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"Graphics Vs Gameplay"

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Sat 23/03/02 at 13:24
Regular
Posts: 787
For a long time now people have been going on about the argument between Graphics and gameplay and which one they thought was best.

I have always thought that the graphics in games need to be reasonable but as long as the gameplay was excellent. A few games spring to mind when i think off amazing games with the gameplay that every games maker tries to recreate when they make a new game.
two examples of gameplay over graphics are in the mobile phone game SNAKE and that old game Pong

Snake - everyone has had at least one go on this game, the graphics are probly the most limited you will have ever seen with you controlling a black bar which is representing the snake and you have to control the snake collecting bits of food, anyways the game is one of the most addictive games you will ever play. You will forever be trying to beat your top score or even your friends score's to make them jealous :-).

Pong - Now this game is one of the oldest and greatest games i remember playing, you have two bars on either side and it plays like tennis, you hitting a little white ball across the screen and either the computer or your friend trying to hit it back. once again this game has very limited graphics but the gameplay is endless, you can hardly ever get bored of playing this game.

But times change, games creator's can not get away with splashing a blob of blue on the screen and then saying "this is the sea" they have to actually show the waves going up and down with boats on there and the boats have to have people in or other wise it wont be very realistic...

... But developers who have took too much notice to the graphical side of the game and have virtually forgotten to add the game play in, a good example of a game with good graphics but non exsistant gameplay is:

The bouncer: high hopes were pinned on this game from the makers of final fantasy series, the screen shots were absolutely amazing they were simple photo realistic, but for some strange reason the developers wouldn't let games tester play it. It soon turned out that this game had game play that was put simply really bad, so even though the graphics were good this game turned into a failure.

Some developers though have added great gameplay and great graphics into the same game and also made it addictive, a game that stands out is:

Grand theft Auto III - The possibilitys are endless in this game and you can do every thing you want in it and the stuff you have to do will last this game until the next version comes out, the makers (rockstar) have really made this game a must have and they are a perfect example of adding good gameplay and graphics together.

Lets look into the future for a minute though, a few games seem to stick out for different reasons:

The getaway - it has been in creation for about three years now it has the best in game graphics i have ever seen but in my opinion they are doing what happened to the bouncer, showing loads of decent pictures of this "amazing" game but not letting any one have a quick play on the game

Deus Ex - this game has nearly been completed for the PS2 but the good thing is it has already been on the PC so people seem to know what to expect, this could become one of the greatest games of all time if they manage to port it successfully, the mix of amazing graphics and intelligent gameplay is exactly what the player wants. He wants a choice of how to complete a mission and not just "found key, put in door" which we all know about at the moment.

SO what do developers need to learn for the future? It doesn't need to have every grain of sand realistically added to a game to make it good, just add some nice graphics and good gameplay and they will be onto a winner.

What do you think? graphics or gameplay?
Sat 23/03/02 at 13:31
Regular
Posts: 23,218
i have posted it here and in the PS2 forum, you got a problem with that?
Sat 23/03/02 at 13:28
Regular
"Hmmm....."
Posts: 12,243
right,
iv seen this posted about 3 times now,
i really dont see the point

if its a gad attempt then the SR staff will look at it no matter what forum its in.

they look at everything so they will more than likely look at this.

it will put them off awarding you with a gad if you post it a dozen times to get it noticed
Sat 23/03/02 at 13:27
Regular
Posts: 5,630
Gameplay - I think the Bouncer encapsulates my argument. While it had great graphics, without gameplay it was nothing. However, a game can have rubbish graphics and still be good because its got gameplay. Simple as that.
Sat 23/03/02 at 13:24
Regular
Posts: 23,218
For a long time now people have been going on about the argument between Graphics and gameplay and which one they thought was best.

I have always thought that the graphics in games need to be reasonable but as long as the gameplay was excellent. A few games spring to mind when i think off amazing games with the gameplay that every games maker tries to recreate when they make a new game.
two examples of gameplay over graphics are in the mobile phone game SNAKE and that old game Pong

Snake - everyone has had at least one go on this game, the graphics are probly the most limited you will have ever seen with you controlling a black bar which is representing the snake and you have to control the snake collecting bits of food, anyways the game is one of the most addictive games you will ever play. You will forever be trying to beat your top score or even your friends score's to make them jealous :-).

Pong - Now this game is one of the oldest and greatest games i remember playing, you have two bars on either side and it plays like tennis, you hitting a little white ball across the screen and either the computer or your friend trying to hit it back. once again this game has very limited graphics but the gameplay is endless, you can hardly ever get bored of playing this game.

But times change, games creator's can not get away with splashing a blob of blue on the screen and then saying "this is the sea" they have to actually show the waves going up and down with boats on there and the boats have to have people in or other wise it wont be very realistic...

... But developers who have took too much notice to the graphical side of the game and have virtually forgotten to add the game play in, a good example of a game with good graphics but non exsistant gameplay is:

The bouncer: high hopes were pinned on this game from the makers of final fantasy series, the screen shots were absolutely amazing they were simple photo realistic, but for some strange reason the developers wouldn't let games tester play it. It soon turned out that this game had game play that was put simply really bad, so even though the graphics were good this game turned into a failure.

Some developers though have added great gameplay and great graphics into the same game and also made it addictive, a game that stands out is:

Grand theft Auto III - The possibilitys are endless in this game and you can do every thing you want in it and the stuff you have to do will last this game until the next version comes out, the makers (rockstar) have really made this game a must have and they are a perfect example of adding good gameplay and graphics together.

Lets look into the future for a minute though, a few games seem to stick out for different reasons:

The getaway - it has been in creation for about three years now it has the best in game graphics i have ever seen but in my opinion they are doing what happened to the bouncer, showing loads of decent pictures of this "amazing" game but not letting any one have a quick play on the game

Deus Ex - this game has nearly been completed for the PS2 but the good thing is it has already been on the PC so people seem to know what to expect, this could become one of the greatest games of all time if they manage to port it successfully, the mix of amazing graphics and intelligent gameplay is exactly what the player wants. He wants a choice of how to complete a mission and not just "found key, put in door" which we all know about at the moment.

SO what do developers need to learn for the future? It doesn't need to have every grain of sand realistically added to a game to make it good, just add some nice graphics and good gameplay and they will be onto a winner.

What do you think? graphics or gameplay?

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