• Time Ducks: Frogger Meets Braid Meets Slot Machines, On iOS
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Wow, retro graphics. That's ... that's genius! ~so indie~ Seriously, I'm getting tired of this giant pixel hipster bullshit all the time. I know I'm overreacting right now but ... why? Does every game have to look either super awesome or so-retro-it-doesn't-even-have-graphics-at-all? Is there nothing in between? I mean it's good when you can use retro graphics together with some more advanced tech like in Minecraft, Voxatron or 3D Dot Game Heroes. Sometimes it's looks good without any additional effects. But almost every indie game ever? Is the all-so-creative indie developer's definition of graphics so limited and stale as the definition of a fantasy game (knights, orcs, archers, castles, dragons, bla bla bla instead of creative universes like the one from Zeno Clash)? Why not have 2D graphics that are not pixely as shit? Like Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac (ok, they're both flash games but they do not try to be retro, they could), Bastion or Limbo? And 3D games can look like PSone or two era games as well without getting bad reviews. Like Sol Survivor, A.R.E.S. or Magicka. I do appear to be a drama queen to you but it's something I'd wanted to get off my chest for a long time.
Haha that trailer was insane
[QUOTE=DasMatze;33603569]Wow, retro graphics. That's ... that's genius! ~so indie~ Seriously, I'm getting tired of this giant pixel hipster bullshit all the time. I know I'm overreacting right now but ... why? Does every game have to look either super awesome or so-retro-it-doesn't-even-have-graphics-at-all? Is there nothing in between? I mean it's good when you can use retro graphics together with some more advanced tech like in Minecraft, Voxatron or 3D Dot Game Heroes. Sometimes it's looks good without any additional effects. But almost every indie game ever? Is the all-so-creative indie developer's definition of graphics so limited and stale as the definition of a fantasy game (knights, orcs, archers, castles, dragons, bla bla bla instead of creative universes like the one from Zeno Clash)? Why not have 2D graphics that are not pixely as shit? Like Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac (ok, they're both flash games but they do not try to be retro, they could), Bastion or Limbo? And 3D games can look like PSone or two era games as well without getting bad reviews. Like Sol Survivor, A.R.E.S. or Magicka. I do appear to be a drama queen to you but it's something I'd wanted to get off my chest for a long time.[/QUOTE] Pixel art, when done right, can be more beautiful than vector art or whatever else you want to do. Again, when done right. Also, pixel art is cheap(er than 3D or more high resolution graphics) while producing a really stunning effect if pulled off right. Take a look at some of the SNES games from the 90s and tell me that pixel art is bogus. Just because it's not done right does not invalidate an entire genre of art.
Yes, it can be beautiful and I totally love SNES games but in a time where there's a wide array of possible graphic styles it's getting annoying and it's losing it's retro charme because suddenly it's modern, it's everywhere. You hit the nail, it's cheap! Not only in terms of the financial aspect but more and more in terms of the quality aspect as well. You can use 3D renders, you can use higher resolutioned pixel art, you can use handdrawn images, you can play with contrast or lighting or shading or colors but for me it seems like 80% of the indie projects start with "Ok, we make an indie game, screen resolution 320x180. Here's a bunch of random pixels, it's our main hero."
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