Readability, The Most important skill in Game Art?

I have wanted to make a more comprehensive video on Readability for quite some time now.

[NonsensicalD]

This video covers slightly more things than readability, but I wanted to have a more comprehensive discussion on how we need to be mindful about what we communicate. I mention a few things that I've talked about before, but I really wanted to have a video dedicated to the topic.

[yu-sama]

When i saw the title, the thing that came to my mind instantly was "readabilty and cohesion", and it seems i was correct haha. I think is such an important part of game creation, while it may not ruin the experience for all, why not make it as accessible as possible? I think visibility is essential so that people don't leave the game 30 minutes after starting.

[funasylumstudio]

YUP! Visual clarity is SO important and a lot of the best selling games have incredible visual clarity. Brotato is a perfect example.

[calicow]

I just found your channel a few weeks ago and your videos have been hugely helpful and inspirational to me. You explain, in ways that are easy to follow but that contain immense depth, what I feel are the more intermediate stages of art. The "why doesn't this look good?" stage.

Readability is obviously a fundamental skill, but it's very often not taught as one. This video has made it click for me why my backgrounds have gone from "too simple" to "muddled." This is an art direction level lesson being given to us for free, and I deeply appreciate the time and effort you must have put into making this.

[dmnoodle]

You are 100% correct, readability is indeed paramount to having a good experience. Good readability isn't noticable necesarily, but poor readability certainly is. Especially when it comes to platforming. Missing a jump because the visuals don't match with the coliders is one of the best ways to have people drop playing your game and move onto something else. I recently played two metroidvania's with this issues, aquaria and goo keeper. And while i'm very dedicated to completionisting games, these ones were a slog to sit through and i just wanted them to end. Now these games had issues beyond readability but that was one of the many things that bothered me. Other games that i recall having played with readability issues (although not as severe as the previously mentioned) were Vigil the longest night, dark light and the library of babel

[Grersh]

One thing I find also to heavily alter readability is the type of lineart used, I've noticed in game design that if I use solid black lineart (especially if the lines are very thick), moving around and looking at the screen could give me much more eyestrain as opposed to using colors to match the asset. For example on dirt I'd use a darker brown for the lineart as opposed to black or any other vastly different color.

[alliewichhart]

I think about this a lot and the concept of design feeding feedback to the player. It's one of those things that when done well is seamless but when done poorly effects basically the whole experience of the game since games are such a visually interactive media. Getting into pixel art has been hugely beneficial for my art as a whole because of its limitations. I've always been highly detailed oriented and struggled with simplification and composition in art because of this, but the pixel art/readability considerations really force me to think about my choices in form, elements to include and palette in a way that traditional art never has. And I love that cracking how to make these effects work with just a few pixels is like a puzzle.

[dongn]

missed your videos. every single one has felt very relevant, this one particularly. thank you

[MaKo-uyhc]

hello autor!
First i wanted to say a big THANK YOU! cause you're doing a great job for making indie games cooler by explaining a lot of things that aren't that obivous for beginners
i learned A LOT from your videos and now it's much easier for me to bring my ideas to life
another important detail for me is that in most cases you show examples with your characters - it makes it a lot easier to understand what you are talking about

but on the other hand i want to ask you for one little thing. You're showing a lot of great games in your videos, and i like it a lot cause they're good examples for us. But sometimes i want to know more about them... and couldn't find it. Can you please show a game title somewhere on the screen? For example i really love a style from a game with toad on the left ( 1:57 ) but i can't find it anywhere (you said it's called "Candle" later, but i think it will be better to have a name of the game each time its footage appears - easier to find)
Thank you!

[lando]

wow just discovered your channel! Feels like this is exactly what I've been looking for.

[Christopher-foog]

I really enjoy your videos and they have helped me make better levels and game art. Thank you!

[alexanderkulaev]

Very important topic, covered deeply. Thank you! I would love to ask you how to balance colors in the game art. Cause I created a concept art for our game, and though many said it looks great, some said it's very busy with colors and lights. Perhaps you can make a video about that?

Thank you, anyway!

[del]

thank you, this was a fantastic explanation!

[ONEPLAYERMODE]

Great video, thanks, really helped me.

[mainmanmagellan]

i think game art is way harder than actually making the game esp after seeing your channel lol. I mean most games seem incomplete gameplay wise. So i think my idea is correct. Most care about getting the art right.

[scanvil]

1:03 that expression lol. it's funnier when you get the monotone empty looking face in every of his explanation videos

[klikkolee]

Personally, I definitely struggle to parse the scene in the footage of Candle, and I didn't recognize the hole as a hole -- I thought it was a walkable surface

[ddSoul]

didnt expect to see dota2 on here, hell yeah!

[Beasty]

Every time I watch one of your videos I always think the same thing. Ori might be the best looking game ever made

[chattychatotchannel]

readability is also important for accessibility!