CGs instead of sprites and BGs?

[aphosphene]

Specifically on making a Kinetic VN. Yup, no sprites, no BGs. All CG.
CGs that change depending on the situation, characters' reaction/expression and movements, location etc.

Is that wise? Will it sell (if commercial)?

If yes,
- Is it better having only one artist for consistency and quality?
- Or several to reduce to workload and save time?
- Several artists would mean several art styles, do you think this would work?
- Would you buy/download a VN in this format?
- Using CGs will most probably rule out the need of a CG gallery (since there would be a buttload of CGs),
so is it better using a "chapter" gallery (or however you call it) to view CGs instead?
- Will it alter the way the dialogues are given?
- Will it cause more difficulty in coding compared to using Sprites and BGs?
- Will this change the whole "feel" of a visual novel? For the worse? For the better?
- How about during violent/action scenes? Mild love scenes? Comedic scenes?
- Are there any VNs out there that has the same format?
- How long would you suggest a VN be for this to be successful?
- Would this be an impossible project for one-man team?

One more, if you find yourself playing a VN like this, would you enjoy it? How would you feel?

Sorry for asking quite a lot, I just wrote down what I had in mind. I'd appreciate anyone who'd comment or answer.

[MaiMai]

I think you'd have to have a lengthy plot to justify selling a kinetic novel, something in the vein of Umineko no Naku Koro ni which was a commercial game. Umineko itself was all sprites with some special effects after all, so think an all CG KN would work perfectly fine. It'd just be an illustrated story in visual novel format instead of a book format.

Just use one artist! You're actually at risk of wasting more time by trying to employ several artists, all who probably work at their own pace. Some will work faster than others and others slower. It's easier to contact one artist and talk about the details you want so unless you have a crapload of CGs in mind that you are absolutely certain that said artist tells you they can't finish that much (that also depends on how much you're willing to pony up in cash, but you get the idea).

I won't answer the other questions since I feel like the best way to see if this all CG KN would work out is to make a short story with just CGs and see how other people respond to it before you have grand ideas of making a commercial story.

[aphosphene]

I think you'd have to have a lengthy plot to justify selling a kinetic novel.

I agree. Probably should dismiss the idea of making a commercial game if the plot isn't worth the pennies.
Would you say that this sort of plot will justify making one though? http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 16&t=22549

.. the best way to see if this all CG KN would work out is to make a short story with just CGs and see how other people respond to it before you have grand ideas of making a commercial story.

That's what I thought too. I plan on publishing something short just to see how people react to it before I go all out with a bigger project I have in mind. But it would be interesting to see a published VN with that sort of format.

[Anne]

There is a game like that Toire No Hanako. Actually I don't think it's a good idea unless you just want to draw all these CGs, because (even apart from the workload) fewer CGs allow you to emphasize the most important moments while not distracting from reading the text

[Auro-Cyanide]

My question would be why?

The reason VNs and KNs use sprites and backgrounds with CGs is because it's much more efficient when telling a story. You can reuse things, which is hugely important when you consider workload. So what's the primary rationale for going against that?

Doing full CGs would be very impractical since a lot of time is 'wasted' in backgrounds and polish. Something with a comic effect would be better. Which begs the question of why a comic itself wouldn't be better it's a KN. Once you remove interaction, the main thing left is music, which you can add into a webcomic as well.

Many things will come into your consideration of this. Are you one of the artists? Are you going to pay the artists? If so, what is your budget and can you afford it? How long is the story? How many CGs and variations will be involved? Things like that will pretty quickly tell you if what you are thinking of is actually plausible or not.

[aphosphene]

fewer CGs allow you too emphasize the most important moments while not distracting from reading the text

Ooh, I hadn't thought of it that way. CGs emphasizing important scenes. Now that you've mentioned it an all-CG game wouldn't be able to emphasize certain moments the same way as a game using sprites. I'm going to take a note of that. And thank you for the link.

[aphosphene]

My question would be why?

I'm guessing maybe a way to be different? Though I can see how impractical it really is, considering everything you've mentioned. Waste of time, effort, budget and no way of reusing things. It was just a random thought after all. Thank you for your insight, it's very helpful

[Semienigma]

I suppose it would be a lot of work but I think a completely CG KN/VN would be cool. But since I"ve not played many games so I don't really know how its supposed to go.

[fleet]

The commercially released Vera Blanc visual novels by Winterwolves Games are entirely CGs.

[aphosphene]

I suppose it would be a lot of work but I think a completely CG KN/VN would be cool. But since I"ve not played many games so I don't really know how its supposed to go.

I thought so too, a game filled with CGs would be a new experience but there aren't many so it wouldn't be wonder why we haven't played any.. But like mentioned above, too much effort unless of course the creator's willing to do that.

[aphosphene]

The commercially released Vera Blanc visual novels by Winterwolves Games are entirely CGs.

Oh, fascinating! Are there any reviews about this franchise? I wonder if it was received positively by the players. Anyhow, I'll be looking for review on these games. Also, thank you for the information.

[Carassaurat]

Can't say I recommend this, because it's a ton of work. Unless you've got much experience drawing comics, you'll need cheats at least, such as 3D models, limited palette, and so on. That said, I did opt for this for the script I was working on — as a result, it'll probably never see the light of day, but that's another matter — because it simply didn't work with sprites. When you've got a game focused on talking to the girl in your class, a frontal sprite is perfect, since that's sort of what talking to classmates looks like. But I had a lot of scenes in which two people in love were talking to each other, and it looked very silly to have one of them standing on one side of the screen and one on the other; now I've got them storyboarded as lying in bed, embracing each other or sitting on a bench together. Plus it allows you to do more than conversation, such as people sitting behind a computer, people walking or people putting on their shirts. I wouldn't know how to do this scene of a phone call I mocked up with just a sprite in front of a background, it'd be odd. Of course, everyone realises that, which is why we have CGs in the first place; but I think sprites only work really well for non-intimate conversation, and it's very possible to write a script that has very little of that.

Now that I think of it, it's very obvious in Toire no Hanako as well; lots of intimate scenes that wouldn't have worked with sprites. Whether the art or story came first here, I don't know, but I second its recommendation.

[Anne]

But I had a lot of scenes in which two people in love were talking to each other, and it looked very silly to have one of them standing on one side of the screen and one on the other; now I've got them storyboarded as lying in bed, embracing each other or sitting on a bench together.

I wonder if many people are bothered by this. As a player I've never had any difficulty imagining a scene with two characters lying in bed while all I see is a guy standing in a suit (and actually I've never even thought that something is not quite right with that until you mentioned)

[aphosphene]

When you've got a game focused on talking to the girl in your class, a frontal sprite is perfect, since that's sort of what talking to classmates looks like. But I had a lot of scenes in which two people in love were talking to each other, and it looked very silly to have one of them standing on one side of the screen and one on the other; now I've got them storyboarded as lying in bed, embracing each other or sitting on a bench together. Plus it allows you to do more than conversation, such as people sitting behind a computer, people walking or people putting on their shirts.

This is basically the idea I had in mind when I randomly thought of using CGs instead of sprites. I have a script where two characters are also embracing in bed and boy it was awkward coding that scene using sprites. The intimacy was just not there. I've also played a professional, commercial game (forgot which one) where there were scenes (not necessarily intimate) that just didn't seem right. Sure a CG or two could emphasize the situation but I dunno, it just really bothers me sometimes when the dialogue says a character is doing a simple action but that character is just there, staring at me XD

[aphosphene]

I wonder if many people are bothered by this. As a player I've never had any difficulty imagining a scene with two characters lying in bed while all I see is a guy standing in a suit (and actually I've never even thought that something is not quite right with that until you mentioned)

*raises hand*

I get bothered by it quite a lot. Maybe just because I'm really particular with body language. In my college course, we study body language in order to associate better with our patients, it's helpful, but in this case with VNs it's just awful for me really. Instead of focusing on the story I notice all the awkwardness and stiffness of a sprite. T^T
(which is maybe why I like VNs when the sprites have a wide variety of poses)