New graphics ideas

[BlackRoseMii]

I've been wondering for some time now...A lot of RM Games use the default way of showing the actors during dialogues. Either showing their faces, or showing a bust. But is that really all? Isn't there another way to show some originality?

The same problems are with the battle systems. There are only front view and side view. (I'm not talking about programming, but about the aesthetics)

That's why I'd like to ask you if there are any ideas you might have for new ways. Wether they are your own or come from other games.

(It's kind of difficult for me to explain, but I hope you know what I mean ^^°)

 

[Sieginder Niederlage]

Well, there are ways...you just have to figure them out.
Showing the actors, maybe you can show only their eyes, or a portrait of them with their back turned.
Battle styles...I can't think of any without making them sideways or frontal, aesthetically speaking, that is.

Although in this day and age originality is pretty much dead, not because people are lazy, but because (almost) everything has already been done and it's been done to death.

Anyways, try your best. Don't let up.

 

[Chaos Avian]

I think Phantasy Star 4 had a fresh way of showing things off. Most cutscenes were shown in a comic book style and battles were front view but had the actors visible attack the enemy, use spells, items and being targeted. Back then on the Megadrive it was really great~

 

 

[Avery]

For dialogues you could "just" animate the charset, giving the small pixel faces as much emotion as possible, including things like nodding and poses.

 

[cabfe]

For dialogues you could "just" animate the charset, giving the small pixel faces as much emotion as possible, including things like nodding and poses.

Isn't that the method used in RMXP games? I heard you can't show faces with XP, at least by default.

 

[KanaX]

You could take a page off Don't Starve and have each character produce different noises. One character will have noises produced from a piano, some other from a violin, another from a saxophone, etc.

 

[Dream3r]

I personally like how Cross Code did their dialogue though the game is not an RM one you could pull off the same idea

Spoiler

 

[Wavelength]

RPG Maker 3 used a cool "Storyteller" system which was kind of like a cross between Busts and the Tales series' Skit system, but with a much higher degree of animation.  Sometimes I even did non-dialogue things with it (like a minigame where you had to track which characters weren't shown as they flew across the screen).

I suppose in general I'd like for more RPGs to show the characters moving around and emoting as they (and, importantly, as other characters) talk.  But there are other things that are more important to an RPG, so unless this kind of visual display is really important to the atmosphere or plot, it might be a waste of resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

 

[rondchild]

I know that feels, rtp is nice for people cannot draw for make their own game.


Sometimes im bored with rtp stuff IMO.


But im still love RM game with rtp stuff, as long as the game is fun.


I prefer potrait for dialog like Atelier series (VN like) or balloons text system with more sprite action like digimon world 3.


About front view, i love front view battle system with some naration.


Example :





*Battle system still random and need more improvement.


About side view, try to make something different with the others, like change UI or position.

 

[Dark Horseman]

If you're referring to RM games (and still tracking this topic), it's simply because you'd need $1000+ in custom graphics since they don't exist. A lot of commercial RM games do this, but they're a team and get paid. Ideally, I'd want either large sprites that have 10+ animations to show emotion, e.g. Chrono Trigger, or gorgeous artwork with 5+ emotion busts shifting the whole body like Fire Emblem. Good luck not going broke making original graphics, or if you're an artist, spending 75%+ of development time on graphics alone.

 

[BlackRoseMii]

Well, to be honest, Making graphics (faces/busts/etc, not sprites) is one of my favorite things to do in game developement. So I wouldn't mind if it takes a lot of time.

 

[Dark Horseman]

I really enjoy drawing for my project, too, since it gives me incentive to improve. But after 3 years, I've pretty much given up on ever finishing my game due to the amount of time I've spent just drawing. If I had chosen not to make my own resources, I'd probably be finished now (but not satisfied). Making a simple decision such as "I don't want my actors to have the same art style as RTP" or "I want them to face a different direction" or "I want action cutouts" automatically adds hundreds if not thousands of required hours to completion. But I can see why you wouldn't mind like I don't; I just have to give the warning that you greatly increase the chances of an abandoned project by customizing too many graphics if working on your own.

 

[Galenmereth]

I went for a simpler approach that's still different than the default, using speech bubbles as concept:




It's one way of "spicing it up" a bit, and also utilizing the sprites better as part of conversations.

 

[cabfe]

@Galenmereth: I'm not sure if having the third line of text to start on the left looks good. It makes the eyes move further when they're used to go back less far.

I think it'll look better if it started on the same ordinate than the first two lines.

 

[Galenmereth]

@cabfe: Yeah I agree actually, I just haven't gotten around to that yet since I've been working on different parts of the game. But it's definitely annoying me more and more when I link videos of it these days

 

[BlackRoseMii]

I think having speech bubbles is a great idea. Maybe I'll use them in one of my games. ^^