Quote:Original post by brent_w
The best example for this I can come up with would be the "World of Tomorrow" scenes from the film, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm".

I was going to say, Batman: The Animated Series is one of the best uses of art deco design and other elements evocative of the era of which you speak (admittedly not sci-fi, though) without being remotely cheesy. The key (I have an album on the art behind the series, in which Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, among others, discuss the design decisions that shaped the show) is darkness: if you use 50s design sensibilities and have bright, happy colors, then everyone's going to expect slapstick and silliness. You might be able to be satirical, but it'll be a much harder task to pull off.

If, on the other hand, everything has a sombre coloring (and/or genius decisions like the red sky of Gotham in BTAS - which they kept in the new The Batman show, which isn't nearly as good), then you've automatically encouraged a more contemplative and perceptive response.

I say go for it, but do tests first to see if its pragmatic.

I like your choices and think it shouldn't be particularly hard to pull off, but if you decide you can't make it work, then maybe you can go with a Steampunk retro style. I think Aether ships and pseudo-Victorian colonial wars in Mars and Venus would make a good RTS.

I had a similar idea for a black and white FPS awhile back and I think that this retro-sci-fi would work fine. It's a widely underused theme in today's games.

You could actually GO for the cheese in this kind of setting, like 'Destroy all humans' did. The game didn't actually take itself serious, and that was a good thing.

For inspiration, you can take a look at the old (and even the new) series of Doctor Who. Those stories and sets are actually built of cheese. There are also alot of webcomics that employ this kind of style and I also remember a 'Voyager' (dumb, I know) episode that was done in black-and-white retro-style.
Also, check out the german Sci-Fi series "Raumpatroullie Orion" (I think it's called 'Space Patrol' or 'Space Patrol Orion' on the english market). Excellent use of cheap and cheesy effects.
Watch some modern Sci-Fi (for example Starship Troopers and Matrix) in Black-and-White to get a feel for how to cross modern with retro. Works with 'Bioshock', too.

I don't think the 'darkness' style would be a good fit, especially in an RTS. Instead, I'd go for cheesiness and fun. Most of the US Sci-Fi gets really depressing from the mid-50s on.

Quote:I also remember a 'Voyager' (dumb, I know) episode that was done in black-and-white retro-style.

Actually, the last picture in my first post is "Captain Proton"'s ship from that very episode.

Ahh, didn't recognize it. I loved the sets and the villain in that episode. Actually one of the few memorable Voyager episodes.

The original 'Flash Gordon' from the 1930's and the german series 'Raumpatroullie' are alot like it. Couldn't find subtitles on any DVDs of the latter, though. Worth watching to the art, anyway.

Quote:Original post by Hegemon
Ahh, didn't recognize it. I loved the sets and the villain in that episode. Actually one of the few memorable Voyager episodes.

The original 'Flash Gordon' from the 1930's and the german series 'Raumpatroullie' are alot like it. Couldn't find subtitles on any DVDs of the latter, though. Worth watching to the art, anyway.

Thanks, I'll have to take a look at it.

I'd say that if you were going with that art style you'd have to make things slightly more extravagant, for example animations for unit deaths exaggerated with a cartoony aspect to it such as it spinning on the spot a few times looking dizzy before it falls and explodes into a million pieces.

I wouldn't have it cell shade though because then it would become a complete cartoon RTS where as this way it could maintain it's semi realism and early years style while having a certain amount of quirkiness to it.

just remember that gameplay is always more important than graphics, if the game only looks good then chances are players wont play it for long where as if it's core gameplay is solid then they'll play for longer.

try and combine the two and you'll have a wonderful thing going for you.

I like that sort of style and it doesnt have to be cheesy or overly dark to be pulled off.

Check out justice league new frontier - they pulled it off by updating the old style with a more modern edge without compromising the golden age comics art style.

Quote:Original post by Daerax
I like that sort of style and it doesnt have to be cheesy or overly dark to be pulled off.

Check out justice league new frontier - they pulled it off by updating the old style with a more modern edge without compromising the golden age comics art style.

Wow, I had never heard of that.
I did a quick Google image search and their art is definitely something I need to take a closer look at.

Thanks for the heads up.

I like that kind of style. I've got a few game ideas in my idea vault that are meant to be done in a retro sci-fi style myself. However my game ideas are deliberately meant to be a bit cheesy, goofy or cartoonish, so it's probably not quite the same feel you're going for.

I certainly wouldn't be turned off by the style though, no matter whether you went dark or humorous retro.