Graphical and Interactive Methods for Computer Games

原文地址：http://www.gamesconference.org/digra2003/2003/index.php?Abstracts/Masuch

Maic Masuch
Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg
Department of Simulation and Graphics
[email protected]

Graphical and Interactive Methods for Computer Games
Game Graphics Beyond Realism: Then, Now and Tomorrow

What makes a game interesting and fun to play? This is probably one of the most difficult questions to answer in the field of game development. From the gamers' point of view great graphics does not necessarily comes along with a great gaming experience. The time when astonishing graphics alone could sell a game is probably over. Due to constantly evolving graphics hardware, new visual effects are possible which more and more increase visual realism and immersion. Most games try to simulate the visual impression of reality as closely as possible. But this realism stretches only to a certain degree. In games we want to see heroes with superior abilities and hence, we are able to bend the laws of physics to fit the needs of the story. Why not also break the laws of graphical realism in order to enhance the visual experience? This paper encourages the use of alternative, more artistic rendering styles, such as non-photorealistic rendering. Some games already make use of a cartoon style rendering, but so far no other non-photorealistic rendering techniques have been adopted. These methods can be used for artistic purposes to capture the style of other media (e.g. comics), and to assist in storytelling by changing the style used throughout the game (e.g. to evoke emotions or establish moods). Thus these techniques carry the potential to move the design focus from pure graphics to game design and fun while playing.
The paper is outlined as follows: First it surveys the broad variety of graphical styles used in games and presents an overview of different visual perspectives. Modern games have departed from their primitive graphical roots and much too often, players notice that the game developer had put more emphasis on neat rendering techniques than on innovative game ideas. This will be shown by a historical comparison of the relation between gameplay and game graphics. Strictly speaking, no game developed so far can truly be called "photorealistic", but many games try to achieve "photorealism". Then we discuss the use of visual realism introducing the use of non-photorealistic graphics and its existing techniques applied in games. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible graphical styles in future games.

About the Author:
Maic Masuch, (*1966) PhD in computer animation, graduated at University of Magdeburg, Germany. There, he holds Germany's first professor for computer games at the faculty of computer science. He has been teaching computer game programming for five years (Lectures on real-time graphics, design, programming and development of computer games). Research focus lies on innovative UI and graphics for games, especially non-photorealistic rendering techniques. He is working as a game consultant for game development companies and supervised a number of game-related student projects. In addition, Prof. Masuch is co-founder of Impara, a spin-off-edutainment-company that currently is developing its first gaming title.