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jpxxx | 13 years ago
MUDs require a quality typeface, proper layout, and appropriate coloring.
Pacman would be nothing without its remarkable low-fi charm.
Letterpress wouldn't have gathered a moment's attention if the tiles weren't immaculate and well rendered.
Graphical quality matters in everything, everything, everything visual. And it's a reasonably reliable proxy for how much effort has been put into the rest of the game.
coldtea|13 years ago
You sidestepped the whole "text only adventure games" thing with the "visual" word. We were talking about computer games in general.
As for all the above examples, I don't think they show at all how graphics matter. They show that great addictive gameplay trumps flashy graphics any day of the week.
I mean "properly sized view and clear, effortlessly distinguishable artwork"?
Those goes without saying. Of course graphics should not obscure the game's goals.
That doesn't mean that the graphics are "60% of Tetris" -- in the same way the fact that Tetris would be totally unplayable if the background was all black and the tiles dark gray --doesn't mean that graphics are "100% of Tetris".
As for "MUDs require a quality typeface, proper layout, and appropriate coloring", yet people have played them in bad typefaces --heck, even not typeface at all, just bitmap graphic card fonts-- and black and white. Matter of fact, in the eighties lots of people on DOS PCs played color games in black and white monitors, and enjoyed them too.
socillion|13 years ago
Indeed, you might say in that case the graphics are of high quality! Low quality graphics can easily detract from gameplay.
I think there are two definitions for "graphics quality" commonly used.
- Realism, as used in this article.
- Aesthetics, an example of which would be Team Fortress 2. By any definition it is not a very realistic game, but it still has very well-made/high quality graphics (before hats, anyway.)
Poyeyo|13 years ago
The first GTA!