Packaging CD / DVD box sleeve specifications and templates

[DaFool]

Update:
For quick templates, proceed to this post:
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 897#p64897
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Though it may still be too early, it might be nice to have a standard system for boxed version of Ren'Py or other independent EVNs / games.

The only boxed version that I know exists made by anyone on these forums is Cute Knight. (though I haven't seen it in person). edit: When I Rule the World in CD case? in some UK conventions.

If there is an artist willing to put together a mockup template for how a typical Ren'Py game will look like as a hypothetical boxed copy, feel free. Else, I'm willing to hear suggestions and I might put together one myself.

For Ren'Py games, System requirements would be pretty the same, as well as being for all three platforms: Windows / Macintosh, Linux. By the way, do you need to pay some license fee to legally put the Windows or Mac Logo and Linux Penguin on your box art? I think chibi Eileen with snake would be the better logo to put anyway.

If there's a template, not only will commercial games benefit, but freeware ones as well. People will find it easier to make their own hypothetical box art on pdf and include it as part of their download. Then after the player burns the game to CD, the player can grab your standard DVD case, print out the DVD sleeve (hopefully using a nice printer on glossy paper) and whola! Instant boxed copy for keepsakes. If the creator is willing, they can even make an insert booklet and distribute it as well.

One thing though (since I live in pirate country), make sure if the game is freeware that there is mention NOT FOR RETAIL SALE, because otherwise you've just made it easier for the folks at Greenhills. (Well, since they're getting even more cheap and lazy then ever before -- not even bothering with a keepcase anymore, just a plastic bag will do for goodness' sakes, this may in fact not be a problem.)

Attached are some Industry-standard specifications.

[Jake]

Though it may still be too early, it might be nice to have a standard system for boxed version of Ren'Py or other independent EVNs / games.

But... why?

If there was particular cachet attached to the Ren'Py name, then sure, it might be useful for a game to promote that it was built on that engine, in the same way that - for example - being built on the Quake engine was a selling point for some games in the mid-nineties. If there was wide enough recognition of the brand for it to be synonymous with "works on Windows, Linux and Mac", then it could be worthwhile, but I doubt there is. And system requirements can still vary; for example, one of the first things I did with Ren'Py was the Paper XI: Day 0 demo, and some people complained that the framerate was really low because of all the pans and zooms and so on, while those people had no trouble with more traditional Ren'Py games.

So I don't really see how it benefits anyone to have a set of extra graphics on their case which they have to make their cover design work around. They'd still have to make their own art and design the graphics and write the copy, so it's not going to save them all that much work unless they go the Sega MasterSystem route. And one Ren'Py game really doesn't share anything other than platform with another Ren'Py game, there's no logical reason to make them look like part of the same series or anything. So why bother with those unifying elements at all?

Sure, I can see the arguments in favour of encouraging people to make case covers available for their games, for those of us who want to burn discs and put them on our shelves, but I'm not sure why the specifications need to be anything more than "a DVD case cover is Xcm wide and Ycm tall, with a Zcm spine"...?

[gekiganwing]

I have the boxed version of Cute Knight. Perhaps Shira Oka will be available in a box when it's done, but time will tell.

Packaging should tell the buyer what he/she's getting. In my opinion, it should quickly answer basic questions such as:

- Will this item be a complex game with action, strategy, simulation, puzzle, and other "gamer-friendly" elements?
- Will it be an interactive novel? (If so, maybe it should look more like a book...)
- Who is the audience? Are they gamers? Are they general anime/manga fans? Are they mostly male or female? Are they young or old?
- Is there explicit content? And if so, is it raunchy or couple-friendly?

Wikipedia has an article on video game packaging, but not articles on packaging for prose books, comics, or VHS/DVD/movies in general.

[PyTom]

. And one Ren'Py game really doesn't share anything other than platform with another Ren'Py game, there's no logical reason to make them look like part of the same series or anything.

The Ren'Py platform does provide a lot of things to games, however. For example, Ren'Py games tend to support skipping in the same way (tab to toggle skipping, ctrl to skip while held down), as well as all the other keybindings, like 's' for screenshot. All modern games share the same auto-save code. They all have rollback.

So there is a minor benefit to the user to know that they're playing a Ren'Py game, insofar as they can transfer much of their gameplay experience.

[EggsBenedict]

Kind of related, but is there a high-res Ren'Py logo available? I'm already using the logo from the wiki in my pregame splash screens but I would love to include it on box art and posters too (I attend a lot of conventions so I do need physical objects).

I'm not into the idea of standardising packaging itself - designing it is way too much fun - but collectively we could all benefit from getting the Ren'Py name out there. I already know that if a game's made in Ren'Py, it'll run on my computer, and that's the kind of thing you want your target market to be aware of.

[Jake]

Packaging should tell the buyer what he/she's getting. In my opinion, it should quickly answer basic questions such as:

Sure... but again, while it might be useful to write an article on good packaging design, none of the questions you mention could be answered in a generic way for all Ren'Py games.

The Ren'Py platform does provide a lot of things to games, however. [...] So there is a minor benefit to the user to know that they're playing a Ren'Py game, insofar as they can transfer much of their gameplay experience.

Of course. However, I suspect that 99% of people who recognise this fact will also already know that Game X is written in Ren'Py one way or another well before they see any packaging for it. I just don't see it as nearly so worthwhile trying to unify the packaging of Ren'Py games so people tell they run on the same platform as it is - say - unifying the packaging of Playstation 2 games so that people can tell that they run on the same platform. It shouldn't really ever be a significant factor in the choice to buy game X or game Y, for example.

[DaFool]

Kind of related, but is there a high-res Ren'Py logo available? I'm already using the logo from the wiki in my pregame splash screens but I would love to include it on box art and posters too (I attend a lot of conventions so I do need physical objects).

Hmmm... good thing Piroshiki doesn't post much, otherwise the graphics would be hard to find!

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... &start=225

[yummy]

It's a wonder there was no Ren'Py box yet.
Since I've been playing with the logo, it ended like this.
(Notice that I'm not a photoshop pro so I include the layered file so that you can play to your heart's content too)

[DaFool]

yummy >>> awesome! Let's beat them Blade whacchamacallits...

I think emphasizing the built on X engine has positive benefits. If X = Ren'Py in this case, it means stability, multi-platform, and based on python core. I know if X = onscripter, I'd expect monospaced text.

[Hentai Senshi]

The only boxed version that I know exists made by anyone on these forums is Cute Knight. (though I haven't seen it in person). edit: When I Rule the World in CD case? in some UK conventions.

I've handmade a few Tentacularity and Yuri no Yume boxes for mailorder customers and to sell at a friend's store. (... where they were promptly shoplifted, in total disregard of the dozen or so signs saying PLEASE STOP STEALING WE HAVE NEW CAMERAS. *rolls eyes*)

[Enerccio]

One thing though (since I live in pirate country), make sure if the game is freeware that there is mention NOT FOR RETAIL SALE, because otherwise you've just made it easier for the folks at Greenhills. (Well, since they're getting even more cheap and lazy then ever before -- not even bothering with a keepcase anymore, just a plastic bag will do for goodness' sakes, this may in fact not be a problem.)

Meh, why ruin their business? Ppl need money to live, if they earn it this way, be it And if they actually sell my game, that would be honor

[DaFool]

And here is my take on it:

(based on a 600dpi A4 scan... I haven't yet reprinted it to see if it fits)

[Jake]

And here is my take on it:

I still don't understand why you think it's needed at all, and I'm interested as to your reasoning - what benefits do customers or sellers gain from branding their boxes with the Ren'Py name, considering that it's not a well-recognised brand outside of this forum, where we all know which games are Ren'Py powered already, and it doesn't tell you anything at all about the content of the game itself?


That aside, though, I have to say that I wouldn't go near such a design for any game I released myself - it's too messy and garish, and the logos dominate the cover far too much, drawing attention away from whatever game art the creator puts on there. Not to mention that 'PC-CD' is misleading, since nearly everyone associates 'PC' with 'Windows', and would presume from a glance that such a game wouldn't run on a Linux or OSX machine.

Seriously, look at the way consoles handle this, because they have the right idea - all the mandatory console branding is restricted to a small area at the top and/or bottom of the cover in most cases, so there's a unified look without intruding on the cover art itself and without drawing attention away from it. So I'd suggest something more like this, if it's really absolutely necessary to have a standardised Ren'Py box design:



Or, to make an example with an existing game (with apologies to Drake, Enerccio and Yvan):



- note how the eye is drawn to the cover art, not to the Ren'Py logo or the rating or license or compatibility icons. Note also how the branding doesn't get in the way or interrupt the cover art, which stands out effectively - but if you had ten game boxes with the same branding they'd be easily recognisable as a single 'series' because of the shared branding.

[papillon]

To my eye, even Jake's version gives undue prominence to the RenPy logo unless they were being sold as a special RenPy Game Series. Many games show extra logos for engines, video codecs, etc during the game load/install sequence. Only a few I've seen put them on the box, and then they're on the back and very small.

Front, I'd expect publisher+developer logos, series logo if there's a special one (like cheap re-releases in a Greatest Hits series).

[PyTom]

Personally, I don't see any need for the Ren'Py logo to be bigger than the OS logos, which convey actual information. I'm not sure it needs to be on the box... well, frankly, I'm not sure there needs to be a box at all for digital downloads.