6 reasons why retro gamedev is AWESOME

Retro gamedev in Unreal Engine is awesome!
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[@robotinfluence]

I love how the retro aesthetic has become quite popular in such a short amount of time. My approach is low poly models, hand painted high res textures I feel this has a good balance of pros and cons.

[@jmgonzales7701]

i wonder if you can make realistic low poly ish games.

[@robotinfluence]

@@jmgonzales7701 I don't see why not, there is plenty of Minecraft mods that achieve this. I feel most devs are choosing low poly based on scope limits or nostalgia what don't mesh well with a desire for realism

[@yourcommander3412]

Love the syphon filter blood decal on the characters :) always liked that.

[@Marcis.]

Yeah! Back then I thought SF was a better game than Medal of Honor because of the blood effects alone :D

[@FahdSeddik]

I totally agree with you. There was this time were studios were mainly focused on making the most realistic looking games out there and still there are many games which aim for that ofcourse, however, I really think that even though technology advances there is a reason why retro games worked so well and spread really fast even when distribution was not as easy. On top of that, a reason people play a game is to escape reality so why are we trying to make them look as real as possible?

[@Marcis.]

You nailed the point about escaping reality!

[@jmgonzales7701]

i wonder if you can make realistic low poly ish games. can you imagine a game like tarkov but low poly, i wonder how that would work

[@RanchboyAle]

I think that the PS1style shouldn't be used to be lazy but rather the opposite to have features that wouldn't be posible in modern games and to be creative.

[@Marcis.]

Absolutely! All the time you save while making a PS1 style game can be used to make awesome gameplay!

[@jmgonzales7701]

i wonder if you can make realistic low poly ish games. can you imagine a game like tarkov but low poly, i wonder how that would work

[@vertexdune]

bro you are gifted. keep up production!

[@Marcis.]

Thanks, will do!

[@C_Kava]

I like retro game graphics because I can focus more on the level design and analyze it better whereas newer graphics can be distracting.

[@DopeLoopGames]

Great video! Agree with all points except the one about standing out. That might have been true only 2 years ago, but nowadays it seems everyone and their grandma is making a ps1/n64 style game. Of course most of them are horror games which is an ultra saturated market atm. Your game has an original premise, there's nothing like it being made right now. So even though the style is oversaturated, games in the ps1 style with original gameplay are super rare. So based on that analysis I predict your game will be a huge hit! Can't wait to play it! Oh also love your videos on the tech-art side of gamedev, I think you should lean into content like that

[@Marcis.]

Thanks! Yeah, I guess the retro horror genre is over saturated which is a shame. I'd love to play a PS1 style adventure game.

[@AaronMYoung]

Well, When You’re Right, You’re Right! love this video mate!

[@evgeniydragondog]

I love old graphics because each polygon must be in place. Some kind of minimalism

[@AntonioFreyre]

You’re an absolute boss Marcis

[@Marcis.]

Thanks ;)

[@onerimeuse]

Using Lara croft to illustrate your point about old graphics being fine because our brains filled in the blanks is hilarious, but also genuinely highlights how true that point is.

[@tvorimeahrameslovenskehryv1821]

Wow. Great ! Thank for video. This is what I was finding.

[@katmanduYT]

i feel you

[@syvl]

I would love to see a AAA game with ps1/2 graphics. Imagine the amount of focus on mechanics and gameplay, and the amount of content. The immersion would be unreal with today’s technology.

[@Marcis.]

"Imagine the amount of focus on mechanics and gameplay" I think you meant micro transactions and battle passes :D

[@syvl]

@@Marcis. thats true too

[@Marcis.]

@@syvl I have wondered about that too though. I think it could be phenomenal!

[@Алексей-ы3у7ш]

Hello! What software can you use to enable the display of model triangles in PSX games like yours 1:05 ?

[@microwave6224]

MARCIS POSTED WAKE UP

[@alfanas4661]

thats so true !!

[@lemangkuk]

So true.

[@qwertyencryption]

Damn wich game is this 1:55 and yes i love retro games wich contain good physics theyre insane i dont know why i love them

[@Marcis.]

Sled Storm

[@DailyPaily]

Low Poly , Stylized shadders, retro > hiperrealism.

[@Marcis.]

Absolutely!

[@Kruku666]

totally ! the game what's important not the realistic often uncanny valley graphics that take just too much resource to manage

[@Marcis.]

Exactly!

[@warlockboyburns]

I find the idea of creating a game with unreal engine 5 and then reducing the graphics down to ps1 really interesting. Because old game engines restricted developers imagination/what you could do but this way wouldn't. I just wonder what that would look like or if it's been done. I don't mean recreating a game I mean reducing polygons, reducing texture resolution, reducing character animations etc. Ideally I'd like a tool so that I could do that for unreal engine games. It's the opposite mentality of dlss and fsr.. you brain is filling in the blanks.

[@antigone5559]

Could you tell us what shader you are using on some of the Driver 2 footage (eg. 2:45) to get the scanlines/crt look?

[@Marcis.]

Crt royale. Comes with retroarch

[@nefrace]

Isn't using UE for such retro graphics a bit overkill? How much it will impact performance?

[@Marcis.]

If you disable most modern rendering features then it will run fine even on low end hardware. Play some PS1 style games developed in Unreal Engine to see for yourself.

[@JohnDoe-pk8lc]

Yeah, low res stuff with great art direction is cooler then bland high fidelity graphics

[@Marcis.]

Hell yeah!

[@pietlebrun5943]

could you tell me what game/project is 1:05 ?

[@Marcis.]

Silent Hill

[@bobmaster698]

i like this

[@Marcis.]

Awesome!

[@ADASADALOL32]

Hi Marcis any news about you game?

[@Marcis.]

Hi! Have you watched the latest devlog (devlog 9)? If you have then there are no news at the moment.

[@ADASADALOL32]

@@Marcis. I see, I will watch it 👍

[@oculoids]

Have you ever played timesplitters that game’s soundtrack rocked

[@Marcis.]

No, but I remember wanting to play it because it looked cool and the title was interesting.

[@oculoids]

@@Marcis. it was a really cool game its simple but ive never played anything like it

[@vakho30]

With low res graphics and less to deal with you have time to make gameplay and story better. Nowadays hight res games tend to have the dummest stories and gameplay mechanics.

[@Marcis.]

I couldn't agree more!

[@mellotus1109]

Don't forget the flood of unnecesary remakes coming in, we def need more originality

[@vakho30]

@@Marcis. Oh, and I don't know if it is me or if it is common, but I have this headache when I play high res games and move camera around :| My eyes see a lot of moving and highly detailed things at once and with this enormous monitor screens it makes my brain hurt.

[@FineappleRyan]

Comment for the algorithm

[@ChipboardDev]

I released a retro game and it flopped :( but it wasn't 3d and has 1980's style game-play. Not many people seem enjoy old style games any more.

[@Marcis.]

That sucks to hear. 2d game market is very saturated in my opinion.

[@ChipboardDev]

@@Marcis. For sure! game market in general is rough, and I'm physically disabled so it's pretty scary thinking my future could rely on it

[@hazesystem2213]

Damn I miss when retro gamedev meant making games *on* retro consoles and not just using filters and different art styles.

[@drifter402]

Ultimately the tech has become so good that it can be a detriment. See every single cartoon game with super unreal/unity shaders and lighting. It's why that fan HD remake of Rayman 2 makes me so mad. It's a total butchering

[@randomrfkov]

Forspoken is a modern day example of how a high budget with amazing graphic games can still be utter trash

[@mellotus1109]

Always appreciated the look of early 3d. Love to have way more devs with your attitude who can take advantage of this instead of being stuck on bloated realism in graphics.

[@jmgonzales7701]

i wonder if you can make realistic low poly ish games. can you imagine a game like tarkov but low poly, i wonder how that would work

[@bahshas]

it could work exactly exactly the same as tarkov with psx/ps2 graphics. there is zero constraints in mechanics or anything and the ones in graphics are self imposed and stylistic. have you seen battlebit? literally minecraft battlefield 3 and better than the previous 4 battlefield titles @@jmgonzales7701

[@tvorimeahrameslovenskehryv1821]

Marcis You told it best. It is all true. This grafic look the best better than photorealistic. I have idea go the most realistic atmosphere weather asstets landscape backround but with low size and with psx style grafic.

[@Marcis.]

That's the way to do it!

[@Yee.Naaldlooshii]

HOLY SHIT VIGILANTE 8!!!!😂 i played so much 2nd offense as a kid

[@Marcis.]

Me too! It's an awesome game!

[@mishovy1599]

all very good points. i feel the point of lower requirements for the player is so important, so many new games are so heavy to run so system requirements often go beyond the average player. especially when they're badly optimized like indie games often are

[@Marcis.]

I have to be honest... I felt a bit depressed when I found out what the average gamers PCs specs are. It feels like I have to limit my creativity just so people can actually play the game.

[@Visstnok]

It's more interesting with games where every bit has careful considerations behind it. As much as it's cool with new tech that enables auto-generated, populated cities and all that jazz, it's not as artistically pleasing.

[@vonexel6046]

what game is this 2:37 looks very familiar

[@Marcis.]

Echo Night

[@lukabrasi001]

i wonder why the PS1's graphics are the one that stands out more and not the N64, not that i'd have it any other way though. just interesting

[@Dubious_George]

i think you're an artistic genius

[@la2671]

Please forgive me as a complete no-experience noob. Your Retro Graphics pack on UE, can it be applied to absolutely any modular assets? For example I source some ultra realistic assts for house walls and interior object, can I 'transform' them into retro graphics. Apologies, I've recently become very interested in how this stuff works.

[@Marcis.]

Technically, yes. You can apply the material to any mesh but it won't look as retro when used on high poly models with high resolution textures.

[@richardtoth7240]

Can you list up the retro games shown in this video? What were your favourite ones?

[@Marcis.]

Here is the list. I've marked my favorites with an asterisk. I can't believe I didn't use footage from Syphon Filter. It's one of my favorites. In order of appearance: Silent Hill Crash Team Racing Sled Storm* Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Driver 2* Model of Honor: Underground* Echo Night* Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense* Codename: Tenka Quake 2 Tomb Raider*

[@16bitbrawler]

It would be fun to hang out, make some low poly games and talk about why retro games are the best. Instantly subbed, I agree 100% when I see the retro aesthetic it immediately grabs my attention.

[@denholmpearson4346]

great vid

[@Marcis.]

Thanks!

[@LordJagd]

Wow what version of Unreal Engine was that? It definitely looks like it’s an older one.

[@Marcis.]

It's 4.26 but it would look identical in UE5. It's just a matter of disabling most rendering features.

[@LordJagd]

@@Marcis. I thought the UI at 0:48 looked like an older version, but did you just rearrange your workspace and remove unused features/menus?

[@Marcis.]

Yes