Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

Questions, skill improvement, and respectful critique involving art assets.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
runeraccoon
Veteran
Posts: 280
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 5:17 pm
itch: runeraccoon
Contact:

Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#1 Post by runeraccoon »

Hey guys, I want to pop my knuckles and start drawing for VN related things again, and I have this nagging idea about making basic CG packs along with sprites to be released as creative commons assets.

Or maybe just a separate CG packs that you can tweak the eye/hair/shirt color etc to suit your premade sprites.

The question is, what kind of CGs do you wish to have when you download some sprites?
First meeting? Fanservice? Blood bath as a bad ending?

For now I think the ideas should be limited to slice of life/school life trope, but if you have burning thoughts about other genre, please let me know. I really appreciate your inputs!

Banya
Regular
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:42 am
Completed: Deep Inside, KOI, ROAR, Dreamquartz, YOLO
Projects: Emerald Wasp
Deviantart: Banya-Laplace-Studio
itch: banya
Location: Italy
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#2 Post by Banya »

Hi Rune!
Maybe I can be of help: the more common request for a CG is the kiss between two characters, or the declaration of love... there's a good example of this in Fire Emblem Awakening: all characters have a unique declaration-of-love CG, like looking into the screen while holdind the hand of the character.
Another one that might come in handy is the (violent) death of the character. Also while holding hand of the invisible MC, I saw it lots of times, I might go in spoiler territory but there's a perfect example of this in Shiei no Sona Nyl (which is my favourite VN)

User avatar
Mammon
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 712
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 3:09 pm
Completed: Pervert&Yandere, Stalker&Yandere
Projects: Roses Of The Thorn Prince
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#3 Post by Mammon »

I like your enthusiasm, and I hope that it will fuel you to make enough CC assets to become a local legend around here. To understand what you need to do, you have to understand the following (If you don't already):

A lot of CC assets around here are barely used because there's only little of it. Which is ironically because the maker made a CC asset only for it to never be downloaded and used in VNs, resulting in the artist not making more. Which is because the people see only one or two sprites and rather pick CC's from a source that can suffice for their entire cast in one consistent style. Take Uncle Mugen for example, everyone uses his backgrounds because almost all basic slice of life and school VN can fill 90% of their BG needs with it. And his backgrounds are very general, meaning that they can fit for most settings. A lot of sprite CCs around here are just one or two, or limited to only girls/young people. So a lot of people don't use those because the older people in their cast can't be filled with it, because the sprites just aren't the characters, or because certain details don't fit. Bland is better than detailed and defined if you want everyone to use it, but bland in a certain way.

To really make CC CG, you'll have to make not only CGs that would fit in a wide variety, but also make a large collection of sprites to fit in it or circumvent the need for sprites. And unless you're super-motivated, I'd recommend the second. Instead of making CGs that require a certain sprite, make one which doesn't have sprites.

My recommendations for the kind of CC CGs that might work for a wide array of VNs:
-Two people on a date. But instead of showing these people, only show a close-up of their hands leaning close together as if they're almost about to touch/hands holding/the backs of two people leaning against one another. Make the backgrounds interchangeable, like 1) a sunset, 2) a fireworks-filled sky 3) fill-in-chiche-romantic-date-#3 4) hands without background so that others can add their backgrounds to the CG, and you'll have yourself a bunch of romantic date calm period CGs in one.

-The attacking thug CG. Instead of showing the MC's/LI's face in the CG, only show their leg near the camera which is in a frog-perspective looking up at the thugs looking menacingly and/or attacking. Make the background look like a back alley and the thugs look like street hoodlums, and you've got yourself a CG that plenty of people can use for their 'MC or LI fends of thugs' scene. By only showing the leg (which the reader hasn't seen yet because sprites are usually from the waist up) this could be for a wide variety of sprites with just a few basic legs like the one in trousers and the one in skirt. Make the back alley without trashcans and posters and the thugs not too punk-like, and the CG can also be used in medieval VNs. Or make another layer for a more medieval bandit look.

-The running into a girl with toast in her mouth cliche. Instead of showing the face, assume that anyone using this age-old cliche will be using school uniforms and design the scene as such that one cannot see the faces. This could be a scene cut off at the necks with the piece of toast already falling to be in the picture, or some other way to obscure the faces while still showing that there was a collision with toast involved.

Hopefully you know what I mean and might have gotten some other ideas for widely useable CGs as well.
ImageImageImage

Want some CC sprites?

User avatar
runeraccoon
Veteran
Posts: 280
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 5:17 pm
itch: runeraccoon
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#4 Post by runeraccoon »

Banya wrote: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:17 am snip
- Kiss
- Confession (looking at the screen)
- Death

I think they could be generic enough to only have the generic hair/eyes/skin color changes. Good inputs, thank you! If you want to be very specific with the Death CG, please spoil me in the PM/our discord? ;)
Mammon wrote: Wed Apr 25, 2018 4:05 pm snip
I think a lot of what you said also made so much sense. Building a library of things in our style might be really troublesome, but I'm sure at some point it'll be rewarding. I don't know how motivated I'll be in the future, but lemme say that I really all the hard work that you've put into yours! I'm sure they'll be useful to many others who want to start doing visual novels. You're the epic one!

I really love your inputs on the invisible sprite CGs, which are an entirely different approach than Banya's. So...

- Thugs CG, it even can be made more generic with silhouette and stuffs with contrast light-shadow, since it'll be in a very generic alleyway! :9
- Date CGs, I love the specific inputs here! It really makes sense and might be the first I'll make. Thank you so much for the inputs!
- Toast girl CG, it makes me want to make new outfits for my existing sprites...

You also inspired me to list some food porn CGs as a date... Like maybe an empty table + hotpot/parfait/home made cooking/love bentou or something else~ (I think someone else love food porn CG more than any CGs for otome games in my other thread XD)

Okay now I'm pumped to do some of these!

User avatar
Mammon
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 712
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 3:09 pm
Completed: Pervert&Yandere, Stalker&Yandere
Projects: Roses Of The Thorn Prince
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#5 Post by Mammon »

runeraccoon wrote:I don't know how motivated I'll be in the future, but lemme say that I really all the hard work that you've put into yours! I'm sure they'll be useful to many others who want to start doing visual novels. You're the epic one!

You also inspired me to list some food porn CGs as a date... Like maybe an empty table + hotpot/parfait/home made cooking/love bentou or something else~ (I think someone else love food porn CG more than any CGs for otome games in my other thread XD)
Eh, not really. Those are the CGs from my on project rehashed as CCs, but they're kinda ugly. With the extreme saturation of their colours I've gotten feedback from several people that it hurts their eyes. Once the Thorn Prince is out, I'll push those sprites in a dark corner and my more acceptable sprites top and centre.

And food porn does seem like a really good general CG, that can be used in many instances with many genres and eras. Especially neat because it's now an anime thing and it doesn't require the showing of the cast. Good call!
ImageImageImage

Want some CC sprites?

User avatar
King-sama
Veteran
Posts: 344
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:38 am
Deviantart: Treepastry
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#6 Post by King-sama »

Just do the important/dramatic parts will be enough imo.

User avatar
Chiagirl
Regular
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 1:08 pm
Completed: Ellen and the Pumpkin
Projects: The Crossing
Skype: SummonerNinja
itch: Chiagirl
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Need CG ideas (for free sprites)

#7 Post by Chiagirl »

runeraccoon wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:14 am Hey guys, I want to pop my knuckles and start drawing for VN related things again, and I have this nagging idea about making basic CG packs along with sprites to be released as creative commons assets.

Or maybe just a separate CG packs that you can tweak the eye/hair/shirt color etc to suit your premade sprites.

The question is, what kind of CGs do you wish to have when you download some sprites?
First meeting? Fanservice? Blood bath as a bad ending?

For now I think the ideas should be limited to slice of life/school life trope, but if you have burning thoughts about other genre, please let me know. I really appreciate your inputs!
I know there are a lot of free backgrounds and sprite packs in the Creative Commons section here, but as there aren't really any CGs to go with them it's hard to make a VN that feels commercial in quality using them. So I'd suggest finding some free sprite packs you like and making CGs for them with their characters using the same license as the packs (while also adding the need to credit and link the original artist of said characters or backgrounds used if their assets required it). Wedding/kissing/hugging scenes are usually popular for dating sim type VNs, a death/injury/fight scene is good for horror or mystery games, and future family scenes of "they got married, had kids, and lived happily ever after" can work for just about anything. If you want an idea for some sprite packs to start you off I can link some of my personal favorites from here that have a variety of characters to use (you may have to scroll through this a bit to see all the sprites for some of these) :

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=28840#p343486

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=28377

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=33946#p385586

viewtopic.php?t=37315

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=28880

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users