Print Media Art

Here is another post for my graphics assessment, this time it's:

Print Media Art:

Print media art is important to games, this is because, a lot of people are attracted by colourful art designs for games, whilst others think they look cool or awesome, this is the same with posters,packaging etc.First lets start with game packaging, game packing, lets admit it, is really cool, but only the better editions of games now come with packaging recently. An example of this is "borderlands 2: loot chest edition" and the "borderlands 2" game next to each other.

Now as you can see from above, the right hand side is the game with packaging, and it looks great, bit on the left is the game that retail stores sell on shelves. The designs for the packaging are great, but there aren't a lot of games that come with packaging that are normal editions, it is all to do with the costs of the packaging and how the more expensive things get better packaging as they make their money back.

Next is the box cover, the box cover for the game has to relate to the game itself, it must be eye catching, it must have the title of the game on the front, box art is never game play of a game, it is usually something like concept art, this is to make the game look more flashy to others and make them want to buy it.

Next is manuals, manuals need to explain the controls for the game, this is the most essential use of the manual, some manuals also go further  explaining the HUD (heads up display), the story and others go even further explaining: weapons, vehicles, power ups, characters, enemies, etc.

And finally it's posters, posters are used to advertise games outside of the shops, they appear in a lot of places and are very effective, this could just be because they look interesting, the viewer is intreeged by the poster or it just looks awesome

In-Game Interface

Here is another post for my graphics assessment, this time it's:

In-Game Interface:

The in-game interface is the way things are presented to the player these vary from menus to the HUD (heads up display). Menus are important in video games as the player will want to get to where they want in the fewest presses of a button, especially if it's a long awaited game, the player will want to play it as quick as they can with no hassle, as you can see bellow, this is the "Halo 4" title screen menu, as you can see they have a button for each of the section of the game, but at the top, there is a button saying "start campaign" this allows the player to start the game as quick as they can, with 3 button presses they can start the game without having to configure settings.

The HUD is very important to the player during a video game, it tells them: what they have, how much of it they have, ammo, any abilities, radar, mini-map, the cross-hairs etc. the design of the HUD is important as well as the designer wants the player to understand all the information they are providing them with.

In-game interfaces are important, having a terrible one may just ruin your game as no one would be able to play the game in the first place.

Background Graphics

Here is another post for my graphics assessment, this time it's:

Background Graphics:

Background graphics are essential to any game, without them the sky for the game, the forests or the clouds, would all just be a black space, a lot of games use concept art for backgrounds in the distance, instead of adding more polygons which would increase the rendering time, games need background graphics to add a feel of realism to the game, it's not just a blank sky up there, there's clouds, the sun/ suns, birds, freaky bird alien things, whatever there is, in games, there should never just be a blank background

Concept Art

Here is another post for my graphics assessment, this time it's:

Concept Art:

Concept art is an important piece to any game, without it, designers wouldn't be able to get what the artists are imagining, it's like trying to describe a character idea you have for a video game to a friend, no matter what you say, you will always have a different look of the character to what your friend will pick e.g.

So concept art is used, this is when the artist draws there character, vehicle, environment, weapon etc. Concept art is one of the most important stages of creating a video game, it allows the artist to tweak their ideas, it allows the designers to put there views in on the design, if it's too overpowered, if it doesn't fit with the game, if it's a different art style etc.

Concept art for characters usual starts off with a general idea, e.g. a solider. The artists may do things like mind map before hand trying to work out: colours, scars, facial features, body type etc.

Concept art for weapons and vehicles are produced to make the items the player will use, they need to fit around the player, there's no use of a vehicle that the character can't fit in in a game, unless you intend the character not to fit in it, another way to use concept art for vehicles and weapons is to make them look really cool.

Finally concept art for environments is important as this is where the character will go, where the player will explore, they may need to to get an emotional effect in, if something happened etc.

Pixel Art

Today I am posting for one of my assessments for college, I'm starting on "Computer Game Graphics". Alright, first up is:

Pixel Art:

Pixel art is an art form manly used in 2D games, it started off as a very simple art form as it was the only acceptable art form for video games as the technology back then were not able to withstand high polygon counts and high pixel resolution. A classic example of a pixel art video game is space invaders. Here you can see pixel art in its original form, mainly one colour you cab see the sprites are very simple shapes meaning they would be easier to make.

But as time has passed, pixel art has developed, becoming more complex, though it is still an easy art form, the use of different colours allows the artist to incorporate shading into there designs. pixel art for 2D sprites commonly use shading to make them look more 3D and more realistic, a common example is in the "Pokémon" games, all of the sprites for the game are pixel art e.g, you can see the pixels on this picture, and that is the in-game sprite, as you can see shading has been incorporated in this design

3D pixel art is another used design style, the most common of which is the game "Minecraft", this game is, in its basics, rearranging pixels on a world to build things, all of the designs, from the dirt block to Steve  are all pixel art

Pixel art is one of my favorite art styles, it can be used to make a lot of unique pieces of work, simple and effective, also, if used well it can make a game look unique and make it stand out.