Hanako Games

The Big Secret - Art Poll

#1 by hanako - Apr 8 2015

So I mentioned we were fooling around with a feature which, if implemented, would require waiting a lot of extra time before officially coming out of beta, right?

That's because the feature in question was implementing an entire second art-style. And that takes time! The sprites are starting to appear, but finishing all sprites and all CGs is gonna take a while.

So this is where you, The Viewer, come in. How excited are you about the prospect of different art?

Quick sample mockup image: http://www.hanakogames.com/bc/art-test.jpg

Re: The Big Secret - Art Poll

#2 by Evan Page - Apr 8 2015

I like it. But to be fair, I haven't really seen any of the other art from the game (apologies for my n00bness).

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#3 by somestrangecircus - Apr 8 2015

It's nice, but I think I prefer the other art style a bit more. This one is still cool though...Reminds me of tarot cards.

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#4 by Darksilverhawk - Apr 8 2015

Thais is staring directly into my soul and it makes me slightly uncomfortable. That said, I LOVE the Art Nouveau aesthetic. I'm excited to see the rest of the new art. I'm not sure it's something I'd be dying to have at release, however. It's enough of a "fluff" addition that I'd be fine seeing it in a patch at a later date whenever it's done, rather than prolonging beta over it.

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#5 by Franka - Apr 9 2015

Uhm... ok? I'm all for alternate sexiness, but at the same time kinda weirded out.

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#6 by hanako - Apr 9 2015

So far it looks like we're leaning towards 'save it for an update; get us out of beta!' so now that we've fixed the issue with TRT steam achievements, we should get back to demo poking soon.

It was a question that kind of had to be asked pre-launch, though!

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#7 by hanako - Apr 15 2015

(For those curious about the other characters, I posted one of the test screenshots here - https://twitter.com/HanakoGames/status/588425362045960192 )

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#8 by hanako - Apr 18 2015

quick tease of all the faces - https://twitter.com/HanakoGames/status/589566278123171841 - you'll have to wait until the new art is completely ready before you can see the dresses, though!

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#9 by hanako - May 21 2015

Question - do people want to be able to play with the new sprites in beta when the new CGs aren't ready yet, or do you want all the art at once?

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#10 by Franka - May 21 2015

I prefer to get it all at once, but then I've probably done enough Black Closet beta to last me a while.

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#11 by Darksilverhawk - May 21 2015

I'd be fine with just getting the sprites to play with.

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#12 by Ren - May 22 2015

It might be an idea to see the sprites over the backgrounds as soon as possible (this is my inner tester talking, of course).

I don't claim to not have painted some of them until 2 AM, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some little kinks to work out! Particularly if they have to have a bit of black to be against with the letterboxed backgrounds (I use a bright green to see holes, instead).

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#13 by hanako - May 25 2015

See the pre 1.1 beta information for current information on what's available for testing.

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#14 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 26 2015

The new sprites are so awesome! Might just be personal preference, but I think it's the best art any of your games have had.

It seems like so much more of the girls' personalty comes through with the new sprites than the old ones.

Don't hurt me, but ... are the random student cards going to get new faces? ::runs away::

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#15 by Darksilverhawk - May 26 2015

I love it! The expressions are wonderful. Vonne looks so serious and dedicated (and a little creepier in her second pose) now and Rowan no longer looks so gosh darn miserable all the time. And all the character sprites are just gorgeous.

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#16 by Franka - May 26 2015

Hmmm.... I can't decide.

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#17 by hanako - May 26 2015

LateWhiteRabbit:

Don't hurt me, but ... are the random student cards going to get new faces? ::runs away::

Don't know. It wasn't as high a priority, because they're just randoms. Neither they nor Red Mask Lady are on the current list of things to do.

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#18 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 26 2015

hanako:

LateWhiteRabbit:

Don't hurt me, but ... are the random student cards going to get new faces? ::runs away::

Don't know. It wasn't as high a priority, because they're just randoms. Neither they nor Red Mask Lady are on the current list of things to do.

I don't think the Red Mask Lady needs replacing. I just noticed when using Sprite Set 2 that suddenly there is a large disconnect between the council member faces and the student faces. Just completely different styles suddenly right next to each other. But I don't really know how many different student faces there are, so I don't know how much of a hassle that would be to replace them.

But I'm quite thrilled with the new council sprites!

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#19 by silentheartsong - May 29 2015

Franka:

Hmmm.... I can't decide.

I haven't seen Vonne's yandere face yet....Wow, she's a bit scary.

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#20 by taupou - May 31 2015

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I like the old artwork style a bit more. The new one is also very nice, but it was refreshing to see a different yet well-done style in this game genre with the first artwork version. It's good that there will be the option to select the artwork style. As a side note, my suspension of disbelief is impaired by the example pic of Thais. No way a girl at an all-girls' private school could get away with dressing like that at a school event.

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#21 by Franka - May 31 2015

Honestly, I prefer the original art style overall, but I could probably get used to the new one. As outlandish as Thaïs looks, I like that design a lot, as well as new Miss Talmage. I'm not overly fond of the other new designs. Having the choice is a mad bonus though.

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#22 by Gamer - Jun 1 2015

Is there any chance the art can look more anime-like? I'm not into the 3-d look to be honest.

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#23 by hanako - Jun 1 2015

Even if it wasn't fairly obvious that this particular game was not intended to be anime-style at any point, do you really think it's likely that I would add an entire third set of artwork?

IF the game becomes a huge top-selling hit AND there was a large outcry for an anime mode, then it MIGHT be possible for one to be sold as DLC.

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#24 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jun 3 2015

... nooo... no forking the codebase...

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#25 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 3 2015

I want an art style where everyone is a jellyfish. I think we need more video games set in jellyfish boarding schools in this world. actually the world does need more jellyfish boarding schools now that I think about it

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#26 by hanako - Jun 3 2015

.... careful, you'll tempt Spiky to slip some jellyfish into the easter eggs.

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#27 by somestrangecircus - Jun 3 2015

Relevant:

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#28 by hima - Jun 3 2015

Franka:

Honestly, I prefer the original art style overall, but I could probably get used to the new one. As outlandish as Thaïs looks, I like that design a lot, as well as new Miss Talmage. I'm not overly fond of the other new designs. Having the choice is a mad bonus though.

Same here. The old style makes the game unique imo. I love Rowan in the old art style more. (She's my favourite!) Still, it isn't like you're replacing one with the other but giving players a choice. It would be interesting to play through the whole thing again with a completely set of art style. This reminds me that I've played a JRPG game where you can change character portrait art style from config menu anytime you want. Would be nice if we can do the same thing here.

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#29 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 3 2015

I think, after playing some more and the "ohhh, shiny!" of the new art has worn off, I think they're both equally nice. For example, I like Althea and Mallory's original sprites better, but I love Vonne and Thais's new sprites, and of the CGs I've seen so far I'm about 50/50. I like all the art, though. (and I'm secretly really glad you didn't re-do any of the background art. The background art is gorgeous!)

But, it's totally up to the player which one they use, and that's always good for the player. (Maybe not so much for the coder. Sorry, Spiky!)