Graphics and it's role?

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Apr 27 2011, 4:35 pm
People often think that "graphics quality" means the quality of individual icons. It's not, the graphical quality of a game is also defined by what icons exist and how you use them. This can even affect the gameplay.

For example, suppose you make a simple shooter but unlike many games where you see the bullets traveling across the screen, the bullets move at realistic speeds so you can't see them. There are some graphical touches (blood splatter when you hit someone, dust kicking up when you miss, bullet holes in walls) that are purely visual, affect the gameplay, and are not dependent on the quality of the icons. If the game doesn't have these details, when you shoot there isn't any feedback given to the player - you don't know if you hit or missed. Even crappy looking blood splatter and dust cloud icons would be sufficient.

When people want their game to have "good graphics" they hire an artist to draw icons or spend a lot of time drawing the icons themselves, but really they should focus on these kinds of details instead. If you make good use of icons, a game with poorly drawn icons can still be visually appealing.
Apr 27 2011, 4:36 pm
Masterdarwin88 wrote:
Lmao. I got you mixed it with the "republic of china" guy. Silly, Retarded Darwin.


And yes, I do have an arguement. I just feel no feed to argue for hours and waste my time trying to prove my point when, obviously, you are pretty set in your beliefs.

Oh, and because this is a BYOND blog post and not an international debate competition on whether Graphics affect the gameplay of ANY game on ANY platform.

I have a reason to be "set in my beliefs". That reason happens to be the fact that games like DF and Minecraft are incredibly popular games with low-end graphics. You can't argue facts - that's why they're called facts.

A black and white zombie shooter on the XBOX, if made correctly, would be played and enjoyed just like every other game with low-end graphics but great gameplay.
Apr 27 2011, 4:38 pm
I'm not sure I completely agree with you, Forum_account. While effects are obviously very important to the immersion into the graphics of a game, the graphics are either visually appealing or they aren't. If they aren't, then that could definitely affect how players view the game in the negative way.
Apr 27 2011, 4:42 pm
Of course a better icon would make for a more appealing visual effect than a worse icon, I'm not trying to argue that point. What I am saying is that the presence (or absence) of a visual effect can impact the gameplay, and these differences are often more important than the quality of individual icons.
Apr 27 2011, 5:02 pm
My thoughts on visuals are they are needed and also not needed as a pixel artist it all depends on the game you are makeing. such as if your makeing a stick figure game then you really don't need great Graphics.But lets say your makeing a MMO then you want good graphics it all depends on what type of game your makeing but in they end its all about game play the Graphics could be 1 bit if the game is fun and well made. but if it suck you need high end Graphics to even draw a crowed

Thats just my thoughts
Apr 27 2011, 6:07 pm
I'm going to agree with what Forum_account was saying. How detailed your artwork looks doesn't really matter, what does matter is how consistent it looks and how well you use it. I would rather play a purely 8-bit game rather than a 16-bit game with random Photoshop artwork thrown in.

The same can be said for sound, another thing BYOND developers tend to neglect. I think a lot of people rely too much on verbose descriptions and announcements to relay information to players. Rather than spamming "your gun is out of ammo" to a player's output panel they should just hear the sound of an empty weapon firing.
Apr 27 2011, 9:28 pm
I think the most important thing to remember, as a developer, is not to overstep your limitations. I use Ninja Team as an example.

If I were to have stressed over making my graphics and sound effects as detailed and realistic as possible, I would have wasted my time for the contest.

The same can be said for any project. If you're working on a project with one or two guys, don't worry so much about getting out there and finding a kick-ass $100 pixel artist. Spend your time worrying about the key aspects of gameplay, and make some icons for yourselves. Who knows, you may even uncover a hidden talent you never knew you had! (which is exactly what happened when I was making Hazorhdu II)
Apr 28 2011, 10:35 am
SuperAntx wrote:
I would rather play a purely 8-bit game rather than a 16-bit game with random Photoshop artwork thrown in.

This isn't what you mean, but I'd love seeing more games using drawn backgrounds. Games that do this, like Planescape: Torment, are some of the best looking I know of.
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