Importance of animations/loops in VN Games

[Deleted member 217976]

Hi there,

I am thinking about creating a VN with Ren'Py and Honey Select (I know, I know ...).
It is simply the easiest way to create something of your own.

I modded the game with anything I could find and it turned out for me, that you can create quite nice animations and the visual quality is also nice (as far as it gets with HS).

I really enjoy creating new (custom) animations and scenes in studioNEO, but i lack the knowledge in Ren'Py (and a little bit the devotion ).
I was able to create a prototype where you are in a house and can visit the different characters, etc. (like Harem Hotel). So it is doable for me.

I also already created like 6 female-characters with a little bit of background-story, etc.

What I wanted to ask you guys:

How important are good (and many) animations in VN games for you? Are they the most important part of the game, or are they worthless for you, if you can't relate to the characters in the game?

I also wanted to show you some examples of loops I made and hear your opinion (consider the visual quality because of gfycat):

Spoiler: Preview on Gfycat

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[LykaLyka]

I prefer animated scenes, mostly because I've been spoilt with quite a lot of games containing some if not most scenes with animation although the quality of the animation may vary.

As for importance, frankly I would just skip straight to the scenes if the story isn't as good anyways.

 

[Agent HK47]

Personally, I don't care about animations. They are a bonus, sure, but I can play a game without animations, without any issue. I just need the renders and story to be good, cause those are the important things to me.
I might be in a small minority about this however, because lots of people on here have grown used to animations in a lot of games.

 

[caLTD]

For porn games, it was something like male ejaculation in porn movies.

If you don't have people start to wheening. If you got one but not good enough people wheening more..

Having good animation is best and it was hard to get and if you after Daz / renpy then good luck, You don't have much alternative other than renderotica stuff. Daz is not know for good animation.

 

[JRD]

I look for games with a good story & plot, decent renders (meaning less cookie-cutter models/art) and characters are more than just the 2D images. I won't complain if there aren't animations, but it's not something that's a "dealbreaker" for me. Your sample work is pretty good, looking forward to seeing your game!

 

[HarveyD]

They're usually always bad and cringe worthy so I usually feel they end up detracting from the game rather than adding anything.

 

[DarkCube]

I always add blinking animations to my VN characters to make them look more alive and interesting to look at because players spend a lot of time interacting with other characters. Animated sex scenes are fun, and I've used them a few times but noticed that players would prefer two varied artworks of the same scene from different angles than one animation.

When playing games myself, I'm choosing the ones with great visuals of sexy characters, and an interesting story to follow. And it's not a problem if there're no animations.

 

[DownTheDrain]

I've used them a few times but noticed that players would prefer two varied artworks of the same scene from different angles than one animation.

This.
If my choices are 3 different well-done renders or one looping animation I'd take the renders every single time. Obviously I won't complain if you have the time and GPU power to do both at a reasonable quality.
Honey Select usually is a dealbreaker for me though.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I'm more concerned by the use of annoying animations that the lack of animations.

There's a trend actually where the characters have idle animations, and most of them are simply a big "no" because they are too obvious, to present. DarkCube talk about blinking animations, this can probably pass, because blinking isn't a constant thing and tend to be discreet. But there's dev that now have characters full of fleas that can't stay put more than 1/10 of seconds, and this is just horrible, at least for me.
Same for those who try to make their characters speak by moving their lips. It's never synchronized with the text and feel so odd. The worse being when they continue to speak after the text is done, or when they do this on a none voiced game (or a game where you disabled the voicing).

 

[ZTex]

Personal opinion is that the animation needs to be on par with the story being told. It should only complement the project not take away from it, or completely overshadow the novel part of the visual novel medium.

The other thing i care about when it comes to animation is consistency of animation. If you're using human/humanoid models i expect them to move in certain ways ex. not bouncing around to simulate moving / not sliding around on each other to simulate sex.

Seen a fair few projects fail to keep me because of these things.

 

[Akoonx]

Animations are nice, it's almost like a standard now as most games have them, but for me they are not a deal-breaker, I'm fine with a good story, good characters, and good renders.

 

[Joshua Tree]

For me it's about story and content foremost. Eye candy and graphics is nice addition. If the choice is still images above cringe worthy animations, I prefer still images. Include animations just for the sake of include animations? If they bad, just no...

 

[Deleted member 217976]

Thanks for the replies guys. I always thought that animations are quite important, but yeah. If i think about it myself, I stuck with the games where the characters and the story was interesting.

(I hoped for more feedback for my samples , but you can't have everything )

 

[Sin'Gul Arity]

It's very nice to know that most of the people are sharing my point of view. Story and renders which will not force your eyes to bleed is a must - everything beyond is a cherry on the pie if it's looking good... or colossal disappointment if it's bad. Nothing ruining my game involvement more than puppet-like animations.

 

[dacris69]

Dont really care for animations, if they are there, good, if not, the same. Imo dont think they are worth it considering how much they take to make.

 

[desmosome]

Its not a competition between story and animation. You need to compare scenes with animation and those without. Games without animation tends to have spicier sex dialogue and a more dynamic scene overall. It's a bit like a blind person heightening their other senses.

 

[AmazonessKing]

Animation is a waste of time when you can do a good job with still images and flavor text. It only serves to slow down the project to add something trivial and that may or may not work depending on your skills.

I guess if you are skilled enough, you can pull out good things and fast enough to not slowdown whatever you are doing, but more often than not the time you take to make a single animation can be better spend in doing 3 or 4 still CGs, if not more.