Many people get stuck when it comes to deciding the best visual style for a game. What types of designs are there in general? Where can you find such an example? Which one fits your project best while emphasizing its core and purpose?
In-game 3D animation has become increasingly advanced in recent years as technology and various programs have evolved. 3D animation captures the player’s interest and imagination with a variety of shapes and colors, as well as realistic shapes. 3D animation has penetrated various aspects of our lives and pushed the boundaries of reality.
Game artists use special tools to handle three-dimensional objects and virtual environments to produce spectacular 3D animations.
The lack of a comprehensive and globally accepted taxonomy of 3D visual styles is the reason why unintentional plagiarism is a common pitfall for game developers. They imitated the style of the game already released, more or less successful in a comparable genre to those intended for future productions. That’s why there are so many games that are similar to each other on the market.
Every game has an identity, and the visual aspect is the only way to represent that identity and vital nature. If you copy all this, even with good intentions, you will lose: your game will be second, and no one will remember it. The UI, settings, characters, and even the loading screen are important aspects that set your game apart.
We can highlight for you some of the most prominent 3D game art styles, tell you about their applications and show you examples.
Realism
The purpose of realistic style is to bring the images as similar to how our reality looks as possible. Nearly all AAA game productions use this method to release their games. Locations, eras, and genres may all be anything. An example is a modern flying simulator, a World War II shooter, or a plan to restore and revitalize Rome’s economy by Daytime.
Realism is essential for immersing players in the scene and removing questions about the truth of what is happening around them. It may be a racing simulator, for example. Realism is prominent in horror and survival games, as it is vital to establish a sense of fear while simultaneously allowing characters to rack their brains.
Fantasy Realism
If not for its enormous popularity and actual independence, this 3D art style does not need to split from the preceding one. Consider Cyberpunk 2077, an action game/RPG from a Polish publisher that fans have been anticipating for almost eight years. Fantasy realism encompasses all fantasy, steampunk, and sci-fi scenarios that appear highly realistic but are not feasible in real life. At least for the time being.
Adventure shooters, missions, and action/RPGs are 3D games blended with realistic yet surreal environments. This direction has a lot of freedom for boundless creativity and attachment to real life, which helps it maintain the player’s attention and keep it new and exciting.
Low Poly
This appealing style has been popular for several years. It is a low poly picture that appears to be a bunch of triangles on the surface. Because each piece of the illustration is distinct and carefully made, this style is defined by a high labor intensity. Anti-aliasing is rarely used in low poly models. That is, each polygon can be seen. There is no usage of texture. Each polygon is colored differently.
Model shapes and materials, as well as stage lighting, are the emphasis of low poly art. This style’s name does not imply that the artwork has a small number of polygons. The number of polygons in such works frequently exceeds one million. Low poly art should not be confused with the idea of low poly, which refers to low poly models derived from high poly to reduce polygon budget.
This style is rarely seen in its purest form in the game. Other styles are routinely combined or altered by developers. Artists improvise and frequently create visually beautiful combinations. The complexity of the model varies. The model’s minimalism and purity, though, triumph. The genres might be anything from shooter to strategic. When the plot or riddles are the primary focus and graphics are secondary, this style is used.
Hand Painting
Freehand texture painting distinguishes this technique. All of the shadows, highlights, and minor details are drawn on a texture without using geometry. You may believe that this method is no longer relevant. But just remembering foundations like Dota and Warcraft raises the importance of style to a whole new level.
This aesthetic is most commonly seen in fantasy and strategy games such as Rise of Industry. Bright enough to immerse players in the world while remaining light enough not to overburden the hardware. Hand-painted techniques, which are frequently blended with other directions, can bias comics, cartoons, or even realism.
Cartoon
This 3D art style, often known as casual, consists primarily of low poly and hand-painted alternatives. Textures for such visuals are occasionally drawn by hand, while other times it not used at all. Colorfulness, relative simplicity, accentuated accents, and non-standard proportions are distinguishing qualities. Each writer has a unique style, which adds fresh elements to this art direction. The border between styles is fairly faint here, but it can be captured if needed.
Some of the most prominent sub-styles can be distinguished here. A voxel style is a kind of pixel art in 3D, made up of voxels – three-dimensional cubes of the same color. The plasticine style makes the game world look like the classic Soviet cartoon Plasticine Crow or Last year’s Snow Fall. And in the LittleBigPlanet game series, the emphasis is on model textures: cardboard, wood, fabric, and more.
The most typical applications for this design are basic casual games, puzzles, and children’s games. The simple, clean, and colorful graphics are appealing, and the lack of the necessity to adhere to actual standards allows the game to move more quickly.
