Mark Evans
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2001
- Messages
- 585
Take a game like Halo. Take away the all the fancy textures and bump mapping. Make everything all flat shades of color. Now throw in clipping problems, pop-up, flicker, drop-out, and reduce the poly count. These are all graphical issues.Yes, this is true, but it's not at the same time. These are all graphical issues that impinge on gameplay. Now, to counter the argument that I'm certain will appear that that's what bad graphics do, they throw off the gameplay, it's not the same thing at all.
If a game has clipping problems, pop-up, yadda yadda, then its graphics are now impacting on the player's ability to play the game, they are affecting the actual intended gameplay experience. The game is now less fun to play because a problem with the programming of the graphics has interfered with its gameplay.
GTA1 may be 2D and ugly as a leperous mule's backside (and it's not, frankly), but if its graphics do not cause any problems in playing the game (slowdown, crashes, shooting at things that aren't there, whatever) or impair your ability to actually play the game exactly as was intended by its designers then any problems with the gameplay are solely the result of the game, and any issues with the graphics do not impact on the gameplay.
In the first case, its an issue with graphics. In the second, the only real issue is one of gameplay. Any qualms about the graphics are the territory of the end user only, and have no bearing on the intended gameplay of said product.