Essay

Games Design level 3
Unit 78: Digital Graphics
Rowan Hawkins-Oldfield

Assignment 1

Computer game assets are used within game design to help create the game. Assets and game assets are completely different. A game asset is something that gets put into a game. There are all sorts of game assets used within computer games and they can range from just textures all the way up to 3D models. Some assets are required to be used in a game where as some can be used in a game as decoration. For example, an asset needed to make a game work is scripts telling the engine how to run the game where as details such as clouds are not necessary to make the game work HOWEVER can be used to help show off the game and make it seem alot nicer with added details and textures to show off what the game developers can do. Game assets can include 2D Sprites, 3D Models, Levels, Areas, Voices, SFX, Music, Key framing, textures, dialogue and pretty much anything that the player is shown through out the game.

When using Computer game assets, you need to think about File extensions, Compression, Optimizing and the storage. File extensions link with Compression as the file extension used depends on the compression used. Some games use the "TIFF" (Tagged Image File Format) due to it being easy to compress and its compression being very small. This allows games to actually compress JPEG's or PNG's to TIFF's which shows a massive difference in file size therefore allowing more game assets to be added to make a massive difference in the game.

Optimization is the process en which you make a file or game asset fully perfect, functional or effective as it can possibly be, for example: Videos being optimized to 1080p. Maximizing the functionality of a game asset allows game developers to make high quality looking games (such as games on next gen consoles or PC).

Storage of image assets. Storage of image assets is storing a game asset so that other people within you game developing company can find your game asset for other usage. For example, Your job is to create a car for level 4 in a game, Once you've made it, you need to pass it on to someone so they can find it and texture it for you. You firstly name it something on the lines of 'level4car.mdl' or 'carlvl4.mdl'. Then you proceed to save it in an easily accessible assets folder (for organisation, you may put it in a level 4 assets folder) and then pass on the pathway to the texture artist.

Now I didn't specify this but some video game developers have been known to use this and edit them in software but some game developers like to use image capture for 2 main reasons. One, So they can use reference for the game they're making, for example, if they were recreating LA, they'd use pictures and main attraction in LA.

However not all games use high spec graphics, Back in the 1950's to the 1980's, Most games were pixel games, 8 bit games that ran in a 2D environment. These sort of games included donkey Kong, pacman, super Mario bros, etc... These games were what started off the gaming industry and made it what it is today as it is the biggest entertainment industry out there. Games using pixels were referred to as the artistic style 'Pixel art' which is a popular genre for its retro styled graphics and the nostalgia it brought to those who used to play donkey Kong and super Mario bros as a kid.

An Artistic style is way a games graphics and assets look. There are 5 main core artistic styles used within video games. Exaggeration, Abstraction, Cell Shading, Photo realism and Pixel. 

-Exaggeration is a similar artistic style to that of anime and manga, details are much more visible and everything is a bit over the top not seeming realistic but almost cartoonish. An example for this is the updated final fantasy games or even soul calibur.

Final fantasy 7 was released in 1997 and was the first in the series to show 3D game play, Previous games had also shown the anime art style however Final Fantasy 7 showed it the best. The game gave a great immersion with it being the first 3D game in the series and it's animations added.

-Pixel Art is an artistic style used which consists of small samples of colour called pixels that people nowadays would refer to as 'Small squares'. A well known franchise which used to use this was Pokemon, until they started to use exaggeration in their games.

Pokemon : Red uses both 2D sprites and 3D isometric sprites, the game mainly consists of 3D isometric entities and such to make the game look better.

-Abstraction is another artistic style that does not show realism but more focus' on polygons and non-polygons, shapes with different colours, tones and textures. A well known game for this art style is tetris.

Tetris really showed players back 'in the day' how games are good things to keep you occupied being one of the first games made, Tetris was fun because of its abstract blocks that you must place down in the smartest place to ensure you can proceed further without touching the top of your screen!

-Cell Shading is a style used very similar to exaggeration but pronounces outlines a bit more with a thick black line. A game that uses this art style is Borderlands or even The Walking Dead.

The walking dead uses cell shading inside the game with making details visible with thick black lines.

-Photo-realism is probably the most common art style used in next gen games to date as photo realism is what it says in the title, they are graphics that look like a realistic photo. There are many examples of this which can include Grand Theft Auto 5, Forza Horizon 3 and battlefield 1.

GTA V Made players actually feel like they were immersed in a world of crime and that you shouldn't trust anyone as they could pull a gun or do a run. Actually being able to call the NPC's human really shows how photo-realistic GTA V is.

These are the main artistic styles used in video games, Some of the best selling games that sell alot of units world wide use more than one of these, for example, Dead Rising 3 was a mix of Exaggeration and Photo-realism.

The Gaming industry uses 6 (Minimum of 4 normally used) to help create the game that they wish to create. These include Pixel art, Concept art, Texture art, Background graphics, In-game Interface (HUD) and Print media Art. I say that at a minimum of 4 used is because some games don't use Print media art or Pixel art as they are either digital downloaded or is a high graphic 3D game. I have already explained pixel art so we'll start at Concept art. 

Concept art is sketches and ideas drawn out for a game to be presented to a publisher OR to get an idea of what the games designers need to make in order to make the game. These sketches are then documented for reference when making the game.

This is a destiny concept art designed by Bungie. Concept art is also used to be submitted to a game published by developers to see if they will support the game and publish it.

Texture art is creating materials in a certain way to give them a nice texture to them. Some people like to use 'normal map' textures with their materials which give a shadow effect to them. Normal maps are then place on top of diffuse map (the material itself).

This image shows us a comparison of a Diffuse Map (Material) next to a Normal Map. These are custom textures and are not game specific.

Background graphics are used as they are said, Graphics placed in the background, These are normally either image captures or edited image captures.

This is uncharted 3, here it shows the difference between background models and background graphics, graphics are more or less put far away or are made to look far away where as models are there to interact with.

In-game interface is what most gamers refer to as the HUD, it shows us information that we need or could use through the game, mission or level. For example, health, ammo, current objective etc...

This is a Halo 5 H.U.D, It shows your shields health, current grenades selected/on your person, a map, cross hair, health, ammo and decorative features.

Print media art is essentially types of promotion used to promote a game such as posters and game box art. This is what really shows off a game to the public and makes people want to buy it.

This is the game cover for aliens vs predator, it uses a bright green and black colour scheme and has logos along the bottom of developers, publishers and license holders. On the bottom left there is an age rating 'Mature 17+'. This tells people the sort of game it is if it has an age rating like that and that is was meant for people of the age of 17 and over.