I disagree with this article and warn every prosperous game designer out there not to underestimate the importance of good graphics in your game.
There are so many games out there and your game will compete with each one of them. So now you have this great new game with innovative gameplay, an interesting scenario, well balanced behaviour and all that. Do you expect the players out there are going to try your game and play for a couple of days or weeks until they find that out? No, not if they have a RL.
Time is precious, so people have to filter the mass of games by criteria, which do not take long to evaluate - and the "look and feel" of your game is one of the most important criteria for that preselection. Cool graphics are no guarantor for a great game, erverybody knows that. But if your graphics look crappy, why should I assume that the rest of your game will be any better? To state, that "looking nice" can (or cannot) be part of the hook of a game is underestimating the power of first impressions.
Also, for the typical player showing some tables is simply not enough. If I want to stare at tables, I can go to work. But when I play, I want to enjoy myself and looking at some wonderful graphics sure helps. Graphics usually intensify the gaming experience.
So please, do not waste your time writing another spreadsheet program, which calls itself a game. The presentation of your game needs as much of your attention as the "inner parts".
Please, no more spreadsheet programs!
posted 17 years, 2 months ago by Coachpotato
posted 17 years, 2 months ago by bardicknowledge
Where oh, where did I say that graphics aren't important? What I am trying to state is that a game, like many of the ones I've tried lately, put too much focus on graphics, instead of layout, usability and gameplay.
I like pretty graphics. They make life pretty. But if you are going to have a horrible layout just so things are nice looking, I'm not going to play.
As most know, I advocate gameplay over all else. And graphics can aid gameplay, or they can hinder. All I was trying to get across is that inside of spending all your time working on graphics work out a good layout that uses graphics to make the presentation nicer, clean and easy for the player to use.
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PBBG blog: http://webgamedev.wordpress.com [webgamedev.wordpress.com]
I like pretty graphics. They make life pretty. But if you are going to have a horrible layout just so things are nice looking, I'm not going to play.
As most know, I advocate gameplay over all else. And graphics can aid gameplay, or they can hinder. All I was trying to get across is that inside of spending all your time working on graphics work out a good layout that uses graphics to make the presentation nicer, clean and easy for the player to use.
_________________
PBBG blog: http://webgamedev.wordpress.com [webgamedev.wordpress.com]