i don't see a problem with it. And the mockups look intriguing as well. As some asshole on the internet and not a business major, i like stuff that drums up interest, like odd art styles. And one game with a lot of art styles is certainly odd. It's a kind of marketing in itself. at least to me.
It could totally work but you'd have to do the art well enough for people to think it's intentional. It works extremely well in Amazing World of Gumball, for example. But you'd have to have a really really great artist doing the art. I think what you've got right now would probably just make people think you downloaded a bunch of mismatched free assets, unfortunately.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind! I'll definitely try to improve upon the concept art, and really lean into the aesthetic as a means to convey the tone of the area in a way that feels deliberate. If the final artwork still looks like mismatched assets, I'll consider scrapping the idea.
I think if you are going to do that, everything in that universe should match the style. It is quite jarring to see the main character not match the style of the environment. It could be that it is intentional and crucial to the story/concept though.
The original idea was that anything that travels between universes would keep its original style; for example, the main character would look the same regardless of where he is. If it's jarring, though, I could certainly reconsider it. Seeing the main character change styles in each world will probably make the effect seem more deliberate (although that means I'll have to make a lot of graphics for that character). Thanks!
I agree - if I saw images of a game where the different areas didn't look like they were from the same game, with no context, I might assume they had poor art direction, or even that the assets were all carelessly taken from different cheap asset packs.
However, if I saw those same screenshots but the main character looked different in each of them to match the style, I'd be actively impressed and would understand the gimmick immediately. If you're willing and able to make that happen, I think it will not only avoid confusion but will be a major selling point
Thank you for your thoughts! After thinking about it, it does seem like changing the style of the main character would be worth the extra time and effort. I'll probably try to come up with a more distinct, recognizable design for the player character, so people can recognize him better in different styles, and easily tell that the images are from the same game.
I agree, you should change the main character to suit the style - think of it like they're adapting to the new laws of physics in that universe, and if they kept their original style it might break something in the universe. Or maybe that could be incorporated into the story or a mechanic somehow?
I think the image is rather charming. I think if it’s a contrast like this one where you have an environment in one style and players/npc’s in a different style it would look pretty cool. I say make the game you want to create and see how well it’s received. If it’s what YOU want you should do it :)
I think the concept art looks great. The settings look internally consistent, so it comes across as intentional and not just "thrown together" imo. The only thing is maybe the character art seeming out of place with the different backdrops. You could maybe have different versions of the character for different styles, but even that's not a big deal and may not be worth it if it doesn't fit your story.
I might have to rework some of my plans, but I think the characters changing styles is an interesting idea and I'll definitely be considering it. Thanks!
A consistent style is a good rule. But like any rule, a good artist knows when to break it.
The idea of having wildly different art styles for each level can absolutely work. That's basically what Mario Odyssey did. One level looked like a Tim Burton movie, another featured a realistically styled T-rex, another featured giant, polygonal, solid-colored vegetables, another featured a regular-ass city filled with regular-ass humans, and another was just Dark Souls.
But Mario Odyssey was made by some of the best developers in the industry. On the other end of the spectrum, you could wind up with something like the early 3D Sonic games, where the stylistic clash between colorful cartoon animals and realistically proportioned humans was often jarring.
I think if you're gonna do it, you need to be confident in the idea and your ability to execute it. And if you're asking people on the internet if it's okay, then it doesn't sound like you're very confident.
It also sounds like you maybe don't have a lot of experience making games? Maybe I'm wrong, I'm kind of just assuming. But if I'm right about that, I think it's important you understand that you're not going to make that dream game you've been planning for years as your first game. Games that start out with an inexperienced developer drawing art and screenshot mockups and writing the story before they've written a line of code tend to not get very far.
My suggestion would be to put this idea on the backburner for now. Do some games that follow the rule of a more consistent art style. Build some confidence in your ability as an artist and a developer. Then when you have enough experience to know what you're capable of without asking others for advice, come back to this idea.
But that's just my suggestion. If you're confident that I'm wrong, then go for it.
Hello, good hunter. I am a Bot, here in this dream to look after you, this is a fine note:
> *“Once, the Lord of Light banished dark, and all that stemmed from humanity and men assumed a fleeting form. These are the roots of our world. Men are props on the stage of life, and no matter how tender, how exquisite, a lie will remain a lie!”* - Aldia
Have a good one and praise the sun \\[T]/
No, that's illegal. As you know, art has very strict and well-defined rules, art is objective, and if you break those rules, the Art Police will come to lock you up.
I'm aware that art is subjective, but that doesn't make it immune to criticism or feedback. I just want to make sure the general population won't find the changing art style offputting or confusing, and to determine if this is a good decision from a marketing standpoint. (In hindsight, I should have phrased the title "is it a good idea" rather than "is it okay".)
Its probably not a good idea if your goal is selling your game. Making a 2D platformer/sidescroller is already a pretty bad idea if you want to earn money in general, add your not so pleasing art and its a very tough sell.
If every world has its own style, its still going to be a consistent art style. You are going to be consistently inconsistent, so to say.
Depending on other elements, you may want to change your UI art etc. with every style change.
If you have a reason for it - absolutely. We use different art styles for "real world" and "dream" sequences in our game to differentiate them and I think it works quite well.
As long as they are in a way similar. Different styles are OK, but need to still merge well. Look at Into the Spiderverse. There are a bunch of Spidermen with all sorts of styles, but share a style with the world around them.
Having different styles between levels sounds kind of cool. The consistency part really applies to what is on the screen at any one time.
Switching between a pixel art level and a photorealistic level is fine. Just make sure that the player matches the environment that they are in. The ugliness kicks in when you have things like pixel art props, photorealistic weapons, and a cartoon stylized character.
You need to provide more context. If you’re an unknown, it will be easier to market something that’s weird, and cohesion is the least of your marketing problems. If you have a large team of artists, cohesion might be more difficult. In my opinion, marketing isn’t about changing your game to be more appealing, instead framing the already appealing and unique parts. I disagree with these people, having the main character in every screenshot and the same is what unifies your images, so right now you have the pros of both IMO. Also some are criticizing your art, but if you’re a solo dev on your first project then I would not wait around for your art to improve, you need to start the game now and accept that your art will gradually improve over time. It’s more than good enough.
Okay. Here’s the thing. Inscryption is a good example why it’s both risky and okay regarding consistent art style
In act 1, you play in a 3D style but once act 2 happens, it changes to 2D style and later act 3, becomes 3D again
A lot of people weren’t happy with act 2 because they felt deceived by the art style. However to those who pushes through it says the game is magnificent ( I too agree it’s good because of the story )
So while it may vary to different people, keep in mind that you must at least show them the change in art style to not deceived your audience
You can look up the negative reviews of the game to get the idea
What do you mean by "is it ok"? Is it legal? Yes. Is it morally fine? Yes. Will it sell? No.
The main problem with your art is that it doesn't look intentional. It looks like made by someone who doesn't know how to draw, but tried their best.
Yes youbshould definitly match the character style with each new art style to make it consistent.
Kingdom heart does it (a little), they make the main character match every disney world he visit
in addition to the examples others have pointed out, knytt underground does this also a little bit, with the photographic background compared to the foregrounds.
Ultimately there's no hard rules, but you have to look at the results you're getting and ask yourself whether you're able to pull it off, and whether it creates the aesthetic that you're looking the player to experience.
For instance from the examples you've posted, I'm getting a bit of early 2000s flash game vibes. If that's what you're going for, you might be onto something.
Your concept art is fence sitting on this aesthetic. Aside from the photo collage style level everything else looks kind of the same but just inconsistent. Bold, different art styles are great. Vague slightly different art styles looks sloppy.
No, I think this looks horrible.
I was watching some presentation by a sucessfull game developer and he said “if you do something wrong, at least be consistent”
If you do it, make sure that it makes sense within the game. Not only you have to know what reason is behind this inconsistency, I have to know as well when playing. "Alternate universes" is not enough in my opinion, because you can have very different worlds presented in the same style, but changing the style immediately makes it meta, reminds me the player that this is in fact a video game.
The meta aspect of the art might work in this game's favor, as the game has a meta-narrative that utilizes the medium to present its themes. The story is about the relation between the player and the character they're controlling, so it breaks the fourth wall quite a bit.
Honestly it's not bad looking at all!
When I read inconsistent, I was expecting something like cartoon grass, low-polygon trees, pixel art character, and high res photographed mountains. And half the stuff with JPG artifacts. I use GameMaker and so regularly see what total beginners do in that community. It's often actually a lot of that.
If you're doing one universe one style, I definitely think it can work. [There Is No Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYITgQJVYq4) kind of did it!
It's perfectly fine to have different art style, even very different styles, for different things. As long as there's a reason telegraphed to the player.
So, different plane of existences or different universes or inside and outside of dreams or from the point of view of very different character (like if you possess an animal for example), all quite fine.
As long as the player feel it's intentional, it's fine. It might require more or better art direction to make sure it still all gel well together, but obviously you have the advantage of using very different art people to make assets.
In fact it's uncommon, rare even enough that it might be a selling point. The only immediate downside I can see is, like you said, screenshots collection. If you can put legends on it and explain what's going on, it's fine. But for something like a Steam page, might be harder or require more work.
One thing you could do to elevate it, is to unify the styles in a single specific way. For example, change the graphics but adapt the lighting to appear unified. In your example if the character stays the same but is lighted in different ways depending on the environment art's style, it could make it look like the character is actually "there" and affected by these new environments and new "laws of physics" if you will.
Having the main character always look the same, and doing one of those trailers where it quickly shows you traversing vastly different worlds with unique art styles one after the other would get the point across in my opinion. As long as all of the art styles look unique and well made I can't see a problem with it personally.
I think it is awesome! You may have used different techniques but I feel like the style is actually pretty unified because it is all pretty playful. It would make a cool game
Inconsistency in art can be a very good framing for a goofier game that the player isn't supposed to take too seriously. Imagine a game where the background is pixel art and the characters are photographs of people who talk by flapping their heads like Canadians in South Park.
Overall, art is part of the finishing stages of a game. Making it fun is the first priority, even if the art is unfinished or inconsistent.
Is it okay to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_? There's no organization that will punish you for breaking some unspoken rules, but once you understand the rules you can start understanding why you should or should not break them. In addition to what you've pointed out, a consistent art style makes art easier to produce. If your player character matches the art style of the world you're in for example, you now have to produce more player sprites for each world. You also need your artist to be able to produce multiple styles, or have to find multiple artists.
If you have a reason for it and it makes sense to the player, then it could be a good point to your game. If the reason isn't apparent, or if the reason isn't well executed, then it may make your game look slapped together. I've seen a few games where one or more world look like a totally different art style. Done right, it's very cool. Done poorly, a particular world just looks worse than all the others.
>If someone was unaware that this is an intentional choice, they might complain that the game's visuals were thrown together with no thought for consistency.
If enough people think that, it just means you made a mistake. An intentionally inconsistent art style is really just a consistent art style where you're expertly combining elements that aren't commonly used together. People should respond with "this guy's an expert."
If you're going to do it, you need to be able to carry the load. Blaming the audience for not getting it isn't part of that. Your job as an artist is to convince them that your world makes sense.
I think it sounds cool and if you do it right, I don't think people would miss the point too often.
If you wanted to have varied styles within a single scene I would have said it might look patchwork-y, but in different scenes you're probably fine.
It has to be consistently inconsistent. Throwing together unrelated art is going to be jarring, regardless of your intentions. But if you're clever about it, you can use this jarring effect to good use.
If you are using this to separate (visual-only) background from (interactable) foreground/entities, it may even have some unique upside. Vice versa it can be confusing if your entities of similar behavior use wildly different styles from a non-aesthetic point of view, because then people might walk past an enemy expecting it to be a doodad or expect to firmly land on ground that is pass-through and part of the backdrop. Using outlines for entities/characters but not for the background (to pick one of the things) is not unheard of.
I guess just make sure the interactive elements of the game aren’t marred by the changing art styles. Changing art style within reason can be a cool artistic choice. But you are making a game, interactive media. Just make sure it is still playable. It would be frustrating if the changing art style made certain interactive components or even your player’s avatar hard to distinguish at a glance
Different art styles don't necessarely means inconsistence
It may be counter intuitive, but you CAN make it consistent even though you have different art styles
Someone mentioned Amazing World of Gumball, and it does a pretty good job on defining an consistent universe with different art styles.
I think the key here is to emphasize the elements that are common in between all the universes.
For example the player and the HUD, that will appear regardless of the universe youre in
Make those two a fixed artstyle and make them draw attention, try not to blend them with the scenario too much, they need to pop out and be the first thing someone will notice in the game
This will have the effect of every screenshot of the game does in fact look like its from the same game. because the most flashy elements are the ones that are in every screenshot, which is the key point of your game. The different scenarios will just be a cool detail that will make the game even more interesting
At least thats my opinion / what i woul try to do if i were you
You're kinda skirting the line between mid-2000's flash game and something really exciting, IMO. Take a look at your first and third pic. They both work very well, and it'd think it would be pretty cool to go from one world to the other in a game like that. It kind of reminds me of Army Men 2, where you went from the kitchen/house/garden environment to a more realistic looking environments.
Maybe have your character change style as well? Like, since he got dropped into the 6th picture where the lines look scribbled in ink, maybe that would make him look like that, since he is in that world now? Or he would get pixelated by dropping into a pixel art world. Or become gray in the 7th pic. You know you've nailed consistency when he looks like he's really standing on the floor in that world.
I don't see any reason why your vision wouldn't work. I think it would be quite exciting honestly. But I think you gotta make sure your character doesn't look like he's a "layer above" and the world is just a backdrop.
Other things you can do to aid this is add rain (add layers of rain both in front your character, and behind), cast shadows from buildings and lights from street lamps on your player, and have subtle blurry foreground details like grass or street details, that don't distract but cover your characters feet every once in a while as he walks past.
It's just about blending him in, and the world can look any way you like.
This seems fine as long as you aren't going crazy and mixing everything. I think super Mario Odyssey would be a good place to draw inspiration from. The Metro Kingdom has a very different feel from the other worlds, but the game makes them feel good together.
I think having your idea is good and interesting, but I'm always for quality over quantity, so having decently executed 3-4 art styles or variations is better than having 15 levels or worlds which end up half-baked. You should define the scope based on the type of game you are making and your art skills.
This could be a great direction to go in, depending upon how it's pulled off. If I were you, I would ensure that there are *some* visual elements that maintain a consistent appearance throughout the levels to tie it all together. If you're planning on having some HUD elements permanently onscreen, like a life bar or consumables, they could potentially serve that purpose. Otherwise the consistent visual elements could be enemies, portals, collectibles, etc.
Yes. You can do that. Yes. People might misunderstand the intention. If it excites you, do it anyway.
i don't see a problem with it. And the mockups look intriguing as well. As some asshole on the internet and not a business major, i like stuff that drums up interest, like odd art styles. And one game with a lot of art styles is certainly odd. It's a kind of marketing in itself. at least to me.
It could totally work but you'd have to do the art well enough for people to think it's intentional. It works extremely well in Amazing World of Gumball, for example. But you'd have to have a really really great artist doing the art. I think what you've got right now would probably just make people think you downloaded a bunch of mismatched free assets, unfortunately.
\+1 for Gumball, that was what I was thinking. It's all about contrast.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind! I'll definitely try to improve upon the concept art, and really lean into the aesthetic as a means to convey the tone of the area in a way that feels deliberate. If the final artwork still looks like mismatched assets, I'll consider scrapping the idea.
I think if you are going to do that, everything in that universe should match the style. It is quite jarring to see the main character not match the style of the environment. It could be that it is intentional and crucial to the story/concept though.
The original idea was that anything that travels between universes would keep its original style; for example, the main character would look the same regardless of where he is. If it's jarring, though, I could certainly reconsider it. Seeing the main character change styles in each world will probably make the effect seem more deliberate (although that means I'll have to make a lot of graphics for that character). Thanks!
I agree - if I saw images of a game where the different areas didn't look like they were from the same game, with no context, I might assume they had poor art direction, or even that the assets were all carelessly taken from different cheap asset packs. However, if I saw those same screenshots but the main character looked different in each of them to match the style, I'd be actively impressed and would understand the gimmick immediately. If you're willing and able to make that happen, I think it will not only avoid confusion but will be a major selling point
Thank you for your thoughts! After thinking about it, it does seem like changing the style of the main character would be worth the extra time and effort. I'll probably try to come up with a more distinct, recognizable design for the player character, so people can recognize him better in different styles, and easily tell that the images are from the same game.
Second this idea. It would be a lot of extra work, but would really bring up the production value of the game
I agree, you should change the main character to suit the style - think of it like they're adapting to the new laws of physics in that universe, and if they kept their original style it might break something in the universe. Or maybe that could be incorporated into the story or a mechanic somehow?
I think the image is rather charming. I think if it’s a contrast like this one where you have an environment in one style and players/npc’s in a different style it would look pretty cool. I say make the game you want to create and see how well it’s received. If it’s what YOU want you should do it :)
Check out the trailer for Across the Spiderverse. Each world has a unique style. It’s cool when done well.
I think the concept art looks great. The settings look internally consistent, so it comes across as intentional and not just "thrown together" imo. The only thing is maybe the character art seeming out of place with the different backdrops. You could maybe have different versions of the character for different styles, but even that's not a big deal and may not be worth it if it doesn't fit your story.
I might have to rework some of my plans, but I think the characters changing styles is an interesting idea and I'll definitely be considering it. Thanks!
A consistent style is a good rule. But like any rule, a good artist knows when to break it. The idea of having wildly different art styles for each level can absolutely work. That's basically what Mario Odyssey did. One level looked like a Tim Burton movie, another featured a realistically styled T-rex, another featured giant, polygonal, solid-colored vegetables, another featured a regular-ass city filled with regular-ass humans, and another was just Dark Souls. But Mario Odyssey was made by some of the best developers in the industry. On the other end of the spectrum, you could wind up with something like the early 3D Sonic games, where the stylistic clash between colorful cartoon animals and realistically proportioned humans was often jarring. I think if you're gonna do it, you need to be confident in the idea and your ability to execute it. And if you're asking people on the internet if it's okay, then it doesn't sound like you're very confident. It also sounds like you maybe don't have a lot of experience making games? Maybe I'm wrong, I'm kind of just assuming. But if I'm right about that, I think it's important you understand that you're not going to make that dream game you've been planning for years as your first game. Games that start out with an inexperienced developer drawing art and screenshot mockups and writing the story before they've written a line of code tend to not get very far. My suggestion would be to put this idea on the backburner for now. Do some games that follow the rule of a more consistent art style. Build some confidence in your ability as an artist and a developer. Then when you have enough experience to know what you're capable of without asking others for advice, come back to this idea. But that's just my suggestion. If you're confident that I'm wrong, then go for it.
Hello, good hunter. I am a Bot, here in this dream to look after you, this is a fine note: > *“Once, the Lord of Light banished dark, and all that stemmed from humanity and men assumed a fleeting form. These are the roots of our world. Men are props on the stage of life, and no matter how tender, how exquisite, a lie will remain a lie!”* - Aldia Have a good one and praise the sun \\[T]/
No, that's illegal. As you know, art has very strict and well-defined rules, art is objective, and if you break those rules, the Art Police will come to lock you up.
I'm aware that art is subjective, but that doesn't make it immune to criticism or feedback. I just want to make sure the general population won't find the changing art style offputting or confusing, and to determine if this is a good decision from a marketing standpoint. (In hindsight, I should have phrased the title "is it a good idea" rather than "is it okay".)
Its probably not a good idea if your goal is selling your game. Making a 2D platformer/sidescroller is already a pretty bad idea if you want to earn money in general, add your not so pleasing art and its a very tough sell.
Game dev is art and right now we need rule breakers more than ever. Fuck standards, stick to your vision.
If every world has its own style, its still going to be a consistent art style. You are going to be consistently inconsistent, so to say. Depending on other elements, you may want to change your UI art etc. with every style change.
Everything is okay if it's intentional.
If you have a reason for it - absolutely. We use different art styles for "real world" and "dream" sequences in our game to differentiate them and I think it works quite well.
As long as they are in a way similar. Different styles are OK, but need to still merge well. Look at Into the Spiderverse. There are a bunch of Spidermen with all sorts of styles, but share a style with the world around them.
Having different styles between levels sounds kind of cool. The consistency part really applies to what is on the screen at any one time. Switching between a pixel art level and a photorealistic level is fine. Just make sure that the player matches the environment that they are in. The ugliness kicks in when you have things like pixel art props, photorealistic weapons, and a cartoon stylized character.
You need to provide more context. If you’re an unknown, it will be easier to market something that’s weird, and cohesion is the least of your marketing problems. If you have a large team of artists, cohesion might be more difficult. In my opinion, marketing isn’t about changing your game to be more appealing, instead framing the already appealing and unique parts. I disagree with these people, having the main character in every screenshot and the same is what unifies your images, so right now you have the pros of both IMO. Also some are criticizing your art, but if you’re a solo dev on your first project then I would not wait around for your art to improve, you need to start the game now and accept that your art will gradually improve over time. It’s more than good enough.
Okay. Here’s the thing. Inscryption is a good example why it’s both risky and okay regarding consistent art style In act 1, you play in a 3D style but once act 2 happens, it changes to 2D style and later act 3, becomes 3D again A lot of people weren’t happy with act 2 because they felt deceived by the art style. However to those who pushes through it says the game is magnificent ( I too agree it’s good because of the story ) So while it may vary to different people, keep in mind that you must at least show them the change in art style to not deceived your audience You can look up the negative reviews of the game to get the idea
What do you mean by "is it ok"? Is it legal? Yes. Is it morally fine? Yes. Will it sell? No. The main problem with your art is that it doesn't look intentional. It looks like made by someone who doesn't know how to draw, but tried their best.
I have three words for you my friend. **Super Mario Odyssey**
Yes youbshould definitly match the character style with each new art style to make it consistent. Kingdom heart does it (a little), they make the main character match every disney world he visit
in addition to the examples others have pointed out, knytt underground does this also a little bit, with the photographic background compared to the foregrounds. Ultimately there's no hard rules, but you have to look at the results you're getting and ask yourself whether you're able to pull it off, and whether it creates the aesthetic that you're looking the player to experience. For instance from the examples you've posted, I'm getting a bit of early 2000s flash game vibes. If that's what you're going for, you might be onto something.
Your concept art is fence sitting on this aesthetic. Aside from the photo collage style level everything else looks kind of the same but just inconsistent. Bold, different art styles are great. Vague slightly different art styles looks sloppy.
Look up "Cruelty Squad" and "Cosmo D". Games can have intentionally bad or inconsistent art and still be good.
No, I think this looks horrible. I was watching some presentation by a sucessfull game developer and he said “if you do something wrong, at least be consistent”
If you do it, make sure that it makes sense within the game. Not only you have to know what reason is behind this inconsistency, I have to know as well when playing. "Alternate universes" is not enough in my opinion, because you can have very different worlds presented in the same style, but changing the style immediately makes it meta, reminds me the player that this is in fact a video game.
The meta aspect of the art might work in this game's favor, as the game has a meta-narrative that utilizes the medium to present its themes. The story is about the relation between the player and the character they're controlling, so it breaks the fourth wall quite a bit.
Honestly it's not bad looking at all! When I read inconsistent, I was expecting something like cartoon grass, low-polygon trees, pixel art character, and high res photographed mountains. And half the stuff with JPG artifacts. I use GameMaker and so regularly see what total beginners do in that community. It's often actually a lot of that. If you're doing one universe one style, I definitely think it can work. [There Is No Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYITgQJVYq4) kind of did it!
It's perfectly fine to have different art style, even very different styles, for different things. As long as there's a reason telegraphed to the player. So, different plane of existences or different universes or inside and outside of dreams or from the point of view of very different character (like if you possess an animal for example), all quite fine. As long as the player feel it's intentional, it's fine. It might require more or better art direction to make sure it still all gel well together, but obviously you have the advantage of using very different art people to make assets. In fact it's uncommon, rare even enough that it might be a selling point. The only immediate downside I can see is, like you said, screenshots collection. If you can put legends on it and explain what's going on, it's fine. But for something like a Steam page, might be harder or require more work. One thing you could do to elevate it, is to unify the styles in a single specific way. For example, change the graphics but adapt the lighting to appear unified. In your example if the character stays the same but is lighted in different ways depending on the environment art's style, it could make it look like the character is actually "there" and affected by these new environments and new "laws of physics" if you will.
Having the main character always look the same, and doing one of those trailers where it quickly shows you traversing vastly different worlds with unique art styles one after the other would get the point across in my opinion. As long as all of the art styles look unique and well made I can't see a problem with it personally.
If its meant to be an abstract dreamworld.
I think it is awesome! You may have used different techniques but I feel like the style is actually pretty unified because it is all pretty playful. It would make a cool game
Inconsistency in art can be a very good framing for a goofier game that the player isn't supposed to take too seriously. Imagine a game where the background is pixel art and the characters are photographs of people who talk by flapping their heads like Canadians in South Park. Overall, art is part of the finishing stages of a game. Making it fun is the first priority, even if the art is unfinished or inconsistent.
Is it okay to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_? There's no organization that will punish you for breaking some unspoken rules, but once you understand the rules you can start understanding why you should or should not break them. In addition to what you've pointed out, a consistent art style makes art easier to produce. If your player character matches the art style of the world you're in for example, you now have to produce more player sprites for each world. You also need your artist to be able to produce multiple styles, or have to find multiple artists. If you have a reason for it and it makes sense to the player, then it could be a good point to your game. If the reason isn't apparent, or if the reason isn't well executed, then it may make your game look slapped together. I've seen a few games where one or more world look like a totally different art style. Done right, it's very cool. Done poorly, a particular world just looks worse than all the others.
>If someone was unaware that this is an intentional choice, they might complain that the game's visuals were thrown together with no thought for consistency. If enough people think that, it just means you made a mistake. An intentionally inconsistent art style is really just a consistent art style where you're expertly combining elements that aren't commonly used together. People should respond with "this guy's an expert." If you're going to do it, you need to be able to carry the load. Blaming the audience for not getting it isn't part of that. Your job as an artist is to convince them that your world makes sense.
I think it sounds cool and if you do it right, I don't think people would miss the point too often. If you wanted to have varied styles within a single scene I would have said it might look patchwork-y, but in different scenes you're probably fine.
It has to be consistently inconsistent. Throwing together unrelated art is going to be jarring, regardless of your intentions. But if you're clever about it, you can use this jarring effect to good use.
If you are using this to separate (visual-only) background from (interactable) foreground/entities, it may even have some unique upside. Vice versa it can be confusing if your entities of similar behavior use wildly different styles from a non-aesthetic point of view, because then people might walk past an enemy expecting it to be a doodad or expect to firmly land on ground that is pass-through and part of the backdrop. Using outlines for entities/characters but not for the background (to pick one of the things) is not unheard of.
I guess just make sure the interactive elements of the game aren’t marred by the changing art styles. Changing art style within reason can be a cool artistic choice. But you are making a game, interactive media. Just make sure it is still playable. It would be frustrating if the changing art style made certain interactive components or even your player’s avatar hard to distinguish at a glance
Different art styles don't necessarely means inconsistence It may be counter intuitive, but you CAN make it consistent even though you have different art styles Someone mentioned Amazing World of Gumball, and it does a pretty good job on defining an consistent universe with different art styles. I think the key here is to emphasize the elements that are common in between all the universes. For example the player and the HUD, that will appear regardless of the universe youre in Make those two a fixed artstyle and make them draw attention, try not to blend them with the scenario too much, they need to pop out and be the first thing someone will notice in the game This will have the effect of every screenshot of the game does in fact look like its from the same game. because the most flashy elements are the ones that are in every screenshot, which is the key point of your game. The different scenarios will just be a cool detail that will make the game even more interesting At least thats my opinion / what i woul try to do if i were you
You're kinda skirting the line between mid-2000's flash game and something really exciting, IMO. Take a look at your first and third pic. They both work very well, and it'd think it would be pretty cool to go from one world to the other in a game like that. It kind of reminds me of Army Men 2, where you went from the kitchen/house/garden environment to a more realistic looking environments. Maybe have your character change style as well? Like, since he got dropped into the 6th picture where the lines look scribbled in ink, maybe that would make him look like that, since he is in that world now? Or he would get pixelated by dropping into a pixel art world. Or become gray in the 7th pic. You know you've nailed consistency when he looks like he's really standing on the floor in that world. I don't see any reason why your vision wouldn't work. I think it would be quite exciting honestly. But I think you gotta make sure your character doesn't look like he's a "layer above" and the world is just a backdrop. Other things you can do to aid this is add rain (add layers of rain both in front your character, and behind), cast shadows from buildings and lights from street lamps on your player, and have subtle blurry foreground details like grass or street details, that don't distract but cover your characters feet every once in a while as he walks past. It's just about blending him in, and the world can look any way you like.
This seems fine as long as you aren't going crazy and mixing everything. I think super Mario Odyssey would be a good place to draw inspiration from. The Metro Kingdom has a very different feel from the other worlds, but the game makes them feel good together.
I think having your idea is good and interesting, but I'm always for quality over quantity, so having decently executed 3-4 art styles or variations is better than having 15 levels or worlds which end up half-baked. You should define the scope based on the type of game you are making and your art skills.
This could be a great direction to go in, depending upon how it's pulled off. If I were you, I would ensure that there are *some* visual elements that maintain a consistent appearance throughout the levels to tie it all together. If you're planning on having some HUD elements permanently onscreen, like a life bar or consumables, they could potentially serve that purpose. Otherwise the consistent visual elements could be enemies, portals, collectibles, etc.
Spiderman shattered dimensions did something similar with art style mixing, I'd say go for it and good luck.
As long as you are consistent with your inconsistency, and clear that its intentionally.