Some little concepts/examples of what the opening screen UI may look like:
I did some research on pinterest into some aesthetics for UI elements, particularly around our pixel-art focussed aesthetic:
I also did a little research online about how to put together a UI pack and what to consider, and in addition software recommendations and info on how to create effective pixelart:
I decided to invest in Aseprite, which I’ve been considering buying for a while:
https://www.aseprite.org/#buy
https://community.aseprite.org/t/canvas-size-pixel-size-resolution-and-ppu/8668/2