Photos, CG or hand-drawn. Oh which BG should I pick

[megatuga]

I claim bonus points for not making the subject into a question.

Anyway, while designing some aspects for my KN I bumped into this issue, I have seen several Visual Novels which have the backgrounds computer-generated (be it drawings or 3D models), some which are hand-drawn (and later refined trough computer) and even regular photos.

I feel that each type has their own impact and some are more recommended for certain genres while others don't. Am I guessing it right? If so what style is more adequate to which genre.

And if not, what is the style do you prefer to use?

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I prefer backgrounds that compliment or fit the style of the character sprites used. Generally this means I find photo-sourced backgrounds to clash and be distracting - it sort of takes me out of the fiction of the world, if that makes sense. Even if the drawn backgrounds aren't as accurate or detailed as the photo-sourced backgrounds, at least it feels like they belong to the same world as the characters, and I get to appreciate someone's unique art style.

[SundownKid]

Photos are usually only used if you can't afford to make the background art. I mean, they could theoretically be used to lend a game a more "arty" style, but usually it's cost or time concerns rather than functional ones. Even then, they tend to be filtered in some way, since unaltered photos are very harsh.

Drawings are usually the best way to go when you want professional quality. CG backgrounds often don't mesh with the characters. That said, if your game is adventure-heavy and requires a lot of perspectives, CG is the better way to go.

[piano]

I think hand-drawn backgrounds are the best, but I understand they can be both time consuming and difficult to perfect. My next preference would be one produced in Sketch-Up as well as post-processing. I'm not a fan of photograph + filters...or at least I have yet to see one done in an elegant fashion.

[Tempus]

I'm not exactly sure what "hand drawn" is referring to. You can use your hand to draw on paper or on a tablet. Either way, a lot of the time -- from what I can tell -- the art is at least touched up, if not eventually fully drawn into a computer regardless of whether it's based on a pen and paper drawing.

In my opinion the only thing that'd really work with photographed BGs and possibly look "right" would be photographed sprites of people. Though, in my imagination it looks disturbing and creepy. Basically what LWR said; having character art and BG art matching and existing in the same universe is better than having two jarring elements like a photograph and drawn sprite put together.

I'm not a big fan of restricting certain art production methods to particular genres. I think digital 3D and 2D art (individually or together) and true hand drawn / painted / whatevered can handle pretty much any genre equally well. And they have. Toy Story is 3D and so is many parts of the Terminator series but they're both totally different in genre. 3D art in the (hobbiest) VN scene often manifests as Sketch-Up renders (which are quite easy to pick out most of the time), sometimes painted over, but there's a lot of amazing fully featured programs that can produce work mistaken for drawn art if there's a skilled operator behind it.

Personally I love the BGs from the PSX era Final Fantasy games (and Chrono Cross). I'm not exactly sure how they were made, but it appears to be a combination of 3D renders and 2D painting. Any medium can work for anything, I think. While in practice that principle might not always work out, I think it's a good view to have. It allows you to see things others won't.

I really hope I'm contradicting myself in this post somewhere because it'd be a damn shame to be up this late and not be saying confused and incoherent nonsense.

[EVLT]

I personally dislike photos/computer-generated 3D environments. They definitely don't mesh well with sprites and are extremely distracting. If you really need help drawing, try using Google Sketch Up, in which you can generate backgrounds and have a reference to draw from.

[megatuga]

Looks like everybody dislikes photos, but the thing is that I played a VN which used photos as Background (can't remember the name, sorry), but now that I think about it, the photos might have been enhanced or slightly blurred so they would not clash with the sprites.

Yeah, that sounds like more trouble than it's worth. I suppose I should go with CG or scan an hand-drawn picture (if the sprites are also hand-drawn they wouldn't make a difference, I presume.

By the way, I always assumed that as long as it is with pencil/pen and paper that it is hand-drawn, and tablets are always comuter-generated. It might be my own confusion here.

[trooper6]

I don't mind photos as BG's at all. However, it depends on the photos and how they've been dealt with, and it depends on the sprites and other images used.

Note: for this post I am treating things drawn by hand on a tablet as hand drawn.

I have found that for me hyper-realistic photos paired with super-anime looking sprites clash in a way I don't like. But that isn't a issue of photo BGs...it is an issue of a clash of aesthetic between BG and Sprite.
I would have a similar clash if the BG's were hyper-realistic hand drawn paintings and the sprites were chibis. Similarly, I would have a problem if the sprites were gorgeous hyper-real painted figures or photographs and the BGs were Hanna-Barbara looking super cartoony things. I'd also have a problem if the BGs were hand drawn with a pointillist style while the sprites were hand drawn with a 60s pop art style.

I just think it is important that all the elements in a VN look like they come from the same world aesthetically. Can you mix photo and hand drawn? Sure...but the photos have to be presented in a way that compliment the hand drawn, and the hand drawn have to be presented in a way that compliments the photos.

It seems to me that there are a lot of VNs where elements are assembled that have no relation to each other because they are free or easy. The sprites don't compliment the writing style, the UI doesn't compliment the BGs. The CGs don't look like they have anything to do with the rest of the art. The music doesn't compliment anything else, and the sound design clashes with the music. Some times it really looks like all the elements were done by separate people...but people who never spoke to each other...as if there were no main person who thought about the overall unity of concept.

The most effective games, for me, are the ones where everything compliments everything else. Trauma (an adventure game) used photographs for its BGs...but used them so evocatively...excellently done...and the atmosphere of them really complimented the wonderful music and the voice overs. Magical Diary had wonderful GUI design that perfectly matched the art and tone of the game. The elevator did a wonderful job on complimenting art with script.

So...I think any background style is possible...but whatever it is...it must be part of an overall aesthetic that is one with the other pieces of the game.

[Tempus]

The most effective games, for me, are the ones where everything compliments everything else. [...] So...I think any background style is possible...but whatever it is...it must be part of an overall aesthetic that is one with the other pieces of the game.

^ What they said. It's a question of matching the mediums, not whether certain mediums should be used at all.