Nintendo "Style" Rachet and clank "Style" what is it?

baccene

Hey guys and gals,
I'm wanting to start on my portfolio for environment/ prop/ level design. I can see what I want in my head... but I'm trying to figure out if this style has a name to it. I'd like to do some follow along with tutorials in Maya, substance etc. ... but I just don't know what to type in! Okay, so there are realistic graphics.. trying to get that photorealistic look... and there's hand painted like a lot of Blizzard's stuff... but what do you call that Mario style? That cartoony, but not cell shaded... the look that was done absolutely beautifully in Mario vs Rabbids and in the PS4 Ratchet and Clank game... What makes this style, this style? What defines it? Does it have a name so that I might research it and it's methods of creation? Any help would be appreciated so that I can define this to myself better. 

JordanN

Pixar style?

I can't think of any other term. It's just Cartoony Shapes + Realistic lighting and texturing. 

valuemeal

Style names eh.................
An important person on this board said I should refrain from going about naming things, otherwise I would give my sentiments on the matter without restraint. 
I shall put this in more common broad terms so it can be interpolated well


For Mario it is the artistic stylings of Masanori Sato, an influential artist who shaped the foundation of a generation.
Looking at majority of the models, majority of the characters have flat colors with very little painting and primarily rely upon shaders as well as quite a bit of fresnel.

Rachet and Clank is a game more so routed in  stylings of the Creaturebox, it's a newage mishmash of comic tropes  as well as olden cartoons from  the 80's and graffiti stylings presented in a manner that is appeasing to a gaming audience.

Francois_K

I would just say its stylized .
However , the easiest and most direct way would be to contact someone who works there and ask them. If that doesn't work , research it , try to figure out what makes that style , that style.

pangaea

baccene said:

Hey guys and gals,
I'm wanting to start on my portfolio for environment/ prop/ level design. I can see what I want in my head... but I'm trying to figure out if this style has a name to it. I'd like to do some follow along with tutorials in Maya, substance etc. ... but I just don't know what to type in! Okay, so there are realistic graphics.. trying to get that photorealistic look... and there's hand painted like a lot of Blizzard's stuff... but what do you call that Mario style? That cartoony, but not cell shaded... the look that was done absolutely beautifully in Mario vs Rabbids and in the PS4 Ratchet and Clank game... What makes this style, this style? What defines it? Does it have a name so that I might research it and it's methods of creation? Any help would be appreciated so that I can define this to myself better. 

There are website where you can get models from Super Mario Odyssey. Then, you can break down how they do the textures. Looks like Super Mario Odyssey is using basic PBR workflow. Guessing Mario Vs Rabids is the game. Wonder if they are using substance painter and designer I'm guessing they are. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Pixar's approach to their character design and environment designs is definitely influenced by earlier Disney animation films in terms of the shape language.  I would suggest studying those as a starting point.

PixelMasher

stylized games like the ones you mentioned, and even the best looking realistic games have strong art directors. that is where those $100k+ salaries they command come into play. having someone with a cohesive vision steering an entire teams output so everything feels amazing as a whole and looks good take a hell of a lot of time and skill to develop. You can't really lump most things into a specific googleable style, each studio and house has its own look. cartoony, handpainted, sculptural etc etc, are just components of cohesive art direction.

if you are starting out, I would find pieces of stylized concept art from ratchet and try and match that in 3d, learning how to translate those shapes and more importantly learning WHY they work so well is a great exercise. Trying to come up with all of it from scratch when you are learning makes things 10x more difficult. reverse engineer the work of other more experienced artists by looking at art breakdowns on artstaion
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4lP9q
a bunch of ratchet concepts there.

valuemeal

I must add though if you are trying to take influence from Masonori Sato, drawing really helps.
I have spoken to a number of Nintendo Artists at various studios, and they have told me that it is imperative that you both draw and model.
This is contrary to many hyper real  AAA studios with their almost draconian approach to the pipeline.

Most that game's style is based in round shapes and such
Draw from your arm and do many circles to warm up.
Use paint tool sai, 
https://www.mariowiki.com/Gallery:Mario_&_Luigi:_Partners_in_Time perhaps use this one as reference as well
Also copying things is rather fruitful as well.  I would suggest, modeling some of the props from galaxy and odyssey, and trying to get the materials right in substance, and then turning the fuzz map to white to emulate the feel of such.

valuemeal

Also this video should help, albiet some of them  are from other nintendo franchises as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA1f6jMMu5U

pior

 Besides the designs themselves which are responsible for 99% of the look, the models are simply very carefully built.

The ressources are out there and easy to find - and when looking at the models and UVs in detail, the one thing that stands out is that there is absolutely nothing special about them - UVs are tight, material maps are simple and clean, and so on.

https://youtu.be/A2gXyEyy_2U?t=990

CreativeSheep

Mario Kart DS required such a low amount of polygons, kudos to the texture department. The Nintendo Wii U really increased those poly counts.