That Euro/UK aesthetic

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iNCEPTIONAL

That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

Can anyone pinpoint some of the elements that give certain games the whole Euro/UK aesthetic, as shown below in a few examples:
zool-2-1.png
screenshot_14.jpg
Bubsy in Claws Encounters_0b2f527cc4cf4adab6bcde8e3b63a742.png
2224.jpg
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Last edited by iNCEPTIONAL on Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
iNCEPTIONAL

Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

Cont.
Sensible2.jpg
james-pond-2-05.png
s-l640.jpg
Plok033 (1).png
3.jpg
Last edited by iNCEPTIONAL on Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:44 am, edited 3 times in total.
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dougeff
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by dougeff »

Bubsy was developed by an American team (Accolade , in San Jose, California)

If we're including UK, how about Plok?
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iNCEPTIONAL

Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

dougeff wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:31 am Bubsy was developed by an American, in California.

If we're including UK, how about Plok?
Busby still has that Euro/UK look to it though, imo, and it's what leads to that aesthetic that I'm curious about.

Yeah, I'll add Plok.
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dougeff
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by dougeff »

Or the Virgin Interactive games...

Cool Spot, Disney's Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2

UK, or possibly US (? not sure) they had a US dev team also. But I listed the David Perry games, and he's Irish

edit...

"In 1991, he moved to the United States to work for the American division of Virgin Games"

never mind. He made those games in America.
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iNCEPTIONAL

Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

Some more:
troddlers-09.png
maxresdefault.jpg
69944-mega-lo-mania-atari-st-screenshot-attack-at-a-more-advanced.png
Cool Spot 3.png
35340-Sink_or_Swim_(USA)-1459742614.png
Last edited by iNCEPTIONAL on Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:51 am, edited 7 times in total.
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dougeff
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by dougeff »

Ocean Software is UK. They made Clayfighter, Dennis the Menace, Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, Jurassic Park, Mr. Nutz, Super James Pond, Flintstones, Worms (and some other games)
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by turboxray »

dougeff wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:40 am Or the Virgin Interactive games...

Cool Spot, Disney's Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2

UK, or possibly US (? not sure) they had a US dev team also. But I listed the David Perry games, and he's Irish

edit...

"In 1991, he moved to the United States to work for the American division of Virgin Games"

never mind. He made those games in America.
UK/EU devs living in the US, is still Euro dev.
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Dwedit
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by Dwedit »

"Pillow Shading" in particular is the scourge of 16-bit-era European pixel art. That's when you apply shading from the edges to the center of the object. Makes everything look puffy.


Picture: What Pillow shading might look like (not mine)
pillow_shading2.png
pillow_shading2.png (129.45 KiB) Viewed 1348 times
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iNCEPTIONAL

Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

Interesting. That combined with the general lack of hue shifting could definitely be part of what gives games that look.
Last edited by iNCEPTIONAL on Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tokumaru
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by tokumaru »

The pillow shading is definitely a common trait of many European games.

Another thing that comes to mind, which can't be seen in screenshots, is the use of needlessly smooth animations, which don't necessarily look natural.

EDIT: The walk cycle in Jim Power is an example of the kind of animation I'm talking about - it's very smooth, but lacks any real impact.
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by creaothceann »

Maybe they all used the Amiga and Deluxe Paint...
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Pokun
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by Pokun »

Yeah pillow shadowing is defenitily one. Other things that comes to mind from looking at those screenshots are:
  • Heavy use of dithering.
  • Dull colors, or little contrast between colors (Shadow Of The Beast is a good example).
  • A tendency to use certain shades of dark, dull or even reddish brown for the ground or similar things. In some cases it looks like the ground is covered in very reddish dirt, other times it just looks like the sky is just always very dark. I guess it's kinda similar to the previous point (a tendency towards dull colors) but I think the ground often stands out as being especially dull.
These are not only European things though, I think Bubsy fits with the last point despite being an otherwise pretty brightly colored game with good contrasts.
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tokumaru
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Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by tokumaru »

Way too many gradients, provided that the hardware allows it.
iNCEPTIONAL

Re: That Euro/UK aesthetic

Post by iNCEPTIONAL »

tokumaru wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:20 am Way too many gradients, provided that the hardware allows it.
Yeah, I think that added to everything having a kind of cheap rendered look to it also.
Last edited by iNCEPTIONAL on Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:46 am, edited 3 times in total.
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