Realistic vs. Oversized object proportions

I need advice and opinion in this design choice.

What is better doing the proportions of objects oversized or rather try to make them realistic?
With propertions i mean the object compared to the player and other things in the world.

I have a specific example and would know what design choice is better in your opinion (Look at the strawberries and carrots):




Right image - Oversized proportions:
As you can clearly see the strawberries and carrot are much bigger that it would be in real life.
Left image - Realistic (Kinda) proportions:
The proportion of the carrot and strawberries are are more realsitic.

I am currently using the size of the right image.
Oversized propertion:
+ Player can see the object better
+ Different sizes of a growing plant can vary a lot more
- It looks unrealsitic and funny

Real size proportion:
+ It looks more realsitic
- It 's harder to see

Before i am doing more prefabs for plants and objects i wanted to hear some advices because i dont want to resize everything at the end.

Also when you have examples yourself how you used different proportions i would be happy to see them with your comment why you chosed that design.

 

oversized. make em a slightly different color to so it doesn't all blend together. could be a change in the base color of the plant or maybe a different lighting situation which gives some backdrop shadow or something to help highlight the things player is interested in.


this art style has nothing to do with realism. it's all about style and fun.

 

Thank you for your advice. Especially the part "doesn't all blend together"! I didn't even notice that the objects are not well enough highlighted for the player. I will think about your advice and how i can make them better visible. Thank you a lot!

 

not sure how your game works, but if the player is working on like one crop at a time, you might actually use something like a highlight shader to show which one is selected. then maybe its okay if the other plants kind of blend into with the grass a little bit.

but the basic principle is just "dont make the player less than certain what they are targeting and/or what they should be targeting"

 

I think the bigger crops definately looks way better (the strawberries need to be big to tell that's what they are) but perhaps they need to be slightly smaller (still exaggerated) as they really do make the character look very small in comparison - he's like one carrot high at the current exagerated scale and that looks weird to me! It's the first thing I notice in that picture

 

Since none of the other graphics are realistic, the plus is pretty pointless. The minus, on the other hand, is hugely important. Especially if this is going to be on mobile.

 

Unless you're doing a real hardcore simulator don't make stuff "realistic" for realism sake.
There's nothing wrong with starting off with real-world proportions and equations and modifying them as you go to what feels good and right for the world you're creating, remember that you're god and you make the law of physics, go nuts.

I would go with the bigger fruits and also give them a very slight spin in the games flavor.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions! I made my choice/otimization with your help:
- I decided for the oversized proportions (Thank you all!)
- I made an outline to see the current targeted object better (Thank you @BIGTIMEMASTER )
- I made the carrot a big smaller (Thank you @nat42 )

Thank you for your suggestion! I made the carrot a little bit smaller.

Yeah your are absolutey right - the graphic isnt realistic at all

Thank you for your advice i agree witth you What do you mean by "...give them a very slight spin in the games flavor"? My english is not the best - do you mean to make them more stick out compared to the other things?

 

New to all of this myself, but perhaps my greenism can be of benefit. I agree with all the suggestions up to this point. Based on the images I see alone, realism is not really the feel it appears you are going for. My first impression was that of a whimsical art style. I would stick with the oversized aspects. I like the outlining when highlighted. Though I might thin down the outline just a bit and maybe change the light value to make the object brighter when highlighted. Would make the highlighting less dramatic.

 

Thank you for your advice. I will thin the outline more! I didnt see it first and you are right that it is a bit too thick. I am not so good with shaders so i will consider the point with making the object brighter for later when i have more experience with unity. At my current skill level it will take me too long to do - still your advice is very useful to me!

 

I like the art style. Since the game has a nice, cartoony look to it....
Veggie's and fruits, of varying shapes and sizes, will definitely fit in well
with the artstyle, of the character and objects.

 

I really like the art style! Big congrats on the looks.
To make the plants look a bit more alive, try to randomize their rotation and tilt them a tiny bit.
That would make several plants look more natural and less "cloney".
You could also experiment a bit with stretching and resizing the plants to vary their appearance a bit.

Overall, a great looking project and I would appreciate more updates or links to follow the project

 

I am happy you like the style of my project I will try to differ the sizes and shapes of the various kinds like you suggested, so that the look remains interesting! Thank you!

Actually that is a great idea - thank you a lot! I will try to use a random rotation when the plants grow so that it looks better. I also feel really happy that you like the look of my project!

 

I'd suggest changing the colour contrast (brightness) between foreground objects like your plants and background objects like the grass.

Right now the carrot tops and the strawberry leaves are in fact obscuring the plants by blending into the grass. If you pick a darker shade for your grass then the plants will pop out as bright shapes even if they still have green components, as many plants do.

 

For items that the player really needs to see, I'd say go with oversized. For objects which are not supposed to get the player's attention, go with realistic. If phone, or other screen sized limited platform, even more important. I also agree with penguin's color comments.

 

Pretty much this. Always make objects that need to get attention oversized and heck even with a particle effect to show accessibility.

 

As far as visibility, the plot can get tints - unplanted, planted, done. Make it subtle so players think they're just good at finding things. If the game is Farmville-style then the plots are basically Quest buttons and you don't want a game with annoying buttons. For an RPG, where you won't have many plots and won't spend much time on them, less blatant effects are fine.

I've found that for unrealistic sizes you get new relative size problems: strawberries larger than brussel sprouts, cucumbers the same size are carrots... . It can start to feel ridiculous. If so, you have to line up berries, apples, squash up to watermelons and work out sizes.