2. • In this presentation I will be discussing the use
of graphic styles and colour theory. Firstly
there are 4 different graphic styles within
gaming. These are, photorealism, Uncanny
valley, Abstract and Cel Shaded. Secondly
There are many differences between them
and in this presentation I will explain what
each graphic style has to offer and what
graphic style people would use for different
genres of games. Lastly I will be explaining and
showing colour theory, the use of primary and
secondary colours.
3. Color theory is a form of practical
guidance to color mixing and the
way it effects specific color
combinations.
The colours which are measured to
be warm colours are red orange
yellow. The ones considered to be
cold are blue, white and purple.
Colour theory outlines these.
Digital graphics, art styles and video games
Colour wheel
4. • Warm colours such as red give an impression
of fright and danger. Blood is the colour red,
blood is usually associated with pain. Red also
is associated with stopping.
• Warm colours are often seen in glamorous
places across the world. For example a lot of
holiday resorts have the bright colours of the
sun (Yellow/Orange)
5. Cool colours are colours like blue,
green, purple and cyan. Cool colours
give the impression of calmness.
Usually blue is considered the ally
force on video games. Cool colours
signify cooler environments in rooms.
6. Monochromatic
• Monochromatic colours are all the colours
tints, tones, and shades of a single type.
• You can make tints by adding white and
shades.
• You can add tones by adding a darker color,
like grey or black
7. • Complementary colours are sets of colours
that when mixed in the right amounts, make
white or black.
• When placed next to each other, they create
the strongest contrast and underpin each
other.
8. • Analogous colours on the colour wheel, these
colours are end-to-end. with one being the
dominant color, which tends to be a primary
or secondary color, and two on either side
complementing, which tend to be tertiary.
9. Colours are changed based on the environment
and atmosphere in games, for instance if the
environment was a desert the makers of the
game would use warm colours rather then cold
colours. For places which are cold, the
producers would use cold colours.
10. PhotorealismThe graphic style of photorealism is used mainly to make games look realistic. The
purpose is to make the game as close as possible to real life imagery.
Photorealism is mostly used for adventure, RPG and action games.
Uncharted 3
Uncharted 3 is an action adventure game, it’s biggest asset is that the visuals of the game
are extremely close to real life. This is one reason as to why this game has been so
successful. The rain, boats and sky as well as the character look real and authentic. The
reason photorealism is used is because if any other graphic style was used it would not
work. Photorealism goes into depth and detail for example uncharted 3 the photo on
bottom left shows the city scape, Cel shading and other graphics styles can’t do this. This
sets the tone of the game, making it feel as real as possible when playing.
The Last Of Us
This game has been rated 10/10 by many game reviewers/ publications for example by IGN,
Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) and Computer and Video Games. As you can see the
details on the characters face are extremely precise and very human like. Also the
background looks as if it could be a real place.
11. Uncharted & The Last Of Us
The authenticity in the visuals is really what attracts
and maintains peoples interest, for games such as
uncharted and the last of us. The graphics of these
games are exceptional and life like which is beautiful to
the human eye. The level of detail is astonishing, it’s what
the main aim of photorealism games are.
As you can see the cuts and bruises are
very life like. Games such as uncharted
and last of us have really hit the mark
with their graphics.
You can see bruises, scars and cuts on his
face, indicating that he’s just had some
sort of conflict or accident. The detail in
these things are what photorealistic
games are all about.
12. Call of duty
Call of duty is another game which
uses photorealism, as you can see
there is a great level of detail on the
mans face. His facial hair and his
facial features are life like.
One disadvantage of photorealism is that
sometimes it looks so real but not exactly,
like natural human beings, it causes people
to realise that it’s actually fake.
Photorealism also takes up a lot of memory
and disk space, meaning consoles have to
install the content. One example of this is
Gta 4.
13. Cel Shading
• Cel shading it opposite of photorealism, it
focuses on 1 or 2 colours to give an impression
of hand drawn work. Cel shading is used in
games such as Zelda the windwaker, Pokémon
and jet set radio
• The image in the middle is hand drawn and
the image on the right is a 3D rendered
version. There's a clear difference between
the 2
14. Cel shaded for games
• A prime example of Cel shaded game is Zelda
windwaker. The reason they use bright colours
and hand drawn images is because it reach's out
to the target audience of children. Also this is
very effective and very useful to reaching out to
the target audience because kids love bright
colours and find it very attractive. This is also
beneficial as the tone is set to be happy
throughout. When dark colours are shown it is
something different to what has been seen
before, meaning the audience are hooked on and
keen to play on.
15. Cel Shading
• Also another example of Cel shading game is
jet set radio. They use very bright colours, yet
have a distinctive look to it. The art style of
the game reflects the style of the game, as the
aim of the game is to graffiti on walls to mark
territory. Graffiti like Cel shading is very
cartoony.
16. Cel shaded in genre
• The genre that Cel shaded is used in is
adventure games such as Zelda, jet set radio
and Pokémon. Cel shaded is used in adventure
games mainly for the younger generation.
17. Exaggerated
• Exaggeration is often used in games like the
final fantasy series.
• Exaggerated game styles exaggerate objects
such as weapons, villains and other objects.
• Exaggeration is used often in adventure games
targeted at older people.
• Exaggeration is when the game goes over the
top in certain elements of the game, when
objects are larger then life.
18. Exaggeration in games
• Prime example of exaggeration is final fantasy. As
you can see in the image below the sword is
larger then life, and considerably larger then the
character holding it. Another exaggeration of this
game is the fact that no human would be able to
lift that sword. The hair of the characters are very
spikey, which is very unrealistic because no ones
hair can be that spikey and stay in place like that.
19. Exaggeration in games
Street fighter is another game which uses
exaggerated graphics. As you can see both men
are extremely muscular. No human can be
physically as big as ken (guy with white hair).
This attracts the target audience because some
males aspire to be physically strong, and being
physically strong goes with the genre of fighting.
20. Exaggeration in genres
• Exaggeration is usually used in adventure/
fighting games, like Tekken, Street fighter, final
fantasy and batman arkham city. All these
games contain fighting in them.
21. Abstract
• Abstract graphic style is completely different
from the other 3 graphic styles as it has very
little similarities and a huge amount of
differences. Abstract games don’t focus on to
detail like photorealism and exaggerated.
Abstract games use basic geometric shapes,
abstract games originally started because the
makers could not make the game how they
wanted to so instead they used simple shapes.
Abstract games use are usually very colourful.
22. Abstract games
Geometry wars uses abstract art style. As you
can see there are many simple shapes, of many
different colours. In the image you can see the
enemies are represented as shapes rather then
spaceships. This is visually appealing audience as
the colours stand out .
23. Abstract games
• Abstract games are usually used in puzzle
games like Tetris. The shapes are simple and
are all different colours which stand out to the
audience members. The shapes are easy to
draw and there is very little detail on them.
24. Abstract games
Games that use the abstract graphic style are:
Snake, Tetris, Geometry wars, Geometry wars 2
and space snake. They’re usually in arcades like
the game space invaders.
25. Conclusion
• This report has analysed colour theory, digital
graphics and video games in a lot detail. I
went over how the games genre and graphic
styles compliment each other and how well
they work.
