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[POLL] IMAGES ACCOMPANYING DIALOGUE: FACES OR BUSTS
Poll
Which do you prefer to accompany the dialogue in RPG type games? - Results
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Faces ("facesets") of the characters speaking
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15
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35%
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Busts of the characters (i.e. larger waist-up images) speaking
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17
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40%
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Neither!
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7
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16%
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Other (please explain)
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3
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7%
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Posts
Housekeeping
3571
Housekeeping
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Closeauthor=Liberty
I'm of the school of thought that one identifier is enough and more than that is superfluous. That is, if you have the name of the character talking already identifying the talker, then adding a bust/face isn't necessary since you already know who's talking.
I like having names as an identifier. If you remove the names, the issue isn't that you won't know the names, but it means that you have to spend dialogue space mentioning the characters' names, especially for minor characters. This isn't a big deal, but I feel like this is one of the advantages of the medium--it lets you get into higher-level dialogue a hair more quickly. If you have busts/faces in addition to that, it lets you emote more clearly than you could with a sprite. I don't think one negates the other since they're operating on different spectrums.
Not necessarily it depends how the busts are used, I'm thinking of Enelysion at this moment, Yuna highlighted the character that was speaking and put the other(s) into shadow and then reversed as the conversation flowed so you knew who was talking without an actual name and you didn't need to include the name in the conversation to identify the speaker.
Visual representation of how I go about doing cutscene in Tristian.
Major scenes use full-bust shots with a static background.
For minor ones, just facesets.
You can get the best out of both worlds with that approach, provided the bust-portraits aren't too big. And yes, FE is a huge influence on how my cutscene direction plays out. XD
Major scenes use full-bust shots with a static background.
For minor ones, just facesets.
You can get the best out of both worlds with that approach, provided the bust-portraits aren't too big. And yes, FE is a huge influence on how my cutscene direction plays out. XD
author=Housekeepingauthor=LibertyI like having names as an identifier. If you remove the names, the issue isn't that you won't know the names, but it means that you have to spend dialogue space mentioning the characters' names, especially for minor characters. This isn't a big deal, but I feel like this is one of the advantages of the medium--it lets you get into higher-level dialogue a hair more quickly. If you have busts/faces in addition to that, it lets you emote more clearly than you could with a sprite. I don't think one negates the other since they're operating on different spectrums.
I'm of the school of thought that one identifier is enough and more than that is superfluous. That is, if you have the name of the character talking already identifying the talker, then adding a bust/face isn't necessary since you already know who's talking.
Yeah, I tend to agree with Housekeeping here. I'm big on clarity. Also, as a scatterbrained individual who has trouble keeping track of names in real life and in games, it helps me to see the character's names when they're talking ^^;;
Like I said, just my preference. (Also, menus and battles show names all the time so... it's not likely you'll forget them.)
Frankly, I much prefer just names but I'm not fussed as long as whatever you choose to use is used to good effect. As I said before, portraits tend to take up more room and make you lose focus on the sprites and what they're doing on the map. That's fine if you've gone to the trouble to actually make those portraits non-static. Faces are an inbetween - if you add emotions more focus is going to go on the changes there than what is happening with the sprites, too.
I prefer just names so that the sprites can move about and do the actual emoting - movements, poses and the like. The focus is on how they move instead. So if you're using pose-heavy scenes it's probably best not to use faces/portraits.
But yeah, it is basically just a personal preference.
Frankly, I much prefer just names but I'm not fussed as long as whatever you choose to use is used to good effect. As I said before, portraits tend to take up more room and make you lose focus on the sprites and what they're doing on the map. That's fine if you've gone to the trouble to actually make those portraits non-static. Faces are an inbetween - if you add emotions more focus is going to go on the changes there than what is happening with the sprites, too.
I prefer just names so that the sprites can move about and do the actual emoting - movements, poses and the like. The focus is on how they move instead. So if you're using pose-heavy scenes it's probably best not to use faces/portraits.
But yeah, it is basically just a personal preference.
author=yuna21
Visual representation of how I go about doing cutscene in Tristian.
Major scenes use full-bust shots with a static background.
For minor ones, just facesets.
You can get the best out of both worlds with that approach, provided the bust-portraits aren't too big. And yes, FE is a huge influence on how my cutscene direction plays out. XD
This is really similar to what I'm doing with Lionheart, although the 'major scenes' with full busts will still have the map and the sprites in the background as opposed to going 'Essence Enforcer' style with it with busts on a static background. Also most scenes are going to be treated as 'minor' i.e. facesets only. Only scenes that introduce new characters for the first time and the like will be treated as 'major'.
Faces all the way.
I find busts can be used kinda like cutscenes to give an impression of the character and a focus on him. I don't really like it used throughout the game as it takes up too much space
It's also easier to have drastic changes on faces .. while busts usually remain the same except the face, which diminishes the impact of the displayed emotion
I find busts can be used kinda like cutscenes to give an impression of the character and a focus on him. I don't really like it used throughout the game as it takes up too much space
It's also easier to have drastic changes on faces .. while busts usually remain the same except the face, which diminishes the impact of the displayed emotion
