All About Games
Types of Video Games
There are more types of video games than can reasonably be listed in one lesson. Think about it; there are adventure games, first-person shooters, puzzle games, whatever Fortnite is, etc. There are so many categories, you'll probably never play a game from each one. So, to condense this large subject into a learn-able piece of info, I've given you a couple of articles and videos. Read, and watch, them so you can become familiar with what's out there.
Article 1: https://www.idtech.com/blog/different-types-of-video-game-genres Links to an external site.
Article 2: https://kotaku.com/the-16-types-of-video-game-1824989601 Links to an external site.
Also, this isn't required but I found a playlist which covers a ton of interesting information about the history of video games, genres, and the future of gaming. Again, you don't have to watch this for class, but I thought you might want to take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPTrc_yg73RghJEOdobAplG Links to an external site.
The amount of variation in art styles in video games is staggeringly large. It seems that every game (the good ones, anyway) comes up with a new, interesting, way to represent its world and characters visually. To become a game developer, you need to learn how to create art assets for your game. This week, you will get the opportunity to try. But first, we need to learn about the different art styles out there.
Video Game Art
2D Art Styles
Pixel Art
A pixel is a 2D square that is all one color. The combination of these different colored squares makes up your characters, world, and the objects in it. Games in the pixel art style are hugely popular to beginning game developers because pixel art is extremely easy to make. Obviously, you still need some artistic talent to pull this off, but you have more wiggle room with pixel art. It isn't supposed to look super clean and polished so you can get away with more. This style is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as 8-bit. Here are some examples of pixel art games:
Terraria
Stardew Valley
Vector Graphics
Art based on pixels is limited by how large those pixels can get without becoming distorted. The bigger the screen, the bigger the pixels get, making the object look more jagged. We can solve this problem by using vector graphics. Vector graphics are created using math, not pixels. Basically, when you draw vector graphics, you are creating a very complicated math algorithm which redraws your image as the image gets bigger or smaller. Don't worry, you don't actually have to do the math, your vector editing software will do that for you. Creating vector graphics is a bit more difficult than pixel art but it looks much better on the screen. You also have to be a bit of an artist to pull this off effectively, but it's the way to go if you want your game to look polished. Here's a couple of examples of vector graphics games:
Burrito Bison
Castle Crashers
Video Game History