pops wrote:
This conflates 'modern' with 'high resolution'.
Actually, it conflates "modern" with the "possibility of using high resolutions".
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The resolution at which a game is rendered is only one artistic choice among many
Exactly! And by restricting the resolution so much you're making several other types of artistic styles impossible. With high-resolution graphics I could do hand-drawn sprites, or go for a pixelated retro look. At low resolutions I can only go for pixelated.
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A game like
Swords and Sworcery could easily be described as both retro and modern.
Yes, I agree that a game can still look modern even if it's pixelated, if you include enough modern elements of other kinds, but this thread is about a modern 2D
system, and I'm of the opinion that such a system should be able to support other kinds of modern art styles.
Not to take away from your product, it's certainly very interesting, I just wouldn't call it modern when it's obviously catering to the niche market of pixelated games.
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First, like the vast majority of people on this forum, I love pixel art. It's an art style that allows an artist to abstract the subtleties a designer doesn't want to give away or specify. It also reminds me of the games that I played as a kid, which earns it uncounted extra points.
The specs for the proposed PocketEngine would provide a platform for making games in this style, without - as you correctly pointed out - 'all the annoyances'.
I have nothing against pixel art, I absolutely love it, but a modern 2D system should be able to handle more than that to be called modern, IMO.
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Second, the low resolution comes from an awareness that despite the endless power of today's CPUs, there's still a limit as to how fast a software renderer can do its thing
A modern 2D system wouldn't have to use a software renderer, so this is a limitation you imposed on yourself. This is fine, because this is your product and you're designing it around a particular art style that you're fond of. I'm just arguing it's not a general purpose 2D system, and you probably never wanted it to be that anyway. I just figured I'd say something because I thought the thread was about imagining where we'd be with 2D systems if the world hadn't switched to 3D.
I didn't mean to be rude or anything, so sorry if my comments came off that way. It's just that the "what if" nature of this thread gets me thinking about art styles that have been poorly explored by professional game makers because 3D is easier, such as large, fluid hand-drawn sprites and backgrounds.