University of Central Florida STARS Honors Undergraduate Theses UCF Theses and Dissertations 2021 The Impact of Art Style on Video Games Eric Sarver University of Central Florida Part of the Game Design Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the UCF Theses and Dissertations at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Sarver, Eric, "The Impact of Art Style on Video Games" (2021). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 875. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/875 THE IMPACT OF ART STYLE ON VIDEO GAMES by ERIC CHRISTIAN SARVER A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program in Games and Interactive Media in the College of the Sciences and in the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2021 ABSTRACT The focus of this thesis is to explore the impact of art styles on video-games. This was done so that I could contribute something more to the digital media industry regarding this topic, and show people unique data sets that may help guide them in the right direction if they are looking for answers to questions they may have about art styles and their impact on the success of games. This was done through a study that was conducted via an online survey, where results were taken from student participants over the age of 18 in the GAIM program at UCF. I found that there was a correlation between the familiarity that people had with a game and how well they thought a particular art style was fitting for a game. This study is useful because it can help describe what people thought about various popular genres for video-games. This deep dive into the subject of art styles found in video-games is important as it shows that popular games have what players consider good art style. Research in games is a growing category in the world of digital media. This study collected data specifically from students in that field and helps give a new perspective on what that demographic thinks about art styles in the games they are familiar with and will hopefully impact the games they will make in the future. ii DEDICATION I personally dedicate this thesis to the members involved in this project including my thesis chair, department chair, members of my committee and the individuals at Honors Research. My family and friends I have made along the way are also some people I would like to dedicate this to as I’ve found them very supportive of me. For a further look at some of the key individuals that are credited for their contributions, please see the Acknowledgments page. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank several people for all the contributions they have given to this research project. One way or another, the people listed here have made some valuable contribution to this project and helped it continue. This is why I believe it is important to thank those individuals for their assistance which helped make this paper what it is today. I would like to thank: Dr. Smith, Ph.D. Dr. Underberg-Goode, Ph.D. Dr. Lohmeyer, Ph.D. Dr. Stanfill, Ph.D. Mr. Howard, M.A. Dr. Waldron, Ph.D. Amanda Ammirati Without these people, this research project may not have been possible to complete. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF MEDIA/ABBREVIATIONS/NOMENCLATURE/ACRONYMS .................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 12 Purpose .......................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 14 Defining Art Style ......................................................................................................... 14 The Importance of Art Style on Video Games ............................................................. 15 The Impact of Art Style on Player Demographics ........................................................ 22 The Impact of Art Style on Genre Expectations ........................................................... 26 The Impact of Art Style on Enjoyment ......................................................................... 32 Novel Art Styles in Games ........................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 44 Participants .................................................................................................................... 44 Materials ....................................................................................................................... 45 Informed Consent...................................................................................................... 45 Art Style Survey ........................................................................................................ 45 v Demographics Survey ............................................................................................... 46 Post Exposure Information ....................................................................................... 47 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 47 Timeline ........................................................................................................................ 48 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS................................................................................................. 50 Demographic Results .................................................................................................... 50 The Relationship Between Familiarity and Art Style ................................................... 54 Specific Examples of Interesting Findings ................................................................... 61 Sea of Thieves ........................................................................................................... 62 Remnant: From the Ashes ......................................................................................... 66 Sam & Max 104: Abe Lincoln Must Die .................................................................. 71 Borderlands 3 ............................................................................................................ 76 Treasure of Abyss ..................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................... 88 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 88 Limitation of Current Study .......................................................................................... 91 Future Work .................................................................................................................. 94 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 95 APPENDIX A: IRB APPROVAL .................................................................................... 97 APPENDIX B: SURVEY INSTRUMENT ...................................................................... 99 Informed Consent............................................................................................................ 100 Demographics ................................................................................................................. 101 vi Demographics ................................................................................................................. 106 Logo Testing ................................................................................................................... 108 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 115 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Gender Demographics ....................................................................................... 51 Figure 2: What Personality Do You Most Identify With? ................................................ 52 Figure 3: Do you like Video Games? ............................................................................... 52 Figure 4: How often do you play video games? ............................................................... 53 Figure 5: What Media Are You Interested