Colors inspire certain emotions in us, they invite us to understand the message that the developers want to convey to us as we progress through stories and scenarios. The different tones represent a universal communicative form, which stripped of text and other symbols, serve so that players understand the intentions of the creators without the need for further information. Juan C. Roldn, doctor in computer engineering, analyzes in his blog how colors evolve throughout our favorite video games. The result is a color palette which is not only beautiful, but at a glance it tells us how the plot that is told in games like Batman Arkham Asylum, Diablo, Journey, Ori and the Blind Forest O GREY, which you can see under these lines:
Colors, a universal language
“In this project I have analyzed the evolution of color in video games. I’ve been downloading longplay videos of someone playing an entire game and converting the predominant color of each frame into a vertical line, creating a timeline, “explains Roldn on his website.” Some games use the spectrum to give the player a sense of progress. . In Journey We start in a desert and as we solve certain puzzles, we are discovering other parts of the world and the color is changing“.
In his publication, Roldn highlights those that have caught his attention the most, discovering that there is a certain pattern that repeats among them. You can find the entire timeline of the video game colors that he has analyzed in the following link, but in this article we are going to focus on the ones you have highlighted. Under these lines you can find, without going any further, how the colors of Journey as described:
<video src="https://juancroldan.com/files/journey.mp4" autoplay="" muted="" loop="" width="620" height="124"/>
Colors are used to give a sense of progress or evolution of the story
“Other games too use color to give a sense of progress, albeit more directly: they divide the game into worlds and each of them has a different palette “, he explains.” In some games with little changing dynamics like Bit Trip Runner this resource gives more sense of variety. It’s funny how they usually start with bright green tones and change towards red and dark tones“An evolution that can also be seen in games like Spore O Diablo.
Regarding Blizzard’s ARPG, Roldn notes that it is curious how the evolution of colors is not limited on certain occasions to the game itself: it changes throughout a complete saga. Under these lines we leave you the example between Diablo, Diablo 2 Y Diablo 3, which earned some negative comments precisely because of how colorful it was. In the saga BioShock The same is also true: from the darkness of Rapture we pass to the illuminated Columbia in BioShock Infinite.
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Sometimes the colors evolve in the same game, and sometimes throughout entire sagas
“Most games also use color to give identity to the game and many can be easily identified just by looking at the color palette. Some games like GREY Y Celeste They do not live up to their names, but they have a palette that anyone who has played will be able to identify “, also points out Roldn.
This is not the only research he has done on color in video games. In his blog you can also find the article The name of the colors, in case you are interested in the subject and want to continue investigating this colorful world; mute but universal. Again, if you want to take a look at how color evolves in a whole string of games, you can visit the following link.
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