Graphics whore thread - serious decline in videogame graphics since 2007

[Phage]

It always comes down to talent. I doubt Primordia had a bigger budget than Gods Will Be Watching, yet the gap in graphics quality is staggering. I don't think the latter looks that hideous but it's unfair to the former to put them on the same level. Adventures always had it easy; they consist of a couple dozen largely static backgrounds and minimal animation. All it takes is one talented artist.

First off, where on earth is this comparison even coming from? You're the only one comparing these two games. As for your actual point, we know for a fact from the indie gogo campaign that GWBW's budget was roughly 20,000 euros, -4% for Indiegogo fees, minus another 4% for credit card fees, then subtract whatever costs for backer rewards. That's significantly less than a single professional game dev's yearly salary. Maybe Primordia had a similar budget, but that seems unlikely. GWBW is literally some project of a group of college kids trying to make something cool. Using the dirt cheap pixel art style seems pretty reasonable.

Another thing - while Primordia is a very pretty game, it's stuck on an insanely low resolution unless you scale it, and after you do that the quality nosedives. GWBW's art is quite scalable. Regardless, you're randomly making a comparison to further the codex's circlejerk over Primordia. I get that the devs post here and that it's likely a very incline title, but it's pretty irrelevant to what I was saying.

 

[Phage]

This, this is my point. Obviously I'm not against cheap graphics, that would be graphix whorism. But there's a difference between necessity and trying to be "artistic".

The best worst example of this I can think of is FTL - or rather some of the buttons thereof. Overall the graphics is serviceable, even cute, but look at the menu font - here they deliberately went for "retro" and if the game has any flaw at all it's this bullshit.

If the game has any flaw it's the sheer amount of randomness behind every run and the overall lack of depth once you figure things out.

 

[made]

First off, where on earth is this comparison even coming from? You're the only one comparing these two games. As for your actual point, we know for a fact from the indie gogo campaign that GWBW's budget was roughly 20,000 euros, -4% for Indiegogo fees, minus another 4% for credit card fees, then subtract whatever costs for backer rewards. That's significantly less than a single professional game dev's yearly salary. Maybe Primordia had a similar budget, but that seems unlikely. GWBW is literally some project of a group of college kids trying to make something cool. Using the dirt cheap pixel art style seems pretty reasonable.

Another thing - while Primordia is a very pretty game, it's stuck on an insanely low resolution unless you scale it, and after you do that the quality nosedives. GWBW's art is quite scalable. Regardless, you're randomly making a comparison to further the codex's circlejerk over Primordia. I get that the devs post here and that it's likely a very incline title, but it's pretty irrelevant to what I was saying.

I'm not aware of any circlejerk surrounding Primordia. It's simply my go-to game when I want to point out that, given talent, you can make beautiful games on a budget. Far as I know the team consists of three guys, including one artist responsible for all the gfx.

Upscaled, it looks just as pixelated as a 640x400 game would look on a 640x400 monitor. I see no problem there.

 

[Destroid]

Modern studios are still capable of producing great 2d graphics, it's just a matter of putting the money behind it to buy the quality and sufficient time for the artists and animators to produce high quality output. Rayman Legends and Dragon's Crown look great.


As a aside, Last Blade is one of my favourite fighting series, NeoGeo was really blessed when it comes to the genre.

 

[crazyirish]

This thread made me go look at some art on pixel joint. Found this:

Not from a video game (inspired by WoW I believe) but very nice.
(User Elk over at Pixeljoint)

 

[Astral Rag]

Pre-2007

Post-2007

 

[A user named cat]

Post-2007

Post-2015

 

[Astral Rag]

 

[Garryydde]

The most beautiful game I've ever played is Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for PS3. If only there was a PC version.

Here is a game released after 2007 which has incredible art design, thanks to the influence of Studio Ghibli.

Shame that the combat system is awful.

 

[Borelli]

Post-2007

Spoiler

What is the name of the graphics mod? And dafuq is a censure doing in Duke? And an incomplete one lol.

 

[Perkel]

What is the name of the graphics mod? And dafuq is a censure doing in Duke? And an incomplete one lol.

That is the whole point of it. It is a jab at censoring.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I like the one with the bikinis. The porno version is "trying too hard" and misses the atmosphere of the original. It lacks that late 80s and early 90s Californian vibe. Also, the "point" about censoring isn't funny at all.

 

[Astral Rag]

What is the name of the graphics mod?

I found the image here.

 

[Akratus]

I like the one with the bikinis. The porno version is "trying too hard" and misses the atmosphere of the original. It lacks that late 80s and early 90s Californian vibe. Also, the "point" about censoring isn't funny at all.

I found the image here.

"(Screenshots edited for content, uncensored in game)"

 

[Burning Bridges]

Kameraden, wir müssen die Hipster ausrotten.

 

[forumvisitor#451]

Trine 2 and DLC look so good.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Shame that the combat system is awful.

This thread is about graphics, though.

 

[poetic codex]

Wow, the codex really does run in cycles. I once started a thread like this, and eerily enough, very similar points were made.

1. Graphics haven't really progressed much past half life 2

2. Developers should focus on art style instead of realism

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/not-impressed-with-modern-graphics.84386/

 

[MRY]

Maybe Primordia had a similar budget, but that seems unlikely.

From the standpoint of the core Wormwood Studios team, Primordia's budget was zero. None of us got any front-end compensation at all. The only people who got any front-end compensation, as far as I know, were the voice actors hired by WEG and the marketing person hired by WEG.

I happen to find GWBW quite beautiful, though, and unlike Primordia it is indisputably built from the ground up by pixels. Many of the Primordia graphics started with pencil art, which Vic then scanned and traced with pixels before adding color, etc. That is why some people (incorrectly) think that the game looks like it was downsampled from higher resolution. I think the approach works well, but GBWB also works well.

I don't think the decision to do lo-fi art is necessarily budget driven. I think what you have is a generation of people -- late 20s to late 30s -- who grew up on high-quality pixel art. Things you loved as a kid make a strong impression, so it's only natural that as adults those are the games we want to make.

Another thing - while Primordia is a very pretty game, it's stuck on an insanely low resolution unless you scale it, and after you do that the quality nosedives.

What scaling were you using? A filter, or simply nearest-neighbor enlargement? If the latter, it shouldn't lose quality, it will just look like a classic, low-resolution game, especially if you run it in DDraw mode where the sprites retain the same resolution.

--EDIT--
Wow, a timely and hilarious line from a Primordia Steam review posted today:

Now, I know it looks like an older game, I envision this being playable on an older system, such as the original Playstation

 

[Sceptic]

Many of the Primordia graphics started with pencil art, which Vic then scanned and traced with pixels before adding color, etc.

I think Gemini Rue used a similar technique, and personally I find these graphics to be gorgeous and better looking than pure pixel art. Same with the scanned paintings from Sierra's glory days.