art tools I developed for my game projects. The most notable tool is the Animation Mask Editor, which allows users to create gradient textures that can be used with shaders to produce unique 2D animations. The tool includes features to simplify gradient visualization, various drawing tools, an action history (protocol), and multiple export options, making it both powerful and user-friendly.

While creating UI animations for one of my games, I grew frustrated with how time-consuming the process was and started exploring alternatives. Previously, I had used shader-based transitions by applying simple gray gradient textures to encode time, revealing and hiding images. However, this method was imprecise and could only be applied to entire images.

To improve precision, I experimented with manually drawing gradients over UI elements to create more dynamic animations. While the results were promising, the process remained slow, and the subtle gradient shades were difficult to distinguish by eye. I needed a tool that could ‘draw time’ onto a texture while maintaining enough contrast between pixels — but no such tool existed.

So, I built one myself in GameMaker. Since the engine lacked built-in UI support, I first developed a full UI framework from scratch, including windows, docking, scaling, and other essential features. With this foundation, I created a drawing tool that automatically cycled through a custom palette, ensuring clear visual separation between gradient steps. I then added quality-of-life features like line drawing, adjustable brush sizes, zooming, an undo / redo system (using software design patterns I learned during my studies), exporting options, and more.

This project was a great opportunity to deepen my understanding of UI design and served as an example of the custom development tools I occasionally create to streamline my workflow. Additionally, it showcases some of the simpler 2D shaders I’ve worked on.