Videogame Aesthetics

[Sascha Willems]

I stumbled over this very interesting written article by David Haywar, where he talks about the game industries push towards total realistic graphics and why it isn't alway the best thing to just go for realistic (or what many game-developers call realistic, I personally don't think that shiny plastic-like people that you e.g. could find in Far Cry are very realistic) graphics and that game designers should also look at alternative rendering methods like CEL-shading and so on.

The article is a rather long read and includes many samples of games that use NPR (non-photo-realistic) rendering techniques. In my opionion it's a very interesting read and I too think that more games should go for alternative rendering styles (at least depending on their settings. A game like RavenShield or S.W.A.T. should still go for realism looks). So if you have the time, go and read the article ('http://modetwo.net/users/nachimir/vga/'), it surely isn't a waste of time.

[Crisp_N_Dry]

While reading through the article something struck me as a possible explanation for why photo realism is something that is strived for - in our chosen media that is computer generated imagery/entertainment it is very difficult to achieve this result.

Q. Why do we make computer games.
A. Programming is challenging. I got into programming because I wanted to make fun things happen. It takes a certain person to take up programming and that type of person is usually someone who enjoys challenge. So if we take the challenge of creating something to the extreme the most difficult and obvious thing to create would be something that looks completely realistic. Put simply, it's a race. It's the competitive edge that drives a lot of devs because again, it's challenging.

I could be way of the mark here but I'd certainly like to here what you guys have to say on the matter. Nice find Sascha, and excellent read.