[Article] Why is the Low-Poly Graphics Style so Common
This is a topic I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time now and goes by the same name of a topic which I wrote a reply for July 2019. You can view my original reply here. I’ve been meaning to re-write this interesting question with it’s own topic to provide my views and hopefully also to prompt developer discussion into the topic.
The answer itself can be condensed into two a single phrase; computer science and design trend. Though I will expand what I mean by this, I firstly want to redirect you to an amazing response in terms of the technical side by @Aotrou, which I referenced in my original response. Here.
Introduction
The term low-poly commonly has two meanings both of which rely on the concept of using few polygons in a mesh hence the term low-poly.
The first meaning being the technical (and strictly speaking the only ‘real’ definition), low-poly design is used for performance optimisation. As any conscientious designer will be constantly aware of how each design choice will affect performance, low-poly design is widely used for this reason.
The second being an aesthetic decision to create a game that looks more ‘flat’. The correct term for this is flat shading (or as I occasionaly say throughout flat shading/no texture) but the term ‘low-poly’ has been increasingly used, inaccurately, to describe this second definition. Throughout this article I will generally refer to this second definition which should be termed flat shading, but for ease of read I will simply refer to as low-poly. Instead of using low-poly design as a performance necessity it is used for the appeal of how the design impacts texture, lighting and form. (Though the genre’s origins as an art movement and very rarely thought on today they might provide interesting reading for some users) I thought I might point out now, that low-poly doesn’t mean devoid of interest. The genre is interestingly multi-faceted (ironically unlike it’s product) in its interpretations. Low-poly can mean flat shading/no texture to create a ‘cartoon’ style, as it is employed by a lot of roblox developers, but can quite equally make use of very detailed textures to create dynamic visual range in a design rather than a high poly count.
Technical
Roblox does an amazing job at allowing access to the platform over a wide range of devices, and so does its creators in designing games for cross-platform use. But the upshot is that unless you want a game to be solely played on high-performance desktops you need to optimise your game for other devices such as mobile.
Computing Power
Textures, especially high-quality textures, use up a lot of memory (in comparison to parts) so when designing a large map, which ideally should be optimised for mobile, textures are the first things to be scrapped. Plain brick colours being substituted in the place of textures. (Take a look at @Aotrou’s original post I put further up, he describes this very well and provides a real world example by means of a game he worked on) Which of course looks weird on what would’ve been a realistic build, so it’s easier to opt for the low-poly (flat shading/no texture) design to create a game intentionally ‘cartoony’.
Less polygons to render, less complicated maths to be calculated. Obviously a device with less processing power will be less ideal than a device with more, but over time processing power has increased across ‘the spectrum of devices’.
A good example I found (admittedly from a wiki page) was Super Mario 64. When it was released it was a realistic game, but now we have more processing power in ordinary devices (even in Nintendo’s) so what is counted as realistic is much more complex than Super Mario 64, which now seems fairly low-poly.
Money and Talent
Referring back to not using textures.
Creating textures is a tiny part of everything that goes into the development pipeline, but at the same time is a massive funds sink hole. Each texture costs money if you hire an artist. So unless you are the texture artist yourself, you’ll need a lot of capital. Cutting out textures from your game frees up a lot of funds for other parts of your game.
Equally textures are difficult to make (hence why there are texture artists), and each artist needs their own software to make textures. Some artists use a drawing tablet, just adding more costs (other than computing power) to using textures in a game.
Not having textures seems to be fairly alluring.
Trend
What I really wanted to talk about is the ‘trend’ of using low-poly design in your game, and it’s origins.
Retro Reminiscence
Low-poly design, is a design trend that reminds a lot of creators (Roblox and professional game studios) of games they played as a child. Personally I remember Mario Kart is its very early stages, so games like that remind me and others of their childhood. I’d also add that this fits in with an overarching retro renaissance that we have seen, and stood against 8-bit scroller games, low-poly actually looks very refreshing.
Use Your Brain
Low-poly is purposefully stripped backed, but what this does is leaves us with the context (the who, what, when, where) rather than the visuals. The game is bare on texture and has very little (what I like to call) game-play padding, all of which forces the user to use their imagination, and to engage in the game. Essentially bringing minimalism into your game design, which is my next point.
Marie Kondo Takes on Game Design
Whereas Marie Kondo inspires minimalism in your life, low-poly inspires minimalism in your game design. Minimalism is a trend that has swept across pretty much any sector that uses design (so the world). We can thank Jony Ive, who has just left Apple, impart for this as he was responsible for so much which has brought back this trend of minimalist design to us.
Take a look at this cover that he designed for magazine ‘Wallpaper’ back in December 2017. (on left) You might think this is a boring cover but actually it illustrates what he was all about, reducing what we use in our lives to nothing. His mission at apple was ultimately to have one device that can do all. Feel free to read the whole article here.
Low-poly, as a more minimalist design, takes the onus of total immersion off of the designer and gives some responsibility to the player, apart from being hugely calming, it allows the user to focus more on the context and ambience, and other aspects such as music more.
Conclusion
Personally I find this trend hugely exciting. Apart from opening the potential for alternative beautiful design by creators, it is a style which is actually in its infancy. Having just managed to turn the page into 2020 (granted it’s not the best of years) we are in a world where computing power is greatly increased from what the early Mario Kart designers had to play with. What can be created now, even in a low-poly design, is hugely exciting and this trend is ever evolving into new ways of expression. I couldn’t even take a guess at how long it will last, but while it is here it excites me, and I know for sure that it will (like most trends) come back every few years.
I hope you enjoyed this mini-article, it’s been a topic I’ve wanted to talk about for a while. Let me know what you thought of this article, but also what you think of the low-poly trend. Maybe we can share some our creations below as wonderful examples of what can be created.
Allie
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