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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:29 am 
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I can definitely relate to this. I basically think in animations, so when I'm reading through a script, I basically see everything play out. I wish with every part of my soul that I was able to capture what it is I see. When I look at the sprites, I get frustrated that they are not as expressive as I wanted, or there isn't enough variation and why can't I just draw more god dammit.

But, it is simple too much work. I only have to look at the time it takes me to do the sprites to realise that. While I dearly wish I could draw out every second sentence so I could really show people what I imagine in my head, I simply am not capable of it (plus I'm kind of lazy so I would probably want to kill myself half way through).

For our project, we have decided to start with the ABSOLUTE necessities and work backwards from there. So introduction scenes, romance scenes, action scenes and ending scenes. Even then, I kinda cringe a bit at the work load. But I want to do the story justice at the same time. I have faith in Camille's ability to write. I need to have faith too in the reader to be able to put the pieces together in their head without me holding their hand. CGs are most definitely mostly toppings, probably even more sprinkles than cherries. A game can survive without them at the end of the day, so start with what has to be done first.

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Last edited by Auro-Cyanide on Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:06 am, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:02 am 
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Niki wrote:
We were looking at Omerta ><

The thing is, compared to sprites, we feel CGs better express the atmosphere we're trying to achieve? Sprites are rather static; although they can change poses and expressions, they still lack perspective and feel a bit too stiff. I'm working on a horror game, so to us, the atmosphere is the most important ><

Omerta? XD VNDB says Length: Medium (10 - 30 hours). So I think their number of CGs is somewhat justified (jeebus THIRTY HOURS), but still. Commercial!

No, I know exactly what you mean, haha. BCM is a really atmospheric kind of sci-fi thriller game, too. But never underestimate the power of words + some good music. Or silence! Sometimes silence works wonders. Like Auro said, sometimes you just have to have faith that the reader can put things together for themselves. Besides, aren't things even scarier when you have to imagine them in your head? 8D

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:16 am 
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Camille wrote:
Niki wrote:
We were looking at Omerta ><

The thing is, compared to sprites, we feel CGs better express the atmosphere we're trying to achieve? Sprites are rather static; although they can change poses and expressions, they still lack perspective and feel a bit too stiff. I'm working on a horror game, so to us, the atmosphere is the most important ><

Omerta? XD VNDB says Length: Medium (10 - 30 hours). So I think their number of CGs is somewhat justified (jeebus THIRTY HOURS), but still. Commercial!

No, I know exactly what you mean, haha. BCM is a really atmospheric kind of sci-fi thriller game, too. But never underestimate the power of words + some good music. Or silence! Sometimes silence works wonders. Like Auro said, sometimes you just have to have faith that the reader can put things together for themselves. Besides, aren't things even scarier when you have to imagine them in your head? 8D


Oops, my bad. It just happened to be one of the CG packs I had; I played (and never finished all the routes) the game a while ago so I didn't really remember how long I spent on it xD

Thanks for all the advice! Coming from experienced game-makers (at least, more than me ><) I really appreciate it!
Unfortunately I'm one of those people who thinks it's easier to churn out CGs than sprites o_o I could do 3 CGs in the time it took me to do one sprite (expressions excluded!) orz My game's really screwed ><

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:15 pm 
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Camille wrote:
Niki wrote:
Omerta? XD VNDB says Length: Medium (10 - 30 hours). So I think their number of CGs is somewhat justified (jeebus THIRTY HOURS), but still. Commercial!


Er, I played Omerta and it took me about 2 hours per route xD But there are a lot of routes, so yeah~

I'm part of Niki's team and the game we're working on is 1-2 hours per ending, so it'll be about 10 hours long, but I'm sure people will be tab-skipping the first couple of scenes after completing one round so it might actually be shorter than that? We /are/ working on cutting down the number of CGs though. Niki's a fast worker on CGs, though, I can vouch for that /brofist

Personally, I feel that CGs are vital in expressing emotions of characters in a way that sprites can't, so they're essential to any game with art. I'd also be pretty bored (then again I'm easily bored) if I had to sit through many lines of text -- no matter how engaging -- with the same few sprites rotating through emotions...

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