Tools and Glue: The Basics of Game Graphics
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The document discusses the basics of game graphics and how developers manage to create visually rich mobile games within strict constraints of size and performance. It highlights the evolution of graphic design from early limitations to today's technologies while emphasizing the importance of tools and collaboration in game development. The author, a veteran in digital entertainment, shares insights into the technical processes behind engaging game graphics.
Tools and Glue: The Basics of Game Graphics
- 1. TOOLS&GLUETHE BASICS OF GAME GRAPHICS
- 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL WILSON @STOPWILSON | WWW.PONYWOLF.COM PRESENTED BY
- 3. OVERVIEW Tools and Glue covers the nuts and bolts of how graphics get prepared for games and how developers pack so many visuals into the tiny footprint of mobile games through level design and the thought process behind graphic pipelines and organization. Simply said, how do we design through device limitations and open a graphically rich world so large it can capture our imaginations, yet so small that it fits into our pocket?
- 4. WHO THE ______ARE YOU? I am a seasoned technologist and entrepreneur with experience in every aspect of the digital entertainment, software and advertising industries. With over 15 years of software development leadership in retail software and enterprise web development, my teams have deployed code for many fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble, IBM and Electronic Arts. Projects under my direct technical lead have won many awards including a Webby, selection as an Independent Games Festival Finalist and the coveted Cannes Gold Cyber Lion.
- 7. GAMES?
- 8. A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAME GRAPHIC DESIGN
- 9. EARLY COMPUTERS HAD LITTLE TO NO RAM MEMORY TO STORE GRAPHICS
- 10. SpaceWarforDOS
- 11. WHEN WE FINALLY GOT GRAPHIC STORAGE, IT WAS (AND SOMETIMES STILL IS) SHARED
- 13. EARLY DESIGNERS HAD SEVERE STORAGE LIMITS AND HAD TO GET CREATIVE
- 16. EARLY PROGRAMMERS ALSO HAD LIMITS AND HAD TO GET EQUALLY CREATIVE
- 17. +
- 19. THIS TECHNIQUE CALLED TILE MAPPING IS ALIVE AND WELL, EVEN TODAY (EVEN IF WE’VE LOST THE GRID…)
- 21. BUT EVERYTHING IS BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER TODAY SO, WHY DO ANY OF THIS?
- 23. THINGS ARE BETTER TODAY, BUT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE LIMITS (AND THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD THING…)
- 24. . . . . . . . . . . . . LIMITATIONS DESIGNING WITH
- 25. SIZE&SPEEDRELATED, BUT NOT EQUAL
- 26. SIZE&SPEED • Download • Loading time • Storage • …? • Responsiveness • “Feel” • Fluidity • …?
- 28. 60FPS = 0.0167SECONDS PER FRAME 60 UPDATES EVERY SECOND
- 29. CLASSIC GRAPHICS FRAME BUFFER 320PX * 200PX * 4-BITS = 32K
- 30. THE MODERN GRAPHICS PIPELINE
- 33. THE MODERN GRAPHICS PIPELINE 1TB 16GB 2GB
- 34. THE MODERN GRAPHICS PIPELINE 16GB 1GB 24MB
- 35. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, VIDEO MEMORY IS UNCOMPRESSED AND HAS SIZE RESTRAINTS
- 36. TEXTURE RESTRAINTS POWER OF 2, AND SQUARE • 128X128 • 256X256 • 512X512 • 1024X1024
- 38. NOW WE’VE SET OUR CONSTRAINTS, HOW DO WE DESIGN AROUND THEM?
- 39. . . . . . . . . . . . . TOOLS&GLUE THE RIGHT
- 40. WE HAVE THREE MAIN TYPES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN IN OUR GAMES.
- 42. EACH HAS A TOOL AND SOME GLUE THAT HOLDS THEM TOGETHER
- 43. TILED (FREE AND OPEN) IS OUR COMPOSITION TOOL
- 45. TILEDWRAPPER (CUSTOM SOFTWARE BY PONYWOLF) IS THE GLUE THAT INTEGRATES THESE MAPS INTO OUR ENGINES
- 46. Corona SDK
- 47. THAT’S COOL, BUT HOW TO I GET GRAPHICS INTO THESE TOOLS?
- 48. . . . . . . . . . . . . BACKGROUNDS DESIGNING
- 58. . . . . . . . . . . . . FOREGROUNDS DESIGNING
- 63. . . . . . . . . . . . . CHARACTERS DESIGNING
- 69. . . . . . . . . . . . . TOGETHER BRINGING IT ALL
- 70. THINK OF GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR GAMES AS BUILDING A SERIES REUSABLE MODULES
- 71. THESE MODULES DEFINE THE VISUAL STYLE
- 73. THEN, PROGRAMMERS ADD INTERACTIVITY TO THOSE MODULES
- 75. FINALLY, LEVEL AND GAME DESIGNERS ORGANIZE THOSE MODULES INTO SOMETHING FUN AND COMPELLING
- 77. PLAY IT, LOVE IT, HATE IT, SCREAM, SHOUT, COMPROMISE, RE-CODE, RE-DRAW, SCRAP IT, SALVAGE IT. THEN REPEAT.
- 78. . . . . . . . . . . . . QUESTIONS? GOT ANY