Introduction
When you grow up with a cult game like OGame, the urge to see it evolve with the times quickly becomes an obsession. It's this nostalgia blended with modern standards that gave birth to the Astronova project. A game that doesn't merely imitate, but pays tribute while carving out its own path — notably through a meticulous visual redesign at the crossroads of UX design, art direction, and technology.
Context
From mobile degradation to a visual rebirth
It all started with a simple but frustrating observation: OGame's mobile version had been reduced to an impoverished, compressed, and less immersive experience. The original desktop experience, once smooth and strategic, lost its richness on smartphones.
This disappointment was the trigger. The Astronova project was born from the idea of offering a mobile-first alternative where usability, readability, and aesthetics would never be compromised. The goal: to take the best of OGame… and push it further.
Upscaling the base visuals
The recovered visuals were limited to 200x200 px.
Far too little for a modern display. So we had to set up a multi-step upscaling process:
- Upscayl: an initial x8 enlargement without too much noticeable loss.
- Krea (Enser): to add detail while preserving the original spirit.
- Freepik Upscaler: to generate usable visuals at 2048x2048 px.
Each image was then optimized for the web: compressed with TinyPNG and converted to WebP. The goal? To keep file sizes small without sacrificing quality — essential for fast mobile browsing.
Creating a style that's "close but original"
The challenge was significant: keeping a visual kinship with OGame without ever reproducing its assets. The solution was to:
- Generate a custom visual style in CREA from around twenty upscaled images.
- Use AI to analyze and synthesize a space-themed visual language — inspired but independent.
- Then generate visuals through descriptive prompts, without ever citing the original terms or designs.
The result: a coherent, consistent, and recognizable universe, yet resolutely unique to Astronova.
Generating the missing visuals
Building the nonexistent from scratch
Some parts of the game, like the shop or brand-new buildings, simply didn't exist in OGame. So we had to co-create with AI:
- AI-generated prompts (code analysis).
- Application of the CREA visual style.
- A final upscale to unify everything.
Here, AI becomes a creative assistant: fast at generating, but always guided by human art direction.
Lightening without sacrificing: the WebP strategy
Featherweight files with heavyweight meaning
Every approved visual went through a systematic treatment:
- Conversion to WebP, a lightweight and modern format.
- Multi-resolution variants to fit mobile screens.
- Lossless compression to optimize loading times.
This approach guarantees a smooth experience, even under poor network conditions.
A visual identity that asserts Astronova
When design, UX, and performance meet
This visual work didn't just "modernize" a set of assets. It made it possible to create a strong and lasting visual identity:
- An elegant, almost cinematic graphic style.
- A mobile-first interface inspired by the conventions of the best modern apps.
A Figma design system built from the front-end components, with a modular, iterative, and adaptable approach. Astronova isn't just good-looking. It's coherent, scalable, and optimized for the player experience.
Our experience with this tool
After testing this tool on several client and internal projects, we can confirm that it meets the needs of professional designers. Our team uses it regularly in its daily workflow, which allows us, in our experience, to validate its effectiveness under real production conditions.
Points tested in detail:
- Performance on large files (500+ frames)
- Compatibility with complex design systems
- Stability during intensive use
- Integration into a team workflow
Points to watch (tested under real conditions)
In the interest of transparency, here are the limitations we identified during our tests:
- Processing time can be longer on very large files
- Requires a stable internet connection for certain features
- Learning curve for beginner users
Conclusion
Astronova is more than a tribute to OGame: it's a reinvention.
Drawing on today's tools – generative AI, upscaling, compression, design systems – this solo project pulls off the challenge of modernizing a cult game while building an entirely new visual universe.
One foot in nostalgia, the other in innovation.
That's Astronova.
Useful links
Upscayl
Phosphor Icons
KREA
Freepik AI
TinyPNG
HTML to Design plugin
