Developer Journal
As of the 8th of Monday during March, I’ve considered making a start on researching for our 2000-word essay on a technical discussion within the field of games development – we are given several topics to chose for this.
What’s important is that our discussion must be substantiated with evidence throughout it, so research is considered important for this task.
I’ve decided for my topic that I was going to do graphics in 2D games, so to help familiarize myself I’ve delved into researching different image file types such as Raster and Vector images.
Vector graphics (See Figure 1) are known as the most flexible of the image types, they use mathematical formulas to form which can be easily retain a high quality no matter how much their shape and size changes.
“This means that the paths and objects that make up a vector image are individually scalable, preserving the quality of the image when scaling it up or down.”
Dawn Kuczwara, 2021
However, vector graphics are poor at creating realistic images due to this as they are best suited to more minimal styles.
Raster graphics are created by assembling pixels together to create graphics, they’re also the most common format of image types on the web – they also take up much less data than vectors.
“Raster images are ideal for realistic images, like photographs”
Dawn Kuczwara, 2021
They’re also capable of portraying realistic images much better than vectors can (See Figure 2).
The quality of Raster images however can degrade once their size is manipulated from the original proportions.
As Vector graphics are scalable, they’re ideal for features such as text fonts and even icons like logos. Figure 3 shows an example of what a Raster and Vector graphic looks like once it becomes scaled up.
I think that both image types can be vastly useful for many different situations within games, a good example would be how User Interfaces can use Vector graphics so that their quality stays the same regardless of how big a user’s screen is.
However Raster graphics may be better for details that don’t change size as much such as textures for models or scenery, it can also help with saving up memory within the game so Raster graphics may be good to consider if optimization needed to be improved upon.
Bibliography
Kuczwara, D., 2021. Raster Images vs Vector Graphics – Curotec. [online] Curotec. Available at: https://www.curotec.com/insights/raster-images-vs-vector-graphics/#:~:text=Vector%20graphics%20are%20known%20as,created%20with%20individual%2C%20colored%20squares.https://www.curotec.com/insights/raster-images-vs-vector-graphics/#:~:text=Vector%20graphics%20are%20known%20as,created%20with%20individual%2C%20colored%20squares. [Accessed 16 March 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vector graphics. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics [Accessed 16 March 2021].
Saxrena, A., 2017. What Is Vector Graphics [An Introduction]. [online] Dignitas Digital. Available at: https://www.dignitasdigital.com/blog/what-is-vector-graphics-an-introduction/ [Accessed 16 March 2021].
Olympus Press – Commercial Printing. 2013. Vector & Raster Graphics in Offset Printing – Olympus Press – Commercial Printing. [online] Available at: https://olypress.com/vector-vs-raster-graphics-in-printing/ [Accessed 16 March 2021].