HS2 vs. Daz?

[maiie]

Hi all. I have an idea for a new game but not sure which engine I want to use. Daz3D has given me fits in the past and trying to implement animations is where I gave up... and frankly, mostly animations in Daz looking like plastic action figures being mashed together in a poor looking loop. Honey Select 2 is far better for animations but I feel like the images/models are lower quality and all very same-y looking... and I don't know what the fuck happened here but the hair looks jagged and choppy.

So, which would you rather see in a game?

 

[Tar77]

Animations is one of the first things I check for when I'm looking at new games. There has to be something else significant to make me bother trying a game without them. (usually rare tags I like)

Either can be successful but usually only if done reasonably well. They both look terrible if done poorly. Is it just a matter of how difficult and complicated using DAZ is or is it hardware limitations? If it's also hardware related I'd avoid DAZ for sure. HS2 doesn't require nearly as much processing power but is always going to look bad if you don't take the time to really learn how to adjust graphics settings and create unique characters.

 

[maiie]

Animations is one of the first things I check for when I'm looking at new games. There has to be something else significant to make me bother trying a game without them. (usually rare tags I like)

Either can be successful but usually only if done reasonably well. They both look terrible if done poorly. Is it just a matter of how difficult and complicated using DAZ is or is it hardware limitations? If it's also hardware related I'd avoid DAZ for sure. HS2 doesn't require nearly as much processing power but is always going to look bad if you don't take the time to really learn how to adjust graphics settings and create unique characters.

A lot of it is down to how frustrating Daz can be. Lighting can be unpredictably spastic depending on the environment and there are hundreds of opaquely named knobs and sliders to tweak things and you need a genuine doctorate in Daz-ology to make renders that look anything better than mediocre.

 

[R1k0]

On the contrary, I've never given much importance to animation in visual novels. Often it only distracts and looks out of place, especially if it is of poor quality. The usual RenPy transitions are quite enough for me. I can't remember a single game with HS models that I liked. I'll always be in favor of Daz, but it requires a good PC. But it seems like a lot of people here like animations in games. It's the developer must to decide what he likes and what his priority is.

 

[Sir Gary Bummer]

I don't have a strong opinion on which on I personally prefer. The thing I do think is important to note is that while Daz costs more to get into (need a better PC and assets), it allows you to actually sell your game on Steam. So basically, if you're limited on budget or simply don't care about Steam, then HS2 is great. In the interest of making money, Daz has a higher ceiling since it allows you to get your game into another big marketplace. Daz at its highest quality also looks much more realistic than anything you can make in HS2.

As for making HS2 models look good, it's certainly possible (IMO), but you'll probably want to follow some tutorials on changing facial shapes, applying different skin shaders, and so on. The hair assets are a mixed bag, a lot of it is really old and imported from HS1. If you keep to hair that look good there's a pretty small pool, unfortunately.

I think it's also possible to do your animations in Blender instead of Daz, which I've heard people say is better once you learn it. Not personally familiar with it, so I can't really give an opinion myself.

 

[Tar77]

A lot of it is down to how frustrating Daz can be. Lighting can be unpredictably spastic depending on the environment and there are hundreds of opaquely named knobs and sliders to tweak things and you need a genuine doctorate in Daz-ology to make renders that look anything better than mediocre.

Either of them are going to require a lot of learning the system and constant tweaking. If you're serious about making a serious game and trying to be successful with it you're going to have to invest that time.

HS2 definitely has a lower threshold required to get to "decent" looking but the bare minimum in either won't be enough for people to want to widely support it. HS2 might even have a lower requirement for effort to make it look great but it's still going to take a ton of learning and effort to be in the ballpark of something like Eternum where you have a good chance of success.

If you're just looking to have some fun making the game you want and are less worried about trying to get rich off of it I think starting with HS2 is a good idea. With all the included mods in the better repack you have plenty of stuff to do whatever you want without a lot of effort. There are also shortcuts you can take if you don't want to invest that much time. Tons of people put out high quality character cards and they mostly don't mind people using them even for games. I'd recommend tweaking them a little so they aren't obviously borrowed but you can pretty much do what you want. Also probably more importantly people give away their graphics presets. Many of which are much better than what the majority of games on here use. Just join the Illusion Soft discord and you can get all kinds of stuff plus people willing to help with anything you need.