Vector Game Art

Game Designer at RetroStyle Games | Dec 26, 2023

When talking about game art, people usually need to remember about vector graphics and its importance for video games. A lot of people even don’t know about the genre of vector art games and it is unfair.

Unlike raster graphics, which are composed of pixels, vector game art is based on mathematical equations that define shapes, lines, and colors. It may sound difficult to work with but sometimes vector images are even better for game development. They can be scaled to any size without losing quality, which makes vector graphics well-suited for various screen resolutions and sizes in the dynamic environment of video games.

Principles of Vector Game Art

What developers like the most about vector graphics is that it can be scaled without loss of quality. This allows the use of the same assets across various screen sizes and resolutions. Do you want to make quick changes? Vector game art is highly editable so you can experiment with shapes, colors, and sizes.

In the battle of vector graphics vs raster graphics, vector art wins in some categories. For instance, vector graphics result in smaller file sizes compared to raster images. This contributes to faster loading times and better overall game performance. But what tools can help to create outstanding vector art games that will have a professional polished look? We’ll tell you now.

Adobe Illustrator

This widely used vector graphics editor offers a comprehensive set of tools for creating and editing vector game art.

Inkscape

Powerful and user-friendly, this instrument is a free open-source vector graphics. It is popular among indie game developers.

CorelDRAW

Another professional vector graphics editor that provides a range of features for creating game art.

Of course, the choice of tools depends on personal preferences, project requirements, and budget considerations, so it’s impossible to work only with Adobe Illustrator. Before working on vector game art or vector video games, it’s better to discover the specific needs of the project and only after that select a perfect instrument.

Vector Art for User Interface (UI) in Games

If you want to create an intuitive UI/UX game design that is easy to navigate, be ready to follow the vector art principles and tips of our team.

We know what to do: our studio always ensures a positive user experience in our clients’ game interfaces:

Maintain a consistent visual style across all UI elements to create a unified design. You can use consistent color schemes, typography, and iconography to establish a visual language that users can quickly understand.
Provide visual feedback for interactive elements. Use animations, color changes, or subtle effects to indicate button presses, hovers, or other user interactions. Don’t forget to make sure that users receive clear feedback when they perform actions within the UI.
Ensure that your vector UI elements are accessible to a broad audience. Such factors as color contrast, font size, and user-friendly navigation are very significant. Think about providing options for customization, such as adjustable text sizes or color themes.

What we always do is gather feedback through playtesting to understand how users interact with the UI in the context of the game. Without this step, it will be much more difficult to refine and improve your design.

How to Create Vector Game Characters

Whether you want to create a horror game protagonist or a mysterious fantasy antagonist, you need to be very attentive if you want to come up with outstanding vector game characters.

For the main character, focus on making them visually engaging and relatable to the player. Consider how their design reflects their role in the game and the emotions you want players to experience through them. In this case, a good example will be the vector design of mascots for Amazon Web Services developed by our team.

Even if they aren’t protagonists of a game, they still showcase how good positive characters should look like. These mascots serve as symbols of connection between Amazon Web Services and their audience. But they are also visually stunning and funny!

In general, this project demonstrates how professional 2D game character design and several colorful, creative, and charismatic mascots can totally change the game for the brand.

In return, antagonists evoke a sense of opposition and challenge in gamers’ hearts. Their appearance should reflect the narrative conflict and contribute to the tension in the game. Supportive characters are also very significant for the story! Their unique traits perfectly complement every game’s story.

Animation Techniques for Vector Art

Vector game art isn’t only about graphics. It’s a perfect opportunity to create an outstanding animation or enhance animation that already exists in the project. How game developers can combine vector art and animation? Let’s discover!

Keyframe Animation

Keyframe animation involves creating significant frames at specific points in an animation sequence. Artists define key poses or positions, and the software generates the frames in between.

Tweening

Tweening fills the frames between keyframes. In vector animation, this is often accomplished through linear interpolation, creating smooth transitions between poses.

3D Vector Animation

While vector graphics are primarily 2D, techniques like pseudo-3D effects can be achieved. This involves creating an illusion of depth through shading, gradients, and layering.

Lip Syncing

If your game is with dialogues, vector art can be used for precise lip-syncing. This involves synchronizing characters’ lip movements with spoken words.

Layered Animation

Utilizing layers in vector animation allows for more efficient manipulation of individual elements. This is particularly useful for characters with multiple parts, like clothing or accessories.

If you’re interested in professional vector game animation services, our studio is always ready to help you with vector art game projects.

Implementing Vector Art in Game Development

Vector game art is a huge field of creativity for visual artists. However, besides that, integrating vector art into game development also involves implementation, optimization, and platform compatibility. In this case, your best helpers are game engines like Unity… or Unreal Engine (depending on your taste and skills).

Of course, start by creating your vector art assets using software like Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, or Affinity Designer. It doesn’t matter what exactly to choose, it’s a question of comfort. After exporting vector assets in a compatible format, import them into the chosen game engine. Just a small reminder: if you don’t know, what game engine is better to work with, you can always use our Unity Engine development and Unreal Engine game development services ;)

Then, combine multiple vector assets into sprite atlases. This helps reduce draw calls and improves performance by minimizing the number of separate texture loads. If your game involves animations, use the animation tools provided by the game engine to implement vector animations. These animations also should be optimized for smooth performance.

Optimize vector art for performance by simplifying complex shapes, reducing unnecessary details, and minimizing the number of vertices. This helps maintain smooth frame rates, especially on lower-powered devices. Also, test your game on a variety of devices to ensure that vector art assets scale correctly and perform well across different screen sizes and resolutions. But you shouldn’t worry too much: vector game art is perfect for different platforms ;)

By following these important tips, you can effectively integrate and optimize it for a diverse range of gaming platforms. Also, regular testing and iteration are essential to fine-tune the performance of your game and ensure a smooth visual experience for players.

Vector Art in Game Marketing and Branding

It may sound quite unexpected but vector game art is often used in game marketing and branding. Due to its scalability, vector graphics can establish a distinctive brand identity and ensure consistency across various platforms and marketing channels.

Our team also has a similar experience with the game Quarantine developed by Sproing and published by 505 Games. Our professional artists’ job was to create a set of realistic vector characters. As a result, they not only set the game apart from other similar projects but increased replayability. It’s the breathtaking power of synergy between vector style and raster art!

Vector graphics also can be used in logo design. Vector logos can be easily resized without losing quality, making them suitable for a variety of applications, from social media icons to large banners. If you plan to create merchandise (such as t-shirts, mugs, or posters) for your game, vector art is an excellent idea. It allows for high-quality printing and ensures that the graphics maintain their clarity and sharpness, even when scaled for different products.

In general, incorporating vector art into your game marketing not only ensures a professional appearance but also creates a visual identity that stands out in a competitive market. As you know, consistency and adaptability are key factors in building a strong and recognizable brand for your game :)

Challenges and Solutions in Vector Game Art

While working with vector game art for a long time, we discovered some significant challenges game developers often struggle with. To improve the quality of our working process, we’ve even come up with some solutions and dealt with those problems. Today, we’ll share them with you.

Performance concerns

Rendering complex vector graphics in real-time can sometimes pose performance challenges, especially on less powerful devices. We recommend optimizing vector assets by simplifying shapes, reducing unnecessary details, and using LOD (Level of Detail) techniques.

Animation complexity

Animating complex vector characters or scenes can be technically demanding. You can break down animations into simpler components and leverage skeletal animation systems. This not only simplifies the animation process but also enhances performance by reducing the number of computations required.

Shading and lighting

Compared to raster graphics, achieving realistic shading and lighting effects in vector game art is a quite challenging process. Usually, our team experiments with vector-based shading techniques such as gradient meshes or combine vector graphics with dynamic lighting effects generated in real-time.

Case Studies: Successful Implementation of Vector Art in Games

Even if vector art games aren’t as popular as games with raster graphics, several titles have successfully implemented vector art in their projects. With that, they achieve distinct visual styles, optimized performance, and enhanced scalability.

Hollow Knight by Team Cherry

Hollow Knight is an indie game known for its hand-drawn vector art style. The developers utilized vector graphics to create unforgettable characters and environments. The use of vectors allowed for smooth animations and scalable assets, ensuring a consistent visual experience across different screen sizes.

Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe

Stardew Valley is a farming simulation game with a charming pixel-art aesthetic. While the core art style is pixel-based, vector graphics were strategically employed for UI elements, icons, and promotional materials. This hybrid approach allowed for scalability in certain aspects of the game.

Alto’s Adventure by Snowman

Alto’s Adventure is an endless snowboarding game with an outstanding atmosphere. The game features a combination of vector game art for characters and elements, along with dynamic weather and lighting effects. The use of vectors allowed for smooth animations and adaptability to different screen sizes.

FAQ

What is the difference between vector and pixel in game history?

Vector graphics is defined by mathematical equations, using points, lines, and shapes. It can be scaled to any size without losing quality. Vector game art was popular in early arcade games like Asteroids and Tempest during the late 1970s and 1980s.

In return, pixel graphics are composed of individual pixels, forming a grid of colored dots. It can lose quality when scaled up due to the visibility of individual pixels. Pixel game art became widespread with the rise of home computers and consoles in the 1980s, as seen in games like Super Mario Bros. and Pac-Man. While early gaming predominantly featured one of these graphic styles, modern games often employ a mix of both, choosing the approach that best suits the desired visual style and technical requirements.

Which software is best suited for vector game art?

Several software tools are well-suited for creating vector game art, each with its strengths and features. But for our team, Adobe Illustrator is number 1. With its power, game artists can have industry-standard vector design software with comprehensive tools. Adobe Illustrator offers precise control over shapes, paths, and colors. Also, it integrates well with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

What is the advantage of using a raster graphic?

One significant advantage of using raster graphics is their ability to represent intricate details and complex visual information with a high level of precision and realism. But it isn’t only one of their advantages.

Detail and realism

Raster graphics excel at capturing fine details, textures, and nuanced shading. This makes them suitable for representing realistic images, such as photographs or highly detailed illustrations.

Photorealistic rendering

Raster graphics are well-suited for rendering photorealistic scenes. This is particularly important in industries such as computer-aided design (CAD).

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