- Aug 15, 2022
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real question will this artist make sprites for HC4 after 3 is finished or will it change again because i like this artist
- Oct 21, 2022
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That is the teaser for the next games sprites compared to the current ones. I think its the same artist but im not sure.
Even if it's not the same artist the skill is at least on par wit the standard set by HC3. My only worry is that the large the sprites get, the larger the environments will have to be, the harder it'll be for N_Taii to build adequate settings, and the harder it will become for the sprites to interact with their environment. Inatari's worst feature, outside of piles of vomit shaped into vaguely male forms, is the size of the sprites and the lack of spriting skill of their artist leading them to move and animate poorly when trying to interact with the world. Sitting down is seemingly impossible in it.
- Oct 21, 2022
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If he goes with the current teaser sprite size I dont think that will be an issue. The artist is definitely skilled enough to make them animated in the needed ways. I think the new sprites will lead to a very high quality HC4. While it will probably take longer to make, I think the dev has shown he can deliver. Inatari is definitely not a sprite artist, but his game is much more focused on his full sized CG, and his Ugly Bastards are done disgustingly intentionally because thats the target fetish.
- Aug 15, 2022
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They went hot to hotter and the underwear is more detailed with these new sprites and even the bodies are more detailed in can’t wait for number 4
- Feb 9, 2021
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Those sound interesting. I can't say 100% I will implement them, or if I do, that they will play the same way you've written it, but I'll keep them in mind. Thanks : )
It's not the same artist, no, although he was introduced to me by the previous artist who did the base sprite design for HC3. I think they're both related.
As for the new sprites, I just want to say that, while I want to add them as soon as I can, that won't necessarily mean they'll be in the next game after HC3. I wish I could give a proper roadmap, but it all depends on funding.
As Oriandu has pointed out, those sprites will be even bigger, so they might end up looking like giants with the current RPGMaker environmental assets, so I will have to commission a ton of new assets like trees, houses, plants, rocks, and just everything else really. That's why I need to have a solid financial base before embarking on a complete graphical overhaul.
Maybe you should make a poll for your supporters about this topic.
You will let them decide between A) More funds for better sprites of the girls or B) more CGs instead and same sprites as in HC3
I don't know what i myself would prefer, here a couple of people seem to favour better pixel sprites. But i don't know if this can be considered a general majority.
To be honest, I consider my game to be a pixel art game above all, with any CGs being the cherry on top. So when it comes to either more CGs or better pixel art, I'll always be going for the latter. That's a vision I'm not really willing to compromise on^^
Edit: I was actually trying to say something different. I blame my subpar english skills for this misunderstanding :/
What i was trying to say, maybe let your supporters decide between:
1) Use the same character sprites in HC4 as in HC3, but more art in HC4. NOT CG scenes but more variation in the character portraits.
For example different sets of clothes like Cyannas lewd armour instead of only her civil dress. Or adding cum or condoms in their portraits while they have a scene. Simply more variation in the character portraits compared to HC3 but NOT actual sex scenes.
2) Have the same amount of art as in HC3 and instead use the free funds for bigger character sprites.
I never wanted HC to be something else than pixel sprites. Sorry for this misunderstading.
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- Sep 1, 2019
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Don't you think that theoretically speaking it would make your games much more popular?
I mean there are some die-hard fans of pixel art, but I think the majority of people who play adult games prefer CGs. If you had enough support, you could add like, say, a second mode that players could activate in the menu where in addition to the pixel art could see some pictures (and for those who don't want it, the things would be the same). I mean making pictures is getting easier and easier (and less expensive) every day using neural networks (and the quality is getting better).
There are few NTR games that can compete with yours in terms of storytelling, but it seems to me that the lack of CGs holds you back in terms of support.
- Dec 22, 2021
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This comes up all the time, and the developer just said this wasn't something they were going to compromise on. Adding CGs adds expenses for artists, and slows down development waiting on them. Plus it can open up to scams from artists, and delays, and situations where they do a lot of work and then there's a falling out, and so on. It's happened so many times in porn game dev. N_taii is a pixel porn creator. It's their style. It's what they make. It's what the fans want and expect.
I'm not an AI art hater, but I don't really like the way it's been used for porn games lately. Sure, it's allowed for devs to insert CG's when they could have been otherwise unable to do so. But all the AI art games look like the same low effort trash. I actually prefer using something like the koikatsu engine to produce animations, but I'm not going to recommend N_taii do it. He makes 2d pixel sex games.
Also, HC3 is already a huge step up graphically over the previous games. If N_taii was to upgrade the sprites as suggested, they'd probably need to pay out hundreds just to replace all the other now defunct assets. It'd be a complete art suite replacement.
- Sep 12, 2016
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Not necessarily. Sometimes, it is better to corner a niche market and lock it down than to do the "most popular thing" where it puts you in direct competition with hundreds of other games.
I can name two dozen pretty good RPG Maker/Visual Novel games with CG art off the top of my head. Meanwhile, I can only name two games with such a heavy focus on sprite scenes like Henteria, which makes following and supporting Henteria pretty indispensable to me. (And to make it extra funny: one of those games is running almost two years behind schedule because the developer decided to go back and start adding CG art stills that look so much cheaper than the character sprites.)
- Sep 1, 2019
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No one is saying about compromising. I'm not suggesting that pixel art should not get better or all the money should be spend on CGs. Probably pixel art should get better. But it can only get you to a certain degree of quality and immersion. That new pixel art above is just about the best it can be.
The same goes about delays, scams, situations and so on. CGs can be a bonus. It is not even necessary for them to be added at the same time as the game moves on. If the artist is sick, or whatever, the pictures can be added later and so forth.
Well, that is the definition of an AI art hater.
Those games look similar because they are low-effort made by people who just yesterday barely read the same FAQ on how to make pictures using AI and are eager to make a quick buck.
It is better for sure. Is it a huge step? No sure about that. It could be qualified as a major improvement, maybe. If every sexual even was acompanied by the same quality picture as the portraits, that would be huge step forward. Impossible in term of funding? Probably it is.
Well, I'm not suggesting leaving the niche market. Only thinking about adding an additional mode. That's all.
I'm not sure where you found two dozen good NTR games with good CG art. I'm aware of only two such games that are currently in development. There are many bad ones, that is for sure.
- Sep 12, 2016
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It sounds like you are severely underselling the amount of resources it would take to have an AI pump out art that would actually be usable for a game. An "additional mode" wouldn't be some trivial addition; every image would need to be touched up and corrected in order to deal with any inconsistencies. And all of that time, effort, or money that would be far better spent on the core game over a novelty.
Or, to put it another way: if it is so easy that it wouldn't drag down the game's current development, then you are just as capable of going out there and generating your own CG art for each scene.
Well, if N_taii adds CGs, he'll need to give a face (or at least a draw body) to the male characters.
Miss Y likes to imagine Duke as an ugly bastard... While I prefer to imagine Duke like a normal looking fat middle-aged guy... So the author is actually hitting 2 different types of fans by choosing to have no CG's (and no portraits) for the male characters in his game.
It's definitely like Matoga said here before: "Sometimes less is more".
But that said, I'd also love to see at least more portrait pictures for the females in HC3. For the side characters especially, but also more variety to the main characters' portraits...
Miss Y likes to imagine Duke as an ugly bastard... While I prefer to imagine Duke like a normal looking fat middle-aged guy... So the author is actually hitting 2 different types of fans by choosing to have no CG's (and no portraits) for the male characters in his game.
It's definitely like Matoga said here before: "Sometimes less is more".
But that said, I'd also love to see at least more portrait pictures for the females in HC3. For the side characters especially, but also more variety to the main characters' portraits...
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Going into the CG realm of things would put HC into direct competition with a very clogged market. Honestly I think it's better to conquer a niche.
To be honest the female portraits we have I've never been too into in any of the HC games. HC3 definitely has the best ones, but the game would probably be less hot if it were CGs instead of sprites. Imagination is fun! Although more portrait pictures could be cool, that definitely shouldn't be a priority imo.
I don't really care for CGs for what it's worth. I don't doubt there are talented artists out there and it certainly suits some games, but the creator is set on sprite work and I think that's great. There are two main reasons for the reliance on CGs in my opinion - to get around the technical limitations of the simple sprites of RPG maker games, and as an homage to hentai manga and doujinshi where the main sex scenes and page splashes are rendered in excruciating detail next to the far plainer and more abstract story beats and scene setting.
Speaking of abstraction, that's what a lot of sprites are, representations of a character rather than a full CG depiction. With bigger, less abstract sprites, the "need" for CGs should become less, not more. Some of the newer Maker engines have lush and complex environments to utilise and with bigger sprites it means there's more scope for animations too. AI plagiarisation engines may allow for many more illustrations to be included cheaply but in my opinion you should be asking why you would want to include them in the first place.
The other advantages of sprites is that unlike hentaichick.jpg they can be interacted with in the game world, and like actors in a screenplay they can be used for framing and blocking in particular scenes. For instance, you could have your artist draw an image of three faceless guards leering over a blushing heroine, or you could achieve the same thing with sprites and also keep the player character helpless in the background, watching (or just being aware of) events unfold while being actively stopped from intervening in the game space.
In a game with different perspectives you should also ask why you would want CGs beyond portraits, the whole point of the obscured view is to leave the goings on to the imagination. You draw a single CG of a character and the audience sees them get fucked once, use some build-up, a locked door and an audio file and the audience imagines them getting fucked a hundred different ways. Show the knife not the murder, I feel it's more interesting that way.
Speaking of abstraction, that's what a lot of sprites are, representations of a character rather than a full CG depiction. With bigger, less abstract sprites, the "need" for CGs should become less, not more. Some of the newer Maker engines have lush and complex environments to utilise and with bigger sprites it means there's more scope for animations too. AI plagiarisation engines may allow for many more illustrations to be included cheaply but in my opinion you should be asking why you would want to include them in the first place.
The other advantages of sprites is that unlike hentaichick.jpg they can be interacted with in the game world, and like actors in a screenplay they can be used for framing and blocking in particular scenes. For instance, you could have your artist draw an image of three faceless guards leering over a blushing heroine, or you could achieve the same thing with sprites and also keep the player character helpless in the background, watching (or just being aware of) events unfold while being actively stopped from intervening in the game space.
In a game with different perspectives you should also ask why you would want CGs beyond portraits, the whole point of the obscured view is to leave the goings on to the imagination. You draw a single CG of a character and the audience sees them get fucked once, use some build-up, a locked door and an audio file and the audience imagines them getting fucked a hundred different ways. Show the knife not the murder, I feel it's more interesting that way.
Just curious, are you planning on rigidly maintaining the format of each main girl sticking with their one main NTR guy or do you plan at all to have scenes with main girl x random NPC type stuff?