Is it possible to get high quality graphics in 2D?

Question

I'm considering between using 2D and 3D for a game am leaning towards 2D, but most of the 2D games that I see look like they're hand drawn and the graphics don't really look good. Is it possible to create slick-looking graphics in 2D at all?

I was thinking of animations such as:

• Rays coming out of the hands/eyes of a player that attack the opponent
• Fire coming out of dragon's mouth
• A glow coming from a player or an orb that glows
• Fireballs being produced during fights

Are these things possible in 2D without that 'amateur'/'hand drawn'/DOS game kind of look in them?

Answer 1

Look at World Of Goo for an example of how pretty 2D games can be. http://2dboy.com/games.php

Yes, you can make very nice, slick looking 2D graphics.

Answer 2

I don't see why not. All my DVDs draw to a 2D screen and they don't look hand drawn at all :-)

Answer 3

It sure is possible. If you have an XBox 360, take a look at Geometry Wars Evolved 2. And lots of iPhone games too have sparkingly nice 2D graphics.

Answer 4

Street Fighter II?

Seriously, the graphics in an app are as good as they are drawn.

Answer 5

Many old games I love are done in 2D, and they do looked slick. For example, Megaman X, Command & Conquer Tiberium Sun, Street Fighter. You can always do the things you mentioned in 2D but you may need extra work for specific effect compared to doing it in 3D and vice versa. It is just a matter of trade-offs. Choose the right tool for the right job :)

Answer 6

you're mixing 'quality' with 'realism'.

if you draw in 2D, you're about as restricted as Raphael, Cezanne, Monet, etc. they really got nice 2D things there.

if you go 3D, you get perspective and shadows for free, so you don't have to do them manually. but the 'quality' of the result can be just as amateur if you don't take care.

Answer 7

"Hand drawn" isn't a bad thing at all, just look at Braid who looks awesome while actually playing (the screenshots just doesn't make it justice)

Answer 8

All of my Physle games are 2D and while slick may not be my exact goal, they all have particle effects and high res textures over Illustrator vector art which generally does the trick.

Answer 9

One of the main reason that 2D graphics don't look as good us that they are usually low budget games. And there is a reason that most low budget games do things in 2D: It is a heck of a lot easier to make a decent game in 2D than 3D.

Doing graphics in 3D requires that you actually make a 3D model of your character, which is much more time consuming and requires finding rarer/more specific skill-sets than if you just grab your random friend with some artistic abilities to do your art for you (possibly for free). Not to mention how much more time it takes to program a 3D engine.

As other have said, there is no reason why 2D can't look as good as 3D. Go with 2D and get your project done rather than try for SuperawesomeWTFBBQ 3D graphics and never be able to actually finish your project b/c of the time requirements.

Answer 10

For StarCraft, they built 3D models of everything and then converted them to sprites so they could use high-quality 3D artwork with the speed of 2D rendering.