Graphics are '60% of the game,' Crytek CEO says

[Karstein]

On the other hand...

The increasing quality of graphics has not been an unalloyed benefit to games. "If you think about the games we made a long time ago, the games were more imagination and less exposition. We've come to a place where it's more exposition and less imagination," Walton said. "It's challenging, because people are just not as engaged if their imaginations aren't engaged."

Walton agreed with the comment that Jordan Weissman made when he said he wants to use the Infinite Resolution Rendering Engine inside people's heads. "Will [Wright] says similar things. It's about building the mental models that the player's going to engage in, that lets them have ownership. Both of them are right about that," Walton said. "You can see it proven out when you look at Sims 1. Sims 1 was bigger than Sims 2 and bigger than Sims 3, and it was the least high-res. It gave you iconic stuff instead of expository stuff. And you were listening to that simulation, making up what it meant in your head. You were looking at their tiny little animations and you were putting the emotion in there."

"I worked there, and we had research around this. One of the biggest fears in doing Sims 2 was when you make it more expressive, you're going to lose a lot of the player connection where they're making up what it means. Ten players might think it means three different things or more, and it was all OK. But if you actually see the character make an expression, then you go 'Oh, that's not what I was expecting' and there's more disconnect at some level. I think the numbers prove that out; even though all the products were successful nothing was a s big as Sims 1 because you could put more of you in it rather than it putting it on you."

This is part of what Minecraft has going for it, according to Walton. "It's so iconic that you're filling in more of the blank areas," he noted. "You have to engage your imagination to make that blocky guy look like what he really is. When you look at some of the early phone games you're back to a more iconic thing and just raw fun, rather than it has to be perfect animation and perfect exposition of the character."

I'm in total agreement with this. Imagination used to be a massive part of the gaming experience.

 

[Sulaco]

Meh... partially true.

Graphics//Gameplay//Story

Pick two! Very few games have all three, games with only one will suck.

Total, complete BS.

Great gameplay overcomes the other two, by far.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Atmosphere can sell a game better than anything else. I can forgive games for so much in gameplay, graphics, or whatever if the game can convince me it is real. Even just a little bit.

Case in point, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Story is 75% of the game, controls 20%, the rest is all in the 5%.

 

[ImpulsE69]

60% of the time, they're wrong all the time.

 

[Sulaco]

Story is 75% of the game, controls 20%, the rest is all in the 5%.

Except "story" doesn't apply to a huge chunk of games and game genres.

Or are you just talking about FPS?

 

[alcoholbob]

I agree. Audio is super important. It's not that hard to get decent 1080p video these days with so many high-end cameras capable of it, but the moment you hear the audio you know whether it's an amateur or professional level of effort.

I think its because most people at the PC have pretty cheap stereo setups--there was one guy on the video card forum showing off his SLI GTX Titan setup with triple high end monitors and all he had was $20 logitech speakers. When I asked him about it he said he wasn't an audiophile. I think that's how a lot of gamers think these days.

 

[Cerb]

I think its because most people at the PC have pretty cheap stereo setups--there was one guy on the video card forum showing off his SLI GTX Titan setup with triple high end monitors and all he had was $20 logitech speakers. When I asked him about it he said he wasn't an audiophile. I think that's how a lot of gamers think these days.

Poor guy. Spending should absolutely go in the following order: music > main PC gear (for a gaming rig) > audio playback gear (for the PC) > other PC peripherals. Also, if you haven't been bitten by some of the bad Ozzy and Black Sabbath remasters, or clipping and compression BS David Bowie has done to his old stuff in re-releases, I don't want to know you .

IMV, however you can convince people to buy a game is what sells it. Many games, like movies, that were excellent, didn't get marketed enough, or the right way. BG&E, FI, got a remake because of that--and, while fuzzy and blocky, the original, today, is simply beautiful, a perfect example of artistry in video games. Most of them don't get a second chance.

But, for the most part, games that cost >$10 or so don't tend to sell themselves on their merit, whatever it may be. They need marketing. Fancy graphics are one way to do that, and a relatively easy way, for an action game (easy in the sense of low risk, not low cost). A linear RPG, OTOH, can only get so much positive attention for its graphics--more and better are expected, and help, but as 60% of the game, except mild success or a flop, and very little excitement for your next game. You've got to get people interested in what it will have going for it, whatever that may be, and, to at least some degree, deliver*.

* It's not always having a great game, even. A clear example would be Torchlight. Every one I've talked to that plays PC games bought Torchlight, played it a bit, tried some mods, and then put it away, because it gets boring after a bit. But, why'd we actually buy it? Because dammit, we wanted the Blizzard North guys to get enough interest and funding to make another good game.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Used to only care about graphics but lately just love a good overall game that has considerable graphics,optimized to run well on moderate hardware and runs smooth.

Always used to be big about needing the best video card or the best processor just to max a game but give me a good quality game that runs well at 1920x1200 on a i5 2500 and a 7850 and it would be much more fun then attempting to pull 60fps minimum on games like BF3 or Crysis 3 with high end hardware.

 

[Zenoth]

I think the CEO meant that graphics make 60% of Crysis. It's a very subjective comment from him and I don't care that much about what he (and anyone else) believes how much graphics play a role in 'x' game and at which percentage it counts. This is way too subjective for debate or mere discussion, what's important from a game is that it satisfies you and you have fun, regardless of graphics making 10%, 60% or 100% of said game(s).

 

[styrafoam]

Back in the late 90's/early 00's when all of the major releases also meant a revolution in the game engine it was huge. Its nice to see things move forward and new features be added to games, but it seems like they usually have to be pointed out to you before you notice; its all kind of a blur now. Its not the selling point it once was. I do like that Crytek pushes the boundaries though, i hope they continue to move things forward in the engine department.

 

[Maximilian]

Total, complete BS.

Great gameplay overcomes the other two, by far.

For you maybe. I need pretty things to look at.

 

[slag]

Minecraft?

is a horrible game. Its more boring than grinding at world of warcraft.

 

[jaqie]

nomatter what you think of it, it was a major smash hit that actually made a company.

 

[pontifex]

look at how many indie games out there are popular and have low graphics. hell, a lot of them have gone back to like 8/16 bit console style graphics.

 

[Rhezuss]

Effing lazy devs...those that claim that graphics > all are just dumb unimaginative devs. Pushing graphics is easy but delivering great gameplay and awesome story is another thing.

Think Baldur's Gate series, Planescape Torment, FF4/6 to only name those two games...those were overall pieces of art.

The Era of great and innovatine games story and gameplay wise is nearly extinguish.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Graphics can make up for poor gameplay for a little while, but once you get into the meat of the game the balance will start to shift back to gameplay's favor. No matter how slick the graphics look, eventually you'll forget to goggle at them and be more interested in playing the game. That's when the flaws will reveal themselves. Fortunately it's usually not an either/or proposition. Game makers who are willing to put that much time into the graphics will usually also make the gameplay at least decent. We just judge games that have great graphics but only decent gameplay more harshly for their gameplay because we can see in that very game what the developers are capable in the areas they focus on.

 

[JoetheLion]

To original quote: No wonder that their games are so dull, if this is their philosophy. It's sad that such philosophy not just easily persists, but actually works enough to make money. I think that their last good game was first Far Cry and that only because it was somehow unorthodox back in 2004 (and we were still waiting for Half-life 2 and Doom 3).
Well, it's no wonder that they don't do anything else than dumb shooters...

 

[Red Storm]

is a horrible game. Its more boring than grinding at world of warcraft.

It's a fantastic game. I don't see how it compares to WoW at all, it's completely different. Minecraft is like a digital LEGO world, your imagination (or lack thereof) is what makes or breaks it.

 

[Lorne]

Gameplay/Story/GFX.

Never played any of the Crysis and could care less, My favorite FPS right now is Borderlands2 but other then that I rarely ever play FPS.
All my fallbacks are the Homeworld series, Dungeon Seige series (Except 3), Pharoah and Warlock MotA.

 

[darkewaffle]

look at how many indie games out there are popular and have low graphics. hell, a lot of them have gone back to like 8/16 bit console style graphics.

There's a substantial difference between "good graphics" and "high tech graphics". They're not mutually exclusive, 2d games can still look good (Bastion, Shank) and of course 3d games can. It's more about having a consistent style and quality than the highest poly count.

And that's not to say that 2D can't still be a large part of the budget or is easy to do. Depending on the animation techniques used, 2d animation can potentially be extremely difficult and time consuming.

 

[Red Storm]

There's a substantial difference between "good graphics" and "high tech graphics". They're not mutually exclusive, 2d games can still look good (Bastion, Shank) and of course 3d games can. It's more about having a consistent style and quality than the highest poly count.

And that's not to say that 2D can't still be a large part of the budget or is easy to do. Depending on the animation techniques used, 2d animation can potentially be extremely difficult and time consuming.

Right. For example Age of Empires II still looks great to this day, same as Infinity Engine games (when running modern resolutions). In these cases 2D has aged extremely well.

 

[Texashiker]

Graphics are '60% of the game,' Crytek CEO says

I guess that is why Doom has a loyal following 20 years later, because the graphics are so awesome.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I guess that is why Doom has a loyal following 20 years later, because the graphics are so awesome.

Some of those people still think DOS is all you need. They are like the people who think gaming died when it went 3D and always tout the SNES nostalgia days.

The game by today's standards is crap. Things have progressed.

It's a fantastic game. I don't see how it compares to WoW at all, it's completely different. Minecraft is like a digital LEGO world, your imagination (or lack thereof) is what makes or breaks it.

Actually what breaks it are people who ruin a good server and the hoops you have to jump through to start your own. I actually hate the game myself.

 

[Texashiker]

Some of those people still think DOS is all you need. They are like the people who think gaming died when it went 3D and always tout the SNES nostalgia days.

The game by today's standards is crap. Things have progressed.

Doom did something few games can reproduce, and that is creating an atmosphere.

While companies like Crytek focus on graphics over gameplay, creating an enjoyable atmosphere is forgotten about.