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THE SCREENSHOT TOPIC RETURNS
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bulmabriefs144
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CloseIn blue.
First scene is solid black. Last scene is white. Gold seemed to show up. Oh wait, you didn't mean black and white literally?
And yes, I am aware my game has pretentious aspects to it. But if much of the game takes itself seriously, it's so important to be able to read the text. It doesn't, so it's not. The English version has improved text, but nobody talks about that one (haven't got a review update in like, ever, after trying like a zillion colors and systems trying to get stuff working), and how the text actually has improved.
author=eplipswich
EDIT: Also, may I ask what software you are using to type your Japanese words into the game? Yeah, I can see the problem with the fonts because RPG Maker 2k/3 is kind of unfriendly when it comes to typing Japanese characters. It's much friendlier in newer versions.
2k3 has Exfonts, then you can edit using Resource Hacker. Basically, I'm typing in stuff like $A and having it spit out Japanese characters. This would not be even an issue, if I could get help patching the Mincho font to display such characters. But that's not an option, since I don't know what programs can actually edit .fon files, which the 2k3 stuff seems to be.
EDIT2: I think if you really want to create a Japanese version of a game, your best bet is to use the Japanese version of RPG Maker 2k/3 (as Locke suggested) and not the English one.
The main issue is that, while I can write katakana or hiragana, using a translator, I can't read it, not without looking at each individual character each time I wanna do something. I remember a few words of romaji, and I know some of the more distinctive words of kanji. And I can even make a text box to display massive lines of text as a picture. But, using the Japanese editor would require recoding in all likelihood, would probably not accept the patches I give it, and would actually take longer than stringing together my faulty Japanese. So unless someone's willing to help, that's not happening.
EDIT3: And by the way, it's houhou no yogensha. This is the Japanese title of "Oracle of Tao", right? (though I have no idea what 方法 has to do with Tao, but whatever. "Oracle" is fair enough.)
Houhou is "the Way", which does in fact apply to Tao. Doukyou is "Taoism". Yogensha is "prophet/oracle". And I have no idea the words I used for the Japanese text in the opening screen.
author=Corfaisusauthor=eplipswichI could do that, I suppose. But I figured I liked the background better than some Japanese words I can't understand anyway (I changed this already from the grey I already had because the shadowing for the glyphs is screwy, making things show up poorly regardless of what text I use. And yeah, I can't really understand Japanese anyway).
And you certainly have to listen to those people who say "Can't read you font". In fact, to be plain honest, the title screen of your game, "Oracles of Tao" is just as bad as the ones here. I can hardly see the words "The Oracles of Tao".
Perhaps that's because the word is actually Oracle of Tao, not Oracles of Tao. This better?
How about decreasing the opacity of the background? Make the background more transparent. People want to see words (the focal point) in an interface like this, not the background. So you ought to make the words stand out, not the background. Right now, all my eyes are focusing on is the background.
But it's better that we should strain our eyes to read even a single word in an RPG where nothing is black and white, because that's artistic and deep. You can't really judge a game this amazing just by reading the font, you have to see the world and understand the true meaning of this creative tale. Indeed, you have to feel the story in and out and be able to apply it to your everyday life in order to appreciate how deep it truly is. You'll never understand how good a book is if you just read it, that's bologna. And yes, I have played enough of the game to pass judgment.
Wait, are you being sarcastic? I can never tell. Also, judgement is spelled with an "e", we're not British.
Then why are you making a "Japanese" version of your game? But hell, stay the course; you've got nowhere else to go but up.
Because I wanted one. I asked around for help from people who did have the talent, the people, and probably the time. They either didn't respond, or they bailed on me. So if I want it, I have to do it.
Which reminds me, it's easy to complain about the color being off. You wanna suggest what color I should actually use? Because criticism without being constructive (that is, helpful) is just being a hater. I don't know what color shows up best, despite trying several, studying color theories and trying complements and various shades.
In the end, it's my best judgement which color I think stands out, and I may be wrong. But if I can see it on my computer, which can barely notice the line where the text ends on Message (seriously, that's why my messages are often so short), short of reducing brightness and contrast, and you can't... it's time for you to get a better computer.
First scene is solid black. Last scene is white. Gold seemed to show up. Oh wait, you didn't mean black and white literally?
And yes, I am aware my game has pretentious aspects to it. But if much of the game takes itself seriously, it's so important to be able to read the text. It doesn't, so it's not. The English version has improved text, but nobody talks about that one (haven't got a review update in like, ever, after trying like a zillion colors and systems trying to get stuff working), and how the text actually has improved.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=bulma
Because I wanted one. I asked around for help from people who did have the talent, the people, and probably the time. They either didn't respond, or they bailed on me. So if I want it, I have to do it.
OK. Seems like step one would be to become fluent in Japanese. I mean, releasing a game with terrible Google Translated wapanese is really incredibly insulting to them, and also probably nearly impossible to understand/play.
(Also they have way better RPG Maker games than we do already, because the Japanese RM community is fifty times more impressive than the English one, and they don't want your game)
Also, yeah, light gray on light gray, light yellow on light gray, and any color at all on alternating stripes of black and white are all extremely hard to read. Your title screen would probably be fine if you put a strong border and also a heavy shadow around the text though, so that it was effectively jade on black (or jade on whatever color the text border is, I guess).
Milennin
2060
author=bulmabriefs144Try yellow text on a dark blue background?
Which reminds me, it's easy to complain about the color being off. You wanna suggest what color I should actually use? Because criticism without being constructive (that is, helpful) is just being a hater. I don't know what color shows up best, despite trying several, studying color theories and trying complements and various shades.
author=bulmabriefs144The difference is that you don't have to necessarily read your own texts ingame, because as game creator you know what every line says. For people playing it the first time it's different...
In the end, it's my best judgement which color I think stands out, and I may be wrong. But if I can see it on my computer, which can barely notice the line where the text ends on Message (seriously, that's why my messages are often so short), short of reducing brightness and contrast, and you can't... it's time for you to get a better computer.
SnowOwl
5188
Going to have to agree. I don't see anything good about translating your game to Japanese when you can't speak it yourself. I would rather play a game in english than broken language X. I know that Japanese people generally can't speak english, but I'm sure there are other ways to get players than targeting Japanese. Why are you so desperate to get Japanese players specifically?
author=LockeZauthor=bulmaOK. Seems like step one would be to become fluent in Japanese. I mean, releasing a game with terrible Google Translated wapanese is really incredibly insulting to them, and also probably nearly impossible to understand/play.
Because I wanted one. I asked around for help from people who did have the talent, the people, and probably the time. They either didn't respond, or they bailed on me. So if I want it, I have to do it.
(Also they have way better RPG Maker games than we do already, because the Japanese RM community is fifty times more impressive than the English one, and they don't want your game)
Also, yeah, light gray on light gray, light yellow on light gray, and any color at all on alternating stripes of black and white are all extremely hard to read. Your title screen would probably be fine if you put a strong border and also a heavy shadow around the text though, so that it was effectively jade on black (or jade on whatever color the text border is, I guess).
Awww, man. Yeah, it's a chore to translate anyway.
And the title screen I tried to make (I lost the unedited model for the title screen) was too intense.
I like to have soft colors, not harsh black white contrast.
That's not really true, Millennin. I beta-test my game for any bugs. So I pretty much have to have the minimum of legibility to know what's going on.
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1760/images/36991/
This was my game before (above), and this is after I worked with the text to make it stand out more. (Btw, the text above? I can read it, without squinting or straining my eyes)
It also works on a solid white BG, which is pretty much what I was going for when I made this gradient system. Is it perfect? Probably not. But (1) it should be at least readable for most backgrounds and (2) if it isn't, there's a menu of options. Unless I figured out some code that makes text auto-adapt to contrast whatever background I happen to have, since black/white/grey all fail at one point or another, this is the best solution for the time being.
Why you ask didn't I use this text color with the japanese text? because the kana has such weird curves that the shadows aren't in the right areas making it fail on a massive scale. Another reason besides zero market value why I think I'll not.
Since I'm not gonna be using the exfont, I'm gonna release it as a sort of mini-utility. Here, if any game you have has kana in it, use this.
http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/3388/locker/exfont_japanese.bmp
It looks better than your old title screen, but why is it not square instead of rectangular? "Oracle of Tau" is still hard to read, and the font is bland (Times New Roman Bold?)
author=PepsiOtaku
It looks better than your old title screen, but why is it not square instead of rectangular? "Oracle of Tau" is still hard to read, and the font is bland (Times New Roman Bold?)
That's the opening for the Japanese version of the game. The English is sort of an afterthought, whereas the Japanese title is secondary in the English version. In any case, I couldn't stand it.
It's rectangular, because the screen is 320 x 240, and I adjust all pictures to that.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
What about this? I used that harsh contrast one as a base, because it doesn't have the shitty jagged edges all over it from being incorrectly scaled multiple times. But I softened the colors and then added a 3px black glow behind the text to make it readable. And made the English text white so it'd be readable on the gray and black background.
Feel free to use or edit it, if you like it better than what you have.
author=bulmabriefs144
It's rectangular, because the screen is 320 x 240, and I adjust all pictures to that.
You shouldn't do that because you're ruining the aspect ratio of the image.
You should resize the image to 240x240, and then match the left and right sides to the background color (white in your case). It will look 10x better.
TheNecromancer
3160
But that's not an option, since I don't know what programs can actually edit .fon files, which the 2k3 stuff seems to be.
Fony
http://fony.en.softonic.com/
author=LockeZWhat about this? I used that harsh contrast one as a base, because it doesn't have the shitty jagged edges all over it from being incorrectly scaled multiple times. But I softened the colors and then added a 3px black glow behind the text to make it readable. And made the English text white so it'd be readable on the gray and black background.
Feel free to use or edit it, if you like it better than what you have.
Ewwwww, no, please stop. First off, it was in 24-bit color, which means, I had switch to 256 color to even get it editable. Second, the transparent color was identical to what you used for shadowing the text, so when I tried to test for transparent stuff, I got a nasty surprise. Then I found out the color of the background wasn't solid, which meant editing was gonna be a bear.
It's supposed to be part of this, which is a compass-like device made of wood, metal, or stone.
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0203-1-38-luo_pan/pictures/NESWandothers.jpg
So, this was part of why it doesn't really work as solid black. The original has the various writing, but it was faded and such. I think I'll go with textured stone effect, and keep the grey, but have more solid white, and this shadowing.
This. I'm going with this, and don't try to stop me. Thought, actually, I might try to put the edge back in with all the Chinese symbols, provided I can get enough visual clarity.
I want this as a outside border, but when I do that, either it doesn't fit (trigrams need to be closer to center), or if I try to refit it, the text shrinks/distorts. Some help with this? Nvm, I did it myself.
Huh, I got a handy border out of this, should I fade to black? Or keep it?
And if I keep it, what color?
Sorry, too late. I kept it, but made the color an indistinguishable color of black from the former.
Milennin
2060
author=bulmabriefs144This. I'm going with this, and don't try to stop me. Thought, actually, I might try to put the edge back in with all the Chinese symbols, provided I can get enough visual clarity.
The English text isn't centered, though. Unless it isn't supposed to be?
author=bulmabriefs144
Ewwwww, no, please stop. First off, it was in 24-bit color, which means, I had switch to 256 color to even get it editable. Second, the transparent color was identical to what you used for shadowing the text, so when I tried to test for transparent stuff, I got a nasty surprise. Then I found out the color of the background wasn't solid, which meant editing was gonna be a bear.
Huh?? What are you on about? All I see are lazy excuses. Just use a different paint program than whatever you're using, because you can pretty much do anything with image editing. For instance, my title screen also uses 256 color graphics:
There are seriously no limits to what you can achieve in that 2d space if you know what you're doing.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I did change it to 256 color like 90 seconds after I uploaded it because I realized I'd forgotten to do so. I guess you clicked on it really fast.
I don't know what you're talking about regarding transparent colors because there aren't any transparent colors in that image. It's a title screen; it can't HAVE transparencies because there's nothing behind it. And the lack of a solid color background is your own fault; that is your image, which you posted, and I downloaded from you. All I did was tint it and change the text.
But anyway the one you went with is just as good, so that's fine. If you do a colored background I would definitely make it the same jade green color as the text.
I don't know what you're talking about regarding transparent colors because there aren't any transparent colors in that image. It's a title screen; it can't HAVE transparencies because there's nothing behind it. And the lack of a solid color background is your own fault; that is your image, which you posted, and I downloaded from you. All I did was tint it and change the text.
But anyway the one you went with is just as good, so that's fine. If you do a colored background I would definitely make it the same jade green color as the text.
This is what I went with.
Text a bit more centered, and above the range where the opening menu appears, I liked the old text so I white-blacked over the TNR text and copied that, and I started with a mid-grey text outline before pasting it in the various green colors.
I tested it from across the room. I tested it from another room to the side. I can read it. The only issue now with the title is...
Butt ugly text menu. Now, I don't mind the big-honking green yin-yang, it's alright with me that it's big, and it goes with the theme. But that text down there is ugly and blurry.
(I'm basically using a black transparent picture for the menu, so as long as it's properly aligned, no need to worry about messing up the title screen)
Text a bit more centered, and above the range where the opening menu appears, I liked the old text so I white-blacked over the TNR text and copied that, and I started with a mid-grey text outline before pasting it in the various green colors.
I tested it from across the room. I tested it from another room to the side. I can read it. The only issue now with the title is...
Butt ugly text menu. Now, I don't mind the big-honking green yin-yang, it's alright with me that it's big, and it goes with the theme. But that text down there is ugly and blurry.
(I'm basically using a black transparent picture for the menu, so as long as it's properly aligned, no need to worry about messing up the title screen)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I would add the black glow back in on the english text. You kept it on the japanese text but removed it from the english text...?
You're right about the menu: Start/Load/Quit is crazy hard to read. Use a semi-transparent, solid black text box and I think it will help a lot.
You're right about the menu: Start/Load/Quit is crazy hard to read. Use a semi-transparent, solid black text box and I think it will help a lot.
SnowOwl
5188
I got complaints about the background. First of all it's friggin ugly and looks like one of those word pictures from old word cliparts. There are also white bltos and stuff all over the edges.
What I would do is add some color to it, maybe even sprite it into a wood/gold medallion or whatever it is supposed to look like. Also make sure those white blots is fixed.
It's super boring as it is now, readable text or not.
What I would do is add some color to it, maybe even sprite it into a wood/gold medallion or whatever it is supposed to look like. Also make sure those white blots is fixed.
It's super boring as it is now, readable text or not.
I like it though. Will look into cleaning the edges.
I've decided it's gonna be stone. Nice boring grey stone.
However, I will make a second title screen, to go with the Game Plus, which is pink text, and a pink icon.
I think I've got a textbox I can use/tweak.
I've decided it's gonna be stone. Nice boring grey stone.
However, I will make a second title screen, to go with the Game Plus, which is pink text, and a pink icon.
I think I've got a textbox I can use/tweak.
If you cant make a decent complex image then you should stick to something more basic because I personally would be turned off from the start if I saw something like that. This is not meant to be an insult but an actual suggestion.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
author=bulmabriefs144
So unless someone's willing to help, that's not happening.author=Corfaisus
But it's better that we should strain our eyes to read even a single word in an RPG where nothing is black and white, because that's artistic and deep. You can't really judge a game this amazing just by reading the font, you have to see the world and understand the true meaning of this creative tale. Indeed, you have to feel the story in and out and be able to apply it to your everyday life in order to appreciate how deep it truly is. You'll never understand how good a book is if you just read it, that's bologna. And yes, I have played enough of the game to pass judgment.
Wait, are you being sarcastic? I can never tell. Also, judgement is spelled with an "e", we're not British.
Then why are you making a "Japanese" version of your game? But hell, stay the course; you've got nowhere else to go but up.
Because I wanted one. I asked around for help from people who did have the talent, the people, and probably the time. They either didn't respond, or they bailed on me. So if I want it, I have to do it.
Which reminds me, it's easy to complain about the color being off. You wanna suggest what color I should actually use? Because criticism without being constructive (that is, helpful) is just being a hater. I don't know what color shows up best, despite trying several, studying color theories and trying complements and various shades.
In the end, it's my best judgement which color I think stands out, and I may be wrong. But if I can see it on my computer, which can barely notice the line where the text ends on Message (seriously, that's why my messages are often so short), short of reducing brightness and contrast, and you can't... it's time for you to get a better computer.
First scene is solid black. Last scene is white. Gold seemed to show up. Oh wait, you didn't mean black and white literally?
And yes, I am aware my game has pretentious aspects to it. But if much of the game takes itself seriously, it's so important to be able to read the text. It doesn't, so it's not. The English version has improved text, but nobody talks about that one (haven't got a review update in like, ever, after trying like a zillion colors and systems trying to get stuff working), and how the text actually has improved.
author=bulmabriefs144author=LockeZEwwwww, no, please stop.
This. I'm going with this, and don't try to stop me.
Some help with this? Nvm, I did it myself.
1. You recently claimed that nothing about your game was "black and white" figuratively speaking, that everything was some shade of grey and there was no wrong or right decisions, only what you do. If you don't remember saying that, I guess that's my fault for not being more clear.
2. If the text in your game is so unnecessary, just take it all out. If you don't care if people read it or not, save yourself the time and just make a platformer.
3A. If you can't understand how white text with a thick black outline to bring attention and distinction to the text is easier on the eyes and to read than bright green text with little to no outline against solid white, then that's honestly your problem.
author=bulmabriefs144
3B. The example above makes use of a gradient text that starts fading into the background mid letter, with the period suffering the most as it is just a four-pixel dot of dark grey on a black background. The "cursor" is an ugly rectangle of pure grey instead of any sort of box or underline that's color ends up cutting into the word mid letter just as the background did before it was highlighted. Not only is this made slightly more hard to read with absolutely no justification as for why this one simple thing that'll take all of two seconds to fix and will stop people from bugging you about it until your game disappears into obscurity can't be fixed, but the font itself hits the eye in such a way as to draw attention away from it to save itself from strain. Frankly, it's like staring directly at the sun. It. hurts.
4. People have tried to help you time and time again, and you dismiss it as just you know best. This is not what this community is about, and if you don't like that, you can leave. The reason why those who you tried to contact for help denied you is most likely in your poor quality of work. They saw this as something that isn't worth investing their time into, so how can you expect more out of your intended audience?
5. I shouldn't have to "buy a better computer" to play someone's mediocre, free RPG Maker game. If you want others to seriously give a damn about playing your game, take advice to heart and don't make it detrimental to their health to even open the executable.
author=bulmabriefs144
This is what I went with.
This is what happens when you don't give a damn about what others think or say.
