Exploring the visual styles of arcade game assets

This paper describes a method for evolving assets for video games based on their visuals properties. Focusing on assets for a space shooter game, a genotype consisting of turtle commands is transformed into a spaceship image composed of human-authored sprite components. Due to constraints on the final spaceships’ plausibility, the paper investigates two-population constrained optimization and constrained novelty search methods. A sample of visual styles is tested, each a combination of visual metrics which primarily evaluate balance and shape complexity. Experiments with constrained optimization of a visual style demonstrate that a visually consistent set of spaceships can be generated, while experiments with constrained novelty search demonstrate that several distinct visual styles can be discovered by exploring along select, or all, visual dimensions.peer-reviewe

The effects of graphical fidelity on player experience

Graphical assets in video games have become increasingly complex over the years, but little is known about their effect on player experience (PX). In this paper, we present results of a controlled study with 48 participants comparing how abstract and stylized graphics influence player experience in casual games. Our results show that high-fidelity graphics result in a more positive impression of the game. However, we also show that many effects are only present in the game with a more challenging mechanic. This shows that casual games can be compelling and enjoyable to play despite simplistic graphics, suggesting that small game developers and researchers need not focus on elaborate visuals to engage players. Copyright © 2013 ACM

Video Game Art Reader

The inaugural issue of VGAR celebrates video game culture as inclusive and global. Opening with an interview with the art director of the first independent Cuban video game, Savior, while the following essays from art historians, literary theorists, game designers, artists, educators, museum curators, and programmers all engage with video games as an important part of the global art landscape. Each engages with what makes good game art with special attention to the transnational cadre of gamers that play them

Visual Aesthetics in Digital Games: A Comparative Analysis Between Photorealism and Stylized Graphicsgraphics

This dissertation starts from the assumption that every digital game has some kind of visual display. Based on that, it investigates photorealistic and stylized graphics, two popular visual styles in digital games, in order to comprehend the process of creating a prototype that incorporates those styles, as well as the technological artistic challenges of implementing each style in a solo development scenario, with the goal of assisting in the practice of designing this type of content. A literature review on digital game appearance and the development of both photorealistic and stylized styles was conducted to ground the development of a prototype. The result of the prototype creation is documented, so its findings can lead to the expansion of knowledge that can be used in practice and can inform practitioners and other designers

Visual Identity, Stylization and Game Design. Case: Harald Hirmuinen

Given work covers the process of research, design and implementation of visual artwork and game design for a series of computer entertainment programs (arcade games) based on existing registered product—Hägär the Horrible (Finnish Harald Hirmuinen) comic series. The project's main goal was to create a consistent digital entertainment product which fits the original comic theme. Among the aims set within the framework of this educational project the following ones can be highlighted: acquiring of real-world experience, developing teamwork and negotiation skills, time and budget planning. Present work relied heavily on studying of the existing artwork, characters, storyline as well as the research of given time period and environment. The final product has been developed within Unity 3D game engine. The outcomes of the project may be evaluated as the successful ones not only in terms of the final product quality but also judging from the perspective of gained skills and experience

Video Game Art Reader

This special edition of the VGA Reader, guest-edited by Christopher W. Totten and Enrica Lovaglio Costello, focuses on the connections between video games and architectural design. Each of the essays in this volume engages in critical investigations that reveal how game spaces evoke meaning, enhance game narratives, and explore unconventional themes

Narrative Storytelling In VR Through Gaming

Gaming has consistently been acknowledged as a storytelling medium for its signature ability to provide user interaction. As virtual reality becomes a more prominent gaming environment, it will be expected to carry on the tradition of storytelling. Currently, virtual reality is in a state of infancy, where products offer little sophistication and serve as amusements rather than storytellers. As this changeover takes effect, there are certain discrepancies which will hinder a transition from flat screen gaming to virtual reality gaming. In order to create a successful narrative driven virtual reality game, these discrepancies must be addressed in a meaningful way. This thesis will also experiment with the aforementioned differences by developing a virtual reality game in Unreal Engine 4

Framing Ludens: Pawn Swapping and Game Mode Alteration in an Unreal Engine Game Level

Knight of Drones is a hybrid twin-stick top-down shooter and side-scrolling platformer that aims to bring vintage gameplay to a contemporary game engine. A single swatch of the top-down game mode and a pair of levels from the side-scrolling game mode will be presented beginning with the player characters and player pawn assets and then extending to the level design and game design assets. The game deals with the fallout effects of climate change and serves as a cautionary tale against pollution and weaponized AI. This message will appear primarily in the game\u27s atmosphere, literally in the background in some cases, as the settings and places visited by the player will be constructed of level assets that relate to these concepts. Instead of standard platformer levels (the ice level, the lava level, the jungle level), Knight of Drones features levels such as an oil slick ocean level, an abandoned copper smelter level, or a plastic dump level. While not blind to the irony of using silicon processing power to warn about the negative effects of consumer waste on the environment, there exists an undervalued opportunity to build game worlds that promote social causes. By creating a setting that engages the player through environmental instability, and by using familiar, approachable vintage mechanics, it may be possible to celebrate the history of gaming and offer the player thoughtful moral questions without diluting the core gameplay mechanics or taking agency away from the player. Hybridity of game mode is used in Knight of Drones to change up the gameplay speed and style as it affords the player more than one viewpoint or character token to control. Additional hybridity of genre should offer the players something innovative in aesthetics. Viewed from the Mechanics Design Aesthetics (MDA) framework, the goal of Knight of Drones is to offer old-school gameplay in a strange new setting that makes the player consider humanity\u27s long-term effects on the planet

The Adventures of Ms. Meta: Developing a Historical Superhero Video Game

The Adventures of Ms. Meta (forthc.) uses a combination of brawler and puzzle game mechanics along with the narrative device of time travel to provide players with the means to become active participants in the cultural narrative of the American superhero. Although these larger than life characters are irrefutably fixtures in contemporary popular culture, they exist in constant change; reinvented time after time in accordance with each era s definition of heroism, adapted as media forms evolve. As a game designer with a background in comic book illustration and superhero art history, this article explores my process of developing an experience that engages with the ever-changing relationship between superheroes and American culture. Players assume the role of Ms. Meta, a modern female superhero, in an adventure where every level represents a different age of superhero comics, and the world that produced them. Grounded in academic research, and featuring game mechanics including puzzle-solving and collaboration, I hope to empower players to create their own definition of heroism