Unpopular opinion: There are already a lot of "retro" visual games, and some other styles would be more unique.

[HardwareRabbit]

It seems there are a lot of games that go for a low poly or pixelated look nowadays. I think some games that I am eyeing considering are already unique looking from their contemporaries, but still go with a more "retro" look for some reason. Personally, I think it would make some stand out more if they went with a less pixelated art style as I think there is a lot of it already.

However, it seems some would rather have them pixelated in the first place for some reason... I think it is because of nostalgia and social media trends, but that is just my own personal perspective.

I am just putting this out there because it is a thought that I wish people would consider and think about more. What do you think?

[HardwareRabbit]

I may deserve an horrific execution for bumping this thread but I would like others to see this and think about it.

[Marmarmar34]

Ursprungligen skrivet av HardwareRabbit:

I may deserve an horrific execution for bumping this thread but I would like others to see this and think about it.

Death

Na, but really. It's mostly because it's far easier to fall back on the "retro style".

If done right, it has the potential to make your game look 'timeless' while also being accommodating for people with lesser hardware. Indie games that try to look psuedo realistic tend to look uncanny and undercooked. A good example would be 7 days to die, an absolutely fugly looking game that makes up for it in it's gameplay.

[Spirit]

Try Spelunky or Noita for retro visual style. I think Spelunky art is great yet not pixelated

[HardwareRabbit]

Ursprungligen skrivet av Marmarmar34:

Ursprungligen skrivet av HardwareRabbit:

I may deserve an horrific execution for bumping this thread but I would like others to see this and think about it.

Death

Na, but really. It's mostly because it's far easier to fall back on the "retro style".

If done right, it has the potential to make your game look 'timeless' while also being accommodating for people with lesser hardware. Indie games that try to look psuedo realistic tend to look uncanny and undercooked. A good example would be 7 days to die, an absolutely fugly looking game that makes up for it in it's gameplay.

That is true, but that doesn't mean you have to look one way to look good. It just depends on the talent of the artist of the game. Look at BodyCam, a game only made by two people! Looks like real life!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2406770/Bodycam/

Not to say it has to be hyper-realistic to be good, in fact a lot of older cel-shaded games Like Jet Set Radio and Okami still look really great despite their age!

I made this post because I felt like people might push it more because of certain reasons that might make games more conforming artistically.

Also, I said the "I may deserve an execution" thing because I felt like doing that was something that somebody could "get on" me for. People seem to get mad about a lot of things on the internet...

Ursprungligen skrivet av Spirit:

Try Spelunky or Noita for retro visual style. I think Spelunky art is great yet not pixelated

I wouldn't say that Spelunky has "retro" visuals but could be considered to have "retro" gameplay due to trends. Some bigger game developers have abandoned "older" game designs like linearity and side-scrolling due to other designs being more "innovative". I think that is silly because if a old game/style can still be fun today, why should it be abandoned?

My main thing about all this in the end is about preventing unnecessary conformity. If every game is just a AAA "realistic" open world shooter or a indie pixelated metroidvania rougelike, wouldn't that get old to a degree?

I say this also as a guy who loves arcade racers like Ridge Racer, Daytona USA, Burnout, Flatout, and Motorstorm. It seems there is not really that much of them outside of mainsteam stuff, lisenced games, throwback games, and clones of popular games...

May not be 100% accurate but still...

[HardwareRabbit]

People might hate me for bumping, but I still want to entertain the idea...

Even if it is not so much now, I think it could end up like it in the future.

[Masque]

I would love a remake of Loop Hero with more modern looking graphics, not gonna lie. Same exact game, just better graphics and animation.

[GlaceonChireiden]

I agree that the constant flow of pixelated/"retro" games are getting tiring, especially within the indie space.

But do consider the cost compared to effect you'll get. A poorly done pixel game is a lot easier to stomach compared to a game with bad textures, bad models, bad animations.
It's also a lot easier to learn how to draw pixel art then learn how to model, properly animate, adjust the models to fit those animations (usually working alongside specialized textures)

Pixelated styles are as common as they are because they're easy and cheap
Indies aren't big corporations, they can't afford to shrug off a poorly selling game.

[HardwareRabbit]

Ursprungligen skrivet av Masque:

I would love a remake of Loop Hero with more modern looking graphics, not gonna lie. Same exact game, just better graphics and animation.

I am honestly asking something similar for some games I am eyeing that are still in development (The Big Catch, Fumes, and... erm... Altyss...)

I just think they look unique already and don't need to look pixelated (and I could argue that it may end up more unique looking because of that...)

[HardwareRabbit]

Ursprungligen skrivet av JustSomeLego:

I agree that the constant flow of pixelated/"retro" games are getting tiring, especially within the indie space.

But do consider the cost compared to effect you'll get. A poorly done pixel game is a lot easier to stomach compared to a game with bad textures, bad models, bad animations.
It's also a lot easier to learn how to draw pixel art then learn how to model, properly animate, adjust the models to fit those animations (usually working alongside specialized textures)

Pixelated styles are as common as they are because they're easy and cheap
Indies aren't big corporations, they can't afford to shrug off a poorly selling game.

I wonder how come people choose to do that instead of getting funding for the art... That is, if it is a full time thing...

[Fuki]

The thing is they're all ♥♥♥♥ and don't actually look retro.

[Masque]

Don't get me wrong, I love pixel art games. Children of Morta is gorgeous, for instance, and that I wouldn't want to see made modern, in the way I want Loop Hero updated.

Also, Children of Morta, if you've played it, HardwareRabbit, is by no means 'cheap and easy". It's a bona fide work of artistic genius.

"Cheap and easy" would be "20 Minutes Til Dawn". That game is fugly.

It's not art. It's shart.

[GlaceonChireiden]

Ursprungligen skrivet av HardwareRabbit:

Ursprungligen skrivet av JustSomeLego:

I agree that the constant flow of pixelated/"retro" games are getting tiring, especially within the indie space.

But do consider the cost compared to effect you'll get. A poorly done pixel game is a lot easier to stomach compared to a game with bad textures, bad models, bad animations.
It's also a lot easier to learn how to draw pixel art then learn how to model, properly animate, adjust the models to fit those animations (usually working alongside specialized textures)

Pixelated styles are as common as they are because they're easy and cheap
Indies aren't big corporations, they can't afford to shrug off a poorly selling game.

I wonder how come people choose to do that instead of getting funding for the art... That is, if it is a full time thing...

Sprites are easier to edit and redraw. If you decide a character shouldn't have a scarf if his design, remove it from his sprite sheet and you're good.

But with a model? You'll have to:
-remove the scarf model itself (which if it's attached to the main model, means you'll probably end up redoing some of the main model as well)
-remove the associated textures, and edit the textures that used to be hidden by the scarf. What used to be hidden is now visible, so that has to look the part too
-rework the animations if the scarf was an important part of them (fiddling with it while idle, blowing in the wind/running, whatever)

Hand drawing art is also similar, if you need to change a design quirk then you're going to be manually redrawing every. single. frame. to account for it

Basically, sprites are just a lot easier to make edits to when needed mid-development and won't lead to you reworking most aspects about a character.

And this just covers a single character. Imagine how much more has to be done if you decide to change level design/geometry, or a levels background if it's 2d

[Basho]

Ursprungligen skrivet av HardwareRabbit:

I am just putting this out there because it is a thought that I wish people would consider and think about more. What do you think?

here are some thought i can grab from the fore-front of my mind.

in addition to art style considerations, dialing back the visual fidelity also gives some leeway in other areas.
if you go for "photorealism" then that comes with other expectations that if not met can put you in the uncanny valley and/or look janky.

animations for instance can be simpler if the visual fidelity is also simpler.
and a glass jar needs its contents represented in some way if visual fidelity is high, but can be simplified to a diffuse texture if visual fidelity is low.
to name a couple of examples.

and going with the glass jar example, highly simplified visuals can leave more to imagination.
Hotline Miami is a good example there, where the representations of violence simultaneously receives a level of censoring by their pixelated nature, but also amplify the impact by letting the player imagine the implied details, kinda like how a book can be highly impactful for the same reasons.

besides that, visual style alone can be a reason to go for a more pixelated style, and i dont think high or low visual fidelity alone is a good indicator of whether or not the final product will stand out or not, since the exact manner of its execution could leave it feeling samey regardless of visual fidelity.

sometimes, the actual framework of the game require certain visuals.
maybe not the best example, but sometimes i see people wanting Foxhole to be first/third-person instead of top-down. but that would require the whole game to be remade since it is essentially a flat 2D game for all intents and purposes, and intended to be that way.
if the camera bugs out on respawn for instance, it is plain to see just how weird the world looks and how badly that would work if only the camera was moved to a first person position.

and for what it is worth, simpler visuals can also enable better performance.

in the end it also comes down to personal preference.
i dont really think a game like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night gains very much from its higher visual fidelity compared to a game like Noita.

i do agree that there may be a lot of less interesting games out there, but that is true regardless of their visual fidelity, so no matter how they look you need to examine what they are actually about.

[sleeps]

all of them look the same if you ask me.