Unit 78 Digital graphics for computer games

Unit 78 Digital Graphics for computer games        By Joe Walters

Artistic Styles – There are many different types of artistic styles that can be used in games like abstraction which involves lines and shapes mainly which can be important to games that you involve all the detail to make it look authentic. There is also cell-shading which involves non-photorealistic art/pictures which is usually used during the developmental stage of the production for the game and will be used to develop characters on their looks and their clothing which will be changed and eventually the right look will be chosen due to the different styles used in cell shading. Photo-realism is another way of using imagery to make the images look real even though it is just images but together to look real this can also be used in games to help make the game look real in cut-scenes and so this can help games have better looks about them and make it seem more real. Abstraction is used for lines and similar type of shapes, it can be used in many games for little detail but it make the gamer seem that bit better and so it can be very important to add abstraction it can be mainly be used as lights in games which can be very important to game production, a famous game which is abstraction is Tetris which is very popular and is probably the most well-known Tetris game. Exaggeration is used for many games with the cartoon feel about them. Games like ‘Brink’ which is an exaggeration but also keeps it quite realistic but the detail and the design is very much exaggerated but makes the game feel unique and also look unique as well.

Pixel – The amount of Pixels changes the resolution of the image and how clear the image can become or how pixelated the image is by the amount so if there are less than the image will be less resolouted and if there are many pixels then the image will be more resolouted due to the amount of pixels. Also it can be how intense the image is or even how little intense the imagery is. Pixels can vary in how many can/will appear on an image and it can be unpredictable how clear the image will be compared to when it was in its original width and height because when expanded it can make the image more pixelated which means there is lower detail due to it becoming pixelated. If an image is pixelated in a game then this can make the game look cheap and could also make it look like the game has not been used to its true potential due to images being pixelated but it can sometimes it can show that the company has a low budget and that it can’t have the detail that other more well-known developers have.

Types of digital graphics - There are many types of digital graphics that can be used for storing images, there are BMP(Bitmap), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), JPG (Photographic Experts Group) and these are just a few of the digital graphics that can be used mainly for imagery. There are also vector images which are used for PSD (Photoshop Document), WMF, FLA (Full load amperes), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and these are very important for digital graphics in order to create the best looking game and the best feel for the game. These have to be used with games and imagery and this makes games how good they are today as well as using storage and imagery to create imagery and games that are massively improved due to the new and better technology. This can be achieved because of the graphics that have been developed and now with today’s technology it can be achieved and so there for better graphics can be used to make better games because of the improving and quickly developing graphics for games in the modern day which would not have been possible a few years ago, which again shows how much digital games have improved.

 

File Extension: e.g. BMP,PNG,GIF,TIFF,JPG,PSD these can all help with the creation of images in games and these can make what games look like today with the advancing technology and advancements in game design which is constantly evolving to make games better.

 

Compression such as lossy or lossless. This determines whether or not data is retrievable or not  so it is important for game designers to use this equipment in order to retrieve data that may have been potentially lost so it is important for making games in this regard.

Image Capture: scanner; digital camera; tablet. These are used in 2d and 3d games to make sure that the background imagery is stable and by using these it can make it easy to accomplish in capturing what you are trying to capture due to these being suitable tools to help make it.

Optimising: target image output; image bit depth; image resolution; image dimensions; compression. This is very important to game design as this can make the games more realistic and look like its more depth inside the game as this will make the player enjoy and loss themselves is the game due to the detail in the game. 

Storage of image assets: file size; file-naming conventions; asset management. This can help producers of the game to find where certain files are and this makes it easier to make the game due to less time being spent looking for the file when it is named it is a lot easy to find and so this makes making the game easy and as well will make the designers more likely to finish on time which is seen as better for the publishers. So  this is why it is important to use these while making games.

 

 

 

 

Games to be compared	2D (Super Mario)	3D (Trials: Evolution)
Photo-Realism	It can be very common that photo-realism is used for backgrounds in 2D games due to the game being simple so it would normally ensure that it would be shown with the graphics and the simplicity of the design. In Super Mario the game design is very simple and the design is also very simple which suggests that it is very easy for players to get the handle off. This is different between Trials Evolution which is the 3D game I will be comparing against to find the similarities and differences between the two games and so this is a good example of how the two games both have similar and different aspects to the game.	Photo-Realism is not a common thing to be used in 3D games due to the imagery being mainly used by the software that they use and so it’s not a very common source to use in order of getting realistic imagery because most of the background scenery and fore ground scenery is all done by their graphic designers so that would mean that they do not use photo-realism in the game due to it being 3D and needing it to look realistic and to match the graphics they have in the game already.
Exaggeration	Exaggeration is used in Super Mario because of the graphics used for the characters E.G. Mario who has big eyes which are not normal sized eyes and so it shows that it has adopted characteristics from exaggeration and so this shows that Mario has an exaggerated feel about the characters used   in the games.	Exaggeration is not really used in Trials: Evolution due to the character wearing a helmet and then everything else is in proper proportion and looks like a normal human being so this shows that Trials: Evolution does not use exaggeration in its games which is also another difference between this 3D game and Super Mario Brothers (the 2D game)
Cell Shading	Cell shading is used for some parts of Super Mario, mainly with the backgrounds of the games and sometimes the characters do have cell shading which happens for some part of the game but mainly the cell shading is mainly used for the background imagery and scenery (Castles) which will have cell shading.	Cell shading is used in Trials Evolution and has a primary use for the characters and the bikes which have cell shading and as well as some of the courses/tracks which also have cell shading So this shows that Trials Evolutions does have a similarity to a 2D game and this shows that there are similarities between the two types of games.
Abstraction	Abstraction is used in Super Mario but only a little is used in the game due to the age of the game and that it did not have the technology that we have today and so this would mean that it could not store as much detail due to the game not having the technology to do so when it was made.	Abstraction is used in Trials: Evolution to use the light lines as well as detail to the game with the lines which add the extra detail that is important to show how well 3D games are made in today’s modern world with the amount of technology what can now be applied to games and so this means that immense detail can now be added.
Pixel	Super Mario does have pixels in the game due to the lack of the technology when Super Mario was originally released so some parts when it was zoomed in the images were very pixelated which would have been very common when it was released because of the graphics available at the time would have meant that the lack of pixels would mean that the resolution would be very weak because of this but it still has enough to produce a clear image from a distance and so it can still have a clear image.	Trials: Evolution would have a lot more pixels due to the up to date technology and so this would mean that it would have a better resolution because of the amount of pixels that were available because of how much technology has come in a very short time which would mean that the pixels would have been more available and so because of the many pixels it means that the game can look a lot more real because of the resolution in the game.
Types of Digital Graphics	The types of digital graphics used in Super Mario Brothers are JPGS and this is used for the characters in the game and this makes the characters and gives the detail it has. It also contains other types of digital graphics such as Bitmaps which help create the look of the character and how he looks in the game such as is he pixelated or is the character smoothed out or does he have a ridged edge and so the type of graphic you use will choose will depend on how good the character will look but due to the age of super Mario the technology would not have been available to them to be able to create the detail that can be used in games today.	The types of digital graphics used in Trials: Evolution. The type of digital graphics used in Trials: Evolution is GIF which is used to make better graphics for the game and this would have made the graphics massively improved in the sequel and so this would be a big step up in the detail of the graphics because of the money made by the first one which will have given them a chance to make the sequel better because it is already a known game so this would make it easier for people to know more about it and how well the graphics were and to know that they will be improved In this one (Trials: Evolution).