To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question...

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kistnerelizabeth
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To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question...

#1 Post by kistnerelizabeth »

So, I'm currently working on my first VN game and I have a lot of CGs, because I love VNs and all of the characters I've made and feel like my story just calls for them. But, I don't exactly have the talent to do a CG album, so I'm considering just not even bothering. I've played VNs with CG albums and without and it never really affected me, cause if I loved the CG, I would just save the game before it appeared so I could reenact that scene over and over again.

My question to all of you is: does it really matter that much if I don't have a CG album? What if I did something like provide the CG images within the game folder instead? Would that be just as good?

Any and all answers are much appreciated!

Thanks!

-Liz

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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#2 Post by Ran08 »

Imho, people usually put CG albums for two main reasons:

1. The CG images themselves aren't usually available to the public (they're usually archived) so it's a chance for players to view them again without necessarily replaying the whole game.
2. It's a way to show off the artist's beautiful work.

I personally don't think it's required, and I wouldn't feel disappointed if it wasn't in a game, but as a player, I love seeing CG galleries! I consider them something of an extra. Especially unlockable galleries! Which brings me to a third reason:

3. It could be a way of rewarding the player, by making it an unlockable achievement. :)

So... yep, it's definitely up to you, but this is just my 2c.

kistnerelizabeth
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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#3 Post by kistnerelizabeth »

Thank you very much for the quick response, Ran08. It helps to know your opinion and thoughts on the matter. I will definitely take this into consideration as I'm putting together my game. I appreciate your feedback. :)

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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#4 Post by Ran08 »

You're welcome! :) Good luck on your game!

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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#5 Post by Mammon »

There is actually another virtue to a CG album: When the story has multiple endings it can be used by the player to determine whether they've seen all the endings and scenes. You can play a game, think you seen it all and then determine with the CG gallery that there are still a few CG that you haven't seen, thus that there are still a few more endings to unlock.

Also, there appear to be quite a few readers who see CG galleries as a must have. I mainly want one for the reason above but others think of a CG gallery as something of an accomplishment to complete etc.
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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#6 Post by Zelan »

Mammon wrote:Also, there appear to be quite a few readers who see CG galleries as a must have.
Mammon's right about this - even with indie VNs, it's starting to be less of a bonus and more of a necessity (not for everyone, of course, but for a lot of people). It wouldn't necessarily stop me from playing a VN, but I appreciate being able to go back and look at the pretty art again.

About your strategy of saving before a CG, that would require me to know that one was coming up. ;) Plus, I like to keep my saves minimal, if possible. I don't really like having pages upon pages of saved games.

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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#7 Post by morg »

I think they give the reader another goal after finishing a game. The more CGs that need unlocking, the longer the reader continues playing the game after they've completed it. Having multiple endings also has that effect, but I think most people overlook or forget the other endings without a checklist present.
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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#8 Post by TheJerminator15 »

To begin with, from what I've seen the main consensus among VN readers/fans is that a CG gallery is no longer a bonus but an expected feature. It's kind of like video games and stories, every game is now expected to have some semblance of a story and to not have one is to pretty much go against an established precendent. As others have also said it is used to determine if the player has actually completed the game, found all endings etc.

What is your main problem with implementing one, secondly? Is it the programming side? Art? Or is it just a hassle? i'm simply asking because, especially if it's programming, I assume there would be plenty of people willing to help you out. As you also said you have a large numbers of CGs , so with such a large number of them and no gallery it may gain a bit of flak from fans.
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Re: To have a CG album, or not to have, that is the question

#9 Post by kistnerelizabeth »

Thank you, Ran08! I'm having a lot of fun making my game because it's gotten me into bettering my art as well as learning coding, so it's pretty rewarding.

@Mammon- I totally forgot about that aspect of the CG album. Thank you for bringing that point up. I know I've even used CG albums for that purpose, too. I can definitely see why one would be needed, then, especially since I plan on having a good amount of endings for my game.

@Zelan- Thanks for your insight! It's good to know what others feel about VNs whether indie or commercial. As for saves, I started gaming on a bad computer and in a full house of kids, so I got used to saving my game way too many times for fear of it accidentally being overwritten. I can understand not liking lots of saves.

@morg- That makes a lot of sense, then. A CG album is basically a bonus "prize", which is definitely making me want to look into having one, then. I like hearing that others view the CG album as a checklist or as a bonus. I never thought of it that way. I don't usually go back into the CG gallery all that often, so it helps knowing that. Thank you, as well, for your insight!

@TheJerminator15- My main problem is trying to figure out the whole imagemap thing. I've read up on the basics of creating a CG album, but the issue is trying to implement the function where you have an "avatar" image of the CG in the album and then you click on it and it blows up into a full-sized CG. I can figure out the avatar part, but the other part is where it gets tough. I haven't found too much on CG albums online, so I've gone off of what I have found and then through my own experiments.

Would you happen to have any resources that could help such as links or guides? You made me realize I should have a CG album if I am going to have lots of CGs. I definitely don't want to disappoint readers/players of my VN.

I'm really happy about the responses I've gotten on this post. I really appreciate all of you guys helping me out. I think I'm going to re-look into making a CG album. It definitely sounds like a necessity for VNs. Thank you all for helping me come to this conclusion. :)

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