Research Exercise:Pixel

Research Exercise

Unit 78 Digital Graphics in Computer Games Design 

Lecturer: Josh Rai

"A Pixel is not a little square!" - Alvy Ray Smith 1995

Picture Resolution: The picture resolution is the amount of pixels within a picture which will depend on what was used to take the picture such as a high end camera which can take high resolution pictures, the amount of pixels can be decreased in order to shrink the file size and allow it to be displayed on some lower resolution devices or increased for a sharper picture

Image Resolution: The image resolution is the amount of Pixels contained in an image file, The higher the amount of Pixels, the higher the quality of the image. The resolution may not be the same as the original picture as it could be decreased in order to compress the file

Intensity: Intensity is the pixel value which determines the colour and brightness of the pixel. (http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/value.htm)

Pixel Element: A point in a raster image and is the smallest controllable element on the screen

Computer Game Graphics Research

Unit 78 Digital Graphics for Computer Games
Pixel Art

                    

(Example of 2D sprites)

                           Pixel art is a type of Computer Game graphics that is composed of images that are drawn and edited pixel by pixel, This was very common on retro consoles as this was the best they can do, the example I have chosen is Sonic The Hedgehog because you can see his gradual changes in his sprites as each new game came out. Some games use 3D isometric sprites to create a look and feel of a 3D world inside a 2D game, an example of this is Fallout 1 as shown below

(Example of 3D sprites)

Concept Art

Concept art is the original idea for a weapon, character, vehicle or pretty much anything else in a game. This will usually be a sketch that will then be later converted into a Sprite or 3D model. An example of this is Yoshi as it was originally intended to give Mario some kind of Dinosaur mount however it wasn’t originally possible and so wasn’t added until later, as shown below he went through a couple of designs before becoming the Yoshi we see Today

(As you can see Yoshi went through a couple of designs before deciding on a final design)

Texture Art

Texture art is the artwork that goes onto a 3D model to make it look like what it is supposed to be, for example, a wooden crate with no textures looks like a cube with one solid colour, you would need to create a wood texture to add onto the model to make it look like it is wooden

(The Diagram above shows a crate without textures (left), some textures for wood (middle) and the crate with the textures added (right)

Background Graphics

Background graphics are Graphics in a game that are not interactive and are just there to serve as a background for the game. One example is Sonic 2 where in the picture below you can see the main level which is just a grassy path but behind it is a gigantic field of flowers which then goes into some hills that lead to an ocean with many clouds behind it, this gives us the idea that this level takes place on an island that is completely natural. The game would still be playable without the background but it ruins the effect and makes the game look bad.

(Sonic 2's Opening Stage)

In-Game Interface

The in game interface is what gives you important info during gameplay, it contains things such as health or ammo, the example I used is Team Fortress 2 as the HUD (Heads up display) is very important as in this game it shows health in the bottom left corner, ammo in the bottom right corner, time limit at the top and the objective at the bottom in-between the health and ammo

Print Media Art

Print media art consists of anything that has been printed to promote the game, this could be posters, box art, manuals and labels. The game I used as an example is Super Mario 64 as below you can see the box art and a poster that advertises the game to build up excitement for the games release

(Poster advertising Super Mario 64)

(Box art for Super Mario 64)

                           

Artistic styles in Games

Unit 78 Digital Graphics for Computer Games

Research

Artistic styles

Games use many different types of art styles to fit a theme, These include:

·         Pixel Art- an intentionally pixelated look that can be used to replicate retro games such as 8-bit and 16-bit games

·         Photorealism- A realistic art style that can be used to create a lifelike experience within a game

·         Cell shaded- can be used to create a cartoony or hand drawn look

·         Exaggerated – can be combined with other art styles to create an over the top look

·         Abstract- Looks very different from the others, uses either vivid or subtle colours

here I will be researching different art styles

                                                                

                                                           Sonic 2(Pixel Art)

Pixel art is used to create a retro theme as most retro games where restricted to a pixelated look due to the older consoles’ limited hardware. Some games intentionally look pixelated as it has become a very popular art style

                             The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Cell Shaded)

Cell Shading can be used to create a cartoony look or a hand drawn look, the opposite of photorealism. A common modern example is borderlands that looks like a comic with thick outlines helping to create that unique effect.

                                                            GTA V (Photorealistic)

Photorealism is used to create a world that is immersive and feels like a real world to the player, this can be used to make a lifelike experience within a game

                                               Xenoblade Chronicles (Exaggurated)

Exaggerated art styles can be used along with almost any art style, with cell shading it can be used to create an anime look or within a photorealistic game it can be used to emphasize certain things such as in the batman games where the characters have over exaggerated features like muscles, generally it makes things look less realistic

                                                                  Proteus (Abstract)

Abstract games are generally very different from the other art styles and don’t appear to have much effort put into them, some tend to use very vivid colours whilst others are more subtle