Graphics Technology in Games Design One visual style used in video games can be cel shading. This consists of multiple colours that are usually outlined in black. An example of this would be the art style in Borderlands and Legend of Zelda:WindWaker Another visual style is photo realism. This style is commonly known as a “realistic� style. These games tend to have an art style closer to real life. An example of these types of game are Call of Duty and FIFA.
Exaggerated art styles are similar to photorealism but some parts of the game tend to be unrealistic. These unrealistic parts can range from insects being huge or humans being overly powerful. These types of games include Gears of War and Prototype
Abstract games are games that tend to have a different art style. They tend to differ from game to game entirely. One game might be a pixelated human whilst another will just be a square. Such games of this Geometry Wars and Binding of Isaac:Rebirth
Metroid Mega Man
Some cases from the same era of gaming appear to have gone for the simple route of just taking a slightly modified version of an in game screenshot and using it as the cover for the game.
This can be seen in for the cover of Metroid. In this simple screenshot, it shows the main character shooting at a basic enemy from the game. The art is entirely pixel based. The small alterations that appear on the case are either removing clipping so the main character is the main focus on the cover. Other alterations may also be enhancing certain things such as blur lines on the bullet and making enemies appear where they don’t appear in the actual game.
The case art for Mega Man 2 was very different to what appeared in the actual game. The front cover shows Mega Man fighting Quick Man, however they appear very different to how they appear in game. Mega Man appears to be a 40-year-old man where as in the game he looks more similar to a child and instead of having a blaster for a hand; he is just using a laser gun. Quick Man also appears different from his in-game model. In the game he is red and yellow but on the cover of the game he is purple and red. Crash Man also appears on the cover but also very different. In game, Samus appears as she does on the boxart for the NES game, and this is the same for the boxart of Metroid: Other M. It is the same as the NES boxart as it has several different screenshots compiled into one. It also shows the main character, Samus, on the front cover. The art style of Metroid: Other M is heavily exaggerated as although it uses many Earthlike animals they are exaggerated as they have been mutated so they are larger and appear with a brighter colour. Metroid for NES would have been the same but the graphical limitations for time prevented this.
Whereas in the game he appears quite armoured with small drills, on the cover he has no armour will the whole of his lower arm being taken up by the drill. The game cover is also completely different to the game itself. Where as the cover uses an exaggerated cell-shaded design, the game is entirely pixel based. However, this is mainly because of limitations with the gaming systems at the time. The graphical limitations can be seen as in later games such as Mega Man X as Mega Man can be seen in his full glory in this game.
Earthbound Earthbound’s game case is similar to Metroid except with bigger alterations. The case uses assets used in the game such as the figure on the front and the background behind. However they do not appear like this in game as they use fewer colours and main figure on the front appears grey in game with the background used being originally a pixel art background in game. The gap in the head of the figure uses an enhanced version of an in game screenshot of the main character.
Apart from the exaggeration within the battle scenes, the game has a pixel art art style however, this was most likely due to the graphical limitations of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. As the game has not recieved a sequel outside of the SNES, there has never been a graphical improvement within the series.
DOOM
Even the main charater is exaggerated with it being able to carry an asortment of 10+ weapons as well as ammo and the ability to take on the armies of Hell.
The cover of DOOM shows the main character of the game shooting Demons, the main enemy in the game. Although the cover shows what happens in the game, it is exaggerated as the demons on the front cover are shown in large groups, in the game they appear in groups of 2 or 3 and they also appear wider than they do on the cover. The cover also shows a second person in background suggesting two player co-op where as the final game was only single player.
However, DOOM uses Portal Rendering within it’s engine to save power. This is so that the parts of a level are only rendered when the player is looking at them to save memory and processing power. The game also uses pixel art. This is either to save processing power or because of limitations on PC games at the time. Earthbound uses a heavily exaggerated art style as within the game you may see animals that appear on Earth but they are heavily exaggerated within the fight scenes. An example of this would be the screenshot below, although it resembles a snake, it is exaggerated as it shows the creature breathing fire and having large fangs.
The characters and enemies in DOOM have an exaggerated art style throughout the game. The enemies within the game resembles demons except they exaggerated to be larger and more powerful than they are on the cover of the game.
Halo Halo: Combat Evolved used screenshots from the game for the cover. However, differences can be seen from the cover and the final game. The background of the cover is a higher resolution than what appears in the game. The vehicles flying in the air are also different than what appears in the game. They have what looks like glass covers but in game they’re just a solid purple colour. On the cover of the game they also appear open where as in game they are closed completely when in use. The other characters and vehicles on the cover also appear to be a higher resolution. This was probably so the game would look better than it actually was as in game the resolution appears very blocky. They have also made the main character of the game the main focus on the cover, just above the title of the game.
The art style of Halo is exaggerated as many of the NPCs in the game appear wearing heavy battle armour. The game itself is also set in the year 2550 so it is obvious why the game is exaggerated. The enemies in the game are also exaggerated with them nearly double the size of the player and also wearing battle armour.
The graphics within the game appear square and simple but this is more than likely with limitations of technology at the time as later installments in the franchise don’t have this problem.