3D Sprite Advice

[verysunshine]

I'm planning on using 3D models for my sprites. While my models are nowhere close enough to show, I do have some images of what it might end up looking like.

http://i.imgur.com/J9qGbOh.jpg (This one's apparently too big for the forums.)



Do you think people would pass on my game because of my graphics choice?

[netravelr]

They look neat to me. That being said, I'd probably want to see them animated if they were 3D though.

[verysunshine]

They would be animated in cutscenes, but the regular dialogue might just be still images.

[Morhighan]

They look pretty cute!
Many 3D models I have seen have an uncanny valley effect on some people, myself included, but the samples you have shown don't do that to me.

[fleet]

"Do you think people would pass on my game because of my graphics choice?"

Yes, unfortunately many people here will. I like your artwork. I make VNs with 3D graphics.

Here's a link to a topic where I asked a similar question http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... y&start=15

There's a topic here at lemmasoft forums about 2D versus 3D art that makes for interesting reading.
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =4&t=16416

You can probably get away with using 3D art here if you filter it so it looks 2D
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 46&t=28269)


Dare to be different! Make your VN using the artwork you want to use.

[Biomass]

Some artists use 3D in their work and composite those elements with 2D. I haven't seen any pure 3D ones that really look good unless they're fully animated. Static 3D characters always feel off somehow, the same way VNs that use photographs instead of character sprites do.

[trooper6]

The artwork you've shown seems cool. As long as the story wasn't sexist or cliché, I'd totally check out a story with art like that.

I don't have anything against 3D sprites...they don't even have to be animated. However, quite a lot of 3D sprites aren't done very well. I have seen a lot of sprites that are stiff and awkward. The lighting is off. The integration with the background isn't good. The problem isn't that there are 3D sprites, but that they aren't done well, you know?

But I'm happy to patronize a VN with well done 3D sprites. Donmai does really awesome things with 3D sprites, though she does turn them into 2D looking images. However, I'm always excited to see what she'll do because her stuff always looks superb and has great direction. If I ever use 3D sprites, I'll look to Donmai for inspiration.

Fleet's stuff I cannot speak to, because his stuff isn't Mac compatible, so that is what stops me from checking out his stuff.

But, go and use 3D sprites. Just do them well. I think there is always an audience for things done well.

ETA: I just want to note that the threads fleet posted are a) two years old, so attitudes may have changed, and b) if you look through them, the majority of the posters who are less excited about 3D have all said they dislike *poorly done* 3D but would be open to well done 3D. To misquote fleet's sig: "Poorly done 3D Art is still poorly done art."

But I'm responding well to your 3D and it seems other people are too. So go for it!

[SinSisters]

The uncanny valley factor is huge, as well as I generally relate visual novels with anime/picture book/novel kind of feel. Because of that, having a 3D art style in a visual novel feels odd. The 1st pic would not work in a VN; however, the 2nd one would. It looks like a drawing. Depending on what kind of program you're using, it might have an ability to make it look like standard 2d art. I know that Blender does (Freestyle Rendering). And you can always apply filters and try flattening the depth a bit to get a more standard art style look. So would I read it with models like pic 1? No, probably not. That doesn't mean that you can't turn it into something cool looking with a bit of research and other methods!

-Nat

[meiri]

Personally, I like them.
There's a certain type of 3D art that will turn me off, but yours is done very well and tastefully. I generally don't have a problem with 3D art as long as its well done, but there are often stereotypes that come with VNs with 3D art.

[truefaiterman]

The models themselves may look good if you integrate them well with the backgrounds.

[maemadden]

Your animation characters for the game are quite pretty and you could improve them by adding small changes here and there and make them move in every screen as they standing still will not look nice for the game. Or you can even club the animation and still images by using the 3d compositing and bring them in one frame.

[SundownKid]

I think they look good. There is always an issue with the uncanny valley in 3D art but they are appropriately stylized enough that it's not a big issue. If you look at Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies, that is an example of a game that has used 3D art to good effect.

It would probably be better if they were animated all the time, though. There is something about still 3D images that looks incomplete. Still drawings are always better than still 3D images of characters, in my opinion.

[PN04]

While some people can be purists about their VNs, I think anyone with an open enough mind about the graphics would still give it a shot if the sprites looked like these (then again I play a lot of regular console games where the quality can vary greatly). Perhaps you might have to play with the shaders though to get a decent cartoon style because the biggest problem I've seen with 3D is that fully lit and rendered Anime style characters can have a lifeless look if you don't have realistically emotive faces (I'd aim for the lighting style in the second image over the first.)

Good luck, as a amateur 3D modeler I know how hard it can be to get a character to look appealing and lively, or at least not ugly.