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Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

jeff-vogel.blogspot.com

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Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#171

Post by eberfreitas »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #84

> People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega really like pixel art. As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all. Today's pixel art looks nothing like games did back in the day. The simple reason is that those Nintendo and Sega games weren't played on 27" 4k LCD monitors or 65" OLED TV's but on on the barely 14" CRT in my bedroom. We didn't have huge pixely sprites, they were small and blurry. It had a…

I love pixel art. For me is not only a hint at nostalgia but an art form in itself and that is alright. I like the aesthetics of it, I like the way it looks and I can admire the professionals that work with that kind of art.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#172

Post by billfruit »

billfruit wrote: post #165
scotty79 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the actual message is that he doesn't have money to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks, and he's not going to risk going into debt.

Yet some small developers have managed to build visually stunning games, like Brigadier. Enter The Gungeon, Stardew Valley, Dungeons Of The Endless, were all developed by very small teams.

I forgot to mention Prison Architect which takes the cake. At a first glance it look like horrendous programmer-art, but soon it dawns that it is all fully animated and it is just a joy to watch a prison humming along, with every character doing their thing.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#173

Post by vbezhenar »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #84

> People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega really like pixel art. As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all. Today's pixel art looks nothing like games did back in the day. The simple reason is that those Nintendo and Sega games weren't played on 27" 4k LCD monitors or 65" OLED TV's but on on the barely 14" CRT in my bedroom. We didn't have huge pixely sprites, they were small and blurry. It had a…

Yeah, add B&W TV that everyone around me used, we did not really saw those colours :)

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#174

Post by magashna »

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #163
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is true for consoles Sure, but the author specifically mentions "People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega"

Sega and Nintendo both made arcade machines, too.

The Capcom Power System had games in arcades around the same time Sega was doing it as well.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#176

Post by jorvi »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #84

> People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega really like pixel art. As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all. Today's pixel art looks nothing like games did back in the day. The simple reason is that those Nintendo and Sega games weren't played on 27" 4k LCD monitors or 65" OLED TV's but on on the barely 14" CRT in my bedroom. We didn't have huge pixely sprites, they were small and blurry. It had a…

If you run your games on an emulator you can throw on an NTSC filter (even with CRT curved distortion if so inclined!) and you get a little bit closer to to that old experience.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#177

Post by notus »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #84

> People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega really like pixel art. As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all. Today's pixel art looks nothing like games did back in the day. The simple reason is that those Nintendo and Sega games weren't played on 27" 4k LCD monitors or 65" OLED TV's but on on the barely 14" CRT in my bedroom. We didn't have huge pixely sprites, they were small and blurry. It had a…

It's just a different medium and plenty of people love it nostalgia or not. I bet a ton of people who never grew up with pixel art games enjoy them today and there would be no nostalgia for them.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#178

Post by coldtea »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #84

> People who grew up with Nintendo and Sega really like pixel art. As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all. Today's pixel art looks nothing like games did back in the day. The simple reason is that those Nintendo and Sega games weren't played on 27" 4k LCD monitors or 65" OLED TV's but on on the barely 14" CRT in my bedroom. We didn't have huge pixely sprites, they were small and blurry. It had a…

>As one of those people, I really don't like pixel art at all.

For a counter voice, as one of those people, I adore pixel art. I also hate how everything has to be 3D.

Re: Why All of Our Games Look Like Crap

#179

Post by Isogash »

cousin_it wrote: post #90
alttab wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article explains why this is so. Arguably with some art direction from Jeff himself he can make art that is more easily replicable, but the reasoning seems to be that "I have to be able to swap artists out." Instead of learning enough about game art over 25 years to direct some consistency across artists for his games, he rationalizes it as an explicit business choice. I think he's missing an opportunity to learn…

He could first pay an artist to create a style guide like this: https://66.media.tumblr.com/f055b014e1db777c9ebd54579691cda0... Then swapping out artists will be easier and the game will look more consistent.

Yes! It's clear the consensus is that he needs art direction to get consistency, but this is how you actually put that into action. He needs style guides 100%. It's also potentially a good longer term investment, you can re-use and adapt them.

The guide also needs to include lighting, which he has diddly-squat of.

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