Sprite Resolution

[Clestae]

I've tried to search for this answer, but I keep getting confused.

I have an artist who's making my sprites for my current project (since I can't draw worth anything). She and I are both new to this whole visual novel process, and so I need to give her the correct dimensions.

I'm still debating whether I should go 800x600 or 1024x768 resolution (the issue is this MIGHT end up being commercial--waaaaaaay farther down the road--so I want to make sure I make the correct choice), but I read somewhere that you should make your sprites at a higher resolution to keep image fidelity if it stretches, which makes sense.

So for each of those resolutions, could someone give me a recommended pixel dimensions and dpi? Or how to calculate it? I know it depends on how tall I want the sprite to be, so if it helps at all, I'm thinking knee/calf and up.

Any help is appreciated

[SundownKid]

Dimensions vary depending on the character's height and width. But I'd say you should make the character at least 2 times how they would appear on the screen and then downscale. That way you can not only add details, but make the art future proof. It also hides some of the imperfections from the drawing process when you downscale. Of course, it depends on what the artist's capable of.

[Clestae]

So if the game is (let's say) 800x600, and I'm thinking...300 px high and whatever the artist chooses for width...it should be at least 600 px wide and 2 times width.
What's standard dpi for these kinds of games? I will admit that while I'm experienced with photoshop, I'm not very good at estimating dpi for projects, whatever they may be. (I also get really confused about when people say "X resolution," since it's a single number, whether it's dpi or something else... >.<)

[SundownKid]

Well, the art for my game was done at 300 dpi, but to be honest, DPI doesnt mean very much. Making a picture more than 72 DPI will have no visible difference, as higher DPI is only visible on a printed page or on a Retina/mobile display. Computers go solely by resolution since there is no DPI on a monitor, only pixels.

Artists still tend to use 300 DPI "just in case". But there's no real difference with 72 DPI as long as it's of a larger size.

[AxemRed]

>higher DPI is only visible on a printed page or on a Retina/mobile display
DPI determines the default print size, it doesn't do anything else. The pixel density of your display is irrelevant.

A 1 DPI image and a 1000 DPI image will look the same in Ren'Py. Resolution matters, not DPI.

A normal size for sprites at 1280x720 is something like 400 to 600 wide by 600 to 700 high.

[DeletedUser160413]

I've tried to search for this answer, but I keep getting confused.

I have an artist who's making my sprites for my current project (since I can't draw worth anything). She and I are both new to this whole visual novel process, and so I need to give her the correct dimensions.

I'm still debating whether I should go 800x600 or 1024x768 resolution (the issue is this MIGHT end up being commercial--waaaaaaay farther down the road--so I want to make sure I make the correct choice), but I read somewhere that you should make your sprites at a higher resolution to keep image fidelity if it stretches, which makes sense.

So for each of those resolutions, could someone give me a recommended pixel dimensions and dpi? Or how to calculate it? I know it depends on how tall I want the sprite to be, so if it helps at all, I'm thinking knee/calf and up.

Any help is appreciated

Tbh I think this is a major issue to think about before you make sprites. I always make mine in a 3000x3000 resolution with 200 dpi. Why? Because I don't know exactly what I'll need in the future, so its better to be safe than sorry. And after finishing my sprites I usually just make them the size that I need in my current project. But if you alreadu know what you want and you are sure, then you shouldnt worry too much about the size of your sprites. And if you think about it, 800x600 and 1024x768 are not that different. The width will be a lot wider but there wont be a lot of difference when it comes to the height. Also, if your game looks one way in one device, it doesnt mean that it has to look the same in every other, so just customize your game to the device you're planning on making it for.

Some examples of sprites I really love and their dimensions: 1280x960 (iPad)

https://24.media.tumblr.com/ada56c14d3ba6bb77c222fcb77f745e6/tumblr_mupgq7MZ6R1rkq9z9o3_1280.jpg

960x640 (iPhone 4/s)

https://31.media.tumblr.com/22346d7098c1f61f8b28df2d341ca0ab/tumblr_mxanykjPGd1rkq9z9o1_1280.jpg
https://31.media.tumblr.com/b1f34066fdec9385a1529d757fb44a91/tumblr_mxanykjPGd1rkq9z9o2_1280.jpg

In my opionon you should think more about the backgrounds because it will be more difficult to fix them than the sprites. Just try to find backgrounds that are 3000x3000 or something

[Clestae]

All of this has been really helpful, so thank you all!

Well, the art for my game was done at 300 dpi, but to be honest, DPI doesnt mean very much. Making a picture more than 72 DPI will have no visible difference, as higher DPI is only visible on a printed page or on a Retina/mobile display. Computers go solely by resolution since there is no DPI on a monitor, only pixels.

Artists still tend to use 300 DPI "just in case". But there's no real difference with 72 DPI as long as it's of a larger size.

And suddenly everything makes sense that I ever had to edit on Photoshop (I've had to work with both print AND computer images, and I was never formally taught when dpi made a difference >.>). Thanks for clearing that up for me!

>higher DPI is only visible on a printed page or on a Retina/mobile display
DPI determines the default print size, it doesn't do anything else. The pixel density of your display is irrelevant.

A 1 DPI image and a 1000 DPI image will look the same in Ren'Py. Resolution matters, not DPI.

A normal size for sprites at 1280x720 is something like 400 to 600 wide by 600 to 700 high.

I think that screen size is a little bigger than what I may go for, but those dimensions help me visualize it better, so thank you!

Tbh I think this is a major issue to think about before you make sprites. I always make mine in a 3000x3000 resolution with 200 dpi. Why? Because I don't know exactly what I'll need in the future, so its better to be safe than sorry. And after finishing my sprites I usually just make them the size that I need in my current project. But if you alreadu know what you want and you are sure, then you shouldnt worry too much about the size of your sprites. And if you think about it, 800x600 and 1024x768 are not that different. The width will be a lot wider but there wont be a lot of difference when it comes to the height. Also, if your game looks one way in one device, it doesnt mean that it has to look the same in every other, so just customize your game to the device you're planning on making it for.

Some examples of sprites I really love and their dimensions: 1280x960 (iPad)

https://24.media.tumblr.com/ada56c14d3b ... 3_1280.jpg

960x640 (iPhone 4/s)

https://31.media.tumblr.com/22346d7098c ... 1_1280.jpg
https://31.media.tumblr.com/b1f34066fde ... 2_1280.jpg

That third one is the sort of dimensions I was thinking of >.> And yeah, I thought 1024x768 and 800x600 weren't THAT different from each other (height in my opinion matters more than width, from what I've seen).

In my opionon you should think more about the backgrounds because it will be more difficult to fix them than the sprites. Just try to find backgrounds that are 3000x3000 or something

I'm currently in charge of backgrounds (until I either find someone who can take over or just learn to do it myself >.<) and that's probably the biggest reason I've been trying to figure out what size I want this game to be (the second being GUI design). 3000x3000? I can probably manage that ^_^ Knowing that gives me a little more peace of mind at least.

Again, thanks guys!