No mention of dark souls? The graphics are shit, even the most hardcore fans agrees its not up to its gameplay.
What do gamers prefer, graphics or gameplay
I suppose if it has stunning graphics and terrible gameplay (nice view from this mountain top, I guess I better go to the cave, battle a couple dozen necromancers, and retrieve that book from some lazy NPC back in town for the zillionth time, then go back and find another identical quest), it's popular because it's a good game.
How did you reach that conclusion?
I also said:
Similarly, there are games that got success mostly on their excellent graphics, but would have had even more if the gameplay was deeper too.
I mean both are "good games" in the sense they both had success.
The only extrapolation I intended was that a game with both excellent graphics and excellent gameplay would be even better.
(or at least good/excellent or excellent/good as opposed to one of them being bad)
But as always, you of course have to choose where to put your resources, both choices are viable depending on the composition of your team.
I think the first thing to do is try and understand what type of audience you're trying to appeal to.
The gaming audience as a whole is one of the most broken audiences i can think of.
i think for more casual audiences, the game's aesthetic takes priority. The success of a casual game
depends more on its face value (i.e. polished visuals, accessibility, ability to hold the player's attention, etc.) as opposed to the overall quality of the gameplay.
by focusing on graphics, you gain the benefit of attracting a wider group of people, but the longevity and memorability of the game suffers, as graphics become outdated with time.
In other words, when graphics become the priority, you attract a large audience with a short attention span in regards to the actual IP and developer.
Which is definitely not a bad thing, just not the route i'd take as a game designer.
For the more 'hardcore' audiences (see: not casual), gameplay is very important. the success of the 'hardcore' game depends on the quality of the gameplay (i.e.tight controls, understandable learning curve, depth of mechanics, etc.) as opposed to the overall face-value. by focusing on the gameplay of a game, the longevity of the game skyrockets as the game holds the audiences attention by its quality of design, and because of that, doesn't need to be dragged down by graphics.
In other words, when gameplay becomes the priority, you may risk excluding some people, but the audience you attract is generally much more loyal to your IPs and team.
But to answer your question, focus on gameplay, and have the graphics be the icing on the cake.
Definitely gameplay. I don't remember the exact link but after seeing several surveys it's clear graphics score significantly lower than other aspects (story, etc). I think nowadys, when we reached the potential level of gfx equal to real life (there were some stories of TV showing a footage of a game as a disaster in some country because some journalist was lazy and made a mistake :D) player got tired of it. Since realistic gfx became merely a budget issue most players don't care anymore, it's not a selling point if everyone has it. So, all these Minecraft, Prison Architect and other games with non existing graphics emerged and became great hits.
there were some stories of TV showing a footage of a game as a disaster in some country because some journalist was lazy and made a mistake
That was an ITV "documentary" on the IRA.
I'm not sure it fooled anyone except the editorial staff. The internet and the regulators were all over them in a matter of days.
I'm surprised how many people have answered both. Having great graphics and gameplay is great, but when asked to choose between them, gameplay is the clear winner to me. If the gameplay isn't there, I won't even stick around to see the good graphics. But I still enjoy good gameplay in a game without great graphics.
Games can be great fun without graphics (as I mentioned in a previous post here). It's essential that the gameplay be great, with or without graphics.
If a game is going to have graphics, then the graphics have to be good. Great is even better.
If a game is going to have graphics, then the graphics have to be good. Great is even better.
I have never understood why people ask such questions. I just shake my head and usually place my hand over my eyes and sighs.........because it is subjective. And something like this is very much subjective. I know people who are very hooked on the visuals while others value both and others care fully about gameplay design and story etc. Im a gamer too and i prioritize gameplay before graphics. We are all so different and this is so subjective. One can of course say that the market has a certain "expectation" though.
But personaly i believe it will all work out as long as you officialy state your game's purpose and intention. If it is supposed to have low-end visuals because of stylistic reasons then say that :)
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