1eyedking What's the best way to go, visually?

[DJOGamer PT]

I started to think about this, after seeing the new Underworld videos.

Is Photorealism really the best choice in graphics? Isn't a stylized aproach (Underworld, DoS, Zelda BotW, Overwatch) easier, less expensive and more resistent to the test of time than the former while still being aesthetically pleasing?

I am going to split this into 2 more posts because apparently I can't post more than 5 videos.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Photorealism



It's beyond amazing the level of detail put into these environments. But at the same time it's very expensive. Only very resourceful studios can achive this. Indie or AA developers will have a very hard time to make a game this way.

And even when a big studio goes this route, they either end up wasting to many resources on the visuals and optimization, and not enough on gameplay and content, or they can't make every bit of the game's presentation be on the same level of polish (and if that's the case even the smallest mistake will really stand the fuck out for the rest of the game)

Not just that, but after a while even visuals just as beautiful as BF4 are surpassed.




And 1 year later, even these ones are exceded.



And something we can start seeing is that with each year the visual differences get more and small (or at least our eyes stop perceiving the distinctions) but the amount of polygons, resolution and resources spent grow insanly more.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

"Stylized"

Games that follow this type of visuals may not be as near as impressive as the ones above. But they can still be beautiful and posses a charm unique to then. They are also alot less expensive, meaning developers can focus on more importants aspects of the game.
Furthermore these games can age very gracefully, or even not as all. Take Wind Waker for example:



While I personaly don't like the style, the fact is despite this game having almost 20 years it still looks good to this day. How many games from 2002 and after can boast of the same?
Not to say there aren't games that don't age well, and don't have any merits to their visuals. But the great majoraty when compared today's more life-like visuals, look like old relics (and it gets worse every year). And the ones who do survive it's mostly due to their art style.

Another thing is that developers can get way with, is very simplistic effects and animations, for example:

Climbing animation is very simple here. Contrary to games like Assassin's Creed/Mirror's Edge you cleary see structures that come out of the wall that the player avatar grabs a hold of. If those games had this animation instead it would be very noticable and in a bad way.

Some other effects...

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/Q5cr1gW

https://imgur.com/Ay8GaOL

The wind effect of the updrafts created by the fire would look very silly in a game that wasn't stylized. Yet it's important because it tells the player of something they can take advantage of.

https://imgur.com/a0wO9ZG

You can notice that when the tree falls it's branches and leaves, fade away. If the player then hits again a fallen tree trunk, it instantly turns into wood.

And the transition effect to this material is very simple (smoke and wood splinters). Again in a game that went for a more realistic style they couldn't put on something like this without betraying even a little bit of said style.

Within this style of visuals you can still have different designs to better suit said game's world and atmosphere. This is accomplished trough the use of distinct colors, lightning techniques and art style.

Spoiler

And again the simple effects, textures, foliage and objects can be very easily overlooked. Because they accomplish their job and the sum of their parts grants the game very nice looking visuals, that also fits their tone.

I would go as far to say that Styx is Stilized, only unlike the ones above, it just has better looking textures and more complex/detailed objects (and of course it's own ligthning and color palette).

Of course I only talked about 3D games. Still...

What's your opinion? What type of Graphics better suit a game?

 

[Ash]

Some of my fav art styles are somewhere down the middle of photorealism and heavy stylization, e.g

Fallout 1:

Final Fantasy 8:

Hand drawn, has a realistic look, yet still some personal stylization involved.

Yet I even like the look of plenty early 3D games on some level (e.g Doom has its charm most can relate to!), and it's the gameplay that matters ofc (sorry, I feel the need to say that in every discussion not directly related to gameplay).

Modern photorealism I'd appreciate more were it not wasted on shit games.

 

[Ash]

I'll give a special shoutout to Prey 2017. OK game, but damn did it look stunning at times, and has subtle attractive stylization.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

They are also fuckton alot less expensive

[Citation needed.]

Top quality photorealistic assets and top quality stylized assets require the same amount of work, and super qualified 3d artists and animators.
Also, with 3d scanning tech now readily available, it's becoming easier to produce photorealism than before.

And Zelda looks like a mobile game. If you're looking for top stylized graphics, look elsewhere.

 

[Belegarsson]

I don't get the praise for Breath of the Wild's artstyle tbh, something about it looks so damn cheap and unpleasant. I think Firewatch did the same low poly style much better.

 

[Nano]

less expensive

The GTX 1080 is listed as the recommended video card for Underworld.

 

[Ash]

Yeah the new Zelda game's art styles turn me right off upon first impressions. Never played any of the modern ones though, and it's probably simply and purely a matter of taste.

 

[Deflowerer]

But who are we kidding, this style is dead and never coming back in full form so might as well cry in the pillow.

 

[Lady_Error]

What's the best way to go, visually?

Falling from a bridge? Through seriously, I don't think the EOB2 style has ever been reached again:

 

[Ezekiel]

Depends. Any other answer is dumb. I woudn't want Max Payne 2 to have a cartoony art style. And I don't believe in that "test of time" crap. Crysis' realistic style doesn't magically look worse now than it did ten years ago.

 

[Stavrophore]

Stylized is not necessary cheaper, you need a good artist to do the shit, and not just a graphic engineer who would just make photorealistic things with great performance[less geometry]. You would either hire artist or engineer and thus the cost will be the same. Manhour probably too, since you still want some decent geometry.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

What's the best way to go, visually?

Falling from a bridge? Through seriously, I don't think the EOB2 style has ever been reached again:

Why are you literally hitler now?

 

[Metro]

less expensive

The GTX 1080 is listed as the recommended video card for Underworld.

By the time it's released the 1100 series will be out and around $250 for a mid-tier card that's on par with the 1080.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

less expensive

The GTX 1080 is listed as the recommended video card for Underworld.

By the time it's released the 1100 series will be out and around $250 for a mid-tier card that's on par with the 1080.

I think the 1100 series is going to have a new type of GRam, which should make it outperform the 1000 series by a long way.

 

[Lady_Error]

Why are you literally hitler now?

Because Lambchop. He carries a tag I created in return.

 

[Cael]

"What's the best way to go, visually?"
I heard carbon monoxide poisoning leaves a relatively pretty corpse...

 

[warpig]

I prefer when there is some semblance of realism, 'stylized' graphics can be cool but mostly when applied to colours/texture detail. I fucking hate cartoonish over the top style where everything is bent out of proportion, especially when it's done with human characters.

 

[DosBuster]

And Zelda looks like a mobile game. If you're looking for top stylized graphics, look elsewhere.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-the-technical-analysis.8197/

There's a lot of impressive work in Zelda's engine.

 

[kintake]

Best looking game:

If they release a HD remake I will shoot myself in the face because every HD remake so far has fucked up it's predecessors legacy and this game is visually perfection as is.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I think games look better than ever. Photorealism is now a possibility without the uncanny valley problem.

Some games still benefit from having their own unique art style - normally, adventure games and JRPGs where the focus is not on providing an "immersive" experience.

The Last of Us: Remastered is probably the best looking game I have played although I haven't played any AAA title from 2017.

 

[DosBuster]

I think games look better than ever. Photorealism is now a possibility without the uncanny valley problem.

Some games still benefit from having their own unique art style - normally, adventure games and JRPGs where the focus is not on providing an "immersive" experience.

The Last of Us: Remastered is probably the best looking game I have played although I haven't played any AAA title from 2017.

The Last of Us has been surpassed, this in my opinion is one of the best looking games at the current moment across all platforms.



Sadly, this video is only in 720p for some dumb reason but playing it on a 1080p screen downsampled from 2160p checkerboard and it's mind blowing.

 

[Deflowerer]

Too bad the graphics are mind-blowing but the actual gameplay is mind-retarding.

 

[DosBuster]

Too bad the graphics are mind-blowing but the actual gameplay is mind-retarding.

How so?