Would you play a game that looked like this..

[ultimar235]

Me and a friend are planning on making a game that's almost certainly just going to be free to play. We lack graphic artists so I came up with a style which was easy to make yet I thought effective to compensate.

Graphics seem real important in todays gaming. Countless threads on Skyrim forums for example of people QQing over slightest things so it does worry me that no one will play our game if it ain't shiny.

Anyway without telling you what the game is about here is a mock up shot with few images in. The background will likely not look that plain. Would you play a game that looked like this: http://imageshack.us/f/220/concept7th.png/

EDIT: modified slightly, made it slightly less blocky and created small animation:


Added additional 'concept' with random background from battlefield: http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5828/concept3.png

[Pfeff]

Maybe in 1992

[F4ulty]

Not really a fan of shooters, let alone sidescrolling shooters, but the graphics look fine. Sorta. Maybe.

Ok, tired of trying to convince myself to be polite, those sprites are pretty damn ugly in the head area.

That aside, they look a bit large for the game screen. Seems it would be difficult to dodge bullets?

I have no idea how your game plays, but you did come asking for opinions.

[hayharut]

id play any game if it were fun, dont rlly care about graphics

[Blood Crusade]

Never in life.

[skatblast]

Probably not. Never been a fan of internet mini-games

[Eace]

I don't really care for graphics, so yes, I would play that. There are worse looking games out there, and even they are very much enjoyable, because it's the story/idea/gameplay that counts. (E.g. Pokémon RBY; HORRIBLE graphics, yet the games are epic.)

[The King in Yellow]

Way better than that shooter! :P

[Gingerhunter247]

Not really my style of game, but that doesn't mean it is bad. It has a nice oldschool rpg style to it that I like, I'm just not a fan of sidescrolling shooters.

[jackofwind]

to be perfectly honest, those look like crap, and i wouldn't sit staring into my toilet bowl if i wanted to be entertained

[Queen0fCups]

Hey, I play Kingdom of Loathing, and that just has doodles. I'd play this if the writing/mechanics were fun. People love Minecraft after all and it's graphics are a throwback.

[ultimar235]

Not really a fan of shooters, let alone sidescrolling shooters, but the graphics look fine. Sorta. Maybe.

Ok, tired of trying to convince myself to be polite, those sprites are pretty damn ugly in the head area.

That aside, they look a bit large for the game screen. Seems it would be difficult to dodge bullets?

I have no idea how your game plays, but you did come asking for opinions.

Yeah it's not quite to scale, it's just a mock up of sprites i made around the 64x64 size. I just made the scene in me art program then zoomed in and took and screeny. I don't mind if people be honest though, be as brutal as you want!

[ThisWillNotStand]

+5 Internets for allowing use of the P90.

As for playing it, sure, on those Flash game websites like Miniclip and FreeArcade. Hell, I know I still love to have a go at Heli Attack 2 and Space Slalom every now and then, as long as a game is fun people will play it.

Look at Farmville, Runescape and Limbo lmfao.

[General Vezax]

Might as well make a flash game if its going to look like that.

[Rec]

No, instead of trying to define the limbs so much, maybe make the characters more lego-like or rectangular. The heads look creepy.

[Edge-]

Honestly, no. It has that samesey "I just made a flash game that is about as engaging and interesting as watching a printer print out documents" look. Not saying anything about your game (of which I know nothing), but if you're going to be making one, you NEED to have some kind of art style to go with. The graphics don't have to be spectacular, but they have to be interesting or unique. So, if possible, try and make friends with some artists or something (do them a few favors so they owe you, that's one of the best ways to get things when you need them) and hit them up for some low budget, quick and dirty art.

Look to some of the indie games that have been big hits and look at the art styles they go with, think like that. Bastion, Limbo or Minecraft (to mention some of the recent big titles) don't have graphics worth a shit, but they look damn good because of the art style. That being said, you would need to shell out some cash for graphics of that quality (well, maybe not Minecraft quality necessarily), but those are some example of games that I think look spectacular without having high pixel count or fancy graphic effects.

[Deleted]

Honestly, no.. I mainly play single player games for the atmosphere and story and that needs good graphics and good, strong art style as well as music and/or voice acting.

But then again, I wouldn't play Minecraft either and it seems to be popular enough without me playing it so I wouldn't really know about the success of that game.

[Digglett]

Not my thing. Not a graphics person, but it just has no appeal to me.

[ultimar235]

Thanks for all the input. Problem I have is i'm not an artist and I find it very difficult to make things look 3D. So I tried to pick this flat 'style' with a bit of detail. They're based on stick men I used to draw in paint many moons ago. The heads are a real problem. I'm not sure how to make them look ok since the sprites head is 15x10 pixels so there isn't much room to work with unless I increase the sprite size. The head is probably a big deal in order to make them seem more appealing.

I have an alternate 'style' which takes the same time to create. I basically draw a big picture of for example a skeleton then I shrink it to make it look all pixel arty and touch it up. Perhaps this style has a bit more soul:

[Dakia]

If it is fun, I'll play anything. Graphics are nice and all, but they aren't the sole measure of a game's worth.

Heck, I still load up Civilization 2 and Settlers 2 from time to time.