Computer Game Graphic Types

2D Sprites

2D sprites are images used to represent a thing in a game, these things can be characters (main player or sub playable characters), objects (capsule, coin, fruit), enemies (big bad a baddies, mobs, creeps), etc. Everything (except the background image) are sprites in a 2D game.

In this image of mario we can see loads of different sprites like mario, mushroom, blocks, tubes, etc.

Different types of sprites

3D Isometric Sprites

A 3D isometric sprite is a 3D model of a character, object, and enemy and with that model you take an image of it at isometric angle. They do this to give the image depth and give the illusion of 3D but requires a lot less graphics to process so that low powered machines can run them. The sprites are made like a 2D sprite (Frame by frame) and are used in a games like sims, strategy games like command and conquer and most MOBA type games like DOTA (Defence of the Ancients)  and LOL (League of Legends).

 

Concept Art

Concept art are the initial designs for a game and are what the rest of the games development team have to base their work on. Concept art is needed for virtually everything in the game like characters, weapons, vehicles, environment, etc. Once the concept art is made 3D modellers can start working on these designs and create the concept art as a 3D model and add other details if needed. Concept artist are usually freelancers that go from one job to the next and are only really needed at the start of the project.

 

Textures

When a 3D model is created it is made in a shade of grey but that is no good in a game, so it needs colour. Textures are those colour that are applied to a 3D model. But in order to apply the texture the 3D model needs to be “unboxed” so to say where we need to unfold the model so it is flat add the texture and rewrap the model back together. There are different types of textures like Normal map, colour map/diffuse map and a specular map. A colour map is when we add all the colour to the model (the end result looks like this). A specular map is used to add shine to the model, the model is made up of black and white colours and the white parts represent shine/highlights and the black is not shine (Matt). The last one is a normal map which is coloured in blue and give fine detail to models like scratches.

Colour Map

Normal Map

Specular Map

All three of the same texture

 

In game Interface

An in game interface are feedback and interactive images that appear on screen. In a game you will have a heads up display (HUD) which will give simple but useful information to the player like (maps, remaining ammo, what button needs to be pressed to interact with something, etc. The graphics needed to make a game interface are 2D images that represent each thing on screen like icons that represent the weapon equipped with the amount of ammo left, minimap, etc.

In this example there is a minimap at the top right, remaining missiles just below it, health bars at the top of the screen, a radar at the top left, the current type of weapon equipped at the bottom right.

Printed media

There are different types of printed media used in video games like Box art, manuals, posters, etc. These are one of the most important aspects of creating the game because they will be the first impressions that the player see’s when he walks into a shop or looks it up online and can determine if they buy the game or not. The art used on these need to be eye-catching and show what the game is more or less about.

 

If we look at this box art of infamous 2 we see the main character and that the game is most likely a magic type game because the character is using lightning, there is also blue one side and red the other which gives off a good and bad effect which most gamers would see as a game where you choose whether to be good in the game or evil.

Graphical Styles

Every game is created with different graphical style which makes that game unique in its own way. The most common graphical styles used are Photo-realistic, Abstraction, Cel-shading and Exaggeration. Most genres use the same visual style because they work better in that certain genre like most FPS games are photo-realistic but there are some exceptions like borderlands.

Photo-realistic

Photo-realistic is when a game or rather something in the game is made from a picture from real life. Games that use this style are a lot of first person shooters like battlefield and Call of duty.

These games use this style to make the player feel like they are on a battlefield and at war and the players think they are this person in the middle of a battlefield giving orders or being ordered to save or kill somebody.

The colours used are very realistic like real life and make the viewer feel like it is something that could happen in real life or in the past.

 This graphical style is made so that the player feels like he is in the shoes of the avatar and everything done in the game is something that you do in real life (most times) but we wouldn’t do it (like shoot somebody).

Abstraction

Abstract art style often employs a lot of lines and geometric shapes that don't resemble any real-life objects. To abstract something is to simplify it, reducing it to a few essentials and basic forms instead of trying to reproduce it. Indie game developers use this style a lot because it is easy to create and doesn't require a lot of time or money to create. Plus the thing you create can be anything from your imagination and doesn't need to be compared to real life meaning it can't criticised for its graphics or art style. Games that use this style are Fez and Super Hexagon.

 

Cel-Shading

Cel-shading is a type of rendering which makes a 3D model look hand drawn.Games that use this style are borderlands and Catherine.

This style usually has the drawings outlined to give off a hand drawn effect and usually got a lot of bright colours and is a style between photorealistic and cartoon. The colours used make the viewer like they are watching drawings move.

Exaggeration

This style is a very non-realistic style where everything is created with everything being too big/powerful/impossible to exist in the real world like swords twice the size they should be or characters that body mass is bigger that it should be. Games that are exaggeration are most anime games like Naruto or games like Gear of War (Chest is really big).

The colours are usually bright and make the viewer feel like they have powers or magical items exist.

These are the most used graphical styles used in games and each style makes that game into hours of entertainment for the user, if the graphical style doesn't work then people won't buy the game.  Each graphical style gives a game a different feel to it which makes the game unique.