Game assets such as sprites, spritesheets, game GUI elements, and backgrounds are often saved as PNG files, in particular ones that require transparency.
The trouble with most game graphics design and development software is that, while PNG export/conversion is readily available, the optimization of those same files often leaves a lot to be desired. So how does that affect our game publishing?
Well, compare the following two files.
First, a sprite sheet exported from Flash:
And the optimized version in Color Quantizer:
Do you notice any visual differences? Only by zooming in quite a bit, and examining these two files VERY closely will you be able to discern any differences. When things move and animate during the game play no-one will be able to see any difference at all.
The first unoptimized file is 188kb. This version has 12726 unique colours.
The CQ optimized version is 98kb. This version was downgraded to 300 colours in Color Quantizer, the quality slider slid to the far left to favour gradients, and the quality brush mask tool used to control the colour conversion.
Almost half the size. Now imagine having tenths or hundreds of PNG assets with transparency. It starts to really add up, and the final publication size of your game may be about 40% larger or even more. This means longer download times (not nice for the user), far more bandwidth to host your game online (extra costs), and potentially you could have included higher resolution assets as well, and still have smaller file sizes. Assets will also be loaded faster. (PS it will NOT reduce the amount of video memory required, of course)
Color Quantizer isn't the only tool in the business to optimize PNG files. Most image editors worth their salt save 256 transparent PNG files now, but it is either full colour, or 256 or less. Command line tools like TinyPNG, etc. allow for a good PNG optimization too. But Color Quantizer is the ONLY tool on the market with this level of superb control over the visual conversion: in other tools and image editors it just takes much more time and effort, and generally results in less than optimal visual results. Even individual colours can be fixed, if necessary. The transparency mask can be optimized for a specific background colour. The dithering method and amount precisely controlled. Priority slider for gradients or colours. The unique quality mask brush tool...
Nothing else compares for PNG optimization, either commercial or free. It is still one of the best kept secrets on the web.
In a nutshell: CQ will help you achieve potentially much smaller game file sizes. Without loss of visual quality, if done right.