An idea: Video games should target black and white.
interpolator
I was thinking about how advance games (as well as CG in general) has gotten. But even with these advances, games still aren't close to photorealism.
Look at any old black and white photo and it still looks better than games.
Of course, it's not the lack of color that makes it real, but the most accurate lighting simulations, realistic physics and incredible attention to surface detail that makes that above WW2 photo look better than any game.
So why black and white? Cost effective. Black and white only has you focus on two colors (or one?). For global illumination or reflections, you're not worried at how saturated or what the correct hue bleeding should look like. Only, what should the value look like.
Once games master this, then they could move on to 60's or 70's era color TV's (which again, still look better than games).
Of course realistically, I know most games wont ever do this because of marketing reason. But it would be something I would love to do personally.
Look at any old black and white photo and it still looks better than games.
Of course, it's not the lack of color that makes it real, but the most accurate lighting simulations, realistic physics and incredible attention to surface detail that makes that above WW2 photo look better than any game.
So why black and white? Cost effective. Black and white only has you focus on two colors (or one?). For global illumination or reflections, you're not worried at how saturated or what the correct hue bleeding should look like. Only, what should the value look like.
Once games master this, then they could move on to 60's or 70's era color TV's (which again, still look better than games).
Of course realistically, I know most games wont ever do this because of marketing reason. But it would be something I would love to do personally.
Replies
Could look awesome if done right I guess. Would taking out the colour actually make it easier to achieve realistic renders?
There's a whole scientific chapter dedicated to what exactly makes color.
It's certainly a very complicated topic that for any artist interested in photorealism has to take into account and with this, it creates time.
The use of color could also tie into current limitations with games. Do game engines take into account color temperature before requiring artist intervention for example.
"Better" is subjective, give me awesome art direction over OMFG photo realism any day. Black and White is generally boring unless heavily stylized.
Second, it would seriously fuck with gameplay. An FPS where the characters don't read well against the environment would be a frustrating mess. In games like Uncharted you wouldn't know what to climb etc etc. Colour is used heavily as a way to identify things, ranging from something as obvious to enemy classes to subtle environmental elements designed guide the player. I was playing Far Cry 4 earlier and coloured smoke is used to identify drop types in the Arena, in fact it uses colour in this way frequently, as do most games. We must remember we are making games, not movies.
Third, colour can be used to envoke different moods in the player, for examples blues are a good way to invoke feelings of isolation and coldness, and I'm sure we're all aware of the stereotypical grey/brown shooter.
Fourth, good luck selling it.
It's true color makes things easier to identify. However, I wouldn't consider that the above all reason.
Contrast.
As long as contrast exists, you will still be able to separate objects from each other. You don't need to color to identify water in the OP picture. It's strikingly obviously what is what (soldiers, beaches, rocks etc). It would also become more apparent in motion.
It's also not just color responsible for helping you see.
When Valve was designing TF2, they specifically crafted the character's silhouettes so you can instantly recognize each character from each other. This likely plays just as an important role as "blue vs red".
Although I can understand where the limitations would come into play. Maybe for such a game, it could make specific elements have color when needed (i.e blood, weapons, or shirts). Like Madworld.
Also, I was discussing this in the context of achieving photo-realism, which in my mind means no stylized silhouettes. I've nothing against greyscale games that are heavily stylized, like Limbo.
Hyper realistic black and white will not be considerably more cost effective, in my opinion, especially if we look at large productions.
It's not that the idea isn't interesting, but more as an experiment and again a question of style. To suggest the whole industry should take that path is a bit silly, in my opinion.
The most important factor of something looking convincing is the value relative to the contrast, btw. You could completely alter the colors of an image and while looking psychedelic, it still would look somewhat real.
Black is the lack of colour
White is all colours
Here endeth the lesson.
(made it black and white, adjusted levels to match ref, added film grain to match ref)
I think graphics will get better as the capabilities of machines get better (individual blades of grass, real time water simulation and not shader work, etc)
However, one game stands out in memory that did not use color and was hugely successful, Limbo. However we should keep in mind it was also 2d and slightly cartoony/stylized, not exactly what you were aiming for with realistic graphics. but it did contribute to artistic perspective and mood that the game was aiming for and in the end was able to work with its level design and mechanics quite easily.
I was talking about a specific picture you described as chaotic when in fact it isn't. It's probably even a carefully arranged shot, guiding the eye. The rules you cited apply to a degree but you seem to take them as gospel and miss the context. Maybe one of the challenges of a game is to identify camouflaged enemies. Maybe the path is supposed to look organic and hidden. Maybe not even a path at all and yet the player knows where he can go. Maybe not from a still image, but certainly in context of the game. The rules you cited make no sense to that absolute degree you want to see them implemented and games "need" not do anything.
Although I do get your point in that games really are made to stand apart from realism in design decisions that affect the player's readability and ability to navigate a 3D space on a computer monitor without becoming frustrated or remaining lost for too much time. Basically a short anecdote of this in working-practice is how camoflage in games usually is designed to give the feeling of camo, but infact has elements on it that completely go against the whole purpose of camo in real-life, like how Valve designed the hgrunt texture pattern in HL1. or the whole let's be stealthy and wear a snow camo in a blue/snow environment to hide from the enemy, but we'll make sure to wear complementary orange decals that lite up like a Christmas tree!
The best of both worlds really is to design a level or environment that feels natural in it's structure, yet is actually very specifically designed to lead the player through the correct path without getting the feeling of running into invisible walls of doom all the time.
Basically, keep Truman from learning the truth that his life is a TV show on a large set while guiding him along with set paths and rewards to influence his decisions
On the topic of the OP, even if it is easier to make black and white look closer to the "realism" of a black and white photo I would not want to be playing 100 games of black and white games without feeling depressed or bland. Once in a while and done with a specific vision or reason behind it is fine, but for god sake not every game. I love color!
Which by the way, you can argue photographs themselves are a defacto illusion of the real object. Photographs aren't really "real" either due to the flattening of the image, camera lens, manipulating the focus, and the all important artist behind the photo who distorts the viewer's perception of reality in both the style and subject matter that is photographed by said artist.
I don't find myself walking around seeing noise grain in dark shadows, blinding walls of over-exposed light, lens flares, or soft-focused closeups on every object. These visual elements have become so engrained in the visual language of "reality," due to the constant repetition and viewing of these elements from a culture that has been engrossed in the mediums of photographs and film for over a century. (two if you go back to calotypes and
daguerreotypes)