It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussion (archive)Retro is getting old.(131 posts)(131 posts)
(131 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
This is my favourite topic
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
tinyE: I do think the retro craze is going too far. I just downloaded these screen shots from the new NHL 2014.
Seriously, were the programmers too lazy, or incompetent, to add that third color so necessary for a first-rate hockey sim: blood red?
Posted August 23, 2013
Truly original games don't pop up that often, be they indie or triple A. Original games that do pop up are often (retrostyle) indie games though, so I don't agree with the OPs sentiment at all.

Also, I don't know why unoriginal games are a problem. When something's good, you usually want more of it.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by DaGobbo
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
tinyE: I do think the retro craze is going too far. I just downloaded these screen shots from the new NHL 2014.
avatar
HereForTheBeer: Seriously, were the programmers too lazy, or incompetent, to add that third color so necessary for a first-rate hockey sim: blood red?
I think that is actually just the 2 goals and the puck. They are allowing killing opponents in this new one. That screenshot is what every hockey game would be if you could murder opponents! :D
Posted August 23, 2013
The thing is, there are several classic game styles that I love that haven't really made much of a comeback. Even among platformers, which are quite popular with indie developers nowadays, I don't find a lot that satisfies me.
Posted August 23, 2013
The only platformers I've seen which I think successfully emulate NES/SNES graphics are Oniken and 8-Bit Commando.
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
Crosmando: The only platformers I've seen which I think successfully emulate NES/SNES graphics are Oniken and 8-Bit Commando.
I also think Primordia captures the 90s DOS Point and Click adventures perfectly.
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
Elmofongo: I also think Primordia captures the 90s DOS Point and Click adventures perfectly.
All the Wadjet Eye/AGS games do I think, in fact I actually prefer them strangely enough to the Daedalic adventure games with their high-res "clean" art. It might be pure nostalgia, but sometimes less is more.
To elaborate, there's something that looks "authentic" and real about the pixel-art in games like Primordia. I feel like the Daedalic games look plastic.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by Crosmando
Posted August 23, 2013
Retro styled games are easier to develop, which is why so may indie devs are doing this, because they are not capable of anything else with their limited capabilities. That's understandable.

I am too getting a bit tired of this. It can be a cool thing, but I personally am looking for other things and haven't been that supportive toward many indie devs because of general lack of interest toward their stuff.

I dream about a different kind of "retro", a more recent one, such influenced by games like Thief, Deus Ex, etc. Immersive worlds, not just homages.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by Psychomorph
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
GoodGuyA: It's really the banality of it getting to me. There are loads of reasons for going with the 8-bt style. You as a consumer can decide if they are valid or not. However, when we get these games that call themselves "hip" and "ironic" by using a blocky and hideous 8-bit style, I really have to draw the line. It has to fit with the idea of the game, even if not necessarily its content.
The thing that slightly bothers me is that by associating genres with a retro style, it's like a tacit admission that the genre is completely irrelevant nowadays. This isn't condemning any game that uses a pixel art style, that'd be dumb, but whenever I see a retro game in that style I can't help but think that. Incidentally, this was why I was annoyed by people who were disappointed that Broken Age didn't have old LA-style graphics. I was glad for that, because it showed DoubleFine were making a game that could stand on its own, not one that condemned the genre to a relic of the 90s.
avatar
Psychomorph: Retro styled games are easier to develop, which is why so may indie devs are doing this, because they are not capable of anything else with their limited capabilities.
This is definitely a valid reason, yeah. Especially for single-person basement devs and the such.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by Gazoinks
Posted August 23, 2013
This thread is enough to make me want to leave GOG again.

I've had to shelve TWO different projects a friend and I are working on because we don't have and can't afford artists. I tried paying -- 400 dollars got me a blockout (READ: all flat surfaces, no textures, no modelling -- Doom 1 level design without the pain of texturing or silly details like stairs or doors) of the interior of a space ship, and a screenshot of a half-finished engine prop. And I don't have that money anymore because I got laid off from my last job.

While I agree plenty of indie games with retro graphics fail to focus on gameplay sufficiently, one SHOULD NOT simply say "HURRRR RETRO GRAPHICS IT'S PRETENTIOUS/LAME INDIE SHIT HURRRRRRRRR".

That's a good way to arouse my wrath, because I'm having difficulties making a goddamn pixel art game. I cannot draw. I'm a musician and game designer, not a graphic artist. And people in the visual arts tend to cost ludicrous amounts -- a quote I got for 4 walking animations of a single character was 200 dollars. That's PIXEL ART. US DOLLARS.

To put this into perspective, we may end up going to the MUCH HATED ultra-lofi 8x8 character sprites because at least we can actually MAKE THOSE.

And if our shitty graphics are just hurrrrrr retro indie hogwash hurrrrrrrr then why don't you stump up the fucking money to help us make better graphics, bucko? Don't talk nonsense about shit you don't know, or start paying the people who WISH they had more options.

ENRAGED,
--Cassy
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
GhostQlyph: This thread is enough to make me want to leave GOG again.

I've had to shelve TWO different projects a friend and I are working on because we don't have and can't afford artists. I tried paying -- 400 dollars got me a blockout (READ: all flat surfaces, no textures, no modelling -- Doom 1 level design without the pain of texturing or silly details like stairs or doors) of the interior of a space ship, and a screenshot of a half-finished engine prop. And I don't have that money anymore because I got laid off from my last job.

While I agree plenty of indie games with retro graphics fail to focus on gameplay sufficiently, one SHOULD NOT simply say "HURRRR RETRO GRAPHICS IT'S PRETENTIOUS/LAME INDIE SHIT HURRRRRRRRR".

That's a good way to arouse my wrath, because I'm having difficulties making a goddamn pixel art game. I cannot draw. I'm a musician and game designer, not a graphic artist. And people in the visual arts tend to cost ludicrous amounts -- a quote I got for 4 walking animations of a single character was 200 dollars. That's PIXEL ART. US DOLLARS.

To put this into perspective, we may end up going to the MUCH HATED ultra-lofi 8x8 character sprites because at least we can actually MAKE THOSE.

And if our shitty graphics are just hurrrrrr retro indie hogwash hurrrrrrrr then why don't you stump up the fucking money to help us make better graphics, bucko? Don't talk nonsense about shit you don't know, or start paying the people who WISH they had more options.

ENRAGED,
--Cassy
What was the first reason you left?
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
GhostQlyph: This thread is enough to make me want to leave GOG again.

I've had to shelve TWO different projects a friend and I are working on because we don't have and can't afford artists. I tried paying -- 400 dollars got me a blockout (READ: all flat surfaces, no textures, no modelling -- Doom 1 level design without the pain of texturing or silly details like stairs or doors) of the interior of a space ship, and a screenshot of a half-finished engine prop. And I don't have that money anymore because I got laid off from my last job.

While I agree plenty of indie games with retro graphics fail to focus on gameplay sufficiently, one SHOULD NOT simply say "HURRRR RETRO GRAPHICS IT'S PRETENTIOUS/LAME INDIE SHIT HURRRRRRRRR".

That's a good way to arouse my wrath, because I'm having difficulties making a goddamn pixel art game. I cannot draw. I'm a musician and game designer, not a graphic artist. And people in the visual arts tend to cost ludicrous amounts -- a quote I got for 4 walking animations of a single character was 200 dollars. That's PIXEL ART. US DOLLARS.

To put this into perspective, we may end up going to the MUCH HATED ultra-lofi 8x8 character sprites because at least we can actually MAKE THOSE.

And if our shitty graphics are just hurrrrrr retro indie hogwash hurrrrrrrr then why don't you stump up the fucking money to help us make better graphics, bucko? Don't talk nonsense about shit you don't know, or start paying the people who WISH they had more options.

ENRAGED,
--Cassy
avatar
Elmofongo: What was the first reason you left?
Life issues. I got sick, a wonderful person came into my life, I got a nice job, I met wonderful people, the forum just was too much time taken away from a life I mostly enjoyed. And when I wasn't enjoying it, I had more important things to worry about.
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
Elmofongo: What was the first reason you left?
avatar
GhostQlyph: Life issues. I got sick, a wonderful person came into my life, I got a nice job, I met wonderful people, the forum just was too much time taken away from a life I mostly enjoyed. And when I wasn't enjoying it, I had more important things to worry about.
You said you are a game designer? do you have a game here?

Also 1+ to your first statment, I admire your honsety.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by Elmofongo
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
GhostQlyph: And if our shitty graphics are just hurrrrrr retro indie hogwash hurrrrrrrr then why don't you stump up the fucking money to help us make better graphics, bucko? Don't talk nonsense about shit you don't know, or start paying the people who WISH they had more options.
I've got my own project going, and what I dread the most is reaching the point where I have to start commissioning assets. I'm developing the game on my own, but I am neither an artist nor a musician. I need somebody competent to handle those aspects for me. I don't have any quotes yet - I'm a long ways from that point - but I'm steeling myself for a beating.
Posted August 23, 2013
avatar
GhostQlyph: Life issues. I got sick, a wonderful person came into my life, I got a nice job, I met wonderful people, the forum just was too much time taken away from a life I mostly enjoyed. And when I wasn't enjoying it, I had more important things to worry about.
avatar
Elmofongo: You said you are a game designer? do you have a game here?

Also 1+ to your first statment, I admire your honsety.
No. I have no finished products on the market, for precisely the reasons in my first post. It's too much money and I also have a hard time finding artists who aren't going to take advantage of me being too poor to legally crack the whip if they fall behind. So I've lost about 1300 USD to college students who never intended to provide work over the past 2-4 years.
avatar
GhostQlyph: And if our shitty graphics are just hurrrrrr retro indie hogwash hurrrrrrrr then why don't you stump up the fucking money to help us make better graphics, bucko? Don't talk nonsense about shit you don't know, or start paying the people who WISH they had more options.
avatar
Mentalepsy: I've got my own project going, and what I dread the most is reaching the point where I have to start commissioning assets. I'm developing the game on my own, but I am neither an artist nor a musician. I need somebody competent to handle those aspects for me. I don't have any quotes yet - I'm a long ways from that point - but I'm steeling myself for a beating.
Steel yourself, mein Freund. Steel yourself, but remember this: the majority of freelancers you'll find are actually really quite decent people. YOU are the person they don't know begging them for stuff that you may not intend to ever pay.

I honestly don't blame the few decent freelancers I worked with (the college students who ripped me off were mostly the results of me asking folks about people they know) for their prices. And they were great people. But the -consumer- side of things is out of fucking hand. "retro=lazy" my ass. If you can't pay 400 dollars for one minor game asset yourself, then don't be surprised when other people decide it's too much for them, too. Especially when they're paying for 3 or 4 EXPENSIVE pieces of software already.

EDIT: OUT OF POCKET, TOO.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by GhostQlyph
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Retro is getting old.(131 posts)(131 posts)
(131 posts)