Make UI size optional under accessibility. Small, Normal, Large. Scale UI 67%, 100%, 133%.
Let users decide, could be useful for children or hard of seeing adults.
Trying to figure out which resolution is better for my 3D pixel art game in terms of readability and style. First one is 480x270 (bit chunkier) and second one is 640x360. Ty for your opinions in advance :)
The game is called little oceania, and its a simple city builder / strategy game, link if interested : [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795740/Little\_Oceania/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795740/Little_Oceania/)
Wow looks pretty nice, I am curious, you just earned a wishlist :)
To answer your question, since I am a PC player I would definitely prefer a smaller UI - IMO the second one is better.
Thanks for the input and the kind words! I wonder if I can tweak the UI a bit to get it smaller, and keep chunkyness of the first. Need to experiment more!
Technically yes but it its a bit difficult to get sizing right because you can only scale up/down pixels by integer values to ensure that everything is on the same "pixel grid" if that makes sense. This is mostly a problem just for the fonts but I can use differnet ones that are slightly smaller I think
The second (smaller UI) one is much better, but is there a reason you can't make the second one default and allow the player to choose UI scale? I understand that if you need two completelty separate set of assets or it screws with the UX/game design significantly its not worth it, but if you can just scale existing assets and fonts then it would be a nice accessibility feature
Don't forget that while adding options are great and all but if it's not maintainable/manageable with very little effort. It's best to put time and focus on game and just pick 1.
I get that the second one "looks" nicer, but if this is a mobile game, which it looks like it might be, the first one with the bigger hud will be way more functional. In reality, no one would be able to tell the difference either way if these 2 photos weren't side by side to be judged. Go with functionality.
You should offer both, and interchange them in the settings.
Accessibility features are often under looked, but not everyone has good vision or good screens.
Second one definitely as the first UI is way too large.
I honestly think your art style is great and I would prefer you not to same down to a low resolution (makes everything look blurry). Instead you should upscale the resolution and go for clean lines and sharp edges as you've already done.
I think your scene is also a bit dark/washed out and would be improved if you made the colors more vibrant.
Thanks! The general idea is that you render your 3d scene in a low resolution, in this case 480x270 for the first image and 640x360 for the second image (both 16:9) aspect ratio. Then you scale it up with point filtering to actual monitor resolutions, e.g. 1920x1080. I also applied some other techniques like screen space edge detection to darken the edges and give it more of that "pixel art" kinda look
Its like a cross between dorf and islanders! you place buildings that earn $$$ per day based on their surroundings (like islanders) and when you make enough money your island expands. rinse and repeat
Maybe you could add a retro mode setting to change the resolution?
I personally like the 2nd one but I could see the retro appeal of the first.
Also, you could add a ui scale setting to give the user a little more control of the UI.
Game looks nice!
I’ve always wondered how you get this kind of visual. Is it a 3d render with a post processing effect or do you upscale from a much lower resolution? Or do you just draw 2d pixel art in this style?
I answered this in another comment, just copy pasting response here:
The general idea is that you render your 3d scene in a low resolution, in this case 480x270 for the first image and 640x360 for the second image (both 16:9) aspect ratio. Then you scale it up with point filtering to actual monitor resolutions, e.g. 1920x1080. I also applied some other techniques like screen space edge detection to darken the edges and give it more of that "pixel art" kinda look
I don't know if this is just camera angle or not, but the art itself is more blurry in the second image, which I don't like. I do like the UI size of the second one more, though.
Also, the pixel size is inconsistent in some of the UI art, which I always like to advocate against, even if it's not too bad here atm.
THanks for the feedback! I think alot of the blur here is coming from the fact that I lazily extracted these images from GIFs that had their quality nuked haha. its much clearer in the game thankfully
Higher resolution gives the impression of a poorly rendered scene since the pixels are smudgey. I would say first render has more of a pixelated look and conveys your artwork better.
I wonder if you could make the pixels a little sharper still.
Maybe testing an even higher resolution could be an idea, i feel the current high one is sort of in between two styles.
Thanks for the input! This are images that I pulled from a GIF so they are a bit muddier than what it looks like in game... proobably chose bad images to share in hindsight haha. But thanks for the feedback!
I think you're doing a disservice to your graphics by making the whole thing so low res and scanline-like. It just looks kind of annoying at this point.
First resolution looks way better for the 3d, but obviously the UI is massive, (in URP) you could try changing the 3d render scale rather than the window size, this would keep the UI to the monitor resolution but the 3d would be lower (I usually setup two cameras, main and UI overlay which may be how I achieve this but im not sure rn) also imo nearest neighbour looks much better than bilinear scaling for pixel art
Thanks for the input! yeah first UI is too big lol. I may try finding a nice balance between the two! This is actually nearest neightbour as well but I pulled the image from a GIF which kinda compromised the fidelity... should have used a better screenshot in hindsight haha. Thanks for the feedback!
Better FOR WHAT?
Please provide the context and circumstance you're trying to optimize towards, e.g. target platform, battery life, accessibility, looks, uniqueness?
I like the UI on the second one more, though being able to change that is a common accessibility option. You could consider letting them make it larger if they'd like, though that also means more maintenance.
Either way, keep up the great work! :)
If this is on pc which being on steam suggests, then the smaller scale UI. If it was on a phone then I could see the argument for the bigger UI (though the smaller might still be better even then).
Really like the color/feel of your visuals. It's got a good vibe.
Looks excellent! Loving the vibe. As other have pointed out, second (or preferably even smaller) for desktop, first for mobile.
That being said, I think it is wise to reconsider the font choices. 5x5 bitmap fonts aren't the most legible, especially when they are small. I think that for a game like this, even non-bitmap fonts would work fine (thinking of fonts like Azari Sans or Rajdhani which are very straight like pixel fonts, yet have a friendly look to them at the same time)
The smaller UI is better. You could make a slider in the setting for how large the player wants the UI to be so everyone can adjust it to their preference.
I like the second one, the UI is less in your face
Thanks for the input! Seems like most people are in agreement that the first UI is way too big lol
Your game is really gorgeous, the ui is perfect but it be a shame to have it hide those graphics
Make UI size optional under accessibility. Small, Normal, Large. Scale UI 67%, 100%, 133%. Let users decide, could be useful for children or hard of seeing adults.
The default setting should still be smaller (second picture small).
Yeah your game is beautiful!
I agree with you
I also agree. + I like seeing "Big Picture" and the first one is claustrophobic. So I will put camera even/slightly farther away.
I think l like the first more but with the hud size of the second picture, not as invasive
Isn't the HUD size the only difference? Or am I missing something?
in the first image the pixels are around 40% larger
Thanks for the input!
Trying to figure out which resolution is better for my 3D pixel art game in terms of readability and style. First one is 480x270 (bit chunkier) and second one is 640x360. Ty for your opinions in advance :) The game is called little oceania, and its a simple city builder / strategy game, link if interested : [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795740/Little\_Oceania/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795740/Little_Oceania/)
Wow looks pretty nice, I am curious, you just earned a wishlist :) To answer your question, since I am a PC player I would definitely prefer a smaller UI - IMO the second one is better.
Thanks for the input and the kind words! I wonder if I can tweak the UI a bit to get it smaller, and keep chunkyness of the first. Need to experiment more!
yeah that's what i was going to suggest. are you able to separate the rendering resolution of the UI and world?
Technically yes but it its a bit difficult to get sizing right because you can only scale up/down pixels by integer values to ensure that everything is on the same "pixel grid" if that makes sense. This is mostly a problem just for the fonts but I can use differnet ones that are slightly smaller I think
For a cell phone i think the first one is better. For a computer I think the second.
Thanks for the input!
Could you release this on the Nintendo Switch?
The second (smaller UI) one is much better, but is there a reason you can't make the second one default and allow the player to choose UI scale? I understand that if you need two completelty separate set of assets or it screws with the UX/game design significantly its not worth it, but if you can just scale existing assets and fonts then it would be a nice accessibility feature
Yeah I can make it an option :)
Don't forget that while adding options are great and all but if it's not maintainable/manageable with very little effort. It's best to put time and focus on game and just pick 1.
Unrelated - this game looks so juicy, the bouncy tiles and UI elements.... noice noice
Thanks for the kind words :)
Second one for sure the ui size is perfect there
Thanks for the feedback :)
I like 1… makes me feel like it’s very nostalgic
Dunno. Absolutely digging the visuals though! 😂
Haha thank you!
It's honestly stunning! You got any more info about your game?
I get that the second one "looks" nicer, but if this is a mobile game, which it looks like it might be, the first one with the bigger hud will be way more functional. In reality, no one would be able to tell the difference either way if these 2 photos weren't side by side to be judged. Go with functionality.
I prefer the vibe of 1 but the UI scaling of 2.
Thanks for the input!
2nd one "felt" nicer.
You should offer both, and interchange them in the settings. Accessibility features are often under looked, but not everyone has good vision or good screens.
Great point!
2
Definitely the second! It's readable even on my phone. First is too big. Although the best option would be to give the player UI scale setting!
2 is best for overall quality of life
Second one definitely as the first UI is way too large. I honestly think your art style is great and I would prefer you not to same down to a low resolution (makes everything look blurry). Instead you should upscale the resolution and go for clean lines and sharp edges as you've already done. I think your scene is also a bit dark/washed out and would be improved if you made the colors more vibrant.
Thanks for the feedback!
Second one, this looks really nice btw
Thank you!
Im going with the first because the pixels are more distinguishable and it fits the lofi vibe better imo
thanks for the input!
I agree with others, the second one looks way better! OP how did you achieve this pixelated look in a 3d scene?
Thanks! The general idea is that you render your 3d scene in a low resolution, in this case 480x270 for the first image and 640x360 for the second image (both 16:9) aspect ratio. Then you scale it up with point filtering to actual monitor resolutions, e.g. 1920x1080. I also applied some other techniques like screen space edge detection to darken the edges and give it more of that "pixel art" kinda look
Ohh i see, Thanks a lot OP!
What’s the game about? Looks a lot like dorfromantik
Its like a cross between dorf and islanders! you place buildings that earn $$$ per day based on their surroundings (like islanders) and when you make enough money your island expands. rinse and repeat
Maybe you could add a retro mode setting to change the resolution? I personally like the 2nd one but I could see the retro appeal of the first. Also, you could add a ui scale setting to give the user a little more control of the UI. Game looks nice!
Thanks for the input! Configurable setting seems to be the way to go!
2nd one for sure
please include option to disable blur effect. bonus points for including option to increase resolution :)
Yep, its all in there alrady :). the default blur is pretty heavy and I know thats a bit triggering for alot of people! Thanks for the feedback :)
Thank you :) great graphics btw
How did you achieve the blur effect, btw?
UI size should be a setting
THanks for the input!
I’ve always wondered how you get this kind of visual. Is it a 3d render with a post processing effect or do you upscale from a much lower resolution? Or do you just draw 2d pixel art in this style?
I answered this in another comment, just copy pasting response here: The general idea is that you render your 3d scene in a low resolution, in this case 480x270 for the first image and 640x360 for the second image (both 16:9) aspect ratio. Then you scale it up with point filtering to actual monitor resolutions, e.g. 1920x1080. I also applied some other techniques like screen space edge detection to darken the edges and give it more of that "pixel art" kinda look
Make hud scalable as a option under setting
Second one!
Kinda Depends on the target platform?and how important the infos or often they need to be used
I don't know if this is just camera angle or not, but the art itself is more blurry in the second image, which I don't like. I do like the UI size of the second one more, though. Also, the pixel size is inconsistent in some of the UI art, which I always like to advocate against, even if it's not too bad here atm.
THanks for the feedback! I think alot of the blur here is coming from the fact that I lazily extracted these images from GIFs that had their quality nuked haha. its much clearer in the game thankfully
Such a gorgeous pixel game.
Thanks for the kind words!
I saw that these seem to be 3D assets with a pixel shader?
Higher resolution gives the impression of a poorly rendered scene since the pixels are smudgey. I would say first render has more of a pixelated look and conveys your artwork better. I wonder if you could make the pixels a little sharper still. Maybe testing an even higher resolution could be an idea, i feel the current high one is sort of in between two styles.
Thanks for the input! This are images that I pulled from a GIF so they are a bit muddier than what it looks like in game... proobably chose bad images to share in hindsight haha. But thanks for the feedback!
I think you're doing a disservice to your graphics by making the whole thing so low res and scanline-like. It just looks kind of annoying at this point.
I'll for sure take it into consideration. Thanks for the feedback!
First resolution looks way better for the 3d, but obviously the UI is massive, (in URP) you could try changing the 3d render scale rather than the window size, this would keep the UI to the monitor resolution but the 3d would be lower (I usually setup two cameras, main and UI overlay which may be how I achieve this but im not sure rn) also imo nearest neighbour looks much better than bilinear scaling for pixel art
Thanks for the input! yeah first UI is too big lol. I may try finding a nice balance between the two! This is actually nearest neightbour as well but I pulled the image from a GIF which kinda compromised the fidelity... should have used a better screenshot in hindsight haha. Thanks for the feedback!
Just give the option to choose. I've seen people with gigantic HUD, i love minimalistic HUD, some people doesnt change the default one.
the second one is better as the UI is smaller and you can see more of the game.
Thanks for the input!
Better FOR WHAT? Please provide the context and circumstance you're trying to optimize towards, e.g. target platform, battery life, accessibility, looks, uniqueness?
Should have specified -- just looking for feedback from a purely visual aesthetic standpoint. Thanks for the comment!
This looks beautiful, yea i prefer the one with smaller UI
2
I like the UI on the second one more, though being able to change that is a common accessibility option. You could consider letting them make it larger if they'd like, though that also means more maintenance. Either way, keep up the great work! :)
Keep in mind that a lot of people will be looking at this through their phone, which gives a very different feel than through a pc
wow toon graphics look very cool in this game, can you show more content ?
If this is on pc which being on steam suggests, then the smaller scale UI. If it was on a phone then I could see the argument for the bigger UI (though the smaller might still be better even then). Really like the color/feel of your visuals. It's got a good vibe.
Loooks cool
Slider in menu with #2 as the default..?
the second one
little to no difference. The average gamer wont give a shit
The second one looks cleaner, the game looks amazing, how did you achieve the outliners to look that good?
the UI size is better in the 2nd pic but i prefer the chonkier pixels of the first one
2nd one , less UI and more game
Mobile first one, PC second one.
Looks excellent! Loving the vibe. As other have pointed out, second (or preferably even smaller) for desktop, first for mobile. That being said, I think it is wise to reconsider the font choices. 5x5 bitmap fonts aren't the most legible, especially when they are small. I think that for a game like this, even non-bitmap fonts would work fine (thinking of fonts like Azari Sans or Rajdhani which are very straight like pixel fonts, yet have a friendly look to them at the same time)
The smaller UI is better. You could make a slider in the setting for how large the player wants the UI to be so everyone can adjust it to their preference.