Lemma Soft Forums

So I had an idea. I have no artistic ability so I made the characters of my game in the sims with custom content and take screenshots with poses. I was thinking that I can do that with a green screen background and make a transparent image. I could use the characters as stand ins, take screenshots with different emotions, expressions and outfits. That way I can have the actual character and maybe use the free backgrounds. I want to complete the game before I try to find someone for character models because I am doing the project by myself.

I am not sure if this is a weird idea or not. Thought I'd might as well put it out there

Not a weird idea at all. It's quite common to use placeholder art until you have something that you're more pleased with. Personally, I use stick figures or just big rectangles in pretty colors.

I encourage this tactic as I see a lot of people get so tied in with the art that they abandon their projects.

It sounds like you're on a good track, I wish you the best of luck!

Onomatopoeia wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:11 am Not a weird idea at all. It's quite common to use placeholder art until you have something that you're more pleased with. Personally, I use stick figures or just big rectangles in pretty colors.

I encourage this tactic as I see a lot of people get so tied in with the art that they abandon their projects.

It sounds like you're on a good track, I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you so much!!!

I'm currently working on a prototype of my project that has sprites from the creative commons section, and Sims screenshots for placeholder CGs and backgrounds! It's been really useful so far. If you can do as much of the writing and programming as possible before commissioning art, then you'll know almost exactly what you need when you eventually talk to an artist, and you'll be less likely to regret that you didn't ask the artist for this or that earlier.

Having played The Sims before, that seems like a lot of work. Unless you have a mod that lets you modify their emotions and poses easily, you'll be sitting there telling them to do things over and over again hoping to get the screengrab you need. Seems like stick figures would be more efficient, especially since you intend to replace them with actual assets anyway.

Or even better, there's a library of free domain sprites on this forum. Maybe see what you can find there?

Unless you have a mod that lets you modify their emotions and poses easily

Oh, I do. I have so many mods. There are a lot of people who basically write out stories about their Sims online, and use mods to get perfectly posed screenshots. There's even an actual fan VN someone made out of Sims screenshots, which has been on my to-read list for a while. My own Sims screenshots aren't nearly as polished as some of those, but they're fun and not too hard to make, and they work fine as placeholders.

Huh, that's pretty nifty. I forgot the depth of mods that exist for games like that. Then hey, I don't see why you shouldn't use them, as long as they don't go in the final release. You don't want EA breathing down your neck.

For a low-budget or first time project, few people are going to judge you for using CC sprites. They might not call your project outstanding or leave it be, but we know the reality or being a first-time developer. And you just got to wow them with the story instead. You should be aware that 3D models like the ones with DAZ or Sims have more of an unappealing effect that will alienate part of your audience before they'll download it because of the uncanny valley effect, it looking lazier (even when it's not in some cases) and the same 2D vs 3D fight that exists in anime. So feel free to make a project with Sim models, but know that there will be people not giving your game a chance because of it.

Oh, and don't forget to always mention your CC resources. If you use CC backgrounds, music and even these Sim models that you expect people to recognise from their source material, mention the source and creators in your credits.