How graphics kill gameplay
Article translated from games making blog noob gamesmakingnoob.blogspot.com
Translation of the article gamesmakingnoob.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-graphics-are-killing-gameplay.html
In a game maiden, there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of beautiful graphics compared to playability. In your prototype with "squares" instead of graphics, hardly anyone will play. Attract the attention of users can only add a significant amount of content: characters, environments, animations. You can even draw an analogy with the way men usually rate women they are unfamiliar with - by visual appeal.
')
But soon there is often disappointment - why such a beautiful creature turns out to be so stupid and superficial? The answer is simple - because it can be - the purpose of such a creation - to attract attention with appearance.
Moreover, if you do not like this situation, feel free to identify yourself as a minority.
The facts are as follows: for most men, the most important thing in their girlfriend is that she is attractive in appearance.
Most players also expect from their games first of all external attractiveness.
The depth of the characters, the gameplay is secondary, because it affects the commercial attractiveness of the product less. This principle works in both of these markets.
Since the girls have been mentioned, let's take a look at Lara Croft, everyone's favorite.
There are Mogilo Raiders 1996 and Mogilo Raiders 2013. Without a doubt, the new game looks much better than the old one. Even not only on the schedule. Storey has become much better. The tempo is incredible, the sounds are amazing - all with the latest technology. No doubt even hardcore and old school gamers will love the new Mogilopatel more.
But nevertheless, let's take a closer look.
Let's compare the jump mechanism in both Graves.
1996 had a world that looked not much better than Minecraft. Built from cubes. Even if they tried to hide these cubes behind semi-cubes and triangular “tires”, all the same, everything came to large cubes, larger than Lara herself. But the cubes not only served to visualize the world. The movement mechanics were also based on dice. Lara went in steps of one cube, jumped to the length of 2 cubes. The cube was a unit of measurement. This helped the level designers to build levels. Labyrinths and hard-to-reach places added points - a sort of solving puzzles Indiana Jones in shorts. Players, since they saw these cubes, could figure out how far they could jump. The jump stood out in a special skill.
In 2013, to jump - just press the button and Lara overcomes any space between the two platforms. Do not even have to worry about it. This may be positive, because in the new MogilRader there is no emphasis on jumping from platform to platform, but the player is somehow deprived of the choice: to make a successful jump or not, depending on his actions. Level designers were also deprived of the opportunity to design gameplay at levels - the design is only the visual part, the gameplay turned out to be a secondary element. New Raider all about moving forward. Jump - when you were told that you should jump. Shoot - when you reach the shooting area. Press the button that the game tells you to press. Why?
Because, in order to make the game look attractive, the designers were forced to limit the possibilities for the player.
Final Fantasy. Another big franchise. FF VII was released in 1997, XIII and XIII-2 in 2009-2011. Remaking VII with the same level of graphics, which in XIII would cost 3-5 times more than the cost of making XIII-2. This is from 6 to 10 years. In the XIIIth 90% of the time the player runs through the tunnels. The tunnels are beautiful, no doubt, but these are just tunnels, there is nothing more to explore and nothing to look at except for the well-rendered ass of the main character. Even if at first the tower looks like a tangled location, then it turns out that this is just a straight line stretched across several floors. In VII many locations were tunnel as well, but there were also confusing levels. Both in VII and XIII-2 there was a casino. In VII it was possible to play snowboarding, armwrestling, boxing, shoot, play a submarine simulator, race, fight in the arena. In the XIII-2 race remained, you can still play with one-armed bandit and play poker (if you purchased the DLC). One snowboarding in VII delivered more fun than all the games together in XIII-2. Well, so what with the fact that it looked in the previous version, it is much worse. To achieve visual appeal for their games, the developer simply had to cut the content, and thus reduce the fan for the player.
The gaming industry, especially AAA, works just like any other industry. Games should bring commercial success. They must be sold.
The success of sales is directly affected by the new technology. Since the mechanics and sound can not use technological developments more than they already use, new technologies in games almost always mean the best graphics. There must have been a point in the evolution of the gaming industry when the balance between graphics and gameplay was seriously disturbed. Now everyone expects first of all a decent level of graphics.
Do you know how much extra work is required for this?
I'll tell you. If the concept is already ready, the 3D artist spends about 20 days on the model of one character for the shooter. Multiply this by the number of characters and the salary of the modeler. For 30 models, this is more than 2 person-years and I assure you, 3d modelers do not work for a bowl of chowder per day. And this is just a character simulation. Add more concept art, animation, shaders, lighting, physics, and you can safely multiply the resulting number by 10. As our imaginary budget calculations have just exceeded the cost of a Ferrari F12, let me remind you that we are only talking about a “decent level of graphics”, that means about 7 points out of 10 possible. Each game has a limited budget. There are only 2 options, subject to a limited budget - to cut the amount of content and make the game shorter or more linear, or agree to more modest graphics. I can assure you, 9 out of 10 producers will choose the option - less content.
Fortunately, there are still games that do not follow this disastrous trend. The new remake of XCom received poor marks for the schedule, but the overall score for the gameplay turned out to be very high, and the game was commercially very successful. All thanks to the simplified gameplay of 20 years ago.
Dark Souls play in the same league - the same high overall rate, one of the most sought-after games in the past few years, sold about 2 million copies.
All this, let's agree, with unfit graphics. Pulled the gameplay. This gives hope that in the near future more studios will give up the race for beautiful graphics and focus on what the essence of the game is all about - the gameplay. But we must remember that in order for the studio to decide to go in this direction, the market must have a demand for such a product.
If the majority of gamers continue to buy games for beautiful graphics, most developers will continue to produce games with “graphic velies” and “squares” instead of gameplay.
Translation of the article gamesmakingnoob.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-graphics-are-killing-gameplay.html
In a game maiden, there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of beautiful graphics compared to playability. In your prototype with "squares" instead of graphics, hardly anyone will play. Attract the attention of users can only add a significant amount of content: characters, environments, animations. You can even draw an analogy with the way men usually rate women they are unfamiliar with - by visual appeal.
')
But soon there is often disappointment - why such a beautiful creature turns out to be so stupid and superficial? The answer is simple - because it can be - the purpose of such a creation - to attract attention with appearance.
Moreover, if you do not like this situation, feel free to identify yourself as a minority.
The facts are as follows: for most men, the most important thing in their girlfriend is that she is attractive in appearance.
Most players also expect from their games first of all external attractiveness.
The depth of the characters, the gameplay is secondary, because it affects the commercial attractiveness of the product less. This principle works in both of these markets.
Since the girls have been mentioned, let's take a look at Lara Croft, everyone's favorite.
There are Mogilo Raiders 1996 and Mogilo Raiders 2013. Without a doubt, the new game looks much better than the old one. Even not only on the schedule. Storey has become much better. The tempo is incredible, the sounds are amazing - all with the latest technology. No doubt even hardcore and old school gamers will love the new Mogilopatel more.
But nevertheless, let's take a closer look.
Let's compare the jump mechanism in both Graves.
1996 had a world that looked not much better than Minecraft. Built from cubes. Even if they tried to hide these cubes behind semi-cubes and triangular “tires”, all the same, everything came to large cubes, larger than Lara herself. But the cubes not only served to visualize the world. The movement mechanics were also based on dice. Lara went in steps of one cube, jumped to the length of 2 cubes. The cube was a unit of measurement. This helped the level designers to build levels. Labyrinths and hard-to-reach places added points - a sort of solving puzzles Indiana Jones in shorts. Players, since they saw these cubes, could figure out how far they could jump. The jump stood out in a special skill.
In 2013, to jump - just press the button and Lara overcomes any space between the two platforms. Do not even have to worry about it. This may be positive, because in the new MogilRader there is no emphasis on jumping from platform to platform, but the player is somehow deprived of the choice: to make a successful jump or not, depending on his actions. Level designers were also deprived of the opportunity to design gameplay at levels - the design is only the visual part, the gameplay turned out to be a secondary element. New Raider all about moving forward. Jump - when you were told that you should jump. Shoot - when you reach the shooting area. Press the button that the game tells you to press. Why?
Because, in order to make the game look attractive, the designers were forced to limit the possibilities for the player.
Final Fantasy. Another big franchise. FF VII was released in 1997, XIII and XIII-2 in 2009-2011. Remaking VII with the same level of graphics, which in XIII would cost 3-5 times more than the cost of making XIII-2. This is from 6 to 10 years. In the XIIIth 90% of the time the player runs through the tunnels. The tunnels are beautiful, no doubt, but these are just tunnels, there is nothing more to explore and nothing to look at except for the well-rendered ass of the main character. Even if at first the tower looks like a tangled location, then it turns out that this is just a straight line stretched across several floors. In VII many locations were tunnel as well, but there were also confusing levels. Both in VII and XIII-2 there was a casino. In VII it was possible to play snowboarding, armwrestling, boxing, shoot, play a submarine simulator, race, fight in the arena. In the XIII-2 race remained, you can still play with one-armed bandit and play poker (if you purchased the DLC). One snowboarding in VII delivered more fun than all the games together in XIII-2. Well, so what with the fact that it looked in the previous version, it is much worse. To achieve visual appeal for their games, the developer simply had to cut the content, and thus reduce the fan for the player.
The gaming industry, especially AAA, works just like any other industry. Games should bring commercial success. They must be sold.
The success of sales is directly affected by the new technology. Since the mechanics and sound can not use technological developments more than they already use, new technologies in games almost always mean the best graphics. There must have been a point in the evolution of the gaming industry when the balance between graphics and gameplay was seriously disturbed. Now everyone expects first of all a decent level of graphics.
Do you know how much extra work is required for this?
I'll tell you. If the concept is already ready, the 3D artist spends about 20 days on the model of one character for the shooter. Multiply this by the number of characters and the salary of the modeler. For 30 models, this is more than 2 person-years and I assure you, 3d modelers do not work for a bowl of chowder per day. And this is just a character simulation. Add more concept art, animation, shaders, lighting, physics, and you can safely multiply the resulting number by 10. As our imaginary budget calculations have just exceeded the cost of a Ferrari F12, let me remind you that we are only talking about a “decent level of graphics”, that means about 7 points out of 10 possible. Each game has a limited budget. There are only 2 options, subject to a limited budget - to cut the amount of content and make the game shorter or more linear, or agree to more modest graphics. I can assure you, 9 out of 10 producers will choose the option - less content.
Fortunately, there are still games that do not follow this disastrous trend. The new remake of XCom received poor marks for the schedule, but the overall score for the gameplay turned out to be very high, and the game was commercially very successful. All thanks to the simplified gameplay of 20 years ago.
Dark Souls play in the same league - the same high overall rate, one of the most sought-after games in the past few years, sold about 2 million copies.
All this, let's agree, with unfit graphics. Pulled the gameplay. This gives hope that in the near future more studios will give up the race for beautiful graphics and focus on what the essence of the game is all about - the gameplay. But we must remember that in order for the studio to decide to go in this direction, the market must have a demand for such a product.
If the majority of gamers continue to buy games for beautiful graphics, most developers will continue to produce games with “graphic velies” and “squares” instead of gameplay.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/172301/
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