POV's and CG's

[MyFrozenSanctuary]

As I've started to focus on the design of my VN, my artist (who's never done VN assets before) asked me a question that has left me pretty stumped. So I've decided to ask it on here since I'm rather curious to see what everyone thinks.

"If a story in is first person point of view are the CG's expected to be in the same perspective or in third person perspective? And if so, does it go the same way for the other points of view?"

(What we mean by CG perspective is whether or not the CG shows the MC in the scene or what that MC actually sees. Examples in Starry Sky 1, 2, vs 3, 4,)

I have tried researching this by playing a more variety of VN's (compared to my usual otome games) but it's left me even more confused because there doesn't seem to be a set rule in regards to POV and CG's.

I did notice that there's a trend of sorts. Most first person stories have CG's in third person for the majority of the game unless the CG is of a Love Interest or it's a character introduction. But there are still a few games who either keep it entirely in third person or first person. Otherwise the majority seem to do a blend. Third and second POV stories mainly stick with CG's similar to the POV, but there have been a few who stick with first person POV CG's.

Which got me thinking. Is this an artistic choice to make the VN look better or is it more about what the player expects from the VN? Or is it about the show/tell features in VN stories?

Then again, maybe it has something to do with whether or not the MC is a an actual character or a placeholder for the player.

Any help in this matter would be great ^^

(Hopefully this is in the right spot, I wasn't sure where to put this since it's sort of both a writing and art question)

[mobychan]

I think it really is the creators choice.

I like to think of CG as photos capturing the moment, especially if you have a "real" character that's not just an empty shell for the players to fit themselves into.

If the player should feel like he IS the MC I think it's better if CGs show, what the MC is seeing.

[ofdawnandtwilight]

As an artist myself, I think the best guideline I use (not really, I just go with whatever that fits but this is the conclusion I've come up with after thinking) to refer to when drawing CGs is which character is the main focus as in the one I want to draw attention to and what kind of atmosphere or message do I want to set for the scene- although I do think that the artist's preferences matter as much as well. From your post, I assume that you're working on a romance game (sorry if I'm wrong!), so I'll draw some short examples from there.

When the MC and the love interest are having a romantic moment, I definitely prefer seeing both of them on screen rather than just zoom ins of the LI- this is because I want for both the characters to be the main focuses and I want the MC/player to be apart of the scene.
If I want the players to focus on the LI only, maybe while they're doing something cool or uncharacteristic of them, then I'll leave the MC out and would occassionally use zoom ins.
Then there are those group CGs where all the casts are included. I'd actually feel pretty left out if everyone's in the picture and the MC is nowhere to be seen, so I'd definitely prefer to include them in.

Sorry if I'm not helping, but basically I'd focus on making sure that the MC is apart of the scene- if not, then they're too busy relishing the sight of that hot guy at the side and that's where I'd draw the scene from the MC's eyes :>

[Sysen]

i don't know much but i think it depends on "storytelling"

here's some facts that i experienced that might help you:
1. I played some fantasy VNs and almost all of Action themed CG are showing the main character, because it want to tell about how the character beats the enemy, what's the MC use to defeat it, what's happened with MC's surrounding, etc.

2. Most of character introduction are using MC's POV, expecially when first time meeting the person, either by bumping, seeing on stage doing speech, etc

3. Usually using MC's POV will have better impact when the CG's is about "focusing on character/characters" using third person view is more to "focus on scenery, or what's going on with the scene" since you can put most of information when you use third person view

well, i think there's no set or rule about how to put it, if the image can give the reader goosebumps and have wow factor, i think it's fine

[Kate]

In my project, I've decided to put CG's where the action is something the sprite cannot show but I can guess that the player would be interested in seeing with the characters. Also, any romantic major plot moments or super sweet, cute things.... go with the CG.

The same goes for endings. My advice is to leave the player with a happy snapshot of the moment, as mobychan said. For death endings, I'm doing a similar thing. (Not happy, of course!)

[78909087]

Just felt like throwing in my two cents- a lot of 'mainstream' romance games will use first-person CG's to help immerse the player. If you can't see a body that isn't yours, you feel more like they ARE you. (I've actually felt disappointment from seeing a body for the mc before, as it didn't live up to my 'image', however rude that is.)

Honestly, to me- showing a developed player shows you've put more thought into the game, and I feel those games are more in-depth than the games that try to get you to obsess over them.

[Katta]

I think it's better to draw CGs the way they look better - and imo it's mostly 3rd person view - no matter what POV your narration is. F.ex. romance games mostly show kissing scenes as cgs - I've seen some games trying to do that first person view (sprite's face very close with some weird expression) and it looks really silly. So think about what scenes you want to show as cgs in your game and how they should look from both perspectives.

[Jae]

I prefer CGs to be total creative freedom on the artist's/creator's part.

It can be first-person. It can be third-person. It can be whatever you want it to be to serve the narrative's purpose.

You want to show a character's love interest and the MC in a tight embrace. What do you do? Are you really going to use first-person here and just show the love interest face-planted against your monitor?

No, you'd probably go third-person here and see both characters.