Game Design Music and Art

What is Polish? – samw3

samw3

Member

Posts: 542
From: Toccoa, GA, USA
Registered: 08-15-2006
After reading the Ideas vs. Execution thread I had a question and instead of junking up Puzzle Quest thread, I would like to pose it...

What exactly is polish? Not general answers, but specifics as to what makes a game "polished"?

I have a though to share as well, but would first like to get an idea of what people think about what it takes to polish a game.

I remember when Randall released his zoo race game that ArchAngel commented that it needed more polish.

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Sam Washburn

Check out my CCN SpeedGame 2 Blog

ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
Polish isn't necessarily one thing specifically, but rather a general term that describes going over the game and fine tuning it to perform at it's [near] optimal potential.

It can involve the mechanics of the game. Make sure the GUI is intuitive and responsive. Put some nice animations to smooth things over instead of looking choppy and hackish.
Debugging is a huge part of it.

With art, it can mean making sure everything fits together. Realistic backgrounds with cartoonish characters looks awkward and it keeps the user from becoming immersed in your game. Keeping the same art style adds a unity to the world that a gamer can enjoy. Graphics don't need to be spectacular, but they can be inviting.

Gameplay, make sure the game is challenging, but playable. Have a good learning curve. In RPG's and especially multiplayer games, balance out the classes. Make sure one isn't overpowered. Extremely difficult, but incredibly fun to do.

The Beta stages should be extensive. Arguably, most of the time should be spent here. Any of us who are making a game should open it here for beta testing.
We have the community all in place. Don't bypass this stage. Find the bugs, balance out the game, test to see how the public responds to it.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

SSquared

Member

Posts: 654
From: Pacific Northwest
Registered: 03-22-2005
Polish, to me, is beyond gameplay. It is characteristics which really bring life to a game. It is the special level of detail which may, perhaps, go unnoticed. Actually, it may go unnoticed most of the time. But there is a sense of something lacking in the presentation without it.

It's tough to get totally specific as I think polish is different for different game genres.

First, I would say it's the total package. You have a good, fun game with music, sound effects, graphics, and everything in-between. But even with that said, a text adventure certainly would not have all of that. But you get the point.

Polish is giving a consistent look and feel throughout. It's adding that little smirk in the character's face. Sound effects can really give a game a special level of polish. In 3D characters it's making a good, movable skeleton capable of a lot of various movements. In 2D it's properly using colors and shades. It's matching your in-game assets with what you are trying to convey.

Can I use your (Sam) game as an example? I really hope this doesn't sound negative, I am trying to be VERY positive, so I hope it comes out right. To me, your music really set the polish. It says, "I'm old school. "I'm 8-bit or 16" or whatever...sorry I was out of the gaming scene when all of those consoles came out so I don't know 8-bit from 16-bit. But I do know GameBoy style. Anyway, the music totally set the scene, the pace, and really placed the player in a timewarp. Without it, you'd still have a fun game, but one may wonder why you chose old-time graphics. But with it, it's the cherry on top which just clinches the whole look, feel, and environment to say, "This is EXACTLY the style I was shooting for." Aahhh...now when someone plays the game, your graphics become absolute genius because you captured the style so well.

I like to think of a movie. Polish is when you have a scene evoking emotions and the viewer has no idea why. (Some say) one of the best compliments is to be emotionally moved by a scene and not realize there was any music. Lighting, camera angle, music, all play a huge part in the polish of a movie scene.

I think you get the gist of it. Polish probably means different things for each us.

InsanePoet

Member

Posts: 638
From: Vermont, USA
Registered: 03-12-2003
quote:
Originally posted by samw3:

What exactly is polish?


...


pwned.

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

[This message has been edited by insanepoet (edited September 13, 2007).]

Cohort X

Member

Posts: 126
From: The Great Pacific Northwest
Registered: 09-16-2006
That's Poland.

This is Polish.

[This message has been edited by cohort X (edited September 13, 2007).]

steveth45

Member

Posts: 536
From: Eugene, OR, USA
Registered: 08-10-2005
I think a well polished game is 50% production and 50% polish. I was surprised how much time and effort went into the menu system for the game I'm working on right now. The menu is 2D, but the parts were modeled by hand and rendered in 3D, and look great. The menu has moving parts, with sound effects, rollovers, etc. It really makes the time you spend in the menu smooth, and an integral part of the whole experience. That smooth user interface just makes everything flow for the user.

Balancing, and adjusting the sound effects and music during game play does a lot to add a polished feel to the game. One sound effect that is too loud, or abrasive, or even too quiet can dampen the whole experience. Like SSquared said, good sound effects and music don't draw attention to themselves, but sit in the background, adding a fullness and immersion to the experience.

The responsiveness of the control system is a big one for games. I've seen otherwise great games get bad reviews, solely because the controls were awkward or unresponsive. This is the primary (only) way that the player interacts with the game, so it has to be good, and that's difficult to do well.

Unity of style in the visual aspect of the game (as mentioned earlier) is important. The primary method that the game communicates to the player is visually--they are "video games" after all. That's why I tend to roll my eyes when people say that graphics aren't important. They are. It's the center of the whole experience. The graphics don't have to be "high-poly" or "hi-res" to be good. They have to blend well with the rest of the game, the gameplay, and be generally pleasant to look at. That's one reason why a lot of games have overly sexualized female characters--it's just nicer to look at (from a worldly perspective). I just saw a TV ad the other day for "Heavenly Sword" which has an attractive female main character jumping around slicing the heck out of bad guys. The tagline in the commercial was, "Revenge never looked this beautiful," or something very close to that. The double reference was of course to the fact that the game is rendered at HD resolution, with amazing lighting, texturing and animation effects as well as the fact that the woman is physically attractive. As Christians, we can't rely on sexuality to make games attractive, so that makes things a little more difficult, but ultimately much better. Even though the studio I work for is not run primarily by Christians, I'm proud to say that none of the games they've put out (that I know about) have pandered to base "sex" appeal of many modern console games. As long as I work there, I'll be a strong opponent of visual content that degrades or objectifies women.

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|steveth45|
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ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
quote:
Originally posted by insanepoet:

...


pwned.



WIN!


but, yeah, I'm in agreement with s2.
He makes a great point with your(Sam's) game. The music flowed perfectly with the style of game and gave it a "together" feel.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

kenman

Member

Posts: 518
From: Janesville WI
Registered: 08-31-2006
Here's the real scoop on the polish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_Race

Dont forget

Brat, Hot Dog, Italian and Chorizo

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