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Here you will find research into the artstyle of our game with primary and secondary research methods conducted to do so this will help me understand what style i should make my 3D models in also how to do execute animations in this artstyle.
For this research i will primarily be making mind maps and mood board with annotations to show examples of what art style and theme we are going for in our game.
All links to secondary research sources can be found in the bibliography
Primary re-search
Below you will find screenshots that i took from For the king and LIMBO respectively to showcase the artstyle we are going for in our game with descriptions in what they are and why we chose them.
Release For the king (Febuary 28 2017)
Above are screenshots i took from the game For the king which includes a low poly model style . The reason i chose this game is because of the low poly style which we are going for in our game and this game does in a very effective way and immerses you in the game.
The reason for choosing this style was because it can make the game feel really unique and if done effectively can also look really nice. It is also quite a retro look to a game which gives a game a sense of nostalgia that other styles like high poly might not have.
Overall i believe going with a low poly style will be effective for our game as it presents unique challenges when making models to makes sure the art style is presented accurately and fits in with the games theme which you can find research on here .
Release LIMBO (July 21 2010)
Above are screenshots from the game LIMBO which showcases the monochromatic (black and white) look we are going to try and achieve in our game we chose this style as mixed with the low poly style and the chromatic look with few colours showing through i believe this will be a very unique and i catching style that will help our game stand out and is not jus tgoing to be a carbon copy of other games.LIMBO is an example of a game that uses a chromatic look very effectively.
Overall , this style will bring unique challenges when texturing models for this game as i will have to make sure that the textures are still present in black and white to show that there is still texture on the objects in the game and so they are not just boring to look at due to these factors this art style will be interesting to go for and if done effectively and in of high quality it will make our game stand out and feel unique as the low poly mixed with the other aspects of our game will help with this.
Below you will find analysis of a survey that i put out to gather peoples opinions on the chosen artstyle:
The first question i asked in this survey is a precursor for the question that follows it. So i only asked a simple yes or no to gage if people liked black or white games on extremley simple basis.
Question 2 was a follow up question 1 where i asked people to go more in-depth with there views on why they either dislike or like black and white games.
The responses i got where great in giving me insights in what people do and don't like about monochromatic games with varied answers throughout.
some of the main responses for this question where how this artstyle forces developers to be more creative with the game design and how this can lead to more interesting systems and designs for mechanics , other feedback also talked about how if done well the black and white style can be great for setting certain moods in games as one user mention in there answer 'outlast' and 'limbo' do this effectively by using there style to help promote feelings of fear and eeriness , this tells me that the black and white style is a great form of dramatic exposition as it is a great way to build emotions in the player even without anything else.
On the other hand people mentioned how if this art style is not done well it can make the game boring and 'bland' to play and how this artstyle can lead to navigation problems in your game confusing the player as they wont be able to orient themselves in the levels.
To overcome these challenges with a monochromatic look you need to make sure the is sufficient accessibility features that combat these problems.
Simallar to the first question this is a pre cursor to the next question. This is here to get a genral sense wether people like or dislike the lowpoly style.
Question 4 asks to go into further detail about the low poly style and why people do or don't like it.
The response i got where mainly positive as a lot of what people said was that they liked the low poly style and how it can a certain charm to games and how it can make navigating more simple and easier , other response also mention how as it is a simpler style it can open time to develop other areas of the game to be more developed.
Yet on the other side of things users also said that if done in a inadequate way it can look sloppy and create a poor impression on the player yet this can be avoided by putting the right amount of effort and time into the games development.
Question 5 asked if the choices of this artstyle can lead to a game being unique with most of the response saying yes and praising the uniqueness of the low poly style with the black and white style too .
Most of the responses say that the mix of low poly and black and white style make it stand out to other games and how it can make people more likely to play a game due to the uniqueness and how it is different to other games.
Some user also pointed out how low poly can look 'sloppy' if not done well and how low poly in its own cant make a game unique by itself as there is already a wide range of popular games that have this style. This can be avoided by mixing the low poly style with unique systems that promote and make full use of a low poly art style.
Question 5 asks if there is any games that people like that include one or both of these style choices this is helpful as it can give me insight in what mechanics to use but more importantly for me to better make my 3d models and make sure they fit into the the artstyle.
also will help later on with secondary research as i look into a few reviews for these games to gain further opinions on what people do and dont like about these games that are black and white and/or have a low poly style.
Question 6 asks how the games from question 5 uses the low poly and black and white style effectively.
The response mostly talked about how it made the game feel unique and how it can play on certain theme like how one user mentions how in some games the black and white style can promote certain feelings an so can the low poly style as people also find it interesting how much detail can be found in low poly models.
Reflection on survey
Overall i think this survey was highly effective in collecting opinions from an array of people about the chosen artstyle of our game. This survey was invaluable into giving me insight into what people do and don't like about the low poly and black and white style with information on how games use these style effectively which tell me the do and don'ts when working with this artstyle.
The results from this survey will not only be helpful in the games overall creation but also in the areas that i am specialising in as it gives me games to take inspiration from when creating my models to more effectively make low poly models that are of good quality and also helps with the animations as i can take inspiration from the game listed in the survey and how they do there animations.
There is one thing i would of liked to improve though which is getting more people to answer which is due to the time of the project and not being able to leave the survey out for longer yet looking back on the last survey the questions in the second survey where of better quality and provided richer information for me that will only help enrich my models and animations but also the overall games design.
Reflection on primary research
Overall the primary research i conducted for re-search into art style came back with informative as the survey came back with invaluable responses that give me insight into what people do and don't like about the chosen artstyle. The first hand experience of playing games with similar art styles also helped enrich my knowledge on who to effectively portray the artstyle also gives me inspiration on how to make the best model and animations for this specific art styles.
To conclude the research was very helpful in enriching my knowledge on this art style yet there is something that with more time i would of liked to achieve like previously mentioned i would of liked to gain more response on my survey and also played more games that have a similar artstyle but due to some of them costing money i could not do so and with time constraints i could not leave the survey out for any longer.
To improve for next time i would make all the surveys before anything else to gain the most response i could to gain more knowledge in this area which would only improve my models and animations and the games design.
Secondary re-search
For secondary research i will be creating an array of mood board and mind maps using miro with annotations that showcase examples of the artstyle we are going for and looking at a few games reviews that have a similar artstyle to ours.
All links to images used will be attached to there respective picture on the miro board which you can gain access to using the link below:
Above is a mood board that is on miro that you can access here or with the link above. In this mood board i wanted to explore games that have a monochromatic look to gain inspiration for our game and how it should look by looking at games that uses it effectively. I also wanted to use this moodboard in another function by choosing games that have both a monochromatic look but also another feature we want to include in our game. For example i chose 'world of horror 80' as it uses body horror which is something we want to include in our game for the enemies to show the effect of the plague.
Above is a mood board that is on miro that you can access here or with the link above on this moodboard it was simply to showcase examples of the low poly style and to help me in the creation of my models to execute the low poly art style effectively. In this moodboard i wanted to primarily focus on environment in the low poly style as this is the main focus of my models as i will only be making a few models with a main focus on animation. I picked games that also have a second function we want to include in our game , for example 'super hot ' has a monochromatic look with a few colours showing through like red which is a feature we want in our game.
Above is a mood board that is on miro that you can access here or with the link above. Here i wanted to explore pre existing models with the low poly art style to gain inspiration on this art style and how it should look with a main focus on environment as that is what my few 3D models for this project will be for.I also looked into low poly characters to see how they look but mainly to look at the animations for low poly characters as this will be my main focus for this project and i wanted to the certain style and look of animating when using low poly characters.
Below are 4 positive and negative reviews on LIMBO and For the king with the aim of finding what people do and don't like about these games that has a similar artstyle to our game.
The positive review for the long talk about how the art in the game helps immensely immerse you in the game and how high quality it it is.They also imply through through these reviews that the art and graphic of the game is a reason why they like it so much.
From these reviews I can tell that if the low poly art style is down well it can connect with people and make their enjoyment for a game raise.Also if done effectively people will be immersed in your game. these review reinforce how important it is to make sure that when making the models I make them with the appropriate art style to effectively evoke these emotions in players.
Here are some positive reviews on LIMBO which praise its story and graphics and also talk about how LIMBO feels unique and has 'good tones and vibes'
This helps me as it further reinforces areas i have to focus on the make a game with our chosen artstyle effective.
Here are some negative reviews on LIMBO which say things like LIMBO is 'boring' and 'repetitive' also commenting on the length of the game making it not enjoyable. The second review mentions how the user struggled to get immersed in the game and found the puzzles confusing.
This helps us as it give us insight on things not to include in our game and things to avoid when making our game.
In the negative reviews for for the king that talk about how they think the graphics are bad and this shows how if the low poly style is done to someone’s standard it can make the games experience worse for them and it is a big part in why they won’t like the game. From these reviews I can gather that if the low poly style is done incorrectly it can ruin a players experience with the game and make them not like it.which tells me how crucial it is that I make my 3d models hit the low poly art-style.
Below are some examples of low poly animations to help give me an idea in general of how my low poly animations should look to make them fit the art style but still portray the emotions and feeling i want to present as low poly animations have a certain look and feel which makes them effective.
For example one of the main aspects of the animation that i noticed when watching these videos is how important it is to highlight the pose if the model and make sure it is defined so you can clearly see what the animation is trying to tell you. This is also important as you are working with limted polys so this aspect really matters.
Reflection on secondary re-search
Overall the secondary research that i conducted was highly effective into giving me insights into the way monochromatic and low poly games should look and what people dislike and like about this specific artstyle. My main objective of this research was to further my understanding and knowledge on the artstyle we want to portray and i was effective in doing this as i made moodboards with array of images that include many pictures that showcase the specific artstyle and can give inspiration on how to make this effective and of good quality .As i also looked at other low poly animations i know have a better understanding of how to more effectivley make animations when working with low poly models.
Yet there is somethings i would of liked to improve which was to find more examples of existing models that have this art style but as i researched and looked at models on websites like 'art station' and 'sketch fab' i couldn't find many models that effectively show the idea i was trying to show this is partly due to how niche and unique the artstyle we are trying to achieve is to overcome this i need to make sure i conduct enough high quality information so that i can have the best understanding of this art style as it will help with my 3D models.
Conclusion on research into the art-style
To conclude my re-search into the artstyle has overall been effective in giving me the knowledge i need to make sure my models hit the mark when it come to the artstyle for our game. To gain enough knowledge and information that is of high quality , i made sure to use an array of primary and secondary methods that included such things as survey and mood boards respectively which allowed me to get an array of views and information on the artstyle which developed my knowledge for this area of the game when it comes to how to model in a low poly style and animate with it .
while i think most areas of this research where effective in giving me the knowledge in need there is some areas that i believe could of done with some improvement but due to time constraints i unfortunately couldn't act on these minor issues which where things like due the uniqueness of the artstyle we are trying to portray there isn't many reference images and games we can take inspiration from.
This minor issue would only be overcome if there was more games with the niche artstyle of low poly and monochrome available for me to look at and take inspiration from.
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