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Videogame Graphic Advances - Not That Important?

Posted by simoniker on from the you-scare-me dept.

Thanks to the IGDA for its 'Culture Clash' column discussing the recent advances in graphics quality for games, and why increased detail isn't always a good thing. The author, referencing a previously Slashdot-covered article about "unsettlingly funereal" hi-poly face models in games, points out: "Dependence on increasingly real visuals alone to generate emotion will inevitably hit a wall: at some point game graphics will look as good as real life. Developers have an arsenal of emotioneering tools at hand; to limit themselves to just one, however prominent, would be ill-advised", before further warning: "Overfocus on hyper-realistic graphics and modeling, while not a bad idea in a general sort of way, can also impede quality of gameplay."

3 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Gameplay by BigDork1001 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    No, super realistic graphics is not the most important thing in video games. There needs to be gameplay to make a game good. One of my favorite games is Combat Mission which is an incredible WWII strategy game. The graphics are a weak by todays standards but the gameplay is amazing and very realistic which is what makes the game.

    Graphics might be good to look at but if there's no gameplay what's the point of putting down $50? If it's no fun, no matter how life like it looks I'm not going to spend my hard earned money on it.

    --
    "Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
  2. Re:emotion by zephiros · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Scott McCloud discusses this at length in Understanding Comics. As a rendering of a person becomes more stylized and abstract, the viewer begins to fill in details on their own. Not only can our minds fill in more details than an artist can draw, but the content we fill the drawing with is our own, which makes the character more accessible.

    A similar effect occurs with The Sims. Their reductionist design and behavior allows users to ascribe all sorts of baroque narratives to their simple actions.

  3. Real-time Lighting is a breakthrough by ILL+Clinton · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I agree with the idea that higher resolution and realism may not contribute to good game-play without good game design.

    That said, as someone who uses game technology for uses other than playing games (ie machinima,) I can say that the real-time lighting effects in Doom 3 are a huge change, and a sort of breakthrough in terms of what's possible.

    When making Machinima, we are able to come very close to the techniques of real film-making. But the lighting has always been a limitation. Film-making is all about light. So the fact that we can now position lights in-game in real-time and create shadows, means we are that much closer to real film-making techniques.

    Of course, if the past is any indication, we won't actually start to use Doom 3 for Machinima until Doom 4 is released. ; )

    The ILL Clan - Machinima Pioneers