Making creative splash screens

[Tsukihime]

What makes a good splash screen?


Is it something that really matters?


Also, if anyone has made any splash screens for their own games it would be nice to see.


Here is an example of one I made recently

 

[ShinGamix]

Do you mean any splash or only with your splash script?

Just watch the first part I didnt want to upload a new video

(RPG Maker VX Ace)




(RPG Maker VX) with a custom script




And one without but it has style and creepy halloween music!

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Personally I like it when it only shows a bit of dev information... I hate splashes that show video of the game itself... I like to hit the skip button on those... mainly because they are too long and there's no point watching them over and over again... the dev info splashes are quite fast so I have no problem with those...

 

[Alexander Amnell]

My splash screen is just a picture of my dog (I call my single man game design group happy puppy games...) with the name underneath it.

Spoiler

Probably eventually pretty it up a bit with fade effects and better text and **** before I release my demo but it's my placeholder at the moment and is probably about the route I'm gonna go.

 

[sabao]

I'd prefer keeping splash screens simple. RM games are usually pretty lightweight. Adding a movie file just to introduce your "studio" wastes far too much space pointlessly.


From an artistic/design perspective, I've also seen a lot of fancy splash screens with like pre-rendered 3D stuff or some crazy high-quality animé illustration which set an expectation of sorts that never really match with the game's actual content.

 

[Kes]

I prefer simple splash screens, but artistically it can be more difficult to pull off a really good simple one because every detail is noticed and counts.  With something a bit more "busy" it's likely that the screen isn't going to be visible long enough for slightly dodgy aspects to be as noticeable.

But I have to admit to bias here - I prefer a degree of minimalism in a lot of things in RL, and I know that this is not an aesthetic that appeals to everyone.

 

[kerbonklin]

When I decide to make my future splashscreen, it's gonna say "Hot Stove Productions" with some kind of pic of a flaming stove

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Got an idea... If you're planning to show a very detailed intro of the game as a splash, better run it after the player presses the new game button rather than as a splash screen... that way the player won't need to watch it again if he's already loading a game (which means that he most probably already watched that intro when he started a new game)

 

[orochii]

@Alexander Amnell: I actually like that splash idea. I actually did something from it... dunno if you like it: link.


@kerbonklin: YES! Burning Stoves FTW!


@adiktuzmiko: And yeah, I actually am bothered by any unskippable splash screen that shows up when the game starts. Even the Xbox360 splash bothers me lol! I know it is the time it needs to boot, but still... AND there are some games that actually put their long splashes, and after that, a loading screen.


This is my splash screen. It's my group logo. It just appears, lasts for like 1-2secs and fades away. I think is more than enough.

Spoiler

I hate long splashes with all my heart, more if they're unskippable,


Orochii Zouveleki

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

whenever I see a movie type splash on a game, my fingers autopress the skip button... hahahaha!

 

[Alexander Amnell]

@Muramasa: That's awesome, way better than anything my artistically challenged self would have produced.

yeah, I don't understand movies as splash screens either. Intro movies are ok but they should always be able to be skipped or else take place when you select a new game and should probably be about the game, not the company/people making the game.

 

[the Skye Mage]

Got an idea... If you're planning to show a very detailed intro of the game as a splash, better run it after the player presses the new game button rather than as a splash screen... that way the player won't need to watch it again if he's already loading a game (which means that he most probably already watched that intro when he started a new game)

As a noob I must ask... How would one pull that off? As far as I know, the title screen starts at the beginning and there you have it. I'd love to make some great cutscene-esque FF style vids to put in a game before ever really showing the title... or having it just show the title/splash in said cutscene intro... but i'm not good at this stuffs  

@Alexander Amnell: I actually like that splash idea. I actually did something from it... dunno if you like it: link.

@kerbonklin: YES! Burning Stoves FTW!

@adiktuzmiko: And yeah, I actually am bothered by any unskippable splash screen that shows up when the game starts. Even the Xbox360 splash bothers me lol! I know it is the time it needs to boot, but still... AND there are some games that actually put their long splashes, and after that, a loading screen.

This is my splash screen. It's my group logo. It just appears, lasts for like 1-2secs and fades away. I think is more than enough.

Spoiler

Spoiler

I hate long splashes with all my heart, more if they're unskippable,

Orochii Zouveleki

dopest... logo.... evar!

whenever I see a movie type splash on a game, my fingers autopress the skip button... hahahaha!

yeahhh i have that problem too. But some of them are good. I happen to like a lot of FF intros. They're riveting but that's just me... FF fanboy and all lol

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

well, we have scripts for that... the most simple one I think is the script that comes with Ace Lite which shows the logo of EB and the other company (Kadogawa? or was it kadokawa?)

 

[the Skye Mage]

well, we have scripts for that... the most simple one I think is the script that comes with Ace Lite which shows the logo of EB and the other company (Kadogawa? or was it kadokawa?)

Thanks I just found one that helps animate my title screen and am lookin into other ones for Ace so i can make a video intro that will help solidify the intro experience

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

just make the video, then just insert a line at the top of Scene_Title's start method to play the video...