Pixels and Digital Graphics

BTEC Level 3 Video Games Design

Unit 78: Digital Graphics in Computer Games

Pixel

A pixel is not a square

A pixel is a point sample, it holds up to, maybe, 3 colours, one for each primary colour, and the pixels close by change your view of a pixel. A pixel is in a square, maybe even a rectangular shape, and the different pixels merge together in our eyes and we are only able to see a square shape unless we zoom in.

Picture Resolution

Picture resolution is, not what it looks like on screen, but how it will look printed on paper. When using Photoshop, or any other photo editing software, you can choose how many pixels will be within each inch of paper.

Intensity (Pixel Value)

The pixel value describes how bright a

pixel should be and what colour it should be. Red, green and blue components (RGB colourspace) need  The higher the intensity is, the better the picture resolution.

Types of Digital Graphics

Raster Images (bmp, gif, tiff, jepg)

When you zoom in on a raster image, the image becomes pixelated and blurry.






Vector Images (psd, wmf, fla, ai)

When you zoom in on a vector image, the image stays clear as possible, no pixilation.

File Extensions

File extensions are usually files with a name then followed by a full stop with a file type afterwards, for example .bmp, .png, .gif, .tiff, .jpg, .psd.

Compression

Using approximations to reduce a file size so you have more data space.

Image Capture

Image capture is using a scanner, digital camera or tablet/phone to take a picture of something/someone, and then put into your computer, often used with compression.

Optimising

Optimising is rearranging data to improve quality or efficiency. For example, compression can be used to help you with file space.

Storage of Image Assets

Used for organising files, storing things like textures, graphics etc. and can be very useful for gaming industries as they need to be fast and they need to meet deadlines.

Game Sketch

This is an idea for a game, based on the popular TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," specifically the episode "Hush."

The aim of the game is that you are Buffy Summers, and you have to collect all the hearts on the level. The Gentlemen have taken all the voices of Sunnydale again and Buffy needs to collect all the hearts and the box to be able to kill them. You can still attack with the stake, but it won't be enough to kill them. The stake only works on the footmen. Smash the box and Buffy is able to scream and the Gentlemen will die. Some hearts are behind windows, so you have to smash them to be able to get the heart. The Gentlemen will follow, as well as their footmen. The more hearts you collect, the easier it is to get the box away from them.

The hearts look like this. This is the detailed version:

 This is only a sketch and not the official look.














Buffy's stake looks like this:










Buffy Summer (She doesn't look like this, I'm not very good doing art on paint.):





















The box that contains the voices of Sunnydale looks like this:

The Gentlemen's weapon is a scalpel



The first level looks something like this:

And for the final level, I thought of something like this:

Finances and Requirements of Games Development

Finances of Games Development

Hardware:

Computers:

Windows Computers are most often used, but you can also use Linux and Macs. For any problems that may occur, a PC or Dev Kit is needed to check on them.

Peripherals:

If you are to make a game for iOS, then will need to have all the iOS products, only to check to see if they all work correctly. Controllers are also going to be needed so you can test it on a           Dev Kit.

Dev Kits:

Before you publish a game, you must test your game on a Dev kit, just to make sure that the game works correctly and no glitches or crashes occur. To be able to get a Dev kit for the Xbox, you have to go through a long process for it to be free. A Dev kit for the PSN usually costs somewhere around £2,500.

Software:

Unreal Development Kit (UDK):

PC Hardware Requirements (Minimum):

Windows XP SP3 (32-bit only), Windows Vista, or Windows 7, 2.0+ GHz processor, 2 GB system RAM, SM3-compatible video card, 3 GB free hard drive space

PC Hardware Requirements (Recommended):

Windows 7 64-bit, 2.0+ GHz multi-core processor, 8 GB System RAM, NVIDIA 8000 series or higher graphics card, Plenty of HDD space

DX11 Development (Minimum):

Windows Vista or Windows 7, 2.0+ GHz processor, 2 GB system RAM, DX11 Graphics Card: (Nvidia: 400 series or above, ATI: 5000 series or above), 3 GB Free hard drive space

UDK is free

Unity:

Requirements for Development:

OS: Windows XP SP2+, 7 SP1+, 8, 10; Mac OS X 10.8+. Windows Vista is not supported; and server versions of Windows & OS X are not tested.

GPU: Graphics card with DX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities. Anything made since 2004 should work.

iOS: Mac computer running minimum OS X 10.9.4 version and Xcode 6.x.

Android: Android SDK and Java Development Kit (JDK).

Windows 8/8.1 Store Apps / Windows Phone 8/8.1: 64 bit Windows 8.1 Pro and Visual Studio 2013 Update 2+.

WebGL: Mac OS X 10.8+ or Windows 7 SP1+ (64-bit editor only)

Requirements for Running Unity Games:

Desktop: (OS: Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.7+, Ubuntu 12.04+, SteamOS+, Graphics card: DX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities; generally everything made since 2004 should work., CPU: SSE2 instruction set support., Web player supports IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and others.)

iOS: requires iOS 6.0 or later.

Android: OS 2.3.1 or later; ARMv7 (Cortex) CPU or Atom CPU; OpenGL ES 2.0 or later.

WebGL: Desktop version of Firefox, Chrome or Safari

Windows Phone: 8 (available but deprecated for 5.2), 8.1 or later

Windows Store Apps: 8 (available but deprecated for 5.2), 8.1 or later

Unity is free to use

Game Maker:

System Requirements for Game Maker:

Game Maker: Studio (Program):

Windows XP or above, 512MB RAM, 128MB graphics, Screen resolution of 1024x600, Internet connection for some features

Games on Windows:

Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8, 512MB RAM, 128MB graphics

Games on Windows 8:

Windows 8, 512MB RAM, 128 MB graphics

Games on Mac OS X:

Mac OS X computer required for export, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 1GB RAM

Games on Ubuntu:

GameMaker: Studio Ubuntu export module or Master Collection, Computer running Ubuntu required for export, Ubuntu 14 or above, OpenGL-capable graphics card with valid driver, 512MB RAM

Games on iOS:

GameMaker: Studio iOS export module or Master Collection, Mac OS X computer required for export, iOS 5.0 or above, 3^rd-gen iPod Touch or iPhone 3GS and above

Games on Android:

GameMaker: Studio Android export module or Master Collection, Android phone or tablet, Android 2.3 and above

Games on Windows Phone 8:

GameMaker: Studio Windows Phone 8 export module or Master Collection, Windows Phone 8 SDK required for export, Windows Phone 8 device

Games on HTML5:

GameMaker: Studio HTML5 export module or Master Collection, HTML5-compatible browser with canvas support

Most of the devices cost around $149.99. Some devices go up to 299.99

Maya:

Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® 7 (SP1) and Windows® 8.1 Professional operating system

Apple® Mac OS® X 10.9.5 and 10.10.x operating system

Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 6.5 WS operating system

CentOS 6.5 Linux operating system

Browser: Autodesk recommends the latest version of the following web browsers for access to online supplemental content:

Apple® Safari® web browser

Google Chrome™ web browser

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® web browser

Mozilla Firefox® web browser

Hardware:

CPU: 64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor

Ram: 4 GB of RAM (8GB recommended)

Disk Space: 4GB of free disk space for the install

Pointing Device: Three-button mouse

Maya costs £97 per month

Publishing:

Steam Greenlight:

To publish a game using Steam Greenlight, you would have to pay £70. Also, you must agree to the terms and conditions of the game you want to publish with them, like, you can’t publish anything that may offend certain people etc.

ID@Xbox:

Indie games will probably be around $5000 to publish with Xbox. But, writing a game and sending it forward to Microsoft might help you by putting on the store for a certain amount of money.

PSN:

To be able to publish as game, you need to be working for a company, or else they will not accept your request. If you do, and they like the idea, then they might consider putting it on one of their devices. They will be the ones to set a fee, and they may or may not help you with the costs. They will also help advertise your game.

Computer Game Genres

Genre	Description	Example
FPS	Whilst in a first-person perspective, the player has to quickly shoot people in action packed scenes.	Call of Duty All the games in the COD franchise involves first person shooting, and is kind of a repetitive thing, walking around, following your team mates, shooting anybody that doesn’t look familiar, or going online and getting yelled at by people you don’t know, if you have just failed something.
Adventure	Adventure games, one of the first genres, are games where the player is given something to do and many different things happen.	Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom “Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom,” is one of the many kids games that feature adventure, though this game does have a little bit of action. The aim of the game is to save Spongebob’s town of Bikini Bottom from the robots that Plankton has made, trying to get rid of them by going to all the places from the show and comedy that we are familiar with.
Platform	“Platform games” are games where the player has to use timing and jumping to reach a destination and avoid getting killed by enemies along the way	Sonic the Hedgehog “Sonic the Hedgehog” is a game where you have to collect rings, get to your destination by doing some cool moves whilst trying to avoid enemies that get in the way.
Puzzle Games	“Puzzle games,” are games where you have to solve something to be able to continue to the next puzzle.	Tetris “Tetris,” one of the most popular games in the world that everyone has played, but it is also one of the most frustrating games in the world, even worse than Flappy Bird. The aim of the game is to fit blocks of different shapes and sizes and line them all up to fit perfectly within a time limit. The taller it gets, the more likely you are to have to restart the game.
Simulation	“Simulation” games are games where the developers have tried to replicate something from real life into a game to help people.	The Sims Maybe not the best example of a game about real life, but “The Sims” does make you form relationships with people with your sims, makes you do all the work for them as if you were that person. Excluding all the non-realistic stuff like aliens, ghosts and stuff, the game does have a life like experience for you to play with.
Sport	“Sport” games are obviously game which let you play a sport whilst lying down holding a controller in your hand, without you having to move around constantly. But some sport games can let you physically move, games such as Wii Fit.	Fifa 15 The “Fifa” franchise lets you play as players you know from real football, and gets you to play football without moving, and it can get quite competitive if you play with others, but it is still a lot of fun to play, if you are good at it at least.
Fighting	“Fighting” games, which usually have a bit of action most of the time, are games where you and another person or computer, go head to head in a death battle.	Mortal Kombat X “Mortal Kombat X,” probably the most graphic game, lets you attack your friends without the actual physical damage, and can actually be a lot of fun, when you don’t die that is. If you are one for extreme graphic deaths, then this is probably the game for you.
Dance/Rhythm	“Dance/Rhythm” games are games where you can either physically dance in front of a camera, Kinect, or by using a Wii remote, or by pressing the buttons on your controller in a time limit.	Just Dance The “Just Dance,” franchise, one of the most popular party games, lets you and a group of friends, or even people online, dance together, mirroring what they see the dancer on screen do. This is a very good game to play for maybe a few minutes, as it is very easy to lose your breath from just one song.
Survival/Horror	“Survival/Horror” games are games where you play a character who has to survive throughout the game, trying to avoid getting killed by usually a supernatural being.	Outlast “Outlast” is a first person game where you play a man named Miles, an investigative reporter who has stumbled across an asylum which has been taken over by the patients who were being tested on. This has got to be one of the scariest games so far, especially because 1) the music, 2) the fact that you as the character can’t attack enemies, you can only “run, hide or die” as the beginning warns you. This game is perfect for people who like getting frightened, but be warned that this game is very gory, and has some male nudity throughout.
Action	“Action” games are when you have to act quickly to attack/kill enemies. It not unusual to see other game genres mixed in with action games, such as adventure, horror, fighting, FPS.	Resident Evil Revelation 2 “Resident Evil Revelations 2” is a horror based action game, mixed with shooter. This game can be particularly entertaining and horrifying by the fact that your have to play several different characters, run away or kill deadly monsters. The most annoying part of this game is, if you are playing 2 players, player 1 dies almost instantly, whilst player 2 can get hit 20 times before actually dying. The creepiest part of the game is the little girl, and especially when you start playing as her. If you like horror, then this game is definitely for you.

Graphics in Games

Nathan Bolton

Level 3 in Computer Games Design

Unit 78: Digital Graphics for Computer Games

There are several different styles when it comes to video games, but all of them come under different categories, such as:

·         Photo realism: games where the graphics make it look real, with extreme detail in environment, facial features and body movements.

·         Cel Shading: When a game is designed to have the style of an animated comic book, where everything looks like a cartoon, looks hand drawn.

·         Abstraction: When a game uses shapes, or lines that don’t resemble humans or objects, but still has a gameplay for you to focus on.

·         Exaggeration: Where a character and/or environment have exaggerated features, such as gigantic eyes, big noses, overgrown flowers.

Art Styles

• Photo realism – graphics which look life like

Beyond: Two Souls

“Beyond: Two Souls” is a photo realistic game because it makes the player feel like they are a part of and witnessing the story. Plus people are more likely to buy a game with photo realism rather than games without, because it brings them a new viewing experience.

  

•  Cel Shading – When texture is made to look like a comic book

The Walking Dead – A New Day

“The Walking Dead” game by Telltale Games is a Cel Shading game, because it is based off of the popular comic books of the same name, so, people who read the books can play the game, whilst seeing similarities to the stories they have previously read and enjoyed.

            

• Abstraction – lines and geometrics which don’t resemble real life objects

Tetris

Tetris, released in 1984, is an abstract game because it is meant to be a simple game for people to play whilst they are bored, so having shapes fall down and fit into place is as simple as it can get, though it still gives you the same frustration as a lot of other games give.

•          Exaggeration – games that exaggerate human or environmental features

Mario Kart 7

Mario Kart 7, as with all other games in the Mario franchise, all characters in the series have exaggerated features that most people have come to know and love, so keeping the features this way makes people recognise the franchise.

Computer Game Graphics

·         Pixel Art: 2D Sprites, 3D Isometric Sprites

2D Sprites: Games which are pixelated and look 2D, such as the first Mario game. Where you can only go in two directions, left and right, and can only see the character’s sides.

“Mario”

Mario, the original game at least, is pixelated to look 2D and can only go in two directions. The image shows that the world looks 2D with only a background showing any resemblance to 3D.

3D Isometric Sprites: Games which are pixelated, but look 3D by being able to move in 4 directions, left, right, up and down, and the surroundings make it look more 3D.

Like most of the original ‘Zelda’ games, the game is pixelated to look 3D so it gives players more of an area to look around, and lets players more involved in the game. The image shows that even though at first glance, the world looks 2D, the movement of the character makes the world look 3D.

• Concept Art: The idea for designs of things such as characters, weapons, vehicles environment etc. before it is actually put into its final production.

Every game goes through concept art.

• Texture Art: The visual feel of a surface in a video game, seen in 2D and 3D designs and its perceived visual and physical properties.

“Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture,” has extreme texture and everything around looks 3D.

•  Background Graphics: Background of the game, e.g. walls, forests, clouds. Makes the game look either bigger or smaller depending on design. Less important aspects of the game is put into the background.

“Until Dawn,” does a very good job at background graphics and puts the less important parts of the scene in the background.

• In-game Interface: Things such as health bar, bullets, weapons etc. To show you your current situation.

“The Sims,” franchise continuously shows you a characters current needs, their health etc.

• Print Media Art: Anything you have to print off, such as cover for the case, posters, bus advertisements.

The Last of Us was heavily advertised, so a lot of people knew about it, and also because of the design on the posters, people wanted to try it out.