"Realistic" Color Vs Versatile Color

[Koh]

We're all familiar with the trope, Real is Brown, yes? But how many of you actually like those kinds of graphics, versus graphics that have a more versatile color scheme?

Naturally, I like vibrant and colorful colors. It adds so much more beauty to the world, and is also so much more appealing to the eye. So naturally, when a remake of a game comes out, that tries to be more "realistic" by blending brown with everything, it turns out looking like shit in my eyes. For example, compare these versions of Final Fantasy 4's Dwarven Castle.

SNES (Original)


PSP (Remake)


DS (3D Remake)


What the hell happened to the color variety in the DS remake? That makes the area so much more bland and dull looking in my eyes.

[Zero Kirby]

Honestly the DS one looks nice because it added some green

I dunno. Maybe some people see the world through sunglasses so they think everything is blended with brown. They're dumb and it looks awful. I like vibrant colours. I'm okay with the occasional looking drab area if it makes sense but a world of brown is just boring and uninteresting.

Uncharted has an unlockable "next-gen filter" that adds brown-n-bloom to the whole game (well, more bloom than usual) and it winds up making the game look like ass. For what is normally one of the best looking games period it says a lot that it suddenly becomes hideous under a brown filter with crazy amounts of bloom lighting.

[Jermungandr]

I think that's why it's an unlockable feature. It's meant as a joke; a stab at other "next-gen" titles.

[Terminal Devastation]

Honestly, there's games that actually add brown to everything, and there there are games that are just not "SUPER NES" vibrant. And the latter gets too much flak for being "brown" when they are just not... bright and super colorful.

What I think tends to go wrong is they are trying to bring a color/lighting scheme from the real world that the glowing screens and monitors can't quite get right, because they, well glow. (this happens in reverse too! I've seen SO many cases of using TOO bright colors in trying to make a "realistic" version using real world materials, instead of paint or digital)

But again, there are cases that are just getting to much flak.

Like in your example Koh:
The colors may not be super vibrant... but there's MORE colors in the DS remake. In the other two its RED, REDS EVERYWHERE (and one case of purple for contrast).
Heck, the airship is pretty vibrant there, so's the lava.
Honestly, it just looks like there's a dull orange (FROM THE LAVA) over it, rather than brown.

Do I like colorful games? Yes. But really, I just like it when the color is used effectively.
Brown everywhere works sometimes.

[Kriven]

I don't think it's brown that's a problem so much as a smudging tint to everything. Like in the Final Fantasy examples above, you'll notice that every object has a very bold, distinct color indicating that it is a unique element and what kind of element it is (inactive elements blend more than active elements). Lately a lot of games try to give all the elements of a game equal coloring, and it makes every object run together and difficult to distinguish.

[Koh]

Final Fantasy Tactics. This game has a deep and dark story as RPGs can get, and yet, the world was still nice and colorful to look at.





Granted it didn't have as MUCH color as the later games, especially Tactics A2.
http://www.spriters-resource.com/ds/ffta2/sheet/37422/

Because of this, I seriously don't buy the whole "Colors are gritty, because the story is gritty" excuse people like to toss around as a defense.

[Terminal Devastation]

Because of this, I seriously don't buy the whole "Colors are gritty, because the story is gritty" excuse people like to toss around as a defense.

This. This I agree with wholeheartedly.
While we're on the topic of lack of color due to BS excuses, can we talk about the other offender? Everything must be as black and dark as possible in every horror game ever.
It's worse combined with "real is brown" but even without it...
Can we at least have normal colors around sometimes in a horror game.
I'd love to see a vibrant one personally, but I do recognise that colors give off feels, and dark colors work for fear and tension... but I'd also like to be able to, you know, actually see!

[Gwen]

Being able to see kind of works against the whole point of horror survival though. Dead Space would not be nearly as scary if I could see more than 10 ft in front of me(many many areas)F.E.A.R. 2 being another great game that can be hard to see in sometimes(dat school jeebus christ) Most do have brief stints of being able to see, usually short passages to give your heart a rest.

[psychospacecow]

I really believe that the aesthetic choice for one game isn't going to be a sell all for others. Two very different games, on opposite ends of this spectrum would be Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress would look terrible with a more "realistic" setting, but CoD wouldn't much benefit from bright distinguishable colors either. Of course, there are some games that it could be said that either setting works very well. As someone who's tinkered with his Fallout New Vegas and followed what others have done to theirs, The Mojave looks warm, hot, almost welcoming in its default orange shade. Yet, if you have an ENB that takes that away, adds more saturation, makes nights darker, etc. then it can improve. Of course, if its done too much then its going to turn into an ugly mess of rainbow fibers, but that in itself is as extreme as some games go to in their attempts to induce the feeling of grit.

[Terminal Devastation]

I think I've already mentioned that regardless of the color choice I prefer if they are done effectively. If that means brown brown as far as the eye can see, a rainbow everywhere, bright as day, or so dark you can only see two inchs in front of your face, I approve.


With that said, sometimes I see games pass up the chance to mix things up a bit.

Just because I'd like a horror game that is vibrant, doesn't I think that the ones that aren't should be.
Most horror games unsettle through use of restrictive vision and dark colors and that's fine. Its just its entirely possible to camouflage monsters in bright rooms and unsettle with bright colors though. I mean, somehow people find clowns are creepy even in bright lights and they are VERY colorful.
(its sort of hard to discuss this indepth without derailing this into a what makes a good horror game thread, so I'll stop here)

I'd like to see more experimentation, thats all.

As for Dead Space: It's not that visually dark a game, so I'm not complaining about that game. Well Dead Space 2 at least. There's color where there should be color, and you can usually see well enough.

[Gwen]

but I'd also like to be able to, you know, actually see!

Was honestly just addressing this in regards to horror survival games, which was what you seemed to be getting at. I agree that horror's not all about the dark, there's room for vibrant creepy ones ala clowns and shit, although I highly doubt those who find clowns scary would willingly play those games Although it seems to be less about horror and more so tactical Hunting, that Evolve game the creators of Left 4 Dead are putting out has some pretty damn vibrant colors and still causes some jumps. I think the reason vibrant, bright colors are avoided though is that they can interfere and/or give off the wrong feel for most horror style games.
I feel those ones would have to be more anchored in the psychological area and mind tricks., but it could definitely work.

EDIT: I think you'll find plenty of horror games are pretty colorful as is actually. I mean Red, Green, and Brown seem to be dominant tones, but the F.E.A.R. series in general has a pretty wide palette, with a lot of saturated yummy colors.

---

Final Fantasy Tactics. This game has a deep and dark story as RPGs can get, and yet, the world was still nice and colorful to look at.





Granted it didn't have as MUCH color as the later games, especially Tactics A2.
http://www.spriters-resource.com/ds/ffta2/sheet/37422/

Because of this, I seriously don't buy the whole "Colors are gritty, because the story is gritty" excuse people like to toss around as a defense.

Also need to address this, because whether or not you meant it too, you make it sound like all modern serious games forget about color choice, which quite simply isn't true.

Hitman Absolution

Very serious storyline, and as you can see the world's popping with color

Dishonored

Another game with a serious, gritty storyline that still has a pretty wide arrange of colors in it's world, sometimes more vibrant than other times, but still a pretty colorful world

Red Dead Redemption

Had trouble finding good screenshots of later areas, but yeah this game is gorgeous, and has one of the most gritty, serious story lines ever.

I could go on for awhile, but plenty of gritty, serious games use color well.

[Kriven]

Chiming in as a coulrophobe: I would play the shit out of a clown-based horror game. In real life I can't handle those painted fuckers, but I expose myself to fear when I'm in the mood for (fictional) horror.