Digital graphics for computer games

Unit 78         

Digital graphics for computer games.

Artistic style

·        Photo realism

Photo realism is where developers try to create graphics that looks so life like that it looks like a photo. This has become a more recent trend with games as graphics have improved so much in recent years. Some good examples of these types of games would be: Far Cry2 and GTA.

·        Cel shading

Cel shading is when the texture of an object is made to look like a comic book or a hand drawn image using flat colours. Some examples of Cel shading games include: Borderlands and the walking dead.

·        Abstract

Abstract often employs a lot of lines and geometric shapes that don’t resemble any real life object. For example, Geometry wars, a game which uses nothing but lines and geometric shapes. Another good example of an abstract style game is Tetris.

·        Exaggeration

Exaggeration art style is used in many anime or manga games and is designed to be over the top. The images are expressed more highly then normal games. Some good examples are: Final Fantasy and Pokémon.  

Pixel

Pixel: “A pixel is a point sample. It exists only at a point. For a colour picture, a pixel might actually contain three samples, one for each primary colour contributing to the picture at the sampling point.” – Alvy Ray Smith

http://alvyray.com/Memos/CG/Microsoft/6_pixel.pdf

Image resolution: Resolution is the quality of the image. As the resolution goes up the image becomes clearer. It becomes sharper, more defined, and more detailed. Your computer laptop and smartphone both have image resolutions. The more pixels you can fit into the width and height of the screen, the higher the resolution. The less pixels, the lower the resolution. You will have to consider image resolution as when importing to another software e.g. in game maker it may not be the size you want, therefore you have to know what resolutions you are going to use.

Computer game graphics

3D isometric sprites: 3D isometric sprites are 2D sprites that give the impression of depth, posed in 3D. They are still used in games today normally on foliage (as you play games the grass and leaves on trees turn to face you to give the impression of depth)

2D Sprites: With mobile devices and casual gaming becoming more and more popular the classic 2D games return .As well as the programs that can create said indie games, there are several mainstream games as well. These famous game series like Fire Emblem, Pokémon, and other handheld system games tend to use these more for the same reasons that mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones do. It saves on memory so it allows for more content, effects, music, and story to be added into the chip or cartridge.

Concept art: A concept artist usually uses traditional materials (e.g. pen and paper) rather than computer software. Concept artist sketches idea’s for the game worlds, characters, objects, vehicles, etc.  A game concept starts with an idea, a simple sketch of the main character and maybe a baddie.

Texture art: A texture artist is an individual who develops textures for digital media, usually for video games, movies and television shows. These textures can be in the form of 2D or 3D art. The textures artist main job is to create photorealistic textures. Texture artists use a variety of software and platforms to create textures for environments, characters, objects, and props for video games.

Compression

The object of image and file compression is to reduce irrelevance of the data in order to be able to store or transmit data in an efficient form.

Optimising

For imagery, optimisation involves choosing a suitable graphic compression format. Compression reduces the image file size and consequently the time it takes to download and display in a browser. Common compression types include GIF, TIFF and JPEG. Many compression formats reduce file size by removing information from the image.

Rasta Images

TIFF images create very large file sizes. TIFF images are uncompressed therefor contain a lot of detailed image data. 

JPEG files are images that have been compressed to store a lot of information in a small size file. Most digital cameras store photos in JPEG format, because then you can take more photos on one camera card then you can with other formats. A JPEG is compressed in a way that loses some of the image detail during the compression in order to make the file smaller.

GIF format compresses images but, as different from JPEG, there is no detail lost in the compression, but the file can’t be made as small as a JPEG. GIF also has an extremely limited colour range suitable for the web but not for printing. GIF can also be used for animations.

 Image capture

Image capture is an application program from Apple that enables users to upload pictures from digital cameras which are either connected directly to the computer or network.

Storage of image assets

Storage of image assets is a very useful way to store things like textures, graphics and text styles so that others can easily access them and assets. This is very useful in the game industry as most companies have lots of different teams who all need to access the same stuff. Being able to transfer files between colleges really speeds up production as you don’t need to wait around for files to transfer.