The design and graphics behind some of the top video games on the market today is second to none. Some would go as far as to say these cleverly designed games are works of art. Just as paintings and illustrations bring joy, so do video games.
Slot machine design
Slot machine design is a great example of how video game art has developed over the years. These prevalent online casino games now boast realistic animations, graphics and sound effects – all of which help to create a highly immersive experience. Considering these machines have been around for over 100 years, its little wonder they’ve dramatically altered as technology has evolved. Earlier examples are a far cry from what players have access to today. Some fine example of slots that have great design features include Gladiator, Cleopatra, Gold Fish and Mega Moolah.
Online casinos give players quick access to casino games. Nowadays, you can play thousands of slots right from your phone. Some casinos even let you deposit using your mobile top-up credit, which makes it even easier to get started.
Online growth
One of the key boosts to slot machines and their profiles is the World Wide Web, with the first online slots emerging in the 1990s. Today, this is a huge industry and one that avid fans flock to everyday. Whether playing for fun or to win big, there are numerous tech-savvy slot games available, all of which can be run from various platforms, all embracing the latest operating systems, such as cloud hosting and HTML5-powered support. This allows developers to create games that boast highly interactive experiences.
On top of this, the growth of online slots is partially responsible for online gaming expansion as a whole. In fact, player numbers are constantly rising and revenue is steadily growing. This growth hasn’t killed land based slots however, as they are aimed at an entirely different market.
Works of Art
Video game design is an area that is growing in popularity, with many avid gamers calling top titles ‘works of art’ that should be enjoyed, studied and appreciated. It takes a great deal of time and effort for gaming developers and graphic designers to come up with perfect graphics and artwork for a specific game. It’s these graphics that attract new players, transport gamers into virtual realities and keep them engaged.
The Science of Shapes, Lines and Volumes
Over the past century, the world of art has altered drastically. The art produced today differs greatly from that of the oil paintings and portraits produced in the past. Instead of following traditional lines and shapes, contemporary art is more graphic in style and is no longer solely confined to a canvas. This has allowed modern-day artists, including those employed to design video games, experiment with new forms and styles. They’ll often create imagery using computers and a stylus’ as opposed to putting pen to paper.
Today’s video game designers appreciate all styles of art, including both contemporary and classic styles, using this basis to create shapes, lines and volumes that ignite emotions and create alternative realities. To render reality, 3D graphic artists tend to reduce everyday objects to simple forms using programmes such as 3ds Max or Maya to create a series of aesthetic concepts – irrespective of whether they’ve been tasked with creating a prop, a sole figure or an entire background.
Circular shapes tend to represent youth, innocence, femininity and energy, whilst triangle forms signify masculinity, aggression and force, and square shapes are representative of stability, maturity and balance. These notions help video game artists to create characters, avatars and surroundings perfectly in tune with a game’s storyline.
Dynamic Composition
Composition is the process of merging design elements to form a completed work of art. When applying a dynamic composition to video game design, five illustration elements are taken into consideration. These include character animations, character shape, environment shape, player gestures and pathways. As well as using shapes, lines and volumes to create characters and backgrounds, video game designers must ensure there is a relationship between all of the elements used in the design. This is particularly the case in interactive video games, whereby players are allowed the freedom to move around the screen and from one world (or background) to the next. These movements need to be seamless to ensure smooth, user-friendly and uninterrupted game play.
Character Development
Considering the emotions we associate with certain forms, graphic designers need to consider shapes when creating character visuals. For example, evil villains tend to be crafted out of lots of sharp lines and vertical edges, whilst characters renowned for their friendly nature and charm will be rounder in style, and will likely be fashioned out of softer hues and boast a more fluid movement.