I appreciate graphics in RPGs

[aweigh]

 

[Stefmob]

I also appreciate graphics. But i never enjoyed a game because of it's graphics. in rpg the essence is telling your own story by role playing in a pre designed story. Graphics have the ability to create and add extra elements in that pre designed story. But good rpgs also tell a story in your mind, and graphics aren't needed for that. So if done well it's can be important for its setting of the story thats developing. But it's not necessarily be for a good crpg

 

[Grauken]

I also appreciate graphics, I hate playing with my eyes closed. I also like using a keyboard. Should I open a thread about it?

 

[Chaosdwarft]

Ofc I appreciate nice graphics, if they serve the game well. But if the graphics budget goes above 15% of the overall project, then you are sacrificing other aspects of the game. It's like RDR2 that includes realistic horse testicles reaction to temperature, sure it's a neat "bell" but does it actually serve any purpose? It's like unnecessary animations, do I really need to put one when you loot people?

Now graphics help give a certain tone to your game, so I would say an overall cohesive artistic direction is more important.

EDIT: here is the video explaining the horse testicle shenanigan https://youtu.be/jMmjM36NJqQ

 

[Bohrain]

I appreciate graphical style more than fidelity in games. From a technical standpoint something like Killer7 isn't really impressive even at release, but the hard shadows look damn pretty.

 

[whydoibother]

Everyone likes a good visual and audio presentation in their video games. The issue is with the opportunity cost. In the same way that voice acting means each line costs more money, and thus there are less overall lines, you can easily deduce that visually impressive and detailed environments and outfits leads to smaller zones and less equipable item variety. Ultimately the game has some set budget, and it reaches it by, roughly said, multiplying quality by quantity. More quality demands less quantity, to fit in the budget.
So I don't hate graphics or VA in games, I doubt anyone does. But I do hate when they are implemented by developers that need to compromise the rest of the game to be able to afford them. If you can't have a big and beautiful zone, I'd rather you have a big and not-so-beautiful zone, rather than a small and beautiful zone. You know? You know.

Spoiler

The argument is honestly easier to make with VA, since thats more often the case, and we have more experience; but the graphics case is analogical and has the same conclusion.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

If graphics = number of pixels, number of polygons, frames per second, etc. ... I don't care a bit.

 

[JarlFrank]

Think of a good CRPG as a delicious steak, made well done so it's grey all the way through.

So that's why most games in the genre are terrible, huh?

 

[JarlFrank]

The Famicom ports of Wizardry have insanely beautiful graphics. Probably the best-looking dungeon crawlers ever made.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Most so called graphics whores are only moderntards who believe every marketing trend is automatically superior so they can only play modern games even when they're butt-ugly (or, more understandably, people who can't get used to ancient UIs and control schemes).

Now, these are the kind of graphics I personally enjoy:

Spoiler

While these are the games that I find irremediably ugly:

Spoiler

Not that I wouldn't play an ugly game, gameplay will always remain king, but ugly games are certainly easier to avoid.

 

[ItsChon]

Throwback to quality posts such as these when it comes to video game graphics and art direction.
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/#post-5716138
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716171
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716211
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716414

 

[Sigourn]

Throwback to quality posts such as these when it comes to video game graphics and art direction.
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/#post-5716138
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716171
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716211
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-importance-of-color.122985/page-2#post-5716414

I can't help but laugh at these examples since they are my idea of horrible looking PC games. For instance, the puke tones of the C64 and its terrible portraits (everything else looks gorgeous, though).
And of the screenshots Unorus Janco posted, I only agree with Ultima Underworld and Wizardry Gaiden IV. Even then I'm sure UU looks terrible in some places, whereas Wizardry Gaiden probably looks consistently great. Everything that aweigh posted looks fantastic.

The problem with older PC games is not that they have "too much color", it's that color is everywhere in those games, in the weirdest of places, and more often than not saturated to hell and back.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The problem with older PC games is not that they have "too much color", it's that color is everywhere in those games, in the weirdest of places, and more often than not saturated to hell and back.

In the case of PC EGA graphics, the problem is that you can't choose your colors at all, and the fixed palette is ugly as fuck (obviously no artsy consideration have been done during the engineering of these graphics cards). I think that, considering this limitation, Loom should be studied in art classes-

 

[Daemongar]

The problem with graphics is that you need to have been there playing the absurdly ugly early 3d game X otherwise you're gonna retch

2d ages gracefully in comparison

There are early ugly 3D games... and there are fantastic early 3D games. Lands of Lore is a beautiful 3D game while its sequel Lands of Lore 2 is an extremely ugly 3D game. Ultima Underworld was very good, while a lot of games inspired by UU were pretty crappy.

It comes down to core mechanics and it's hard to name a good RPG game with great core mechanics that are overshadowed by bad graphics.

Ok, I can name *one* - Betrayal at Krondor. Played it for about 3 hours this last weekend and was messing around with DosBox scaler settings but just couldn't get the outside to look acceptable. Just two big blobs of land and sky. I really like almost every facet of the game except the outdoor travel. If there was ever a game that essentially deserved an update, well , that's the one.

 

[Sigourn]

The problem with older PC games is not that they have "too much color", it's that color is everywhere in those games, in the weirdest of places, and more often than not saturated to hell and back.

In the case of PC EGA graphics, the problem is that you can't choose your colors at all, and the fixed palette is ugly as fuck (obviously no artsy consideration have been done during the engineering of these graphics cards).

Exactly. Which is why I find none of those screenshots appealing. The framework is nice, but the colors themselves ruin those for me.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I like the Age of Decadence graphics.

 

[Alphard]

A game with horrible graphics and excellent gameplay is good but unplayable
A game with horrible gameplay and beautiful graphic is shit but playable ( for few hours before uninstalling)

 

[RNGsus]

I like the Age of Decadence graphics.

I wish it was 2d though.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I like the Age of Decadence graphics.

I wish it was 2d though.

I like the Age of Decadence graphics.

I wish it was 2d though.

You don't get it, the only thing to do in Ganezzar is zoooooooooom

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The Famicom ports of Wizardry have insanely beautiful graphics. Probably the best-looking dungeon crawlers ever made.

aweigh's Wizardry (I/II/III/IV) screenshots are Super Famicom (SNES) and Playstation; the Famicom/NES version of the original Wizardry had a mundane appearance:

The problem with older PC games is not that they have "too much color", it's that color is everywhere in those games, in the weirdest of places, and more often than not saturated to hell and back.

If you're referring to EGA PC graphics, it allowed 16 colors (in low resolution mode) from a total palette of just 64 colors, which meant the resulting images were often garish due to poor color selection. However, the screenshots from Loom posted by Nifft Batuff above show that it was capable of beautiful art, provided the artist made discerning choices in color selection.

Of course, EGA was no match for the power of the Commodore Amiga:

 

[Sigourn]

If you're referring to EGA PC graphics, it allowed 16 colors (in low resolution mode) from a total palette of just 64 colors, which meant the resulting images were often garish due to poor color selection. However, the screenshots from Loom posted by Nifft Batuff above show that it was capable of beautiful art, provided the artist made discerning choices in color selection.

Of course, EGA was no match for the power of the Commodore Amiga:

Yup! To me the Amiga is the pinnacle of retro PC graphics, and IMO what "beautiful" truly means. It's not that I'm a graphics whore, but the EGA graphics have such garish colors compared to something like the Famicom that I simply hate looking at them.

 

[King Crispy]

One more for the road:

Spoiler

 

[ItsChon]

One more for the road:

Spoiler

What mods are you using? It looks gorgeous.

 

[King Crispy]

Just Temple+, that's it.