Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

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DoubleProlix
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Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#1 Post by DoubleProlix »

I'm talking proportion here - not resolution, just the design of the character sprites shown to the player. Thigh to top of the head, occupying 2/3 of screen height? Waist up? Just head and shoulders, above or attached to the text box?

Let me know what you think, what you prefer in general, and reasons why you, personally, would choose one style over another.
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toguchin
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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#2 Post by toguchin »

I personally prefer thigh to top of the head.

It's a good amount of the character design to show on screen, there's enough showing that isn't obscured by the text box, and they don't take up a huge amount of screen space that could otherwise show more characters on screen at once without feeling too crowded.

You might run into trouble if you have characters who are exceptionally tall compared to your 'average' characters. For instance, one of my dateable characters isn't human and is nearly 9 feet tall--the top of their hair goes off the screen.

But that's a bit of a special case, and it can give you the effect of making someone look bizarrely tall, which is what I'm going for. So long as no one's face is obscured, it's not much of an issue.

And short characters will really benefit from this, since they won't just....Disappear under the text box if your sprites are proportionate.

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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#3 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

toguchin wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 5:01 pm I personally prefer thigh to top of the head.
This. Mostly for the same reasons.

It lets you differentiate characters based on height, gives you room to zoom in on a character (to make it feel like they are getting uncomfortably close), and gives you a good amount of room for multiple characters at once.

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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#4 Post by Draziya »

Yeah, thigh to head is generally the best option. It means that the legs will be obscured by the textbox, allowing the reader to have a clear view of the waist and up. You always have to keep the textbox in mind.

Depending on the game, other proportions might not be out of the question. For instance, something like Ladykiller In A Bind's torso-up sprites, could work for you. I think they work well for Ladykiller because the tone and style of the game isn't the most anime, so it's not aimed at the same crowd a more anime-style VN might draw in. That's definitely the most notable example I can think of.
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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#5 Post by kivik »

toguchin wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 5:01 pm You might run into trouble if you have characters who are exceptionally tall compared to your 'average' characters. For instance, one of my dateable characters isn't human and is nearly 9 feet tall--the top of their hair goes off the screen.
Personally I'd love to see a game that has a character who's entire head is off the screen, they'd be like an off-screen character that you never see the face of.

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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#6 Post by Zelan »

kivik wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 5:12 am
toguchin wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 5:01 pm You might run into trouble if you have characters who are exceptionally tall compared to your 'average' characters. For instance, one of my dateable characters isn't human and is nearly 9 feet tall--the top of their hair goes off the screen.
Personally I'd love to see a game that has a character who's entire head is off the screen, they'd be like an off-screen character that you never see the face of.
You mean Sara Bellum from The Powerpuff Girls? ;)

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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#7 Post by toguchin »

Zelan wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 9:30 pm
kivik wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 5:12 am
toguchin wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 5:01 pm You might run into trouble if you have characters who are exceptionally tall compared to your 'average' characters. For instance, one of my dateable characters isn't human and is nearly 9 feet tall--the top of their hair goes off the screen.
Personally I'd love to see a game that has a character who's entire head is off the screen, they'd be like an off-screen character that you never see the face of.
You mean Sara Bellum from The Powerpuff Girls? ;)
10/10 would absolutely put a Miss Bellum in one of my games.

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Re: Survey: Preferred Sprite Style

#8 Post by kivik »

Zelan wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 9:30 pm
kivik wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 5:12 am
toguchin wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 5:01 pm You might run into trouble if you have characters who are exceptionally tall compared to your 'average' characters. For instance, one of my dateable characters isn't human and is nearly 9 feet tall--the top of their hair goes off the screen.
Personally I'd love to see a game that has a character who's entire head is off the screen, they'd be like an off-screen character that you never see the face of.
You mean Sara Bellum from The Powerpuff Girls? ;)
Had to google that, but yes! That amuses me so much. I was originally thinking old cartons but I know this type of offscreen character is still being used in pop culture :)

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