How many CG's should you have in a game?

[Impulse]

Hello! I'm currently making an otome game in renpy where you'll have three different routes to choose between, as well as several different choices that affect the story and ending. The game will be between 2-4 hours per route/playthrough and I was wondering how many CG's I should include? I'm not looking for an exact number, but I would like to hear what you think is a realistic target for a game this size. 20? 30? 40? More? What do you think?

I'm making this project all by myself and I have a deadline this summer, so I will probably not be able to do too many, but I don't want the reader to be disappointed by the lack of CG either (since I personally love a lot of CG when I play these types of games). My CG gallery will also have 4 different tabs: one for each guy you can pursue, and one called "other" that will basically be every CG that is not directly tied to one of the guys or their routes.

Tell me what you think, and if you have made any games: how long were the game(s) and how many CG's did you include (if you included any)?

[Rossfellow]

The obvious answer is going to be "As many as there needs to be."

But that's not very helpful, so I'll provide examples instead.

Jouka no Monshou is an NVL style game with about 20 CGs, half of them stock photos. It has no sprites, no GUI, and only has 3-4 BGM and a few sound cues, but it managed to tell a complete 45-minutes-ish story. I recommend checking it out as frame of reference.

Saya no Uta, also another NVL style game, takes this just a bit further. About 2 or so hours worth of reading, has 2-3 base sprites per character, and a few expressions within those bases. It boasts about 12 tracks in its OST and a wider variety of ambient noise and sound effects.

If you're shooting for an AAA game, on the other hand... Something like Tokyo Necro with 30 or so hours of reading, an unimaginable pile of assets, AA quality voices and audio, full videos- you get the gist. It would have hundreds of CGs.

[BáiYù]

Your WIP thread says "5-7 endings" so as a player, I might expect one CG per route/ending. Keep in mind that you can also draw cut-ins which don't take up the whole screen. They can focus on one detail so the scene is displayed but lowers the amount of work you have to do.

[dueceladouce]

I agree with rossfellow. Cgs don't really have a set number, and personally, I prefer cgs for scenes that are special to the story. Not necesarilly unique stuff, but rather the climactic moments where simple sprites don't cut it. On the other hand, I get tired of cgs that exist purely for the sake of having them (someone on a different thread made the perfect example of "character in apron cooking"). Cgs are a great way to bring attention to certain events in a story and help flesh out scenes. But, much like fancy transitions, if they're overdone they can become distracting and cumbersome.

[MimirollCookie]

Well, it depends on your game and the plot. If you want the story to be detailed, that should have many CGs.

(It's my opinion.)

[Impulse]

Thank you all for your fast feedback. It actually never occurred to me that you can have too many CG's, but I will definitely keep that in mind when I'm making my game. For the endings: I'll make a CG for each ending to give the player some closure, but also as motivation to unlock each ending. Cut-ins is a great idea that I will most likely use as well!

[Gaming4Hearts]

A very noob question, but what's a CG?

[fleet]

My interpretation (others may differ):
Originally CG meant a piece of art made on a computer (CG = Computer Graphic).

Visual novels mostly consist of sprites (images of characters) imposed on fixed backgrounds. A CG is usually a still image done separately to emphasize a dramatic moment in the story (for example the main characters kissing).

[Impulse]

A very noob question, but what's a CG?

As fleet said, it's a full screen image that is shown in the game without any sprites in front of them, a photo or so that often show a special moment. In visual novels CG's are often later unlocked and shown in a CG Gallery so the player can go back and look at them.

[Gaming4Hearts]

Thank you very much Impulse!

[Impulse]

@gaming4hearts, no problem, but I wasn't the only one answering the question