Task 1: Artistic styles used in computer games

Photorealism

Photorealism is an art style that tries to make a created image follow a realistic trend to the point that it could possibly be a photograph, use of this technique is commonplace across the modern media industry and more recently, the games industry. Such images and textures usually require a large amount of processing power to appear correctly, in the past this has restricted its use in the games industry, as a game can take many different pathways, whilst a film is set. For example, Avatar has a greater photorealistic approach than mass effect 2, despite the latter being released at a later date.

James Camerons Avatar: 2009 Mass Effect 2: 2010

Cell Shading

Cell shading is an older form of media used traditionally in cartoons such as those created by Disney. Unlike photorealism, it purposefully aims for a more cartoony, hand drawn look, This is achieved in three steps, the model is created as a wireframe, textured in one colour, and a gradient is created. This style is evident in anime based games such as Blazblue aswell as western games such as Borderlands. It is also used heavily in the cartoon industry in cartoons such as Felix the cat and many Disney feature films such as Beauty and the Beast.

Borderlands Beauty and the beast

Abstraction

Abstraction is a form of media that does not follow any specific form and is not similar to any real life object, a good example of this is the game Tetris, as it quite simply, coloured shapes falling into a gap in a certain order. This artistic style usually emphasises bold, bright colours, outlined in darker colours, similar to cell animation. Despite the heavy reduction of abstract art in favour of more photorealistic games, abstract style games, such as Hexic 3D can still find a place in the industry.

Tetris Hexic 3D

Exaggeration

Exaggeration can be seen most prominently in the styles of anime and manga, their features being similar to real life, but certain features, such as eyes, becoming over- exaggerated, this can also be seen in the way that characters from these mediums react to emotional changes, such as the teeth becoming sharp with a red face and background when the character is angry. Recently, Exaggerated form has become very popular in the western world with the integration between western and eastern cultures.

Fullmetal Alchemist BlazBlue