Graphics, the most important part of the game (no one likes staring at a black screen). Except, I don’t need to worry about this, my graphics are already the bomb. I’ll be skipping this section. Whoa, hold your horses, just because you have ultra mega graphics that doesn’t mean your game is graphically appealing. Ultra mega graphic man there’s a lot more to graphics then the sprites themself. You’ll have to make sure you included these visual elements if you truly want ultra mega graphics.
What about your lighting? Betcha didn’t think of that. With Game Maker 8's ability to handle transparency you can add lights to your game. Along with flashy lights you can lighten up your game with other transparency effects like smoke, mist, lens flare, shadows (these can make your game seem 3D) and any other effects a smart cookie like you can conjure up. Those transparency effects are fun to make, but stop being a hog. Share that fun. Let the player customize the game’s graphics. The player wants to have fun customizing his characters, backgrounds, and even the music. Gamers will love you for this. Good graphics can still be an eyesore when they don’t like each other. Don’t let your futuristic Jedi looking graphics be ruined by bright, bubbly, Pokemon like graphic, and in case you didn’t know, Pokemon and Jedi’s hate each other. It’s true. You should see how Skywalker and Pikachu battle each other when no one's looking. Anyhow make sure all of your graphics fall under the same theme. And the funnest graphics to make – Particle systems. Just be careful they’re dangerous. To many of them well freeze slow computers. If you overuse your particles, then beware, slower computers won't be able to play your game. You will either have to allow the player to reduce the frequency of particles, or an ever better option, reduce them yourself if the fps(frames per seconds) goes below a certain number. Until these special affects are added to your graphics then, I’m sorry to say it but, you don’t have ultra mega graphics, and as no game on YoYoGames has all of these special effects, you could be the first to break into a new era of 2d graphics, if you make your game has ultra mega graphics, so try to implement as many of these ideas as possible.View other blogs by Mr. Me at http://sites.google.com/site/mrme444/game-maker-tips
To further my point:
Lost Planet 2 had killer graphics. It was cool for the short time I played it.Other games which I can't recall at the moment (even games like Lufia, old as hell) had some really great music. And those are the games I treasure, and the ones I come back to again. The soundtrack is too underrepresented in games, even though I think it's one of the most inspirational parts.Don't mind me, I'm more of a music guy than a graphics guy anyway. That's my take on it. Screw being a graphics god. Be consistent, provide a good atmosphere, and who cares if the graphics aren't the best? Photorealistic graphics are so overdone now that they're boring. That's why I love TF2's style.And Cesque has a simple, but great style too. Gotta hand it to him.I find it inherently humorous that you, who are lecturing us about the importance of graphics, lack an avatar. You are, for the moment, graphic-less, an ASCII-based entity.
I think you're wrong, Cyrus, those graphics are "good" but it feels (to me) like they lack interpretative artistic flair… Maybe I'm biased because I don't like Castlevania.
Kilin makes a good point - Cesque does have a style, as does Rez and DSG. I consider their graphics good.I want to point out the many flaws of this blog but everyone before me did.
Meh.Welcome andohbytheway you don't know what you are talking about :)Juju, I lost all respect for you (heh, as if you care). How can you not like one of the best game series of all time?
Vance, who cares if it's considered to be one of the best games series of all time? Everyone has an opinion. I, for one, can't stand the Mario games. Any of them.
I don't care what other people consider them, they're one of the best game series in MY opinion. Like, shit, I hate the Starfox games.
If I was Cyrus, I would've posted the waterfall level. That was much better at setting the ambiance. SCVIV's interior levels are kinda blocky. I don't think the rotating tunnel's absence would've made much difference. The flipping room before was more interesting since it actually changed gameplay.
Symphony of the Night has the best design, graphics and atmosphere of the whole series anyway.
Atmosphere and level design? Yes.
Graphics and gameplay? No, Aria of Sorrow.