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[tesselode]

Let me clarify what I mean by "dead space." There's a lot of time where nothing is happening (or you're not controlling anything). When I talk about Angry Birds, I'm referring more to the presentation overall, although the graphics are a part of it.

But think about it. What happens when you shoot the last bird? You have to watch everything slowly lose momentum and stop, and then about 5 seconds later it gives you the "level complete" message.

[baconman]

What happens when you shoot the last bird? You have to watch everything slowly lose momentum and stop, and then about 5 seconds later it gives you the "level complete" message.

What does that have to do with the graphics?

[rek]

Yeah... this has nothing to do with graphics.

That little wait at the end can be the difference between beating or losing the level. Why should the game behave differently depending on which bird you've tossed?

[xrabohrok]

Angry birds is bright and colorful and fun to look at, I'm willing to defend it on its aesthetic merits.

I've been playing Silent Hill this last week and I mentioned it to a friend.  He immediately said "Thats a game that needs a HD remake". 

...I don't know about that.  Part of the charm of that game (for me) is that it is rough and abstract.  The low-rez polygons pop around and it looks unsettling, and that fog and darkness are legendary.   Would a HD remake work?  Is the blaring detail of the sequels why they aren't as good? 

[Paul Eres]

For instance, Crawl Stone Soup would look tons more awesome if it had a graphical design like Diablo 3 or Dota 2.

It would look more awesome, but whether it would actually be more awesome is debatable.

you don't have to give up one for the other. you can allow the user to select which graphical interface they want. they could either play it in ascii, in 2d pixel art, or in 3d. best of all worlds. it'd be nice to see more games have different optional graphics styles

[C.A. Sinner]

tons of roguelikes have multiple tilesets available and let you make your own.

[tesselode]

Topic title changed for clarity.

The main thing I don't like about Angry Birds isn't the graphics themselves, but just the slow-paced and anemic nature of the presentation.

[stevesan]

I think presentation is absolutely important, but "good presentation" can mean a lot of things, and it totally depends on the game. You don't need AAA budgets and the latest shader tech, but you need to put good thought into it.

Sound can help greatly as well. I love the click of the jewels when they drop in Bejeweled, and I think it really adds to the fun of the experience. It's kinda dumb, but hey, humans are drawn to aesthetics.

But ultimately, all this stuff is moot if the game play sucks

[alastair]

tip: graphics are part of the "game play", unless you're blind!

[Jasmine]

The graphics have to be good because the explosions have to be satisfying. Otherwise, why bother shooting stuff?

For me, the satisfaction in shooting games is derived entirely from how well I am controlling the character, ie, do I have good reflexes? Am I nimble fingered? Am I making effective use of cover? Am I making good assessments of risk?

If the graphics is too rich, it can become a distraction and detract from what matters, making the game less interesting for me.

[iffi]

The graphics have to be good because the explosions have to be satisfying. Otherwise, why bother shooting stuff?

For me, the satisfaction in shooting games is derived entirely from how well I am controlling the character, ie, do I have good reflexes? Am I nimble fingered? Am I making effective use of cover? Am I making good assessments of risk?

If the graphics is too rich, it can become a distraction and detract from what matters, making the game less interesting for me.

Agreed. It's more about the feel of the weapons in the context of the gameplay, than it is about how flashy the explosions are. Otherwise everybody who plays Quake would use the same upgraded engine with the most lighting effects.

If you overdo the graphics, you could end up with something like this:

[C.A. Sinner]

covering the screen in "grape jelly" is fucking stupid and something that should never be done, ever.

Agreed. It's more about the feel of the weapons in the context of the gameplay, than it is about how flashy the explosions are. Otherwise everybody who plays Quake would use the same upgraded engine with the most lighting effects.

a lot of high level quake players actually play with the textures disabled. i know a former pro counterstrike (pre-cs:s) player and he exclusively played the game in 800x600 for some reason i cant remember right now.

ive heard stuff about starcraft 2 players playing on the lowest settings to make the graphics more readable too, but i don't play sc2 so someone else can probably tell you more about that.

[Jasmine]

ive heard stuff about starcraft 2 players playing on the lowest settings to make the graphics more readable too, but i don't play sc2 so someone else can probably tell you more about that.

I think I've mentioned this before. The purpose of graphics is twofold: (i) Create mood (ii) Communicate the game-state. Anything beyond this is superfluous, as well as distracting/detracting from what matters.

However, most people actually enjoy being distracted by superfluous graphical content, which is why games usually come with it.

Emotional Stimulation > Sensory Stimulation > Intellectual Stimulation

[tesselode]

ive heard stuff about starcraft 2 players playing on the lowest settings to make the graphics more readable too, but i don't play sc2 so someone else can probably tell you more about that.

I don't think that's necessary, the graphics are quite readable on high settings. In fact, lower settings have worse lighting and lower detail, so I would think it might actually make the graphics harder to read, but it would improve the framerate and responsiveness.

[C.A. Sinner]

again i don't claim to know anything about sc2 but wouldnt lower detail mean higher readability in most cases? also from what i heard, the game's particle effects can obscure the action sometimes.

I think I've mentioned this before. The purpose of graphics is twofold: (i) Create mood (ii) Communicate the game-state. Anything beyond this is superfluous, as well as distracting/detracting from what matters.

and because "mood" doesn't really matter in multiplayer games...