Do Graphics Matter?

8:55 AM willsterling23 0 Comments


 It's 2015 and graphics are better than ever, but do players actually care? The short answer is yes, they do. A recent study showed that 48% of gamers said that graphics, among a few other things, was the most important factor in their buying decisions (link to study).

But there's more to it than that.

With the rise of indie games such as Minecraft and 2D pixel art games, we're learning that success can be found in the gaming industry even without top-notch graphics. However, the fact that people are willing to buy games without AAA quality graphics, doesn't necessarily show that they don't care about graphics. They still want something that is visually intriguing and engaging.

Art Style


When I think of video games with unique art styles, one of the first ones that comes to mind is Wind Waker.

Just look at the joy on Link's face. 

Anyone who has played Wind Waker knows exactly what I'm talking about. The Zelda franchise took a sharp turn in graphics quality and chose to do something unique. This wasn't necessarily met with open arms. The producer of Zelda, Eiji Aonuma, even said that the negative reception made them consider different approaches for future titles. 

If you decide to make a game with a unique art style, there will be a large portion of players that do not like it, and that should definitely influence your decision as a business. However, it's not all you should consider.  

In my opinion, the art style used in Wind Waker has made the game age extremely well. With the recent HD remake on the Wii U and already available HD versions on PC emulators, Wind Waker is still relevant, still fun, and still beautiful. I think the art style was a good choice. And perhaps the reception to it would have been more favorable today with unique art styles being more common in games. 

Nevertheless, now days there are many gamers who still want a game to catch their eye, even if that doesn't mean it has top notch realistic graphics. Choosing a unique art style can be a great way to do this. 

Visually Engaging


You can't get away with just having a unique art style, you also need a game that is visually engaging. Players want to be captivated by your games visuals and immersed into the world. It doesn't matter if it's a 2D pixel art game, or a block game like Minecraft, they want a cohesive art style and visuals that engage them. 

Pull up a chair and watch the sunset in all it's blocky goodness. 

Players want visuals that are going to catch their eye and pull them into game environment, not distract them. How can your art style or visuals immerse the player and help them further delve into the game or story you are trying to tell? These are the questions you want to answer when deciding on your visual direction. 

Gameplay Still Matters


I've heard it said that players come for the graphics and stay for the gameplay. If the graphics is your menu, then the gameplay is the entree. A game can look absolutely tremendous and yet be very shallow when it comes to content and gameplay, leaving a less than desirable experience. I don't think games should ever abandon their focus on gameplay to putting all their attention on graphics. A healthy balance is what is really required. If you are a game maker, your visuals are a large part of your game. It's part of the way you tell your story and present your art. However, the gameplay and content of your game is equally important. 


So while graphics do still matter, developers have more freedom than ever to explore various art styles and create games that are visually engaging, pulling the player into a world that is rich with content and gameplay. 

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Implementing Game Audio: Music vs. Immersion

6:44 AM willsterling23 0 Comments


Music in video games has the ability to create emotion and enhance your experience while you play. I love music, I love video games, and I love music in video games! I remember the epic music you hear when you first launch Everquest or Morrowind for the first time. Music like that has a way of lodging the experience in your memory and slapping you in the face with nostalgia years down the road when you hear it again. However, even with all its awesomeness, music can sometimes take away from the gaming experience, particularly in the area of immersion.

Today I want to talk about the balance between music and immersion, and how these two elements need to enhance each other, rather than conflict.


Implementing Music in Salt 

I'm currently implementing and overseeing all of the music in a game called Salt. The theme of the game is unique and so the music needed to be as such. It's a game where you fight pirates, bosses, and experience mysterious things in a big island and ocean type world. When I approached the music design aspect of the game, I had to think about two main aspects. 

  1. What theme/sound of music is going to be in the game? 
  2. How often should the music play?

Number one's answer came pretty fast. I opted to go for a epic orchestral sound with a mix of ambient grand piano for the most part. This sound fluctuates depending on the situation, but in general this is the theme you hear. Number two was a more difficult question. How often should the music play? I knew that I wanted music to enhance your experience and not take away from it, yet I wasn't sure how often that should be. 

Over-stimulation


As I started to play other games and do some research, I realized something. I found that most games I played had too much music for my liking. In so many games I found the music be overstimulating and constantly layered on top of my experience. Even if I was just wandering around aimlessly, there was music playing. While I see the benefit of having music play often, I found that in general it made the curve of emotions pretty flat. Instead of feeling a low of quiet and peace, followed by intense action moments with epic music, I was in the middle most of the time. Never really feeling like I got a break from the music. 

Immersion


In addition to over-stimulation, I found that the music sometimes took away from my immersion in the world. Instead of being able to walk around a forest, listening to the birds and the leaves rustle, I was listening to non-existent violins in the background. Now, while this can sometimes enhance your experience, I found for the most part it took me out of the game. When I would turn the music off, I would feel more engrossed into the world and the sounds of the environment replaced the music in a more immersive way. 


Finding the Balance


After doing some research and testing, I realized that I did not want music to be playing constantly in Salt. I needed to pick places where music would enhance the experience, making you feel epic, but also allow downtime for you to take in the environment. With this in mind, I opted for music to be in two main aspects of the game. Sailing and bosses. 

A large portion of the game features you sailing across a big ocean. Since there isn't much going on at sea, it felt like a fitting place to have epic music playing. This turned out to work very well. There's nothing like being behind the wheel of a massive ship, riding huge waves while listening to the thundering sound of drums and strings. Not only did I implement music at sea, but I also implemented exclusive daytime and night time music. If you were sailing at night, the music would be much more peaceful and mysterious. However if you were sailing the day, the music would be more thunderous and epic. 

In addition to sailing music, I also knew there needed to be music for bosses. Without music, boss fights just don't feel as epic. With this in mind I chose to give each boss in the game a unique theme to their music. I feel that this is a great way to get creative with music and enhance the player experience far more than if there were no music. 



All that being said, music in video games is a fairly subjective area. There are going to be a lot of different likes/dislikes depending on the player. This is why I think it's important to allow players to control the volume of the music in the game to suit their needs. When implementing game music, you want to think about the type of game and what works best. If you are going for a large amount of immersion, consider putting more emphasis on the ambient environment. If you're game is full of action and boss battles, consider keeping it more music heavy. The design behind this will always heavily depend on the game you are making and your personal preferences. 

At the very least, I hope this helps you gain some insight and get ideas for different ways to implement game audio, and create a nice balance of immersion and music.


If you're interested, you can stream a lot of the music from Salt here - https://soundcloud.com/willsterling/sets/salt-music-1

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An Architect of Worlds

10:22 AM willsterling23 0 Comments

Perhaps the most fascinating and enthralling aspect of being a video game creator is the feeling of creating a fantastic world brimming with its own stories, people, adventures, and mysteries. On top of all that, knowing that this world can be experienced, altered, and interacted with by someone else is mind boggling. It takes immersion to an entirely different level.

I think this appeal is what originally drew me to video games. While I thoroughly enjoy a good book or movie, there's just something about being able to dive headlong into a story that you can change and be a part of, not only in your mind, but in a virtual world. I suppose at the core this is how I ended up in the field of creating video games.

If you don't know me, my name's Will. Nice to meet you! I work for a game company called Lavaboots Studios, acting as the audio and marketing director, as well as a game designer. We are currently working on creating one of these worlds I've been discussing, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Getting to work with a team of people to create a massive world players can explore is an extremely rewarding experience, and pretty much the best job in the world.

I'm starting this blog to talk about the different aspects of game design and audio implementation that come into play when creating a video game. Everyday we meet new challenges and obstacles that have to be overcome in the process of creating a world worth exploring. Whether you are a game maker, a video game composer, or you just love games, I hope this blog can be of some value to you!


Thanks for reading.

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