From the real world to my own world
Hello There!
So, assuming you already read the first post, you will already know partially, what the blog is about. But one thing you might be wondering (or at least, I hope) is why it is in the art style it is in. For the uninitiated (read: those who aren’t that knowledgeable on racing games, past or present). This is what most racing games tend to look like
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast
Need For Speed 2016
Need For Speed payback
Forza Horizon 4
Ridge Racer 7
wipEout HD
Now, you can probably see the main concurrent theme between all of them visually. They all sport the same photo-realistic look, regardless of their style of racing game. They all try to emulate real life. That’s all fine and dandy, but every racing game looking like that starts to look a little boring, do you not think? So, I started looking outside for some ideas. Here’s what I came across, and why I loved it so much
Overwatch
I’m not very much into shooters (unless it’s quake or UT) but what caught me off guard, was the style of the game. It sits in a strange place, it’s not quite realistic, well, its not realistic at all, but it’s not cartoon to the point where it looks like someone brought dragonball into the 3D realm, it just looks very stylised. From the time I saw this game all the way back in 2016, from the trailers, I knew straight away that I liked the look. This in many ways was probably the first piece of inspiration for the visual style that would become Project-R’s current aesthetic
Jet Set Radio
I mean, it’s one of my personal favourite games ever, it’s unbelievably stylish and it is just simply cool. What is there not to like about this game? The only real kicker, is that this look has gone out of style, not counting Hover revolt of gamers of course. But overall, from the minute I saw this, I KNEW that one day, if I ever made a game, of any sort, it would be something like this.
Auto Modellista
And now we are full circle, it’s a racing game, and it’s Cel-Shaded. What’s not to like? Well, I know what your first question will be. Why was this game not put up earlier? Firstly. It’s actually a sim style racing game, more in the vein of gran turismo, it’s also great fun, so do buy or emulate it if you get the chance!.
So, now that you see some of the inspiration for the graphical style. There is also another reason for it….It just looks damn COOL. One thing to bear in mind, I come from a graphic design background. So much of my thought process stems just as much from this, as it does gaming. If the game isn’t striking visually, it’s gameplay matters little, because people more often than not will just not play it.
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
So, let me end this by showing yet another picture, this time of the beautiful NSX in game (which is a placeholder, the final game will use original cars, but be tributes of course).
The NSX looking a bit more realistic
Looks so much better, don’t ya think? (it’s okay to disagree by the way).
Have a happy weekend, I certainly did when I wrote this :). Hopefully, come the next week, I will have even more content to show you regarding the game.
Until next time folks!
Originally published at https://www.tumblr.com on September 15, 2018.
