1. Unit 78 – Digital Graphics for Computer Games
Within this unit, I’m going to describe these four different
artistic styles that are used in the games:
1. PHOTOREALISM
2. CELL SHADING
3. ABSTRACTION
4. EXAGGERATION – Anime and Manga
2. Photorealism is the style of art in a game or any other kind of art, where the artist's are attempting to make the scene so
realistic and defined, it could be mistaken for a real photo. Rather than just the creation of the artist. Photorealism looks
exactly how it sounds from its name, the graphics are designed to look as realistic as possible. For example in crysis 2 a
level was based in new york city: a scene where it could be compared next to a photograph they would both look similar
if not the same. Some photorealism in games are that effective the game experience can feel somewhat like an
interactive movie such as Heavy rain. Photorealism is one of the most used art styles in current generation of video
game platforms it pretty much is what it sounds. This being that things within a game world look realistic for example
characters models would be based of real people. Mass effect is a great example of this. With many of the characters
some being Commander Shepard (The protagonist) is structured looking like male model Mark Vanderllo and Miranda
Lawson (Companion) is based around actress Yvonne Strahovski. This does not just apply for player models it can also
apply for everything in the environment of a game. Some games don’t have textures drawn but they can also be high
resolution(preferably) photographs taken of objects in the real world great example of this would be for walls in video
games if you look at some walls you can notice this sometimes it’s not for the best because they just look they have
been thrown onto the object resulting in a poor texture quality. Photorealism really helps add that feeling of immersion
in a game because of how realistic the style can be.
Commander
Shepard –
Miranda Lawson
Mass Effect
– Mass Effect
3.
4. Cell shading is an increasingly popular style of game graphics, it was originally used in animation before it was recreated
to be a digital graphic game style. Cell shading in games can look very effective, the colours look bright and stand out.
The styling mostly resembles that of a comic book, and a lot of gamers enjoy this art styling. Some games that use this
digital graphic are Wind Walker, XIII and Ultimate Spiderman. This artistic style is very effective in Spiderman, as it
resembles its comic book stories.
Video Examples
http://youtu.be/NlTCRnksLYw http://youtu.be/KR5Yyavt6ZY http://youtu.be/Phq6HdO9zeg
Pictorial Examples
5. Abstract art styling in games could be defined as the opposite to photo realism, the style doesn't strive to resemble
realism in anyway and often has features that are very unrealistic and may look different in the different perspectives
of different people seeing them. The style usually makes use of a lot of shapes and lines that don't really resemble any
actually objects in real life, such as Child of Eden and EDGE. Abstract is not just another name for cartoony or cel-
shading it is just like other abstract art forms which is it does not resemble any sought reality but gives of an image
using random shapes and colours to get the desired effect. Many video games aesthetics are made up of random
shapes and colours one being geometry wars that heavily focuses on geometric lines and colours to specify objects.
One game that uses an abstract art style very well is The Unfinished Swan which is nothing but a white canvas and you
must throw black paint which then makes object visible allowing you to continue to where you must go. The
Unfinished Swan would not be able to work with any other art style because this gives the game its main mechanic
which is the key element to this game which is exploration.
6. Exaggeration is a very sought of playful art style that is used in various games. The art style concentrates on using very
over the top graphics that can really make the game seem like it its not meant to be taken very serious. There you are
most likely to see the use of exaggerated graphics is on the Nintendo Wii, which contains a huge library of games that
contains a lot of party based games that are really exaggerated in terms of graphics and gameplay just seeming obscure
and meant to be not taken very seriously at all. Wario Ware is probably the best example of this using an exaggerated
art style that really compliments its exaggerated gameplay. Anime is also a widely used art style that is considered
exaggerated because of the proportions of things can be much exaggerated. The exaggeration art style might have
started at attempting to look photo realistic, but as the art style has developed, character's features have become more
over dramatic or exaggerated when some audiences favoured the style. The exaggeration art style to an extent looks
almost cartoon, the colours and edges are very defined and look very similar to the art in animes. Some famous games
in the art style are Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Devil May Cry, Xenoblade.
This is the game Catherine which is focused around using an anime
style, as you can see the proportions are somewhat exaggerated.
