Unit 78: Digital graphics for computer games

Computer game graphics

Pixel Art

This was mainly used on older games and can be divided into two categories isometric and non isometric. Isometric is used to give a 3d look to pixel art and is usually took at a 30 degree angle

   

This is used in games like Diablo and Fallout however is not used as much now there are 3D games. Non isometric style of pixel art is any style of pixel art that isn't 3D and is used mainly on older games but is still used today in games like Super meat boy. Its also used in games like Mario. 

Concept Art

Concept art is used to convey ideas before the final use and can be used to develop the work and show progress also Concept art can be hand drawn or down using a computer and can be photorealistic or stylized.

  

Texture Art

Texture art has three different types physical texture, visual texture and hyper texture. Physical texture is things such as metal, glass and wood that can be touched. Visual texture is a sense of texture created with the use of things like shading and color and hyper texture is a realistic simulated surface texture made by adding small distortions across the surface of an object.

  

Background graphics

Background graphics are what you can see in the background of your game and is used to make games look nicer and make them standout if they have a nice background

   

In-game interface

In-game interface are the things displayed on the screen such as your health and level that your on in the game, In game interface is also how much ammo you have left on shooting games like Call of Duty and is very important as it provides information that helps while you play.

  

Print media art

Print media art is used to make the game look better and make people want to buy it making it look attractive. These are things such as the game packaging, box cover, manual, label and posters. These help sell copies of the games.

  

Raster Images

Raster images are all pixelated being composed of pixels using many different colors which when put together form an image. When you enlarge a Raster image it loses a lot of quality as it has a much lower resolution to Vector images with most images on computer being Raster images. Raster images are very difficult to modify without losing some of the image quality. Raster files are usually larger then Vector. Raster images are also known as bitmap.

 

  

Vector Images

Vector images are non pixelated and made up of individual scalable objects made from mathematical equations making these images render at the highest quality possible compared to the lower quality on Raster images. You can enlarge these images and they wont lose any quality. Vector images unlike Raster images they are not restricted to a rectangular shape however they are very unsuitable for producing photo realism.