6. Visual Design

Tasks

Determine visual style

To begin, you need to determine what overall visual style you want your game to have. It is important that all team members have some sense of what the game will look like before you begin development. Investing time in planning will help you save time later.

Think about your game and how you want it to appear:

• What art style would suit the game’s narrative and/or gameplay?

• What level of realism will the visuals have?

• What colour scheme(s) will be used, and why?

• How bright or dark will scenes in the game be?

• How might the visuals in your game vary? Could the visuals differ depending on the scene, mode, or level?

Gather inspiration material

Next, you should gather some ‘inspiration’ material to help you clarify the visual style of your game.

The materials could be existing images, sketches, colour combinations, etc. These materials will not necessarily be used in your game, but they should help convey some idea of the intended visual style. Try to choose materials that are highly impactful.

Consider compiling your visuals together in a ‘mood board’. A mood board is a large canvas with sample images and colours, which together convey a particular visual style or mood. You can use a free application such as Canva to create a mood board. If your game has several distinct styles, you may wish to create multiple mood boards.

To create your mood board(s), you may also find it helpful to work within an existing colour palette. Using a limited colour palette throughout the elements of your game is an easy way to help make the visual design feel cohesive. Tools such as ColorHunt offer a range of colour palettes for you to use.

Select/Design visual assets

Once you have a broad understanding of your game’s visual style, you can begin to source some visual assets that can be used in your game. Depending on whether your game is 2D or 3D, you will need different kinds of assets (e.g. sprites and scenes for 2D games, and 3D models for 3D games).

Remember that the STEM VGC rules state that ‘at a minimum, we expect that the main characters and sounds, important tools and obstacles, as well as primary backgrounds are the student’s original work’. Free visual assets should only be used for less-important objects, or as placeholders until final visuals can be created. There are many websites that offer free visual assets you can use for your game, including Itch.io, OpenGameArt, and Kenney. Some game design platforms also offer free assets you can select from.

When designing your primary visual assets, be conscious of time and make realistic choices. There is no point devoting too much time to perfecting one asset if it means that other important assets are never created.

We also suggest that you do not spend too much time on any one visual asset initially. As your game develops, you may find that certain visual assets are not needed anymore, or that their look needs to change. This can result in wasted time and frustration. When building your prototype, it is generally better to quickly select some placeholder assets to give you something to work with, and then replace these with more polished versions once your game is better developed.

The selection and creation of visual assets will be an ongoing process. As your game takes shape, you will find that new visual assets are required – and that old ones may need to change.

Evaluate and reflect on your visual style

As your game develops, you should make time to stop and reflect on whether the visual assets you are using are working together to create a consistent and appropriate visual style.

Ask yourself:

• Is the general art style of your assets consistent (e.g. if you want a cartoonish style, do all assets seem cartoonish?)

• Do your visuals invite players to feel, think and behave in the ways you want?

• Are there any visual assets that seem out of place, or which require more work?

• Can the visuals be improved or enhanced in any meaningful ways (e.g. can you add further textures, effects, etc.?)

• Is the colour scheme consistent and appropriate?

• Do the visuals comply with the Classification Guidelines?

Level-up activities

For deeper insight into the effects of visuals in games – including how visuals can influence player behaviour – you may like to read the following article.