Do Special Effects Make A Difference?

@LllusionX:Proud Commander of the Sony Attack Force Helghan!: the alone in the dark gets sooo much flack and I can sort of see why, but honestly the first half hour alone had more interesting creative gameplay than most games these days. I really wish more people supported that. Also I had a blast for the first hour, and then the driving level sort of put me off... and I didn't have the time to go back and relearn the controls and twiddle with concoctions in action sequences..

well, battlefield doesnt have blood, and i dont think it makes a difference (after someone modded blood into it) on the fun factor. but thats just one example, im sure pokemon games would be aweful without effects./

@Alternate: I respectfully disagree. I think they showed just enough of the creature to not overdo it.

@BxB402: Man, I LOVE that movie!! It's one of my all time favorites..period. Coincidentally I just recently watched it with the commentary on for the first time. Kurt Russel and John Carpenter really kept me entertained. So I recommend it to any fan.

@jakster4u: Most people do the same thing over and over in their job. It's not like the hundredth kid a firefighter pulls out of a burning building is any less important than the first one.

dd528

@RagingBull: Plus, sometimes it results in Silent Hill, so it's not all bad.

dd528

So.. he does the same thing over and over? You want fog theirs your fog, you want lighting theirs your lighting. It's not like he's doing it from scratch on every new engine.

jakster4u

@spannu: I spent an awful lot of time with that realtime demo of the Killzone 2 commercial from the PS store. If you haven't checked it out, it is awesome. you can switch in realtime between no effects, spec maps, normal maps, depth maps, lighting maps and all kinds of other stuff. All in realtime.

Damn this game looks sick.

NoahSteam

Bayonetta is a horrible game to showcase special effects or anything positive about gaming. I saw it at E3 and the only reason I didn't walk out of the demo was because it would have been rude.

yea special effects are important

what would super mario galaxy have been like without any?

kilikafinal

@Alpengeist: Metal Gear Solid 2, for me. Standing on the deck of the ship and watching the rain pour down on everything was just aweinspiring.

Great particles in that game.

@LllusionX:Proud Commander of the Sony Attack Force Helghan!:
I'm assuming you're not talking about real-time volumetrics? That stuff is retardedly CPU intensive...

when i got my first xbox 360 and popped in ninja gaiden 2. i was amazed at the details and it's hd gloriousness. my mom had asked me was that a movie, i said no mom that's a VIDEO GAME. best moment ever.

@RagingBull: The fog is one of the most common optimization techniques. It's there to reduce the number of objects you need to draw each frame. If they are covered by the fog, you can't see them so you don't need to draw them, which means you can now instead have more detailed characters or environment or special effects or better AI...

Narishma

@spannu: Multiple sky fairies be praised the day that happens.

Rajolae

@Alpengeist: I like the tekken 6 approach - get the models, levels and basics up to 60fps, then add as many appropriate effects as possible without affecting gameplay via framerate.

@WonkersWatilla: Particle effects are important for MMOs. How do you know who is LEET without their glowy swords?

@Alternate:

It wouldn't have become of the best known BODY HORROR films of all time if they didn't show the creature. You can't subvert the idea of 'the other' without featuring heavily how the creature denegrates those it attacks.

Sorry, I'll take my film analysis hat off now :)

mikeck is too orangey for crows

@nkxjakfhda: Consoles already generally play games at 720p, anything below that is nigh unplayable on a display larger than 30".

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: I agree to a certain extent, actually. Though I'm not bothered by the effects due to gameplay reasons as much as I think a lot of games nowadays, especially the arcade-style ones (and especially ESPECIALLY the Japanese ones) just go overboard with the flashy colorful magic bubble effects on everything.
Bayonetta works as a fine example. It doesn't really make any sense to me that her legs splurt some kind of red pixiedust when she kicks, or that she starts glowing purple when she gets serious. I'm definitely not a realism-freak, but I think a lot more could be done with sheer motion blur and distortion effects. Would make it look more like a reality-bending kind of action film. The glowy sparkly effects were done in movies back when computer graphics were new and cool, I'd like to see video games steering away from that kind of aesthetic a bit as well.

Kyuu

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!:
Absolutely agree.

Sadface.gif

@Jorw: Yes, I'm a attention whore, I really love those effects so much, but I can't look like everybody else can I!

One gameplay video looked foggy, green, and shitty. The other looked clear, smooth, and fun to play. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I'm doing something for the sake of being a prick, dick. Fuck you.

@LllusionX:Proud Commander of the Sony Attack Force Helghan!: I generally wouldn't mind, but I'm not shunning special effects in games. It just jumped out in front of me in this particular example, that the effectless version looked better to me more then the one with effects did, that looked like something I crapped in.

But I love some effects just as much as the next guy, like the falling pedals or magic animations in Tales of Vesperia.

@Alpengeist: That happened when I first saw an HD game for me. I was just blown away by the clean and detailed graphics.

hanulbada

WTH!? Kudo works for platinum games too!?

Have you ever wondered what the bottom of Bayonetta's boot looks like? Revolver BAM!!

@blkpaladin: The idea of which is more important to the success of a game truly depends on what type of game you're making. For example, if you're making a horror game, chances are that the music might play a tighter role and might be up to #2, and gameplay mechanics might go down to #3 as horror games need a great interface to work well, like with dead space for example. it's interface was perfect. it may not have had the best mechanics ever, but the game definitely had the audio on it's side and the interface for things to make it a exceptional horror experience.

The videos of the article were a great help for comparison. Special effects are something you don't realize are missing until there gone. It's a nice little bit that makes the game pop, they would seem lackluster without them.

DocBacca

@billysan: Most game's fire effects sucked ass. the only one that didnt was alone in the dark, and that's because the game itself sucked ass.

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: Yeah, I prefer the one on the left as well, I can actually see things in that screenshot.

Comban will Ban you.

So he's the dick who's adding fog to all the game's draw distance...

RagingBull

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: But things like that what what, in most cases, make it more fun! Without the eye candy in the game, knowing that it "couldve" been there, it may make you not want to watch it anymore, and in not watching, you're not playing either.

and just because the field looks cleaner, it doesnt mean that it wouldve been a hinderance had the effects been there, or it wouldve been a design flaw. games with effects are designed to work along with the gameplay to create an "entertaining experience" as opposed to just a "game".

@spannu: it adds to the mood. it being cleaner and clearer to see isnt exactly a good thing. without the effects, there are no bullets, no proof that anybody's made contact with anybody, and when she summons a hair demon, or something like that foot, there is no portal of which symbols, etc, to signify that it came from somewhere, it's just a big ol' foot that appears out of nowhere, and then, has no proof that it hit something.

i think the developers these days should decrease the display resolution but focus more on physics, motion, camera work, solid 60fps and gameplay.
also, tv makers should reproduce 480p displays for
the dvd and wii. i read the smaller pixels, the easier
to manufacture.

nkxjakfhda

@WonkersWatilla: Is something like volumetric smoke considered a particle effect? because if it isnt, then game developers need to look more into that, as volumetric smoke an explosions look really great, and can even pose as a game enhancing weapon at times. (see:killzone 2)

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: Uh no, it looked damn bland. I love me some flashy effects.

You people are just saying that because you want to be "different." If bending light and screen filters distract you, you have problems. The effects come WITH the attacks; it's not like you can't see them coming. Whether you want to admit it or not, these fancy graphical effects make the combat MUCH more satisfying.

@BxB402: Actually, when I first watched the movie I was hoping they had pulled it off without effects. I think the movie could have been a lot more frightening and suspenseful if they didnt cop out by showing the monster.

Alternate

@R0CKFISH: Important? Yes. Essential? Not really.

GeluAnimus

@blkpaladin: Very interesting.

Heres my ranks then:
1-Gameplay mechanics
2-User Interface
3-Music
4-Graphics

What is actually important to note, is that we could actually subdivide the categories in other categories Like:

Music ranks:
1-composition(music itself, creativity)
2-Sound quality (no need to explain)
3-Story matching(how well it suits the game)

And I could break down composition but that would be too much

GeluAnimus

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: I just realized. That's what made previous source games so good.

HL2: Very light on the special effects (water reflections, HDR lighting)
TF2: HDR, Jaratee (No smoke)
Counter Strike: Smoke grenades, dark places. (Not the ridiculous levels of effects in CoD WaW)

@Alpengeist: What's with the weird red border around some of the comments?

@SG79: Then there are other issues like added specular maps, new lights, depth of field in-game etc. Those are called "effects" as well.

This. "Effects" covers so many basic things that we take for granted. Technically speaking, any adjustment to the lens of a camera is an in-camera "effect." Special effects aren't always big explosions and fancy lighting. In fact, more often than not they're mundane things you don't focus on.

Sir-Lucius has no pictchar!

Sure it's important, specially in today's standards.

P.S : Piss off Micheal Bay!

@Mikolai: Oh, I don't mean to double post like this but I forgot to mention that while the one with no effects may seem clean, it would be like playing Marvel vs Capcom without all the glorified special effects.

The special effects, in my opinion, did put a bit of depth into the gameplay, like where the giant fist and high heeled foot came from, and also to make you feel and experience that "special mode" that she was in when she was doing one of her combos.

Mikolai

I'm interested in seeing the special effects that accompanied Hideki Kamiya when he's taking damage during his conversation with Kudo.

I mean, what could possibly make Kudo fall silent after seeing his boss imitate the expressions of a tall, tight-suited woman taking damage?

Mikolai

Graphics are imporant but they are not the end all. Special effects are simular to enviromental sounds it helps to set the mood.

But game play is the second most important part of any game. If you think about if a game has a flaw what would empasis the flaw. Flaws in graphics run the spectrum with the most common framerate problems. But if the gameplay is excellent framerate problems are only a minor nuscant. But if their is a problem with the gameplay it can make a game completely unplayable or majorally annoying that players will not consider it a great game. For example sonic the hedgehog for the 360/PS3, great graphics horrid gameplay and user interface.

If I had to rank the component of a game in how they would tank a game it would look this.

1)User Interface (Camera Control, Inventory Controls, Control settings)
2)Gameplay Mechanics (Flow of the Game, How well the various type of action fits together, pacing)
3)Graphics (Frame Rate, Colors, Effects)
4)Music (Ambience, ect)

Before studing game creation I would of spilt most of what constitutes User Interface between Gameplay and Graphics. UI contain everything on how the game is presented and a good UI is invisible (or nearly so).

Well Okami had interesting special effects when it came to the whole enviroment looking like a moving water color painting.

The Wii port had like a vivid shine look to the game, but didn't look as good as the PS2 version.

As a developer for a game ( [www.apathbeyond.com] ) that is currently redoing the majority of special effects in our game, I can definitely say it makes a huge difference.

Obviously special effects are essential to video games.

@billysan:

Fire is probably one of the hardest effects to created realtime. Few games got it right, and incidentally, they all came from Capcom. RE4 and Onimusha 3 stand out, and their recent titles pretty much used the same assets.

@ctorrans: would you not say that a fiery/smokey trail of a projectile is unnatural? The use of dust/smoke clouds relating an object's path seems ascetically important.

@nuri2fast:

You'd have a point if Sigma 2 was in fact void of blood, and didn't other effects to compensate for the showers of blood that had many nasty texture detection issues.

Then there are other issues like added specular maps, new lights, depth of field in-game etc. Those are called "effects" as well.

If anyone had any doubts, the vids here speak for themselves.

Action games in particular depend on a variety of effects to make the game look good.

Man MGS4's fire effects sucked ass...

billysan

@ctorrans: Mario Galaxy still has its share of special effects, though they may not be as obvious as copious bloodsprays.

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: I don't usually like it either, but you have to remember where Bayonetta comes from and what it is. The chances of there being a boss that takes 500 hits, for example, is pretty high too, and that sure as hell isn't fun either.

spannu

@spannu: No, wait, that would be a good thing.

The Thing without special effects, on the other hand, would make me a sad panda.

@BxB402: lol.

That movie scared the hell out of me as a kid.

I suppose, if all else fails, special effect are what separate what's possible in a real life, and what can only be done in a game. At least, that's what I took away from Kudo-san's examples.

@Black-Dog-Howls: All the better, now we wont get generic JRP's with the same fire, ice, and wind spell crap.

Now you would have to be creative.

@spannu: I don't like when things are made artificially hard by something like that.

@Trey: I think this is the whole gameplay vs graphics split where I would rather have the clear version that seems easier to actually play, rather then something that looks more aesthetically appealing (even though, the effectless version is the more aesthetically appealing of the two to me.)

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!:

Well, sure, but all of those pretty spells in your MMO's would look %50 percent less seizure inducing without particle effects.

@EtisArap: CAPTIAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN OBVIOUUUUUUUUUSSSSSS HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Does anybody really say the way a game looks has no impact whatsoever?

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!:

I respectfully disagree. Although things are easier to see without all the glorified effects attacking your sense every moment, it's also very vanilla - definitely as if something integral is missing. And sure enough, that was the case!

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: JRPGs have explosions. What about those fire spells?

Black-Dog-Howls

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: It's a lot clearer without effects, although there's probably a reason for the fog and haze in the final version. Maybe just to make it slightly harder?

spannu

The importance of special effects obviously depends on the context. As in they are very important for a game like Battlefield: Bad Company and not so important for Mario Galaxy. Art style and genre dictate the need for special effects.

ctorrans

@BxB402: Michael Bay would be out of a job! Oh no!

spannu

@undefined: that would be awesome.

Aside from artistic side (in Kudo's example, making Bayonetta bleed roses), the technological part is also important. Special effects have a tendency to go from being the icing on the cake to the cake itself after a few iterations, so it's definitely good to keep coming up with new ideas in any possible aspects of a game.

spannu

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: I am not amused.

@WonkersWatilla: So, without particle effects, we would have 50% less explosions, meaning 50% less games with explosions, leaving only games without explosions to be made? IE less FPS?

DEATH TO PARTICLES!

People often say that graphics dont matter and that the game mechanics are the most important. While that's often true, to say that effects, graphics and the underlying technology have no impact on a game is just wrong. Glad the video illuminates this rather well.

EtisArap

Special effects make a huge difference, especially to me. It's one of the things I find most appealing about a game, along with a fluid story and working, intuitive controls. It's so satisfying to do something in the game exactly the way you want it done, and have it look fantastic while you're doing it.

For example, imagine any Final Fantasy (or any RPG/action game) without special effects. Limbs would move and numbers would pop up. It would be like visually interactive Risk or someshit (not that Risk is a bad game by any stretch, but you get my drift).

To me, the visual give the game I'm playing life, because it's the portion of the game that's stimulating me the most consistently. So, special effects have to be great for me to think the game itself is great, or else the other attributes of that game need to be phenomenal to make up ground.

Judging from the video form the site, it looks better...without effects. Anybody else seeing what I'm seeing?

It would be like looking at Ninja Gaiden without the blood....oh wait.

Particle effects (a specific variety of special FX, I guess) are significant. What would explosions be without them?

This generation of games are 50% explosions. Do the math. That's how important Particle effects are.

i know that tons and tons of time are put into the little things. i know of a few great moments where i have really stopped and just been blown away by the little particles and lighting. any one got any good moments where this happened for you?

Alpengeist

@BxB402: haha

Shugoi

Of course special effects are improtant. Imagine The Thing without them...it would just be Kurt Russel and a handfull of guys running around like fucktards in the antarctic.