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These posts are split from Game-engine-Review-Graphics-Study as they are off-topic from that thread.
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Well no wonder their games run so damn nicely. I mean, obviously they’re pros but still. I bet if some or most of those techniques were/could be applied to a bge game, it’d run amazingly.
I guess great look is more the result of the skills of the developers and artists to create great things rather than the tool (Yes, the tool helps but it is not the source). The BGE already runs well … it is just not fed by the right input ;).
I guess great look is more the result of the skills of the developers and artists to create great things rather than the tool (Yes, the tool helps but it is not the source). The BGE already runs well … it is just not fed by the right input ;).
I agree with this, a great artist could create a decent painting with cow dung. The problem is that the pencil in blender’s case isn’t sharpened enough for the artist to be able to achieve smooth lines, maybe not the best metaphor but in other words. The blender game engine isn’t designed for those professionals you were referring to, it’s designed for programmers.
Here’s a game made by programmers:
Here’s a game made by artists:
One can argue over which game has better gameplay, but it’s hard to dispute that the later one looks better, the person who made that background is currently not designing games in blender. Probably because he is busy working at a larger game company, but even if he wanted to design a game in blender he wouldn’t be able to. Because it’s not designed for artists.
I almost had that JRPG running for you to pop a game out it’s pipeline, it still exists.
a few tricks like geometry instancing and soft particles and refraction have been added…
as well as environmental lighting.
I was using objects that were menus that spawned objects that were the choices,(including deeper menus etc)
if I were to do it today I would use a dictionary and functions called by the menu choices.
we are all growing here,
be part of that, or grow somewhere else.
@Leinadien, this is some big off topic post!
You see, the BGE is an unorthodox game engine. It does have the tools to create a game and like any tool you have to learn how to use it. It have its pluses and minuses. Only that its a little outdated compared to the new game engine, that even got rewritten. But i worry not! Cos blender will get a PBR and so BGE will get it too. 
Yeah, you’re right the BGE is not for artists :rolleyes:
Not all art needs to have fidelity with real life - at least in my opinion; although I’m sure many others would agree, seeing as Shovel Knight is considered a graphically beautiful game.
@Everyone:
This thread was originally meant to be a compilation of resources for techniques and tricks used in modern games. Let’s keep it that way.
Remember that all that separates one rendering engine from another are the tricks they use to display things…
@Leinadien:
And yet I know the name of Dwarf Fortress, but I have no idea what that second game is. So which game is better? The one people recognize in three seconds flat. (before I read the title at the top I knew what game it was, despite never playing it)
We’ve heard that you don’t like the BGE. You’ve made your point, we’ve heard it.
@Lucrecious You’re missing the point.
@Everyone else Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m speaking for millions of people who won’t be using blender’s game engine because dun dun dun it’s not designed for them.
Since this is an open source program the blender community at some point has to decide wether or not they want an engine that is 20% of what unreal is, or an engine that is 10% of what unreal is but used by thousands of people instead of by fifty people who like to play with cubes, procedural textures and bloom filters.
Monster said a great look is more the result of the skills of the artists then the tool, he is right. Blender can produce PS3 graphics, it’s a perfectly fine game engine. Then why don’t we see any decent games made with it, think long and hard why that is and you’ll come to the same conclusion that I have.
with a grass shader like this
and a ocean shader, a sky shader, a few buildings…
its really all about what you know how to do,
anything is possible.
if any one still wanted to make a jrpg…
The moderator should move the posts to the other thread!
Your conclusion sentence was “because it’s not designed for artists” - that was your point; blender doesn’t have the tools to create “good” art. The problem with Blender is not that it’s not designed for artists, or that it’s not designed for programmers, or animators, or any particular profession really. The problem with Blender is that it’s designed for everybody.
The reason Blender doesn’t have amazing games is not a result of its engine, it’s a result of the people who use it - the BGE attracts a certain type of user. This is not to say that BGE is the best engine ever, or that I even like the BGE, I’m just pointing out that it is designed for artists, as much as it is designed for programmers (probably designed more for artists actually).
Also, yeah I’d appreciate if the moderator would move posts to a different thread. 
Get blender being teach at art schools and game dev schools and you will see a shit load of great games developed in blender, the problem is not that the software lacks in power, the problem is that is not teached in game dev schools plain and simple, you study game dev for 5 years and they teach you maya, zbrush, substance painter, etc etc you just go along with those programs, plain and simple.
Now the question is, if you are so certain than blender sucks balls, and UE is he bomb cause kid can hadle it and it has blueprints and stuff, and you do not wish to use blender for an design project… why are you still here? taking shit of the program in every single post you reply o? is like going to your home and keep telling you how shity our furniter are, and how shity our house is… is there a point?
What about compiling a list of features that a game engine can provide, that require absolutely zero artistic skills and yet can actually make a set of assets look better.
I think that there is at least one mythical silver bullet here: dynamic light management. You take a set of flat, depressing assets, you put a shadow casting light here and there and voilà, the scene comes to life. Of course it won’t look as good as it could be in the hands of a cgi artist but it will look better than with no lights at all.
Do you agree with this and is there any other feature you can think of that with zero sense of beauty in the user can actually improve the look of a scene?
What I find amusing about these discussions is that people discrediting BGE have almost 0 game development skill let alone modelling skill. They just seem to window shop by searching the engine name in YouTube + google images and base their judgement on the features.
The longer you spend discussing this, the more time you are wasting, it doesn’t help anyone.
Should you use BGE? Yeah maybe, play around with some of the features and try get a simple mini-game going. If you don’t like using the engine use another! There is plenty out there.
Same goes for: Should you use Unity?, Should you use Unreal, godot, orge3d…
[list continues indefinitely]
Try everything you can get your hands on, and use what you find easiest to use.
I own a copy of the blender game development book, it is useful for reference than really great examples. There is a graphics chapter in it. It isn’t something I’ve read since my problem really is the programming using the brick system to get interaction working. At a glance it has some information as well as examples images of past blender games, but doesn’t really give much of a detail on how to create those.
My impression would be good lighting, textures and may be the use of GLSL. But for fire in the game engine it may not be useful that, as using Multi texture would be.
The book is now out of date. But it should be fine for 2.76 for those who may be using that.
Modeling is something at this time something thats not quiet a game changer for the industry. There are 3 fundamental parts to make a game “look” good from my point of view:
Game Mechanics - Having these well polished it would make any game stand out in its gender, being creative as how you aproach things in game, solve problems or face enemies is a fundamental part of a game, but for actually having outstanding game mechanics you not only need a creative side, you need a hole team of people working on it, lots of coding and test drives.
Textures - Basic for good looking games, it doesent matter if it is high res meshes or a low poly stand, if you are able to make good texturing you can make a cube stand out for it self. What is important to know is that major game dev studios hand paint their own textures… giving a hole armony in the scenes, a sense of a hole…
Ligthing - Akira_San posted a video from the game firewatch in his post (https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?394979-Game-engine-Review-Graphics-Study) and it talks a bit about dynamic lighting, and it shows first hand how ligthning can make a good texture look astonishing in game.
I think those are the true game changers for game dev. The other thing is optimization, for getting good fps, smooth game play, but that is not something that would make a game look better, its just something every game dev must interiorise in their game dev workflow.
Also the modeling stand, there was a point when people just talk about graphics and graphics, and look those graphics… i think now a day gamers are more open to the 3 points above, case game devs have show over and over again that you can make a very low poly character be as appeling to audiences as a very high poly one. It not, that you can suck at it, but you dont have to me master sculptor to make a top selling game, you can be an acomplished modeler, nowere near the pros, and still make good looking apealing characters.
Theres also story line (Things just keen poping out while i write jajaja), but this one, would make a game more appealing to audiences rather than good looking.
Hope it serves well to the subject of the post! Best regards. Also im speaking from the gamer point of view (love playing games jajaja) rather than the game dev point, im a gamer trying to get myself into game dev.
In short: a competent and well-paid team of professional artists and programmers make a game look good.
Realism is what makes a game look good, idealised realism, that’s the standard by which any kind of model for a game is judged.
This is probably where we will agree to disagree. I find Wind Waker HD to be an extremely good looking game - but there isn’t a hint of realism. Shovel Knight, again, beautiful looking game, but has basically no graphic fidelity.
I don’t agree that there is a standard for judging models; good looking games come in all forms.
