First Game: Busts or Face Graphics

[CrypticCuddler]

  So, I probably KNOW the answers I will get, but still want some opinions.

I had thought previously that, yeah, the faces on the character generator in RPGMakerVX Ace isnt the BEST, but it's

nice enough! And I've been working hard to make all my characters as different as possible in expressions by tweaking in photoshop.

But then I've had some people say the face graphics are just derpy..and that scares me.

I want my Dating Sim game to have characters you will enjoy looking at, not laugh at(unless the comedic set up is made ofcourse lol).

I have worked HOURS on face graphics..am I just wasting my time? This is my first game I'm making, I was trying to keep things 

simple.

Should I just go back to square one and try to make bust shots for every character based off the face graphics I've made?

Any words of advice are appreciated and I'll put down below some examples of what I have done so far.

These are the protagonists of the game. You can choose to play boy or girl.

So this is Mark



And this is Mary

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Make them customized... face or bust, you can go either way... just draw them on your own...


I personally don't like the non-normal eyes in the generator...

 

[Alkorri]

Hi there

If you ask me the girl Mary looks sweet so no problems there (good job!). It's Mark who has two particular features that scare me a lot

Others might not agree but I don't like the mouths in Mark-I love you and Mark-laugh. I know it's default, but those mouths (especially panic/I love you) look like Creepy Stalker person so I would run awaaaaay ;D

I like Mark1.png and Mary-determined especially.

 

[kerbonklin]

I wouldn't depend on the Ace generator for this. Go with complete customs. (Or maybe photoshopped face design of the generator results? Doing the mouth/eyes/etc. yourself)

 

[CrypticCuddler]

@Kerbonklin @Engr.Shana *sigh* it's just difficult with my level of digital art skills to attempt doing it custom. I feel like customizing the bases more might be the best way to go.

And this is my first game, I was hoping just to use default graphics mostly, 

But since its a dating sim game and graphics matter, I guess I really screw myself over..

@Alkorri I think I'll change Mark's eyes then. I wanted to give him a kind of neutral look but I guess it does make him seem creepy XD

 

[Alkorri]

Okay, my biggest problem was the mouths, not the eyes, but good luck to you!

 

[CrypticCuddler]

@Alkorri Ohhh if that's the case I can easily fix that 8D

 

[SLEEP]

There are more face parts made by users, and available for download in one of the resource forums... go look for 'em yourself, but they're there. At least a couple of threads. Some more parts could be just what the doctor ordered, because the rtp face generator doesn't work as well as a person would think it would for creating a full emotion set. Also, if you're using photoshop, don't be afraid to mix parts from different genders... I mean if you're assembling them in photoshop, it shouldn't matter, and the divide is arbitrary in the rtp. like... mouths don't have genders, and neither does hair, it's probably segregated that way in the maker to align with face shapes nicer, but if you're assembling them in photoshop you're manually aligning them anyway so Frick that. So go grab some more parts, grab parts from all genders, frankenface your way to glory. You can make some decent stuff that way for your purposes... 

 

[CrypticCuddler]

@SLEEP Mixing parts from different genders is exactly what I have started to do ^w^ And yes, I have already realized the beauty for Frankenstining faces and sprites.

Its great for a newbie like me ;D Thanks very much for looking.

 

[Ksi]

I don't know why people don't use more of the generator faces. I mean, sure some combinations are horrifying, but they do an alright job if you have a custom sprite and need more than one or two emotions. Also, they're not that bad. :/ Sure, you'd have to use only generator faces for every character, and you can't make the heroes with them (without some editing - here's some I whipped up a while ago - they're under the faces spoilers and it's not all of them... yet) but for the most part they're alright.

 

[Insidious Mental Pollution]

This being a first project I wouldn't be too fearful of perfection, or lack thereof, as keeping things simple will help ensure you actually finish it.  The generator faces are fine for early/non-commercial projects, although you being willing to photoshop does allow you to improve from the base parts.  Also as others have mentioned, you can get more pieces that are nicer still.  

One thing you can also look at are other face generators if you find yourself just not liking the default enough.  

 

[CrypticCuddler]

Sorry for my late reply, but to EVERYONE here, THANK YOU! I swear I'd really be a mess right now without the community. I've got my hands on more 

generator face parts and am gonna keep working hard! 

Game on! 

 

[BlissAuthority]

There's no shame in using the RTP faces and sprites either, especially since SLEEP above now has them in colors other than Pasty Brit.

 

[cabfe]

For my own game I'd love to have busts for everyone but since I can't draw them myself, I had to rely on the Face Generator.

You can get pretty decent results even without editing. It's a really convenient tool.

If you can make your sprites match the faces, I don't think that will be a problem.

By the way, the eyes of Mark make me feel like he's depressed. I'll pick another choice if I were you.

 

[Dalph]

I don't know why people don't use more of the generator faces. I mean, sure some combinations are horrifying, but they do an alright job if you have a custom sprite and need more than one or two emotions. Also, they're not that bad. :/ Sure, you'd have to use only generator faces for every character, and you can't make the heroes with them (without some editing - here's some I whipped up a while ago - they're under the faces spoilers and it's not all of them... yet) but for the most part they're alright.

Obviously because they can't create a decent face with it, and they "just push the random button" (that's where the ugly faces comes from), plus they are unaware of your awesome add-ons or the ones of Rainbow Grenade.

 

[Zoltor]

There is a severe lack of color options for the char generator, otherwise as far as sprites go, It's a downright great feature, with a very good selection of options to customize them..

However the faces are just horrible in the generator. You're better off just drawing(because nomatter how crappy you are at drawing, you should beable to make better looking faces) your own or DLing the resource packs which tend to come with a bunch of faces.

I commissioned a artists to draw my char years ago, so I cropped+resized their heads to use for face pics(infact my Zoltor char face is set as my avatar for example, he's one of the main char in my game). Then I took the sprite I made in the generator, and opened it witth Photoshop Elements 11, so I could actually make the hair black(seriously how the hell do you not have black as a color option).

 

[Makio-Kuta]

The face generator smiles do terrify me a little, but I won't hold it against a game if someone uses them - because not everyone has access to custom artwork and that's totally acceptable. And for a first game, diving into the realm of commissioning customized art is dangerous. First games have the crutch of being a learning process for the art of games and the program; it's not a good idea to be tossing money down on your very first game.


Consistency matters more to me then what style facesets someone decides to use. If you're going to use RTP defaults for some characters and face generators for others--that'll get on my goat faster than an entire cast of generator faces.