An intellectual discussion predated by a Nutsack

Posted by Kenon on July 10, 2011, 8 a.m.

Now time for an intellectual discussion. How about we discuss the usages of color for flowing people towards objectives in video games and whether or not it is vital?

RedOrangeYellowGreenBluePurple

Comments

Kenon 13 years, 5 months ago

As a 3d level designer, I notice this quite well, areas with more color contrast draw the eyes to the contrast. For a great example of this, look at Left 4 Dead's colors in situations with its areas. The flows of the colors in them tend to be towards where you should go.

JuurianChi 13 years, 5 months ago

I concur, think about the use of colors with attributes already pre-programmed in the human mind.

how weird would warning symbols be if they were light green instead of red.

And by the time players get used to it they may not care anymore.

Zarniwooop 13 years, 5 months ago

When I read this, I immediately thought of Mirror's Edge. It's using an important, if not vital, way to guide the player throughout the level. It's called "Runner's vision" and if you've played ME you should be familiar with it.

A main component of ME is to keep your momentum, and Runner's vision helps you find a smooth route by highlighting certain objects that can be used to build your momentum in red. Compared to the relatively pale color scheme in the rest of the game, this stands out pretty well.

However, Runner's vision might not always show the only or most efficient way to your goal, and it can be turned of entirely. The fact that it's using red as the color to highlighting objects may seem a little odd considering red is a universal color for danger and etc. Basically if something is flashing in red, stay away from it. Eg the infamous "Red Ring of Death".

Wouldn't it be better to use green instead? In my opinion red is a stylish color when applied to such a color scheme that is used in ME, and that's probably why they used it.

Rez 13 years, 5 months ago

lmao

JuurianChi 13 years, 5 months ago

@Zarniwoop

In the case of Mirrors Edge I think a better color would have been a bolded light blue:

svf 13 years, 5 months ago

Colors…. mmmm

Praying Mantis 13 years, 5 months ago

I think mirror's edge had an excellent use of colour, as each area of the city was defined by a certain colour. The bloom was a bit crazy too.