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)