Things you love to see in games.

[Blue]

Games with well-designed set pieces. Portal 2, Half-Life 2, Splinter Cell, Ace Combat, Ratchet & Clank, Jak II, all fantastic games for singularly awesome moments that can only be described with the context of the entire game.

[Eedo Baba]

Games with well-designed set pieces. Portal 2, Half-Life 2, Splinter Cell, Ace Combat, Ratchet & Clank, Jak II, all fantastic games for singularly awesome moments that can only be described with the context of the entire game.

 

Totally. The visual design of some things in the Ratchet and Clank games is just great. A good example would be Metropolis, from the first game. The design of the buildings is actually similar to the 1920's sci-fi classic Metropolis.

 

In general, I love great visual design in games. To see a scene so fleshed out and detailed, with a beautiful color palette and well composed. A great modern example would be Uncharted 2. The level of the design is astounding at times.

 

[Epsilon]

Visual design and good graphics are always nice, but I think storyline, characters, and gameplay take precedence over them. I don't mind the graphics in, say, Half-Life because it's so old and its gameplay/plot more than compensate for them.

[Eedo Baba]

Good visual design is rooted in storyline and character. I see video games as less actual games and more like interactive art.

[Batman]

Cool overworlds that lead to other worlds.

Examples:

-Banjo Kazooie's (Grunty's lair)

-Banjo Tooie (Isle o' Hags)

-Donkey Kong 64 (Donkey Kong Island..?)

 

I like when games do this.

[Axeldeath]

Epic game OST's, I could listen to Half Life 2 and Portal 2 songs all day.

[Epsilon]

Good visual design is rooted in storyline and character. I see video games as less actual games and more like interactive art.

 

I contest.

 

Visual design doesn't change how likable a character is. For example, I think Darc from Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (very old RPG) is a lot cooler and less bland than Sgt. Foley from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

 

RAMIREZ! RAMIREZ! RAMIREZ!

[Eedo Baba]

Good visual design is rooted in storyline and character. I see video games as less actual games and more like interactive art.

 

I contest.

 

Visual design doesn't change how likable a character is. For example, I think Darc from Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (very old RPG) is a lot cooler and less bland than Sgt. Foley from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

 

RAMIREZ! RAMIREZ! RAMIREZ!

 

I'm not sure I get your comparison. Are you saying the visual design is the same, yet the characters you find different? Or are you saying that Darc is better designed, so you like that character more? In which case, you'd be confirming what I said, which doesn't make much sense.

 

Anyway, I don't really mean visual design changes storyline or character. I mean good visual design is based on storyline and character. Like in Half Life 2, when you reach the base of the Citadel. The camera angles and design frame the Citadel as amazingly large. Why? Because at that point in the story, the character Gordon Freeman is beginning to understand the vast might of the combine, beyond the simple troops he's been fighting. You look up and begin to just wonder what kind of chance you even have against them. That feeling is determined by story, but achieved by visual design.

[Bugthing]

Shodan had no visual 'design' other than a few posters in the first System Shock game. Yet she's one of the most memorable characters of 90's video games.

[Eedo Baba]

Not familiar with the character, but a google image search comes up with this:

 

If you don't think this is visual design, you don't know what visual design is.

 

And what I'm saying is a method, not a rule. I'm not saying ALL characters and ALL storylines MUST use visual design to reach the player/viewer. I'm saying it's my favorite method.

[Bugthing]

. I'm not saying ALL characters and ALL storylines MUST use visual design to reach the player/viewer. I'm saying it's my favorite method.

 

Cool.

 

But the comment about the poster is a bit misplaced, so allow me to break you in. System Shock was one of the first PC games to have a lot of spoken dialogue in the form of audio logs and 'live' transmissions. Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iZMD_eCpEo

 

Shodan is an AI. Througout the game she taunts you and challenges you by putting all sorts of obstacles in your way. Not unlike GLaDOS actually. Aside from a digital, virus-like projection in cyberspace, you never really see her, but she does have a few 'projections' that show up near the end of System Shock 2.

[Epsilon]

I'm not sure I get your comparison. Are you saying the visual design is the same, yet the characters you find different? Or are you saying that Darc is better designed, so you like that character more? In which case, you'd be confirming what I said, which doesn't make much sense.

 

Wait.. visual design.

DOGGAWN IT.

 

I misinterpreted "visual design" for graphics.

 

I don't care about graphics, but I do agree that visual design is important.

 

FYI, I was talking about his personality and his appearance.. I didn't realize that visual design pretty much was appearance and not graphics.

 

Dun goof on my part.

[Blightmare]

I love to see actual fantasy in my games. I like games with world environments that stretch the bound of our world.

 

Take Oblivion for example, and the inside of the gates.

 

 

Sea's of lava, strange plants, demonic creatures, ominous towers, love it.

[Axeldeath]

The plane of Oblivion was cool the first few times, but it got to be a loot grind after a while.

[Blightmare]

Meh, I still love it. Same goes for Shivering Isles. It feels perfect for the realm of the Mad God in it's bizarrities.