The greatest example of art shortcuts of all time: In Undertale, you can enter Alphys (Royal scientest)'s room, in which there is a random blue cube. Interacting with this cube gives you the following message (paraphrased I don't memorize dialogue thats wierd) "A genius invention." "When not in use, this bed folds into an incredibly easy-to-draw cube."
Super Mario Bros. is a timely classic that ran on a cartridge without enough memory, so it ended up having to save that space by reusing the cloud sprite for the bush sprite as well. There are some other parts of the game that are just reused assets as well, I believe.
the worst thing is how I always feel like I'm doing the bare minimum whenever I avoid one time consuming step like, yeah, my game has a kinda simple art style so not all my meshes have real UV maps because they're composed of flat colors and post processing outlines; but it still feels lazy every time I cut the smallest corner like, yeah, I'm one person; I don't need a dozen different combo variations for each weapon, and I certainly don't need aerial attacks and animations, and I definitely don't need smarter AI than a certain AAA company... but I fucking DO because otherwise I'm being lazy my AI knows how to work as a team and flank the player in melee combat and will actively try to surround you; why did I add this?! the only reason that comes to mind is cause not adding it would be cutting corners
When I make a model such as a tree or a rock, I change the angle of the rock and for the tree, they're all just duplicated, sometimes I'll make 3 different variants, just mix them up and rotate them, angle matters
to be fair, if you're making grass or pebbles that populate on the ground, that is way better for performance; rotating the pebble and changing the scale so it looks a bit different will save a lot of frames ... I have a dozen varieties of oak, that definitely wasn't worth the effort lmao
@@reaganeidemiller7132 when I first started out I never reused a model, now that I have some knowledge, it's funny to think about how I used to make every model one by one 😭
It would be kinda funny to make a game, or a section of a game, that just uses the basic geometric shapes and colors. Not sure if it'd be any good, but it'd be funny
I thought this was what you’re supposed to do? At least at first, like taking care of the coding of the game that actually makes it function and THEN working on the art? That’s what I’ve always been told.
...it wasn't until I read the words on top that I realized this was supposed to be 'bad' advice. Unironically, it's great advice... for prototyping and just starting out. Just do simple low-effort graphics, and a lot of prototyping. Keep trying and failing until you've got a game that genuinely feels fun to play, and then, work on the graphics. Placeholders exist for a reason, and it's okay to throw away what you need to. Putting a lot of effort into art before you even got the fundamentals of your game, will just mean you'd become too attached to all your work to scrap anything, and if you do bring yourself to throw stuff away, it'd a lot more work wasted after having put in so much effort on fancy drawings and animations.
Always remember that gimmick is a bad connotation, so always base your game off of Shantae Half Hero Genie, that succeeded, right? If you add a interesting or unique mechanic the consumer will think you're compensating for a game with bland mechanics.
You’ve reinvented the Flash Game.
Flash game were on average Bad
But the 30% best were far far FAR better than just a few blocks
The greatest example of art shortcuts of all time:
In Undertale, you can enter Alphys (Royal scientest)'s room, in which there is a random blue cube. Interacting with this cube gives you the following message (paraphrased I don't memorize dialogue thats wierd)
"A genius invention."
"When not in use, this bed folds into an incredibly easy-to-draw cube."
@@stray1239 ha ha. I love Easter Eggs like that. :)
Alphys probably uses it as a table because I doubt she even sleeps considering her "pets"
Simple geometric shapes work, but only if your game play and mechanics are unique enough to make up for the boring, placeholder looking art.
Thomas was alone
@@CharlesRichardsonYT youre not wrong though lmao
Super Mario Bros. is a timely classic that ran on a cartridge without enough memory, so it ended up having to save that space by reusing the cloud sprite for the bush sprite as well. There are some other parts of the game that are just reused assets as well, I believe.
I’m making a simple game on scratch and I’m trying to add details like the same enemies with different skins that have no differences
Behold: the Atari 2600 game library
Make it si that Sprites are only visible half the time
highest quality triple AAA game
i feel... called out here
i always do bare minimum at work
the worst thing is how I always feel like I'm doing the bare minimum whenever I avoid one time consuming step
like, yeah, my game has a kinda simple art style so not all my meshes have real UV maps because they're composed of flat colors and post processing outlines; but it still feels lazy every time I cut the smallest corner
like, yeah, I'm one person; I don't need a dozen different combo variations for each weapon, and I certainly don't need aerial attacks and animations, and I definitely don't need smarter AI than a certain AAA company... but I fucking DO because otherwise I'm being lazy
my AI knows how to work as a team and flank the player in melee combat and will actively try to surround you; why did I add this?! the only reason that comes to mind is cause not adding it would be cutting corners
Ok, but having enemies that can actively flank you instead of zerg rushing sounds awesome
Atari agrees with you
When I make a model such as a tree or a rock, I change the angle of the rock and for the tree, they're all just duplicated, sometimes I'll make 3 different variants, just mix them up and rotate them, angle matters
@@s9e6dy1 yeah it doesn't take much to create variety, which make it worse when there isn't any. It's so simple. :)
to be fair, if you're making grass or pebbles that populate on the ground, that is way better for performance; rotating the pebble and changing the scale so it looks a bit different will save a lot of frames
... I have a dozen varieties of oak, that definitely wasn't worth the effort lmao
@@reaganeidemiller7132 when I first started out I never reused a model, now that I have some knowledge, it's funny to think about how I used to make every model one by one 😭
@user-nc2rc2ih8s the real trick is learning how to make models you can get some mileage out of
This reminds me of 'Open World Game the Open World Game'
Those are some precious tips
It would be kinda funny to make a game, or a section of a game, that just uses the basic geometric shapes and colors.
Not sure if it'd be any good, but it'd be funny
Bubsy 3D
Well duh, obviously this works. Why would people ever want to look at something nice?
@@That-KidDo got me. ;)
@@Artindi I feel like that’s the problem with your game design videos, they’re too basic. Like of course I’m not gonna draw multiple trees?
I'm just saying if the game is fun and engaging with minimalistic graphics it's ready for an artist.
I thought this was what you’re supposed to do? At least at first, like taking care of the coding of the game that actually makes it function and THEN working on the art? That’s what I’ve always been told.
@@MadiCarl nah. Do it the other way. ;)
sometimes yes; but if you're working with 3D half the mechanic needs to be designed to play nice with the art, which is a huge pain
...it wasn't until I read the words on top that I realized this was supposed to be 'bad' advice. Unironically, it's great advice... for prototyping and just starting out.
Just do simple low-effort graphics, and a lot of prototyping. Keep trying and failing until you've got a game that genuinely feels fun to play, and then, work on the graphics.
Placeholders exist for a reason, and it's okay to throw away what you need to. Putting a lot of effort into art before you even got the fundamentals of your game, will just mean you'd become too attached to all your work to scrap anything, and if you do bring yourself to throw stuff away, it'd a lot more work wasted after having put in so much effort on fancy drawings and animations.
👾
i know you saw the freakbait video.
@moonlightpanther9501 Uhhh LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE
@@raizdor9158 i saw it too
@@raizdor9158 *liar
@@moonlightpanther9501 thanks XD
I mean for testing its good tho I think just don't release it like that
Don't tell me what to do
Always remember that gimmick is a bad connotation, so always base your game off of Shantae Half Hero Genie, that succeeded, right? If you add a interesting or unique mechanic the consumer will think you're compensating for a game with bland mechanics.