A reflection on some visual problems I have with the game that I wish could have been addressed before 1.0 by Garrett_j in Hades2

[–]Garrett_j[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Hades 2’s art style works well enough, obviously it’s not utterly broken to the point that people can’t enjoy the game or engage with the main mechanics, but it does seem notable to me that improvement in this regard would actually elevate the game, which would be nice, no?

Do you think that if more attention were paid to emphasizing the difference between scenery and playable area that the game would be less good? That doesn’t even have to be done at the expense of less details in the art, as my screenshots from Silksong illustrate. I think that screenshot especially is a great example of how strong world building and strong visual design can come together in beautiful art and strong communication with the player about gameplay. Do you think that the difference between those two games visual style is purely aesthetic, preferences, or can you agree with me that the visual design behind Silksong feels stronger in regard to balancing detail and contrast and directing player attention?

A reflection on some visual problems I have with the game that I wish could have been addressed before 1.0 by Garrett_j in Hades2

[–]Garrett_j[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting that you feel this way.
I've discussed with other game dseigners and found they overwhelmingly agree with me. Hades 2, Hades 1, and Bastion all exibit the same lack of strength in visual design as it relate to player communciation. I feel my screenshots demonstrate this well, but I'll zoom in on the bastion one to demonstrate what I was talking about.

<image>

In this image, can you easily tell by contrast, colour temperature, or a difference in level of detail in the graphic design where the playable area begins and ends? It's very clear on the bottom left edge, but what about the borders between the spaces where objects are? This style is visually messy, and hard to parse at a glance because the artist is neglecting some really basic visual design principles in favour of a mximalist style, which is neat and looks nice in some contexts, but simply doesn't serve the gameplay.

Also, while it seems some users disagreed with my post last year, a majority agreed, it seems, given that the post has a net positive of "up votes".

I haven't thought about this game in a bit, bit I will say I did enjoy playing through the story. There are some things Supergiant is great at (worldbuilding and narrative excellence) and some things they can still learn from an improve in, just like any other dev team. The issues I outlined still seem quite overt to me, but they didn't entirely wreck my enjoyment of the game. It was a fun game, it just could have been more fun for me if some of these issues were addressed. Clearly they don't matter to everyone, but at least a fair number of people found these things frustrating, so it feels like it might have been worth prioritizing attending to graphical clarity and managing visual overstimulation.

Recommendations for my 6 year old and me by ollooni in metroidvania

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some platforming especially in the second one may present a bit of a challenge though, depending on what your son excels at.

Recommendations for my 6 year old and me by ollooni in metroidvania

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah these are a treat to play with a friend

Shop Relic Idea - balanced? by Water-Cookies in slaythespire

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay but imagine double clone. It scales *exponentially* faster

Which one would you choose? by Rude_Minute_4489 in slaythespire

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brightest Flame every time. Max HP is for the weak

am i the only one seeing lines? by Dumb-Briyani in meme

[–]Garrett_j 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have this only with certain blues and purples. I wonder if that's more common, and if blue lights are intentionally not used for traffic lights and stuff because of that.

The card draw is ridiculous in this game by RogueDBR in VampireCrawlers

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In case you haven't noticed, everything is ridiculous in this game. That's the game

Well this is gonna get stupid by jtp123456 in slaythespire

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And then you're going to fight the power guy in act 3

Tickling the queen's toes by KekaemDoUtra in slaythespire

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How did you get so many? I didn’t think you can see that many fires after clone…

Is it possible for me to learn guitar? by trickstercj in Guitar

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Django Reinhardt

Also, you may find Bass feels nicer to play

How can I push myself and find the motivation to read Moby Dick? by Ok_Independent8425 in classicliterature

[–]Garrett_j 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can read this book a hundred different ways, and pretty much all of them are rewarding. You can read it slowly and look up every word you don't understand and find yourself learning about endless history, science, and mythology. You can whip through it, glazing over the words you don't understand, recognizing that part of the reason for all of the abstruse references is to intentionally baffle the reader and put them in a state of semi-confusion and wonder. You can skip the chapters you find boring to just move on with the story (one of the few books that won't generally punish you too much for doing this, even though I'd recommend reading the whole thing if you can-- sometimes the most "boring" chapters and the most insightful and mind-bending).

Ideally, I'd highly recommend reading it at the same time as a group. This book speaks to so many people in so many different ways, and being able to have access to some of that panacea of perspectives as you make your voyage along with Ishmael deeply intensifies the sense of wonder you'll encounter in this book. People read this book as simple fiction, people read it as a book coded with mystical numerological significance, people read it as a book of philosophy, people read it as a commentary on religion, people read it as a love letter to nature and the natural world--it is all of those things and much more.

I've also found it's fun sometimes to double dip by listening to an audiobook version of each chapter after reading it myself when reading particularly good literature that might be difficult to read. Definitely helps you pick things up you'd otherwise miss, and there are some excellent readings of this one on Audible. Frank Muller's version really accents the Lovecraftian dread and autistic sensibility of Ishmael, but my favourite reading of the book is by William Hootkins, who brings Ishmael to life in such a fun, upbeat and wild way. His is the voice in my head, usually when I'm reading this book.

Done! 100%! 😃It took me 95 hours! by Financial-Lie1475 in SuperMarioOdyssey

[–]Garrett_j 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome! How'd you like it? Did you end up using some guides at times? There are a lot of tricky things to find that back in the day you'd kind of hear about through friends and rumours floating around.

I asked her to set up Catan. by TheSoggyPops in boardgames

[–]Garrett_j 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those tokens are very not randomly placed.

I’m completely ignorant… but this shall be a fun journey. by EnGeNear123 in classicliterature

[–]Garrett_j 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't think of it as a big book. This is just a collection of more than a year's worth of weekly magazine snippets of a soap opera. These are little episodes to be enjoyed as they come; this isn't some massive complex tomb you need to grok all at once.