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[Dragonmaw]

This topic is a semi-continuation of the "brown shooters" thread in General. Put simply, the merits or demerits of particular games' art styles is a fascinating discussion, especially when intrepid souls create some lovely experimental pictures! So let's talk about games and what in particular you like about their art styles.

To lay down the rules:

1.) No generalizations. If you dislike an art style, say the game that you are referring to and avoid referencing entire genres. No total criticism of entire diverse genres such as RPGs or platformers or FPS or RTS. Saying an entire genre sucks because it's "too brown" or "too pixelated" is prohibited. "All indie games are pixelated messes" is just as awful as "all shooters are brown."

2.) Be clear! Explain things in simple language and clear pictures. If you need an example of good posts in that regard, look at JWK5's posts in the Brown Shooters thread. Try to go into as much detail as possible.

I'll probably make a post about Hawken when I have the time!

[JWK5]

Might as well post them here (sans the "brown shooter" debate):

[moi]

outlines on pixelart is for f*ggots

[JWK5]

outlines on pixelart is for f*ggots

[moi]

To elaborate:
I prefer the style with no outlines or one sided outlines




apparently it's mostly a SEGA/Irem/Data East thing









Since the Super Famicom era, pixel art has become choke-full of outlines.

They're killing all the color

[Dragonmaw]

What did I say about generalizations!

That being said, I think it's a matter of the type of game. I think games with a lot of movement through enemies, such as Contra, should not have outlines. No outlines lends itself well to a "blending" sort of feeling where the focus is not platforming, but killing enemies. Games more focused around obstacles and such definitely benefit from outlines, though, as they help to visually distinguish sections of the environment. A good example of this is the always-classic Super Mario Bros.



The environment is full of sharp, dark outlines. For example, the pipe, bush, and blocks all have black outlines. This helps to separate them visually from the outline-less mario and goomba.

[Theophilus]

I chose outlines to go with one of my games. It's not pixel art but it's similar. Mine are thick. I think it would only work in certain settings. Outlines most definitely give a more cartoony look....

Moi ~

What do you think of outlines with a darker shade of one color, or the darkest shade in the palette?

[HöllenKobold]

I always like the player sprites in Golden Axe. They were so smoothly animated, and their colors were just a mix between medium-saturated browns then super saturated reds, blues, and greens. It's stark and bold. If there's anything I didn't like about Golden Axe, it was how muddy the backgrounds were in comparison.

I don't really like outlines myself most of the time. I feel like they detract from the space I could be putting detail and etc. I rather separate things with contrast from color. I don't hate it though.

[BoxedLunch]

I don't mind outlines on larger things, but i feel that on smaller things, they just look terrible. Like Thernz said, it can take away space that you could use for detail.

There are some people who do outlines really well though, like Kramlack.

[moi]

Moi ~

What do you think of outlines with a darker shade of one color, or the darkest shade in the palette?

Yes subdued outlines, it's good, that's what they're doing in the golden axe screenshot.
There are outline on just the left side of the leftmost enemy. And they are subdued.

[moi]

If there's anything I didn't like about Golden Axe, it was how muddy the backgrounds were in comparison.

I think muddy is particularly fitting to the dark fantasy setting.
Look at that screenshot for example, muddyness really adds to the atmosphere of the swamp.

[HöllenKobold]

I agree on that. My qualm is more on the shading in places like the rocks or the eagle wings. It's a pretty negligible thing I guess since no one pays attention to the backgrounds anyway.

[moi]

Another advantage of no-unreasonable-outlines is that everything pops out of the screen.
It's particularly noticeable in contemporary HD 2D where authors are not limited by the hardware anymore and are left with a huge choice of art style to choose from.
Very often they opt for outlined HD and they make the game look flat

notice in the TOKI remake how the remake looks flat and bland and more cartoony compared to the original
(please ignore the stupid scanlines in the shots)
Especially on the characters




The original looks almost 3D


I'm sad to say it but I feel it's the same with the XBLA spelunky. Derek made a terrific work and his art is tremendously pretty, but everything looks a bit flat like if it was cutout paper.

http://www.spelunkyworld.com/images/spelunky-xbla-05.jpg
(especially the spider in this shot)

The original doesn't have this problem

[Theophilus]

I like it. It gives it a cleaner look, oddly enough, like anime. Did anyone notice the boobie on the blue rocks in the third screenshot?

I think it's pulled off much better here, though it's not pixel art.



Dragonball Z Budokai 2

[leonelc29]

ohh, that's a fantastic cell art in 3D. i always love those art style, as it give the game and environment more "comic-ly" look. like this:


some of the thing, like the giant rock that look like a monster in the 1st picture(if i'm not wrong, it's somesort of monster bone. skag, perhaps?), instead of giving them shadow, they replace it with hard line. it doesn't really look good in still picture, but it's awesome in motion.

another unique art style that used in game, is:

hi ammy. it's really fit in these japanese folklore themed game. since the game have some sort of calligraphy drawing gameplay, it really look good with that. imagine Okami were made in other 3D style, it wouldn't look as good as this.

the Toki example that moi shows, i quite like the remake one. the original look very dirty with alot of dither. maybe you can say i don't like dither, but yeah, i don't really like dither. the remake though, it's a different. it look cleaner, and the shape and shade is more defined. for spelunky though, i like both of the style, as both are really well done. i don't really have problem with the new one, like what other people is ranting about.

out topic: DEREK! please make a pc version!

[1982]

In modern gaming I only prefer this one style:

Vibrant lively colours of jungle green, sky blue, sand, bright colours of sunsets, and so on. Far Cry 1 and Just Cause 2 does good job here. (didn't find better picture right now sorry). This relates to my taste of action films of the 80's, which looked happy and uptempo compared to modern grey/brown/darkblue/michaelbay POS. I want the same experience of my modern action gaming, thats why I also downloaded John Rambo mod to JC2 to get rid of that lousy modern action hero stereotype. Expendables, yes I loathe you too.

In simulations I prefer maximum possible realism. And iRacing has definitely made a benchmark here. All simulators what ever the genre, should follow immediately and build upon that. Its not about art in a sense, its about simulating reality. Btw. GT5, Forza, Shift, and these are not racing simulators, they are modern crap with all the post processing filters and all sorts of "artistic impressions".


Other gaming from the past:

Doom definitely did it for me from artistic stand point. It had very interesting world with nice pixel graphics. It is a true showcase of real artists making a good game. Even its dark, it is full of red. Very atmospheric.

Super Battletank is effort of trying to make realistic graphics in a low level system like SNES. I have always loved realistic graphics because it really helps to create the immersion of "being there". Luckily since then graphics have gone forward and reality is even much more realistic now. But still, the style which Battletank represents never goes old. It is sleek, beautiful and has a purpose. Many other games of that era looks crap. With even limited palette, resolution and 2D, you can do miracles in means of realism.

Max Headroom. I always loved Spectrum's graphic styles over C64. When working with just two colours, nothing beats bright green on black. It is simple a future of world. You can do anything with it, and it would always look great. Okay not everything as you need indie hipster to fail that one. Great, simple, futuristic and does the job well.

Virtua Cop is lovely. Thou Virtua Fighter having same graphics, I always liked this one more because it has more to do with real world. It is one of the few 3D art styles from 90s that appeal me. It looks vibrant, fun, and even realistic in a way. Sure it was more realistic back then than now, but it still looks awesome fun. Which is all that matters. It is like True Lies - the game. On a sidenote, Terminator Future Shock is maybe the best fully 3D game from 90s in means of art, atmosphere and overall experience (forget to include picture of that).

Super Contra holds the artistic peak of in 8bit/16bit action. I had trouble deciding if to include picture of NES or SNES version, but eventually SNES version being little more overboard than the NES, I used that. It has great Konami-mastered arts and the setting is perfect: "Rambos" fighting in jungle against robots and aliens. If that would be a film made in 80s, it would be great. But now its also great game. Definitely has artistic approach in all aspects which can be never surpassed. Perfect aesthetics.

Barbarian really shows all what is good in fantasy genre. Conan figures fighting each other brutally. Thats perfect, and how it is done in this game is also perfect. Big figures with muscles and mullets, blood and limbs. Not to forgot beautiful sceneries pumping up the atmosphere and lovely GUI (if that even matters ever). Basic gaming done perfectly. Any other fantasy-setting stuff than this is childs play for wimps.

4D Sports Boxing is definitely a showcase of meaningful graphics, that automatically turns into art of functionalism. This is the few rare cases when some sort of graphic style is chosen because it absolutely makes the game itself. I know the game has not been developed that in mind, but that is what happened here. Hipster indie developers making indie physics puzzle games with "artsy" graphics should look right here how it is really done.


And finally:

I wanted to include one and pretty much only example so far, of a very artistic game which has a sort of "high culture visual appeal". That being Another World of course. I usually loathe games that tend to be "different" and "artistic" because their artists quite clearly lack any skill and vision. And here is one kind of benchmark for you, very beautiful and surrealistic approach which doesn't look cheesy, not too alien, and not too normal. Perfect in "artistic games" area. I always liked this game because how it looks, while actually had major problems to play this game because being so hard.



And some things I dont like. Usually I don't like 90% of the stuff being made, but these following "experiments" really falls down to the bottom of the deep dark smelly hole. Hopefully suffocating and dying from all the rest crap there.

Actually Leonelc already posted few pics of 3D styles I absolute hate. Thats some horrible stuff there. Its lousy, cheap, UGLY, and looks crap. "Comic" style doesn't even fit in comics, so definitely not in games and even more not in games of being FPS. Why? Because I want my FPS games to bee realistic immersive experiences (ArmA2), not lousy artistic gimmicks.

And then there is this:


That is just so depressing awful. While nicely made and consistent, it just is so wrong in every aspect. Games should be about testosterone and immersion, manhood and action, fights and blood, porn, all the COOL stuff. FFS flowers and what are those some teddy bears there? And a main character who looks like what, a university student from 40s? Thats just gay there. Why being gay when you could be Tom of Finland style super-homo-male. God damn hipsters making games.

[mirosurabu]

Well, Mario was just an ordinary plumber. Does that make him gay? You must hate on a lot of cool games if you're only ever interested in fulfilling male power fantasies.

As for Braid, I don't like it and I don't like its art. It's way too static, it's oversaturated and everything feels way too flat to me. And it seems like they just went like "well, try to make it look like one of these famous paintings; that will make it art on its own".

[1982]

You must hate on a lot of cool games if you're only ever interested in fulfilling male power fantasies.

Hate is quite a powerful word, but I tend to loathe if I am wasting my time on such game. Luckily there is so wast amount of male power fantasy games made that theres entertainment for rest of my life.  Thou I would like to see some _good_ new such games too outside from sports genre.

[s0]

derp

@moi: One problem with the Toki remake is that the animation isn't much more detailed than the original, so it all looks a bit static and awkward.

[Richard Kain]

Using outlines on 2D graphics is a proven method for helping individual elements to stand out from the background. I personally would avoid using outlines on everything, and I see no problem with experimenting with outlines of differing thickness and color. But there is a very practical application for outlining that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the art style used in Ghost Trick. They used 2D illustrations for character close-ups, and color-block rendered 3D models for the in-game representations. This resulted in a striking visual style, while still allowing them to invest personality in their characters. They also did a fantastic job of incorporating personality and expression into the character's animations.