RPS Exclusive Hands-On With A Valley Without Wind

[cupogoodness]

Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2011/09/rps-exclusive-hands-on-with-valley.html

Over on Rock, Paper, Shotgun Jim Rossignol has published first impressions of A Valley Without Wind, which marks the first official media hands-on with the beta ahead of its imminent release. Lots of good stuff, but we'll let Jim do the talking. Head over to one of our favorite gaming sites period and check it out.

Also, at the end of the article Jim mentions he'll be posting more on the game soon. So stay tuned for a possible part two of his session!

[Entrenched Homperson]

Yay! They said something about it a little while ago.

*runs to rps*

[Entrenched Homperson]

I feel like if they push the art a tiny bit further it can be really pretty. They could do a lot more with lighting effects, shadows, enviromentals. Those clouds do look great.

But everyone is hating on the art. Well, at RPS.

[x4000]

The art is very close to final in the main. All he testers have commented on how great it looks, oddly. Shadows in particular are not possible in this perspective, not in 3d. Interestingly, a week ago the rps comments on the art were really positive.

At any rate, I'm not planning to get into any big discussions on the art anymore, as tastes vary and this is what it is.

[zebramatt]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict iterative enhancements to the artwork throughout the medium to long term life of the game, assuming it does as well as I'm expecting it to - despite Chris's assertion that it's "final". (I've heard that one from Arcen before! )

In the short term I'm sold on it. Maybe it's just me but a lot of it actually looks quite pretty. It's definitely at least in a marketable state. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it, for sure!

And this from someone who was put off buying AI War because of the graphics.

[Nice Save]

For some reason the screenshots in the RPS article looked really fuzzy to me. Maybe that's the problem.

Anyway, you can't really judge how a game looks in motion from scaled down screenshots or low-bitrate youtube videos.

I didn't see a single complaint that wasn't graphics-related, which is rare in my experience.

[KDR_11k]

I think there's some useful criticism in the comments there about the foreground/background distinction that could at least get worked into future sprites. Graphics are very important for making your game sell as they're the first thing the player can judge about your game and it's a usually correct assumption that all parts of a game are at roughly the same quality (i.e. pretty games are usually better in all other respects than ugly games).

The chosen style may not work very well for the low budget development Arcen has to work with, it's kinda like the uncanny valley of videogames: The closer you get to AAA graphics the pickier people get. Terraria can get away with quite basic sprites because everything about it looks basic. With the more realistic look of AVWW people suddenly start expecting AAA level polish.

BTW, the bright outline on smoke particles gets kinda messy when there are a ton of them overlapping, it shouldn't be bright in the overlapping areas, only the contours. Make the outline darker than the center and it'll look fine without changing the rendering.

[Nalgas]

Graphics are very important for making your game sell as they're the first thing the player can judge about your game and it's a usually correct assumption that all parts of a game are at roughly the same quality (i.e. pretty games are usually better in all other respects than ugly games).

Bahahahahaha.  I was going to comment on or reply to this statement in particular, but I was too busy laughing so hard that I completely forgot any sort of coherent thoughts I had about it.  You're a funny guy.

[Morslok]

I see the negative graphics comments on RPS and think to myself, I know where you're coming from, because I felt similar at first, then I watched one of the trailers at 1080p on youtube. That's the real problem here, jpeg and youtube compression are ruining it for these people. Just tell them to watch some gameplay footage at 1080p and then see if they keep complaining. Or better yet, get them to try the demo version. I think it's great looking myself.

[c4sc4]

Gah, why did I read all of those comments. RPS posts some rather low res screenshots and that is what everyone is basing their opinions on. It also probably didn't help that in the article it said "it is rather ugly", not that I'm blaming RPS.  These people need to see the game in high-res motion before making judgments.

[Cyborg]

Graphics are very important for making your game sell as they're the first thing the player can judge about your game and it's a usually correct assumption that all parts of a game are at roughly the same quality (i.e. pretty games are usually better in all other respects than ugly games).

  Kane and Lynch, anyone? You're funny.

The thing about the RPS group is it seems like it is dominated by a British group of gamers. I could be wrong, but I think there is a cultural divide over there, even when they are reviewing independent games. It is like when consoles had four-year development cycles and everyone was debating who had the best graphics. I remember those days.

Is AVWW ugly? No, but it isn't AAA, either. Terraria is going to get away with it because their graphics actually match, and it's no wonder because they used JRPG sprites, and the pixelated graphics are also straight out of the same era. AVWW looks like it is mixing a couple different styles.

It is a criticism from an art direction standpoint, but it is something that cannot be helped without hiring an artist. That's not in the cards right now. If AVWW is going to win, it's got to do well on gameplay. That remains to be seen… next week!

[Admiral]

The amount of comments in the RPS article related to graphics is intriguing. Frankly, I think that the art style is a matter of preference, but more importantly, the art is incredibly detailed. The typical article (and Arcen's own videos) has screenshots that are reduced in resolution and compressed. This makes the pictures much softer and, in my opinion, does a serious disservice to this very detailed art. I think it is this size reduction and compression that causes many of the negative reactions. If uncompressed PNG screenshots, or parts of screenshots were used, or if the videos were only minimally compressed (which should be easy on some parts when there is only moderate scrolling), I think people's reactions would be much more moderate and hence based solely on stylistic perceptions.

That said, I think that the art style - like it or dislike it - will fade pretty quickly as a concern once you begin to play the game, and the game mechanics take hold of you. Every now and then you'll pause from the immersion of the game and enjoy the art, and that will be the end of these crazy strong opinions on the art.

Cheers!

[x4000]

Thanks a lot, Admiral -- as a number of alpha testers have weighed in here, I really appreciate that.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Clearly, no one on RPS has played Dwarf Fortress.    I have not, but I've been watching a LP for it and to say the least, it is the ugliest graphics I have ever seen in a game. 

Granted, its in Alpha/BETA or something, but cmon.  Picky lot around there lol.

King

[Teal_Blue]

At the risk of sounding like a fangirl, i will say that i am rather 'tired' of hearing all this about the art.
Personally i think the art is beautifully done, and very detailed.

And as is mentioned above by Admiral, i think of course that once into the game, the mechanics will rule, much
as AI War does.

And to support KingIsaacLinksr note about DF,     As he probably knows, ugly or not, that clearly, anyone who has played DF will tell you it is an awesomely deep game, regardless of the graphics that is used. In fact after playing for a bit, it is difficult to think of the game using anything but the graphics they do. That is a testament to how much the people who play it love it.

And also I would say the comments on RPS shows the shallowness of posters to RPS forums who have not played Arcen games and try to understand where they are coming from.

Just my opinion, but I am getting rather 'upset' with all these naysayers.

-Teal