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I've been testing out a way of writing that helps me visualize how much the sprites will help sell the emotion of a scene. It's helped me gauge when I might need more or less description, or dial it back on the dialogue. It also helps to see if character voices are distinct enough that you can tell them apart with similar faces or looks.

Obviously a very basic mockup of a theoretical scene:

I wanted to see how much nervousness would come through with the words once they were paired with expressions, and this helps show the expressions definitely help!

It's not perfect, obviously, some expressions might be very specific or tailored to a character. I find especially really intense emotion might be best done with a quick sketch, as emojis come off as not super serious since they're used in casual conversation. They can't quite capture intense/earnest emotion either, even if you do take it seriously.

If you already have assets drawn or partially drawn, it'd be pretty easy to take some small crops of just the faces of expressions as stand-ins like emojis.

Another bonus: you can ctrl-F an expression to see how common it is! If you're looking to cut down on the number/complexity of sprites, it can be a quick way to find any expression you only use once or twice! The one downside is it won't distinguish between characters you've used the same emoji for, but I find it pretty useful nonetheless.



I thought this might be a neat trick to share or see if anyone else did similarly. What do you think?

I think it's cute.

I've seen a number of games, too, where they use expressions for a main character along side a dialogue box, which has a similar effect. (With that said, I think I'd prefer this if characters were texting.)

Mutive wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:13 am

I think it's cute.

I've seen a number of games, too, where they use expressions for a main character along side a dialogue box, which has a similar effect. (With that said, I think I'd prefer this if characters were texting.)

Oh! These don't make it to the actual game, it's just for the draft of writing. In-game these would be expressions made by the sprites, but I think it's useful to get some visuals in with your writing since ultimately your writing will be paired with visuals.

Yeah, it's a nice technique! I've noticed that for as much discussion there is of the art and writing of visual novels, there doesn't seem to be a lot of attention paid to the creative effort that goes into the actual blocking of scenes, which is more than just a pure programming exercise. It's nice to see a format that lets you work with blocking ideas in line with scriptwriting.

You could easily solve your find and replace problem by using a two-symbol sequence, the first denoting the character, the second, the expression. You could also use that to help mark where sprites enter and leave scenes as well, by just using a specific emoji (e.g. the arrows => <=) to denote a character coming on-stage or exiting.

rook17 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 19, 2020 8:25 pm

Yeah, it's a nice technique! I've noticed that for as much discussion there is of the art and writing of visual novels, there doesn't seem to be a lot of attention paid to the creative effort that goes into the actual blocking of scenes, which is more than just a pure programming exercise. It's nice to see a format that lets you work with blocking ideas in line with scriptwriting.

You could easily solve your find and replace problem by using a two-symbol sequence, the first denoting the character, the second, the expression. You could also use that to help mark where sprites enter and leave scenes as well, by just using a specific emoji (e.g. the arrows => <=) to denote a character coming on-stage or exiting.

That initials solution is so simple I can't believe I didn't think of it! It helps a ton and I went an implemented it as soon as you suggested it. It makes it more easily translateabe into code if you use the same initals as you do for your coding too! I'm glad you like the technique and hope you may find use with it too. Thanks!

This is a really useful idea that I like much better than my current method of leaving comments all over my word doc to denote which sprites I should use. It helps me envision the scene much better!