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Art styles in gaming

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Mephisto:
tl;dr:
Space Rangers 2, Star Wolves, and Restricted Area look similar.

Sorry for the oh-so-vague title, but it's the best I could come up with.

Has anyone noticed games by different developers that have very similar art styles? I'm not sure if that is true of all regions or I've just got a small pool to sample from.

I don't have any pictures, so you're welcome to find the games I'm about to mention yourself. They're all fun, in my opinion.

I bought Space Rangers 2 over a year ago and played it to death. Space Rangers needs no introduction, but just in case you're not familiar with this gem, it's hard to classify. There are real-time arcade shooting sections, RTS battles, text-adventures, and TBS/RPG sections.

Just recently, I got Star Wolves. Star Wolves is a kind of squad-based RTS/RPG hybrid set in ,you guessed it, space. If you've played Homeworld, it's sort of like that, meaning that the playing area is 3D and your units can move up and down as well as in the traditional 2D plain.

They're both published by 1C, but were developed by different companies. I can't put my finger on it, but something about Star Wolves, right after starting the game, reminded me of Space Rangers.

Just now, I installed Restricted Area. A FAQ on GameFAQs describes Restricted Area as a Diablo clone. While that's technically accurate, it feels like a new game. It's set in 208x, when Earth is so polluted that people have to live in underwater cities ran by "corporations." You play as a mercenary of sorts who does work for these corporations. The game doesn't have normal equipment. Instead, you pick up cyberware. Yep, right in the middle of a dungeon, you rip out your eye and shove a metal sphere into the bleeding socket.

I noticed right after beginning play that the character models strongly resemble the models from Star Wolves.

There you have it. My less-than-coherent ramblings are out. Feel free to ignore them.

Tormy:

--- Quote from: Mephisto on December 24, 2008, 11:39:33 pm ---Has anyone noticed games by different developers that have very similar art styles?
--- End quote ---

Check out Stardock's upcoming fantasy TBS. It will have unique art.
Here is the topic of the game.
You can find some pre-alpha screenshots here.  :)

Soulwynd:

--- Quote from: Tormy on December 25, 2008, 10:56:08 am ---
--- Quote from: Mephisto on December 24, 2008, 11:39:33 pm ---Has anyone noticed games by different developers that have very similar art styles?
--- End quote ---

Check out Stardock's upcoming fantasy TBS. It will have unique art.
Here is the topic of the game.
You can find some pre-alpha screenshots here.  :)

--- End quote ---
That's far from being original. Cel-shading in games isn't new. Nor are a bunch of people wearing shiny plate armor. Nor are comic style maps. Looks like Oblivion meets Seed which isn't bad, it just isn't something new. It looks like a darker more serious version of tales of vespera.

I don't think there's much room left for originality in games. When you design some medieval armor, you betcha someone has already made something similar. Doesn't mean they are copying, nor being unoriginal, it just wont be original, even if unintended. It's just already there.

I also really don't care about graphics in game unless that's the emphasis of the game. I don't care about the whole originality either, I just care if I will have fun with it.


Yep, don't go there.

Metalax:

--- Quote from: Mephisto on December 24, 2008, 11:39:33 pm ---Yep, right in the middle of a dungeon, you rip out your eye and shove a metal sphere into the bleeding socket.
--- End quote ---
Looks like a normal day for a dwarf.

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