Aktuelle gaming grafikkarten: Grafikkarten-Rangliste 2022: GPUs im Vergleich

Aktuelle GPUs von Nvidia und AMD

Die wichtigste und gleichzeitig teuerste Komponente in einem Gaming-PC ist fast immer die Grafikkarte. Deshalb solltet ihr euch vorher genau überlegen, welche Ansprüche ihr an euren Spielerechner habt. GIGA stellt die besten Modelle verschiedener Hersteller sowie Preisbereiche vor und erklärt, was es vor dem Kauf zu beachten gilt.

Gaming-Grafikkarten 2023: Alle Empfehlungen im Überblick

Ganz gleich ob Nvidia, AMD oder Intel: Jeder Hersteller wirbt entweder mit besonderen Features oder sie verkaufen besonders preiswerte Modelle, um PC-Gaming noch zugänglicher zu machen. Die Wahl eurer nächsten Grafikkarte sollte aber nicht nur vom jeweiligen Preis abhängen. Je nachdem, von welchen Zusatzfunktionen ihr profitieren wollt und für welche Zwecke ihr eure Grafikkarte primär verwendet, lohnt es sich die einzelnen Marken miteinander zu vergleichen. Um euch den Prozess etwas zu erleichtern, stellen wir euch eine Auswahl aktueller Karten vor und erklären, was ihr vor dem Kauf sonst noch beachten müsst.

Mittlerweile hat Nvidia die neue RTX-4000-Serie vorgestellt. Warum der Kauf der Vorgängergeneration trotzdem die bessere Wahl sein kann, erfahrt ihr im dazugehörigen Artikel:

Lesetipp

Daniel Nawrat

GIGA-Tipp AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT	Preistipp Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
Ausreichend Leistung für Mainstream-Games Fehleranfällige Treiber	Ideal für Budget-PCs Für Raytracing ungeeignet	Perfekt für Gaming in 1440p Kein DLSS 3	Genug Leistung für AAA-Spiele FSR 2.1 nicht so gut wie DLSS	DLSS 3 inkl. Frame Generation Extrem teuer
ab 529 Euro Cyberport	ab 329 Euro MediaMarkt	ab 748 Euro Cyberport	ab 1. 039 Euro Cyberport	ab 2.199 Euro Amazon

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

GIGA-Tipp Wir starten unsere Liste mit der Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming OC, die derzeit wohl die meiste Leistung fürs Geld bietet. Das hier aufgeführte Modell bildet dabei die Mittelklasse der aktuellen Grafikkartengeneration von „Team Red“. Mit 8 GB Video-RAM und einem Boost-Takt von bis zu 2.607 MHz seid ihr für die kommenden Jahre bestens gerüstet. In aktuellen AAA-Spielen knackt die RX 6600 XT daher mühelos die magische Grenze von 60 FPS sofern ihr euch auf Gaming in Full-HD beschränkt. Entsprechend können weniger anspruchsvolle Titel – sprich so gut wie jeder kompetitive Shooter – jenseits der 144 FPS gezockt werden.

Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming OC

Preis kann jetzt höher sein. Preis vom 04.01.2023 08:58 Uhr

Mit „FidelityFX Super Resolution“ hat AMD inzwischen auch eine eigene Lösung in petto, die ähnlich wie DLSS mehr FPS aus euren Spielen herauskitzeln soll. Weniger erfreulich waren in der Vergangenheit hingegen die zahlreichen Software-Fehler, mit denen Spielerinnen und Spieler sich regelmäßig rumplagen mussten. Erfreulicherweise bessert AMD hier konstant nach und erweitert ihre Anwendung immer wieder um nützliche Funktionen. Dennoch hat Nvidia hier meiner Meinung nach immer noch die Nase vorne, wobei der Abstand immer kleiner wird.

Vorteile

• Perfekt für Gaming in Full-HD mit 60 FPS und mehr
• Aktuelle AAA-Spiele laufen mühelos
• Mehr Leistung dank AMD FSR 2.1

Nachteile

• Fehleranfällige Treiber

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050

Preistipp Budgetorientierte Gamer können aufatmen. Die Asus Dual GeForce RTX 3050 ist Nvidias neueste Einsteiger-GPU, die endlich auch mit nützlichen Features wie DLSS oder Raytracing daherkommt. Wer die maximalen FPS fürs Geld möchte, sollte auf letzteres aber vermutlich verzichten. Im Gegensatz zum Vorgänger in Form der GTX 1650 verfügt dieses Modell außerdem über satte 8 GB Videospeicher, was die Karte somit etwas zukunftssicherer macht.

Asus Dual GeForce RTX 3050 OC Edition

Preis kann jetzt höher sein. Preis vom 04.01.2023 09:06 Uhr

 

Wer nach einem günstigen Einstieg sucht, um Dauerbrenner wie Fortnite oder Apex Legends flüssig spielen zu können, ist hier genau richtig. Gerade mit angeschaltetem DLSS dürfte die Karte umso erstaunlichere Resultate liefern und auch anspruchsvollere Titel spielbar machen. Wer ein stark begrenztes Budget zur Verfügung hat und sowieso nur in Full-HD zockt, kommt an der RTX 3050 derzeit wohl kaum vorbei.

Vorteile

• Mainstream-Titel laufen in hohen Details und Full-HD flüssig
• Ideal für Budget-PCs
• Mehr FPS dank DLSS

Nachteile

• Zu wenig Leistung für anspruchsvolle Spiele
• Für aktiviertes Raytracing nicht wirklich geeignet

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti

Mit der Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC machen wir gleich zwei gewaltige Sprünge: bei der Leistung und damit (leider) auch beim Preis. Ursprünglich hatte Nvidia das Modell als erschwingliche Mittelklasse vermarktet, doch die Realität sieht nach wie vor gänzlich anders aus. Mit 8 GB VRAM und einem Boost-Takt von 1.875 MHz liefert die GPU zwar Leistung satt, doch preislich bewegt sie sich eher in den Gefilden damaliger Highend-Grafikkarten. Glücklicherweise scheinen die Preise derzeit aber immer mehr zu fallen, zumal die Karten der RTX-4000-Serie nach und nach die aktuellen Modelle ablösen werden.

Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC

Preis kann jetzt höher sein. Preis vom 04.01.2023 06:49 Uhr

Wer noch weitere Argumente für den Kauf brauchen sollte: Da es sich um eine Grafikkarte der RTX-Serie handelt, unterstützt diese entsprechend Raytracing sowie DLSS. Außerdem macht der hauseigene Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) in der neuesten Generation die Karte ideal für Streaming oder all jene, die damit anfangen möchten.

Vorteile

• Ideal für AAA-Titel in WQHD mit mindestens 60 FPS
• Geeignet für E-Sport-Titel jenseits der 144 FPS
• Unterstützt Raytracing und DLSS
• Neuester NVENC-Standard für Streaming

Nachteile

• Karte der Vorgängergeneration
• Kein DLSS 3

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

Die Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ist eines der beiden Highend-Modelle von AMD und wird derzeit lediglich von der RX 7900 XTX übertroffen. Das besondere an dem hier gezeigten Modell ist mitunter der üppige Videospeicher von 20 GB. Dadurch bringt die Karte mehr als genug Leistung mit, um sämtliche Titel problemlos mit maximalen Grafikdetails zu zocken – sei es in WQHD (1440p) oder 4K (2160p). Für die optimale 4K-Erfahrung wärt ihr mit einem aktuellen Top-Modell von Nvidia aber vermutlich besser beraten, weil sie abhängig vom Spiel in vielen Fällen nochmal besser performen.

Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

Preis kann jetzt höher sein. Preis vom 04.01.2023 05:36 Uhr

Zwar unterstützen AMD-Grafikkarten mittlerweile FSR 2.1, allerdings ist der Standard noch lange nicht so weit verbreitet wie das Pendant DLSS von Nvidia. Das beste Argument für die AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT dürfte ohnehin der Preis sein, da ihr in diesem Bereich derzeit kaum etwas Besseres finden werdet. Ein weiterer Bonus ist die Infinity-Cache- sowie Smart-Access-Memory-Technologie, die beide in Kombination nochmal für ein erhebliches Leistungsplus sorgen dürften. Letzteres funktioniert allerdings nur im Zusammenspiel mit einer passender Ryzen-CPU.

Vorteile

• Bestens geeignet für aktuelle AAA-Spiele in WQHD oder 4K
• Üppige 20 GB Videospeicher
• Mehr Performance durch AMD Infinity-Cache und Smart Access Memory
• Unterstützt AMD FSR 2.1

Nachteile

• Fehleranfällige Treiber
• FSR 2.1 nicht so gut wie DLSS

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090

Bei der Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition handelt es sich um das aktuelle Flaggschiff von Nvidia. Die GPU bietet demnach genug Leistung, damit ihr euch längere Zeit keine Gedanken mehr um zu niedrige Bildraten machen müsst. Also genau das Richtige, wenn ihr aktuelle AAA-Spiele mit maximalen Grafikeinstellungen in 4K-Auflösung samt aktiviertem Raytracing genießen möchtet. Hier dürfte euch DLSS 3 inklusive der Frame Generation außerdem zugutekommen. Beide Technologien in Kombination können eure FPS nämlich teils vervierfachen, was bei anspruchsvollen Spielen teilweise ein absolutes Muss ist.

Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition

Preis kann jetzt höher sein. Preis vom 03.01.2023 23:36 Uhr

Wer heutzutage also das Maximum an Leistung möchte, sollte bereit sein, entsprechend zu investieren: Mit einem Preis jenseits der 2.000 Euro zahlt ihr für diese Grafikkarte mehr als so mancher für einen gesamten Gaming-PC. Ein weiterer Faktor ist außerdem der immense Stromverbrauch derartiger Karten. Gerade in Zeiten der Energieknappheit, sollte dieser Punkt vermutlich ebenfalls in die Kaufentscheidung mit einbezogen werden.

Unser Tipp: Wer nicht bereit ist, derartige Summen für eine RTX 4090 hinzublättern, sollte stattdessen lieber nach einem Vorgängermodell Ausschau halten. Die RTX-3000er-Karten sind immer noch äußerst potent und gerade auf dem Gebrauchtmarkt dürftet ihr mit etwas Glück sicherlich das eine oder andere Modell zum fairen Preis entdecken.

Vorteile

• Exzellente Performance
• Bestens geeignet für 4K-Gaming und Raytracing
• Unterstützt Raytracing und DLSS 3
• Neuester NVENC-Standard für Streaming

Nachteile

• Extrem Teuer
• Hoher Stromverbrauch
• Benötigt ausreichend großes Gehäuse

Nvidia, AMD oder Intel – so viel Auswahl gab es bei Grafikkarten noch nie. Wir verraten euch, welche Karten sich aktuell am meisten lohnen:

Lesetipp

Daniel Nawrat

So haben wir die Empfehlungen ausgesucht

Wir betreiben für jeden Artikel dieser Art intensive Recherche, damit wir das gewonnene Wissen hinterher kompakt und vor allem verständlich an unsere Leserinnen und Leser weitergeben können. Ebenso werden alle gelisteten Produkte stets mit Sorgfalt ausgewählt und verschiedene Einsatzzwecke sowie Preissegmente berücksichtigt.

Ich selbst begeistere mich bereits seit meiner Kindheit für Videospiele und die dafür notwendige Hardware. Meinen ersten eigenen Gaming-Rechner habe ich bereits im Jahr 2012 zusammengebaut und seitdem sind noch zahlreiche weitere gefolgt. Jegliches Wissen in Bezug auf Games sowie (PC) Hardware habe ich mir über die Jahre also selbst angeeignet – oft zur Freude meiner Familie oder meines Freundeskreises. Dort bin ich meist die erste Anlaufstelle wenn es darum geht, etwas zu reparieren oder sie bei der Anschaffung neuer Geräte zu beraten.

Wie wir bei GIGA testen und warum ihr unserem Urteil vertrauen könnt, haben wir hier erläutert:

Lesetipp

Claudio Müller

Für diesen Artikel wurde ich außerdem tatkräftig durch den wertvollen Input meines geschätzten Kollegen Robert Kohlick unterstützt. Er ist stets auf dem Stand der Dinge, was Gaming-Hardware angeht und hat deshalb immer eine Antwort parat, wenn es um technische Detailfragen geht. Um euch den bestmöglichen Überblick zu verschaffen, haben wir neben unseren eigenen Erfahrungen ebenso externe Nutzermeinungen in unsere Auswahl mit einfließen lassen.

Weitere Infos zu den besten Prozessoren für euren Gaming-PC findet ihr im dazugehörigen Artikel:

Lesetipp

Daniel Nawrat

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Über 70 GPUs im großen Leistungs-Ranking

Welche GPUs von AMD und Nvidia sind ungefähr vergleichbar schnell? Unsere große Übersicht verrät es euch.

Letztes Update: 22. Dezember 2022
Letzte Änderung: RX 7900 XTX und RX 7900 XT ergänzt (Leistungsklasse 2 und 3), Tabellentexte für bessere Mobile-Darstellung gekürzt

Mit der Zeit kommen immer mehr neue Grafikkarten auf den Markt, aber eine neue Grafikkarte ist nicht unbedingt schneller als ein älteres Modell. Das wird schnell verwirrend, doch keine Sorge: Unser großer Vergleich top-aktueller und älterer GPUs hilft euch dabei, nicht den Überblick zu verlieren.

Im Anschluss an die folgenden Leistungsklassen findet ihr wichtige Zusatzinfos, etwa zu unserem genauen Vorgehen bei der Einordnung und zu der Frage, für welcher Auflösung, Detailstufe und FPS-Zahl sich die verschiedenen Klassen eignen. Los geht’s mit unserer großen Rangliste!

Einige auf dieser Seite eingebaute Links sind Affiliate-Links. Beim Kauf über diese Links erhält GameStar je nach Anbieter eine kleine Provision ohne Auswirkung auf den Preis.
Mehr Infos.

Grafikkarten-Rangliste: High-End-Modelle

	Nvidia	AMD
LK 1	RTX 4090 (24 GB)	—
LK 2	RTX 4080 (16 GB)	RX 7900 XTX (24 GB)
LK 3	RTX 3090 Ti (24 GB) RTX 3090 (24 GB)	RX 7900 XT (20 GB)
LK 4	RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) RTX 3080 (12 GB) RTX 3080 (10 GB)	RX 6950 XT (16 GB) RX 6900 XT (16 GB) RX 6800 XT (16 GB)

Mittelklasse

	Nvidia	AMD	Intel
LK 5	RTX 3070 Ti (8 GB) RTX 3070 (8 GB) RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB)	RX 6800 (16 GB)
LK 6	RTX 3060 Ti (8 GB) RTX 2080 Super (8 GB) RTX 2080 (8 GB)	RX 6750 XT (12 GB) RX 6700 XT (12 GB) RX 6700 (10 GB)
LK 7	RTX 3060 (12 GB) RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB)	RX 6650 XT (8 GB) RX 6600 XT (8 GB) RX 5700 XT (8 GB) Radeon VII (16 GB)	Arc A770 (16 GB)
LK 8	RTX 2070 (8 GB) RTX 2060 Super (8 GB)	RX 5700 (8 GB)	Arc A750 (8 GB)

MSI Geforce RTX 4080 16GB Gaming Trio

Boost-Takt bis zu 2. 205 MHz, 9.728 Rechenkerne, 16 GByte VRAM, drei Axial-Lüfter (100 mm), 4 Slots Bauhöhe

1.429 €

Untere Mittelklasse

	Nvidia	AMD
LK 9	RTX 2060 (12 GB) Geforce RTX 2060 (6 GB) Geforce GTX 1080 (8 GB) Geforce GTX 1070 Ti (8 GB)	RX 6600 (8 GB) RX Vega 64 (8 GB)
LK 10	RTX 3050 (8 GB) Geforce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB) GTX 1660 Super (6 GB) GTX 1070 (8 GB)	RX 5600 XT (6 GB) RX Vega 56 (8 GB)
LK 11	GTX 1660 (6 GB) Geforce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB)	RX 5500 XT (8 GB) R9 Fury X (4 GB)
LK 12	GTX 1650 Super (4 GB) GTX 1060 (6 GB) GTX 980 (4 GB)	RX 5500 XT (4 GB) RX 590 (8 GB) RX 580 (8 GB) R9 Fury (4 GB)

Einsteigerklasse

	Nvidia	AMD	Intel
LK 13	GTX 1650 (4 GB) GTX 1060 (3 GB) GTX 970 (3,5 + 0,5 GB)	RX 6500 XT (4 GB) RX 580 (4 GB) RX 570 (4 GB / 8 GB) RX 480 (4 GB / 8 GB)	Arc A380 (6 GB)
LK 14	GTX 1050 Ti (4 GB) GTX 960 (4 GB)	RX 470 (4 GB / 8 GB)
LK 15	GTX 1050 (2 GB) GTX 960 (2 GB)	RX 6400 (4 GB) RX 560 (2 GB / 4 GB)
LK 16	GTX 950 (2GB)	RX 460 (2 GB / 4 GB)

Welche Leistungsklasse brauche ich?

Für welchen Einsatzzweck (beziehungsweise für welche Auflösung) sich die verschiedenen Klassen jeweils grob eignen, wenn ihr aktuelle Titel spielen wollt, erfahrt ihr hier:

High-End-Grafikkarten (LK 1 bis 4)

• 3840×2160 / maximale Details / 60+ FPS

Mittelklasse (LK 5 bis 8)

• 3840×2160 / mittlere bis hohe Details / 50+ FPS

• 2560×1440 / maximale Details / 80+ FPS

Untere Mittelklasse (LK 9 bis 12)

• 2560×1440 / mittlere bis hohe Details / 50+ FPS

• 1920×1080 / maximale Details / 80+ FPS

Einsteigerklasse — LK 13 und 14

• 1920×1080 / maximale Details / 30+ FPS

• 1920×1080 / mittlere bis hohe Details / 60+FPS

Einsteigerklasse — LK 15 und 16

• 1920×1080 / niedrige bis mittlere Details / 30+ FPS

Gaming-GPUs werden günstiger, aber wann lohnt der Wechsel?

Während Grafikkarten von Ende 2020 bis etwa Mitte 2022 extrem teuer waren durch Faktoren wie den Boom von Kryptowährungen, sind die Preise für Grafikkarten seitdem wieder deutlich gefallen.

Wenn ihr eine neue GPU kaufen wollt, solltet ihr aber dennoch stets darauf achten, dass der Leistungssprung groß genug ist. Wir empfehlen mit Bezug auf diese Übersicht mindestens zwei Leistungsklassen höher als mit eurer aktuellen Grafikkarte zu landen, besser noch drei.

Leistung ist nicht alles — und nicht gleich Leistung

Bei solchen Klassifizierungen muss man sich im Klaren darüber sein, dass sie eine Vereinfachung darstellen. So verfügen neue Grafikkarten oft über Extras wie mehr Videospeicher oder spezielle Recheneinheiten, die in bestimmten, aber eben nicht allen Fällen für die Performance eine wichtige Rolle spielen können.

Zur Verdeutlichung betrachten wir den Vergleich zwischen Nvidias ähnlich schnellen Modellen GTX 1080 Ti, RTX 2070 Super und RTX 3060. Die RTX 2070 Super verfügt zwar über weniger VRAM als die ältere GTX 1080 Ti, dafür besitzt sie aber zusätzliche Recheneinheiten für Raytracing. Die RTX 3060 wiederum hat beiden Modellen mehr Videospeicher voraus.

Je nach Spiel, Auflösung und Grafikeinstellungen wirken sich Faktoren wie die Raytracing-Kerne und die Menge des VRAMs unterschiedlich stark auf die Leistung aus. Außerdem laufen manche Spiele besser mit AMD-Modellen und andere besser mit Nvidia-Grafikkarten und Intels Arc-Grafikkarten haben je nach verwendeter Schnittstelle und Alter des Spiels teils mit großen Leistungsschwankungen zu kämpfen.

Unsere Übersicht dient also nur zur groben Orientierung. Falls ihr überlegt, euch eine neue GPU anzuschaffen, legen wir euch außerdem unseren Aufrüst-Guide für Grafikkarten ans Herz, der wertvolle Tipps vorab gibt:

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Mehr zum Thema

Kaufen oder nicht? Wann sich das Aufrüsten wirklich lohnt

Wie sind wir vorgegangen?

Basis unserer Liste sind alle relevanten Spieler-Grafikkarten von AMD und Nvidia für Desktop-PCs bis hinab zur Radeon-RX-400er- beziehungsweise Geforce-GTX-900er-Reihe.

Um sie grob in verschiedene Leistungsklassen einzusortieren, haben wir uns die Performance in den Gamstar Hardware-Tests sowie zusätzlich die Benchmarks von anderen Webseiten wie Computerbase oder PC Games Hardware angesehen.

Tendenziell werden die Abstände zwischen den Klassen mit absteigender Leistung immer geringer. Auch deshalb kann eine Karte im Einzelfall je nach Spiel, Grafikeinstellungen und VRAM-Bedarf einer höheren oder niedrigeren Klasse zuzuordnen sein. Völlig scharfe Grenzen lassen sich also nicht ziehen. Wer wissen will, wie schnell seine Grafikkarte im Vergleich mit anderen aktuellen und älteren Modellen von AMD und Nvidia ist, der findet in unserer Übersicht aber dennoch eine erste Anlaufstelle.

Fehlen euch wichtige Modelle oder würdet ihr bestimmte Karten anders einsortieren? Schreibt es gerne in die Kommentare!

basic principles — Gamedev at DTF

Head of OWL Studio about the work of an artist in game development.

61,788
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March 22 at the Higher School of Business Informatics was a lecture within the framework of the program «Management of game projects» on the topic «Game graphics: basic principles and tools.» It was conducted by Vera Velichko, the head and founder of OWL Studio, who has worked in the gaming industry for eight years.

DTF publishes a summary of the talk.

Game art is a complex area in which, on the one hand, creativity and creativity are embodied, and on the other, a set of functions. The art that will be used in games has a lot of features. nine0003

On the left is a fragment of Vrubel’s painting «Seated Demon», on the right is a demon from Diablo 3. We can say that game art is the same kind of art as all other types of fine art. What we do today for games will someday take its place in the history of culture. Here the artist can find the same opportunities for creativity and self-expression.

But at the same time, the artist is working with the entire development team to make the art functional for the game.

nine0002 Types of play artists

• ​The concept artist is the most well-known and desired type for most artists who try their hand at the games industry and take their first steps in it. Everyone wants to draw concepts (especially characters).
• Character artist.
• Environment artist — creates locations, landscapes and objects;
• UI Artist is a rarer and lesser known species. Not everyone knows that these artists exist. nine0022
• Lead Artist —
  the most competent artist, manager involved in the design of the game style. It’s good if the lead can direct the artists in his team.

Basic play styles

Casual — a light style that evokes associations with others — cartoonish and childish. In casual style, many different directions and sub-themes have already appeared. Three conditional styles are distinguished here: children’s, women’s and men’s.
The division of casual graphics into female and male is rather conditional, but, nevertheless, it exists.
nine0003

• Children’s style: the most colorful, cartoony and simple graphics. Creates images that are immediately understandable to the child.
• Women’s style: in games designed for a female audience, conventionally feminine colors can be found: pink, purple. Fantasy themes.
• Men’s style: example — World of Warcraft. The requirements for technology during the launch of the game were such that the graphics had to be simple. There are references to cartoonishness, simplistic shapes and bright colors. However, it is no longer perceived as childish. At the same time, the gameplay of the game began as quite hardcore. Now there is already a whole cluster of hardcore games with simplified graphics, most often in fantasy style. nine0022

Once our team was working on the Casual Heroes project. The documentation for it indicated that it was a post-apocalypse. A more casual post-apocalypse is hard to imagine: very bright pictures, green grass, cute characters. For example, a kind cook who beats enemies with a rolling pin.

The middle column in the picture is realism. Graphics close to reality, with high detail, a low degree of stylistic change in proportions, and so on.

In fact, there are many more categories, but we will consider four:

• modern style — conditionally «realistic» games that in some way reflect our modernity and the events taking place in it;
• historical style — games that are based on history, real or modified;
• fantasy style — we can say that this is a style at the intersection of masculine casual and realistic, because it uses bright and not quite real graphics. Unlike casual stylization, real proportions, natural colors are used. This is the world that we see with our own eyes, only with the addition of fantasy elements; nine0022
• «dark» — reality, but in a gloomy setting. Created, for example, the world of post-apocalypse or something similar with muted colors.

The third column highlights the stylization of a well-known genre. It’s not necessarily a game genre, more of a visual concept.

• Comics and anime. By color scheme
  anime
  traditionally quite close to the female «casual». But nevertheless, it also has very realistic features.

nine0021 Pixel art. When pixel art appeared — in the face of a lack of resources, it was the only means of self-expression for the artist. I must say that the artists did a great job with this, classic pixel games were distinguished by a well-developed visual world. Pixel art is now making a comeback in games with a base of colored pixels and modern effects like blurs, glows and so on.

• Low-poly. Art stylized as models with a small number of polygons — for example, characters assembled from triangles. A very trendy design trend. nine0022
• Author’s stylization. Anything else an artist can come up with. Used in a huge number of games, especially in indie projects. On the one hand, it can be interesting — sometimes these experiments help the game stand out from the rest. On the other hand, when developers use author’s styling, the audience does not quite understand what kind of style it is and what to expect from it. He may be interested, but he has to overcome the mistrust and bewilderment of users. nine0022

Choosing the perfect style

There are three areas: audience perception, «lore» and the genre of the project (and its technical features).

Audience perception

Each of the styles listed above has its own audience. The first question you should ask yourself when designing a game is: “Which audience do I want to reach? What does my audience expect from me? The answer to this question lies in the gameplay.

The task of the artist is to understand what styles exist and what audience they affect. In order to understand this, you need to constantly monitor the market and follow new projects. Each style has its own history among users, and you need to know it. nine0003

Lore and genre

Lore is the story of the game. If you have a fantasy story in a minimalistic style, it’s hard to add any witchcraft to it. The genre brings its requirements and laws into the implementation of the game. Depending on what mechanics the game uses, the way it will look changes.

Specification

First of all, they depend on what devices your game is designed for. For example, if we make a small game for Steam and draw some «fat» art that does not work well on weak computers, users will be very unhappy. If we are making a mobile game, then it is clear that we cannot make super-polygonal 3D in it. There are mobile games designed for tablets and powerful smartphones that can afford to be quite demanding on hardware, because they position themselves that way. Which tools you use will depend on what is technically feasible. nine0003

By combining these three aspects and finding something in between that fits all the criteria, you will find the visual style of the game. The less known about them at the beginning of the project, the more rework will be in the process.

Playstyle Design

Having passed the initial stage, you will save a lot of development time.

References

Once you have determined your playing style, you need to search the Internet for references. If you devote not enough time and attention to this, then it will definitely turn out, for example, that someone has already done such a project. To find the optimal solution, you first need to ensure a good level of “seeing”. Having collected all the found examples of games in the chosen style into a package, you need to highlight the positive features that can be used, and the negative ones — errors that need to be taken into account. nine0003

Fake screenshot

Very interesting item. Even among developers with extensive experience in the gaming industry, not everyone realizes that this is a necessary development stage. There are two definitions of a fake screenshot.

One of them is quite marketing: when from the existing art in the game, screenshots of situations are collected in the development process, which have not yet been implemented, but will be soon. They are used for presentations.

The second is a fake screenshot created from scratch. This is the game screen with the most common situation. For example, the battlefield. If an artist has a lot of experience (including gaming experience, this is very important — usually artists don’t play much) and has seen enough, he has a rough idea of ​​how the game should look like. A fake screenshot is created in order to check if the game can be the way he imagines it to be. nine0003

You don’t have to draw everything for this, you can borrow parts from other projects. But it’s no use trying to put them together if you don’t have a vision of what the screenshot should look like. In this case, you need to move forward in small steps. First, make “skins” and estimate the necessary sizes for them, then the color scheme, then try out the style. When a picture forms in your head, you collect a fake screenshot.

At the stage of its creation, a lot of issues are solved: colors, visual styles, relative sizes. A fake screenshot is viewed on as many different screens and devices as possible to make sure it looks good everywhere.
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In our last project, working on a fake screenshot took a month. In the process, about a dozen solutions were discarded, which later would not have shown themselves very well. This was discovered at the very first stage.

Screenshots of the main game situations

The more game situations in the game, the more such screens may be needed. If the developer and artist have a clear understanding of what is happening on them, you can skip the stage and start rendering the content. If any screen in the game still raises questions, it is better to test it. nine0003

This method is best suited for mobile games where the number of game situations is quite limited. There is a typical location, hero, playing field and the situation on it.

Primary documentation

Not everyone understands why it should be done, especially if there are three or four people in the project.

In the process of creating art documentation, the team finally understands what they are doing. The document describes the audience for the project, its genre, technical features, style. It also contains references and content types. For example, you do a «match-3», and then you have the back of the game, the playing field, chips and interface elements. It is very good if at this stage the time of work on each element of content is planned. nine0003

These descriptions will save you a lot of time in further development, especially if your team is scaling.

Artist and team

Terms of Reference

Statement of technical specifications is a separate art. Its regulations are unknown to anyone. Things that seem obvious to the artist are absolutely not obvious to those who work with him. His task is to understand what points need to be clarified before accepting the task for work. Those who are in contact with the artist should (if possible) take these requirements into account. nine0003

• Thematic description. For example: a fishing project that has a tutorial that is invisible to the user. You need to draw an arrow pointing to it. That is, some introductory information on the task.
• Functional description. What function will this art perform in the game: an index arrow, a chip in «match-3», a character for animation.
• Description of art class. If you have a design document that describes the classes of art, then you can simply copy them into tasks. nine0022
• Technical requirements.
• Graphic references. If this is some simple art, you can do without them. But if it is, for example, a character, they are required.

Compiling such a task requires time from the one who sets it. Often in teams they are in a hurry and set tasks in the spirit: «Just draw a beautiful arrow.» But this time (and maybe more) will still be spent by the team, because the artist himself will have to go and find out all the points listed above, or correct what he draws, not understanding what it is for. nine0003

Teamwork

There may be more positions if the project is large, or less. Each of these people has their own responsibilities and tasks.

The game designer must explain how the art will be used and what tasks it has. It decides, for example, how fast the projectiles fly and how they animate. The technical requirements for embedding art in the engine come from the programmers, but it’s great if they go through the game designer as well. In most cases, programmers and artists understand each other very poorly. nine0003

A producer is a person who will come in and say, «Make everything red and big boobs, otherwise I won’t sell it.» In such cases, both the artist and the game designer get angry, but the producer is right, because he feeds the whole team. He is responsible for the perception of the game by the audience.
It is the producer who constantly keeps in mind the expectations of the target audience. The artist sees the game on their screen, while the producer sees it on the store page. Each new art is considered whether it will “enter” or not.

The task of the artist is to create a picture that meets the requirements of the game designer and producer. nine0003

It is very important that the team has a constant work between these three people. The artist liked the picture, the game designer could build it into the game, and the producer could sell it. Therefore, the process of communication between them requires the same involvement from all.

Non-commercial projects

In order to collect a portfolio, an artist can participate in non-commercial projects, but they must be chosen carefully.

Developers need to understand what they want to do. Before finding an artist, they create documentation for the project. The game rarely starts with a picture, more often with a game design idea. The documentation should describe the genre, possible styles, technical features, target platforms, list of content, and so on. If the game designer has no idea about this, the artist will not have it either. nine0003

The scope of work must be completed within six months. This is a matter of human psychology. On average, enthusiasm lives for six months. In six months, a person should see at least some result of his work. The style and genre of the project must be in demand in the market. The artist creates an up-to-date portfolio for himself.

If these conditions are met, and the artist has the time and financial ability to participate in such a project, this must be done. Because without experience there is no way forward. Everything that an artist can take “out of his head” without contact with a game designer and producer does not count. Only combat experience matters. nine0003

• ​
  Irrelevant proposal to the artist. If the level of your project for him is a passed stage, the person is unlikely to be interested in your project.
• Inappropriate artist for the game. This applies to visual style — a situation where a person who draws intestines is offered to draw children’s games. You need to look at the graphics that the artist makes and guess if he can realize your task.
• Uninteresting presentation.
  Tell the person why they should fall in love with your project. It shouldn’t be a big text, but it should be interesting. nine0022

• Unclearly worded request. The developer cannot formulate what exactly needs to be done. This often causes a negative reaction. Modern man
  spends very little time
  to evaluate information, therefore, should receive a clear request in the most concise format.
• Promises that are difficult to keep. Something from the series: «Let’s earn 500 thousand dollars, and in six months you will get 50% in your hands.» Maybe at the start it will help you find the fool. But any person who knows how to evaluate prospects will understand that your plan is unrealistic and decide not to mess with you. It’s best to be honest about everything you have to offer an artist. nine0022

What should be the portfolio

• High-quality pictures. Work «for yourself» can often not be completed. If you are making pictures for a portfolio, all graphics should be presented in the form in which they can be used in the game — everything is brought to mind and clean.
• Demanded graphics. Put in your portfolio what they want to buy from you, that is, what is in demand on the market. Go to the stores and see the top games. Which ones suit you? nine0022
• The entire portfolio should be structured and divided into categories: characters, icons, backgrounds, and so on.
• Stylish design.
  There should be a unifying design theme. Watch the design, do not overload it with elements.

Next lectures
at the Higher School of Business Informatics of the National Research University Higher School of Economics will be held on May 17, at a conference dedicated to VR projects in gaming and other areas.

#art #long

Gamedev basics — graphics | Gamin

Educational material

In between programming, I want to relax — I decided to continue writing about game development.
I thought — how to help those who want to start making games, but in theory — a complete zero? So that beginners do not have to climb and read heaps of articles about theory mixed with practice.
Decided to write everything you need to know before sitting down for the game itself. So to speak, to build a foundation in the head. In this case, write a maximum of is short for , but is about everything , without being tied to specific engines and programs.
Started with graphics. Then I plan to write on control, music and sound. Then — specifically about the internal structure of the game (levels, objects, physics, optimization).

Your comments and corrections are welcome. But without diving into details and details in order to keep the article brevity.
Warning! Lots of text.

WHAT THE GAME IS IN

Game is an interactive application where the player’s control results in changes in the application, picture and sound, which brings the player pleasure.
In this case, all actions of the player affect only the fictional virtual world inside the application, without leading to changes on the computer or network itself (creating documents, changing system settings).
The game itself can be represented as follows:

GAME = Controls + CODE + Levels + Graphics + Sound

The code interrogates the control, manages game time and random events, and when all this changes, it makes changes to the game’s operation logic, graphics and sound (for example, moves the player’s picture, plays the sound of falling, etc.)

TYPE GAMES BY THE COORDINATE SYSTEM

According to the device, games are divided into two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
Regardless of the number of dimensions, the player sees only what falls into the game camera (like in a movie).

2D dimension

In 2D, the whole world exists in only two directions ( X , Y ).
The camera can show the world and its objects:
— from above (top-down)
— from the side (sideview)
— or in isometry (isometric) , slightly from the side, slightly from above cannot rotate it), but can move in two directions.

3D dimension

In 3D games, the world exists in three directions ( X , Y , Z ).
The camera can show the world from any angle, usually giving the player the opportunity not only to move, but also to rotate the camera in different directions, changing the angle.
Depending on the game engine or 3D graphics software, the direction of these axes may be different, for example:
* X — right, Z — forward, Y — up
* X — right, Y — forward, Z — up
When transferring 3D graphics to a game from a 3D editor, you need to take into account the different directions of the axes. nine0003

GRAPHICS

Available in 2D or 3D. Moreover, both types of graphics can be used in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional games.

2D graphics

There are two types — vector and raster.
Bitmap consists of pixels that describe the color of each point of the image on the screen.
Vector — describes how to draw a picture from primitives (circle, rectangle, line, curve). Before displaying such graphics, the engine performs rasterization — converting vector graphics to raster. nine0233 The advantages of vector graphics are the absence of image distortion at different scales. The downside is the performance cost of rasterization.
Now vector graphics are almost never used in games, and if they are, then most often they are raster graphics in high resolution.

TEXT

Text (text) is a kind of two-dimensional graphics, where each picture corresponds to a predetermined number.
The font describes how to draw each character. Fonts are raster and vector. nine0233 A bitmap font is always designed to render letters of a specific pixel size. You can increase the size of such a font without distortion only an integer number of times.
For a vector font, characters can be of any size, but before resizing, you must re-rasterize — convert a vector font to a bitmap.

Encodings

This is a table by which the computer determines which character in the font corresponds to which number in the file or variable. nine0233 If there is no such symbol in the selected font, then either nothing will be displayed on the screen, or an empty square will appear.
An important feature is that if there are no marks, then the text encoding cannot be determined, it can only be guessed (for example, by the frequency of characters encountered) or known in advance.
You need to understand encodings if you plan to display text on the screen in more than one language. When making such a game, you need to choose a font that has characters from all the languages ​​used in your game, or change the font depending on the selected language. nine0003

* ansi
This is not an encoding, but a character encoding standard, where each character occupies 1 byte.
The first 128 characters (from 0 to 127) are always the same and are intended for the Latin alphabet, numbers and punctuation.
Which characters occupy the remaining positions (from 128 to 255) depends on the selected encoding.
Encoding examples:
cp866 — Cyrillic (Russian) characters for MS-DOS
cp1251 — Cyrillic (Russian) characters for Windows
koi8-r — Cyrillic (Russian) characters for Unix systems
There are also encodings for specific characters found, for example, in German and French.
These encodings are not used in modern games.

* utf-8
An encoding intended for characters of any language.
The disadvantage of this encoding is that characters have different sizes in bytes, from 1 to 4 (1 byte for the most frequently used Latin characters, 4 bytes for the rarest ones). This is done to save memory. nine0233 Therefore, this encoding is not well suited for string manipulation when you need to operate on individual characters of a string.
Some text files have a BOM signature ( EF BB BF in hex) at the beginning of some text files to make it clear to text editors that the file encoding is utf8 .
There is also encoding utf-16 .

* unicode
2 bytes per character. Therefore, unlike utf-8 , it is convenient to perform operations with strings in this encoding. nine0233 One byte contains the code page number (character set), the other — the character number in this set.
For example, page 00 corresponds to Latin characters, and 04 to Cyrillic.
The order of these two bytes can be direct ( «Big Endian» ) — first the page number, then the character number or reverse ( «Little Endian» ) — first the character number, then the page number.
Unicode is used for text in most modern games. nine0003

Font storage formats

Any lossless image format ( bmp, png ) can be used to store bitmap fonts, and character arrangement is determined by the engine or the game programmer himself.
For vector fonts:

fon is the font format used by Windows. Rarely used in games.
ttf is the font format most commonly used in games.

When you have taken a ready-made font, display the text with all the characters that you will use to make sure that they are present there. nine0003

2D bitmap graphics

Pictures that represent objects, characters, and environmental details are called sprites.
Usually one large picture is created (atlas, sheet ), with dimensions 256×256 , 512×512 , 1024×1024 pixels, which contains many sprites.

An image is composed of pixels, each pixel in the video card occupies 4 bytes, one byte per component:
R — red
G — green
B — blue
A — transparent
The combination of these components produces a different color.
When storing an image on a hard drive (and in a graphics editor), pixels are located at integer X, Y coordinates.
Each component, in the case of 1 byte, is an integer from 0 to 255 .
A picture with a size of 1024 × 1024 pixels will occupy 4 * 1024 * 1024 = 4 MB memory in the video card. nine0233 Regardless of how much this picture takes up space on the hard drive.
Game engines have options to decrease or increase the size of a pixel in bytes within the graphics card’s memory.
This will decrease or increase the number of colors in the image.

The drawing order in 2D

The drawing order of sprites depends on the selected graphics projection.
When viewed from the side or from above, all sprites are divided into groups and drawn in the following order:
— background [background] (ground, sky, buildings or trees in the distance).
— middle ground [middleground] (what are the elements of the level — obstacles, scenery).
— foreground [frontground] (everything that is in front of the elements of the level — characters, objects, bonuses).
— GUI [GUI] (game information — dialogue text, health bar, score, pause menu).
This is due to the fact that the objects on each plane are at a fixed distance from the game camera, and it does not change. nine0003

In an isometric view, when objects can move back and forth and, thereby, change the distance to the camera (for example, as in games of the Beat ’em Up genre), sorting must be entered on each of the plans. In this case, objects that are farthest from the camera are drawn first, then closer ones.

Pixel shaders

Rendering of the picture is done like this:0250 compute using the pixel shader.
A pixel/fragment shader ( pixel/fragment shader ) is a program that tells the graphics card how to draw a particular bitmap.
For example, you can write a shader that will display an image in black and white or change the arrangement of pixels. The picture itself being drawn in the video card will remain unchanged.

When executing a shader, the following are passed to it:
— drawing color
— link to the image in the video card
— reference to texture coordinates (position of the drawn pixel in the image)
— screen coordinates where this pixel is drawn

Things to remember:
1) the shader does not work with the sprite, but with the entire image in which the drawn sprite is located
2) in a video card, pixel coordinates are specified not as an integer pixel number in X and Y, but as a real number from 0.0f to 1.0f (for example, 0.234f ).
Point ( 0.0f, 0.0f ) corresponds to the upper left corner of the image, and point ( 1.0f, 1.0f ) is the lower right corner of the image.
This is done so that when changing the size of the image in the video card (for example, choosing a low or high texture quality in the settings), the position of the pixels for the shader does not change.
3) The pixel color components are also replaced with the integer from 0 to 255 by the real value from 0.0f to 1.0f .
4) A picture can be drawn not only on the screen, but also on the canvas ( canvas ), that is, to another picture in the video card.

Shaders are most often described in GLSL or HLSL , similar to C.
How to write a shader — you need to understand for a specific selected game engine.

Examples of using pixel shaders:
— Image post-effects before displaying
— Replacing the color of pixels in the same sprites of different characters (for example, replacing the color of gloves and clothes in a boxing or fighting game, without creating separate sprites)
— Outline of sprites

Animation of 2D graphics

Animation is a smooth change of a picture over time.
In 2D games for animation, is mainly used to replace sprites with similar ones, with minor differences.
Rapid replacement of these sprites creates a sense of movement in the human.
For animation, you need to store information about the time left until the next. frame and the frame itself (to which sprite the image of the object will change), as well as:
— Animation playback speed — by what number the time is multiplied, if the multiplier is negative, then the animation is played in reverse order. nine0233 — Is the animation looped (in this case, after reaching the last frame, the animation will continue from the first one)
— At what point in time or on what frame of the animation should the game events occur (for example, hitting, walking sound)

Also for 2D graphics can be used skeletal animation where each part of the character’s body is drawn as a separate sprite, and the animation stores data about the change in the position of these sprites over time.

Storage on disc

Image files are stored in the formats:

bmp — All data is stored in raw form, almost like in a video card. Takes up a lot of disk space (4 bytes per pixel), not recommended.
But it is as simple as possible to process when creating your own 2D engine.

png — Uses compression of chains of repeating pixels, without quality loss, you can use transparency. Use for pixel art and GUI.
You can reduce the number of colors in an image using the palette. nine0003

jpg — Uses lossy compression, good for photographic images. Each time you save, the quality of the image is lost, so the original images must be stored in png. You can adjust the compression ratio to reduce the image size and image quality.

There are other rarer formats ( pcx, tiff, tga ) that are not supported by all engines.
Of these, I note:

psd is an image format for Photoshop, there is transparency and layering. nine0003

svg is a vector image format. Before rendering, you need to perform rasterization, i.e., converting a vector image into a raster image (consisting of pixels).

3D graphics, light and shadows

There is a concept of lighting in 3D graphics.
Light sources can be:
* global (ambient light)
* directional (directed) , all rays are parallel, coming in the same direction from a point at infinity (example — the sun)
* radial (radial, sphere, arealight) , emitting fading light from one point (example — lamp)
* narrowly directed (spotlight) , similar to radial, but emit light not in all directions, but in a certain direction, in a beam limited angle (example: flashlight, searchlight)

The global light source is always the same. It defines the color that is added to the texture color of each object. It looks like the object is lit evenly from all sides. nine0233 Other sources do not fully illuminate objects, and objects may cast shadows.

Shadows (shadows) are:
* baked (baked) — the shadow image is just a fixed pattern on stationary objects, can be used when the light source and objects do not change.
* pixel (pixel) — a shadow is a pixel image that is drawn on a surface. The smaller the pixels in the shadow, the more space the shadow takes up in the memory of the video card. nine0233 * stencil (stencil) — is a projection of the object model on the surface in the form of a black silhouette.

Video cards have hardware support for lights and shadows.
However, the maximum number of simultaneously working lights in the game is limited to a small number (from 4 to 16).

3D Models

In 3D graphics, all graphic objects are called 3D models consisting of a mesh and a material.
A 3D model can be represented as a three-dimensional application consisting of flat figures, each of which has something drawn on it. nine0003

Mesh (mesh) — represents the shape of the object, consisting of polygons (polygon) — polygons, closed shapes formed by the faces of the object.
Most often these polygons are triangles (triangle) , but sometimes they are quadrilaterals (square) .
Object faces can be one-sided or two-sided.
For one-sided, the listing order of the vertices in the polygon ( 1,2,3 or 3,2,1 ) depends on which side the polygon face is located. The opposite side of the face will remain fully transparent. For double-sided faces, both sides of the polygon will look the same. nine0003

Each polygon has a normal vector that defines the perpendicular to the plane of the face.
The normal is used when calculating the illumination of a face from light sources — the smaller the angle between the normal of the face and the direction to the light source, the better this face will be illuminated.
Each vertex of the mesh also has texture coordinates U and V (a number from 0.0f to 1.0f ). Based on the texture coordinates of the vertices of one polygon, the video card determines which section of the texture will be applied to this polygon. nine0003

Material ( material ) — contains links to textures (two-dimensional pixel images) containing information for each face about:
— color [ diffuse ] (which is shown on the edge)
— reflectivity [ specular ] ( how shiny)
— bumps, their depth [ bump, normal, paralax ] (used in lighting to simulate rough surfaces)
and other information.
All these textures generally describe the appearance of the model. nine0003

Drawing order in 3D

In 3D, all objects can be located at different distances from the camera, and this distance can constantly change, not only for objects, but even for individual polygons of two objects.
Therefore, video cards have a hardware ability to draw polygons by the distance to the camera ( z-buffer ), from the farthest to the nearest.

Vertex Shaders

These are shaders that tell the graphics card how to render a 3D model. nine0233 Actually, it depends on them — how to process the lighting and the content of the textures before giving out a picture.
These shaders accept:
— polygon vertex coordinates
— its texture coordinates ( U,V )
— normal vector
and other information.
Then, after the vertex shaders have been processed, fragment shaders are applied, which act like pixel shaders in 2D.

3D Graphics Animation

* Model Swap Animation
This method is similar to replacing sprites in 2D.
Separate meshes are created for each position of an object and are replaced over time.

* Skeletal animation (skeletal animation)
Lets you create smoother motion by using curves to describe how the coordinates of each mesh vertex change over time.
Before creating a skeletal animation, you need to perform 2 operations:
* rigging (rigging) — creating a skeleton of the model, the bones of which will move during the animation, to conditionally divide the model into moving parts of the body. The skeleton takes on the appearance of a hierarchical tree, where each bone has a parent bone to which it is attached (in the case of humanoids, the root bone is the pelvis). nine0233 * skinning (skinning) — binding each vertex of the model to a bone, with which it will move. A vertex can be attached with different weights to several bones at once if it needs to move when moving several bones.

Before performing these operations, the model must be in T-pose ( T-pose ). This is the initial position of the model’s vertices, which gives the best access to all the vertices of the model and corresponds to the maximum relaxation of the character’s limbs. nine0003

Animation creation then occurs, which consists of creating animation keyframes on the timeline and types of transitions between them.
While the animation is playing, the model’s pose (position of all bones) changes, which is perceived by the player as movement.
When creating an animation, you can use:
* forward kinematics (forward kinematics) — you change the position of the bone and together with it the position of all its child bones changes (from the pelvis to the limb)
* inverse kinematics — you change the position of the bone and along with it the position of its parent bones (from the limb to the pelvis) is changed so that all the bones remain connected.
When creating an animation, make sure that the pose (position of the bones) at the end of one animation matches the pose at the beginning of the next. To do this, you can also use the functions of the game engine to smoothly move the bones from one pose to another.

* Vertex animation or Shape 9 animation0251 (vertex animation, morph animation)
You change the position of one vertex of the mesh and all other vertices follow it, keeping the distance and proportions.
Most commonly used for facial animation of characters. Not supported by all engines.

Voxel graphics

These are graphics with 3D pixels. Each voxel is a fixed color square, and the world is stored as a 3D array.

In such games, it is theoretically possible to completely destruct levels by removing voxels.
However, voxel graphics are not supported by the graphics card. Therefore, if you see voxel graphics somewhere, then these are either cubes from polygons, or a software implementation, without using a video card.

Storage on disk

Textures, like sprites, are stored in image files ( png or jpg ).

3D editors are used to create models. Each editor developer has their own model format. nine0233 Sometimes 3D editors save models in their own format — in order to use the model in the game, you need to export (convert) it to a format understandable by the game engine.
When exporting, it is important to make sure that the coordinate axes inside the game coincide with the axes of the model itself, otherwise the model will be flipped in the game. Also, during export, errors, inconsistencies may occur, and the model in the game may not look the same as in the 3D editor.

obj is a text format that describes the mesh. Contains a list of all vertex coordinates, texture coordinates, normals, materials ( mat ), etc.
The easiest to process when writing your own 3D engine.

mat is a text format containing links to all mesh textures. Comes with obj file.

3ds — Binary model description format, old 3DS Max format.