Is animation important in the game?

[watermankaku]

To tell you the truth, I found that some games, static pictures and dynamic cg didn't add substantial content, and sometimes a few static pictures could be added, so I was curious, is animation really so important?

 

[Meaning Less]

They can be nice but can also be detrimental when poorly implemented.

Sometimes they add fluidity to the interactions but other times they can take you away from the game and make it feel like you are just watching a video...

 

[chainedpanda]

Absolutely not.

Animations take longer to create than static images. This increases overall development time significantly. In a community which is always demanding faster development time (understandably) adding unnecessary animations simply contradicts this. Furthermore, F95 is the best place to get a game exposure, rather people like it or not. With that in mind, the best way to gain new players is through the algorithm found in the latest releases. The best way to get noticed in this algorithm is to either have a new release, or to have a higher weighted rating. Weighted ratings seem to be based upon the amount of activity a game has, similar to trending. When are games threads most active? Right after release. So, the faster updates come out, the more visibility a game has on F95. The more visibility a game has, the more players it has. Simple.

Furthermore, most devs are amateurs who have never touched any form of game development or rendering software before. They are already trying to figure out how everything works and improve their skills. Why force them to dedicate even more time into a skill that doesn't necessarily help their game achieve success? It also rises the barrier of entry. Many of the best games are made by amateurs. Why make it harder for other amateurs to do the same thing?

Lastly, most animations look like shit anyway. I never understood the demand for them. Most are shitty 2 second gifs.

Oh, and there are also plenty of players with low-end PCs. Animations take up a decent amount of resources. Why limit your potential player base if you can help it?

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

It's only important for games where unlocking and watching them is practically the whole point of playing. E.g. Heroine Conquest, Fallen Doll or basically any of those run-or-rape games.

 

[Deleted member 3931217]

animations are very nice but not necessary, but its a good addition to your game if you have the resources for it.

 

[Adabelitoo]

As someone who doesn't really care about animations, I can tell you that: YES, animations are important for people.

A lot of people will say that it makes the game look bad when poorly implemented and a good static CG is better than a shitty animation, and I totally agree with them. Now let me tell you something, I've seen games with the shittiest and sloppiest animations making more money in an month than you and your dad in your entire lifes. As long as everything around the animation is at least decent, animations will make the game look better.

Now, I don't think that money = quality, but if you live in the real world and you have bills to pay, it pains me deeply but yes, people care and want animations.

 

[woody554]

good is good and bad is bad. but in general, animations seem to almost never sit well between the still images, especially when in high fps. it's just too big a difference stylistically going from still images to fluid animation. it just emphasises the difference from still images and makes you more aware of watching the animated bit, like it was a movie you're forced to wait out before story continues. choppy animation seems to work better.

 

[Meaning Less]

I've seen games with the shittiest and sloppiest animations making more money in an month than you and your dad in your entire lifes.

You are just making a limited correlation.

If they are shitty animations, how would they be carrying the game? That's a weird conclusion, you know, maybe the games you are talking about are just better regardless of the shitty animations...

 

[HarveyD]

If you can do quality animations in a timely manner, great!
If not then it probably isn't worth bothering with.

 

[Adabelitoo]

You are just making a limited correlation.

If they are shitty animations, how would they be carrying the game? That's a weird conclusion, you know, maybe the games you are talking about are just better regardless of the shitty animations...

I never said they carry the game, I said they don't make the game look bad/worse like most people said and will say.

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

Nice to have if done well, but not absolutely necessary.

 

[Richarddick]

There is only one thing worse than visual novels.
RPG games with 2D static artwork. I would go to imagefap rather than wasting my time on that.

 

[Meaning Less]

I never said they carry the game, I said they don't make the game look bad/worse like most people said and will say.

People are just stating they are not necessary. Even the best animated 2dcg/3dcg can still work if you replace animations with static cgs instead.

When poorly implemented they can for sure impact prerendered games, here are some examples:
-they can make the sex scene look even more uncanny when poorly animated.
-they can affect the pacing of your story, blocking gameplay and focing the player to watch a long video instead.
-they can limit interactions and/or customization options.
-they can drastically impact development time.

In my opinion, the only point where animations become close to necessary is once you move up to actual 2D or 3D environments. Mostly because at that point it would be harder to make the character stand still in a sequence of specific positions than it would to just animate them.

 

[baloneysammich]

IMO, any good or better VN can stand on static images alone and that will never really change. Animations can make a good VN slightly more good, a great VN slightly more great, etc. But they can't make a bad VN any less bad, or a mediocre VN any less mediocre.

Unless the VN is intended as nukige I suppose...

As time passes though, animations are gonna become more and more expected until they're eventually considered mandatory by many/most people. That's just human nature.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

I don't think you can answer this question definitively without taking into account multiple factors. If you're using Daz, making animations is a big trade-off that will slow your development down considerably unless you have a monster rendering rig. Also, most Daz animations tend to look terrible unless you're talented/experienced at making them.

Now, if you use something like Honey Select to make your game, animations are going to be your bread and butter because it's way easier to make them and you should go all out and have animations for all of your sex scenes.

 

[Adabelitoo]

People are just stating they are not necessary. Even the best animated 2dcg/3dcg can still work if you replace animations with static cgs instead.

When poorly implemented they can for sure impact prerendered games, here are some examples:
-they can make the sex scene look even more uncanny when poorly animated.
-they can affect the pacing of your story, blocking gameplay and focing the player to watch a long video instead.
-they can limit interactions and/or customization options.
-they can drastically impact development time.

In my opinion, the only point where animations become close to necessary is once you move up to actual 2D or 3D environments. Mostly because at that point it would be harder to make the character stand still in a sequence of specific positions than it would to just animate them.

It isn't like I disagree with you (except for the "long video" part, all you have to do is click once and the video will end, that's how long you're forced to watch, one click long) but I think you're missing the point of what I said and what people think it's important.

Do you think Milfy City would be as popular as it was without animations? No one said it wouldn't work without animations, but it wouldn't have as many players without animations. I'm not talking about them being necessary, I'm talking about them being important, liked, appreciated by people in general. Drinking alcohol isn't necessary to live, yet people like drinking, life just gets better with a beer on hand.

 

[JustXThings]

All mainstream games have animations. The lack of them will hinder the chances of a game to become mainstream. So, yes, they are very important from a pure success standpoint.

But what about from a pure "enjoyment" experience ? Animations tend to work when the text is plain. Making a well written scene with animations is difficult. The focus of the player is on the text, not the renders. Static renders can enhance well written text because they motivate a small pause to check on the image before clicking again. It is like erotica on steroids.

Yet again. Mainstream is mainstream for a reason. I recall a friend telling me how in order to find porn he would just scroll until he found some tits he like and ready to go. The content of the scene was irrelevant since it was mainstream porn, it is always the same. He didn't need an interesting setup, or a hot written scene. He just needed a model he liked. It doesn't work for me but I am sure it works for many people. At least to me it doesn't come as a surprise the kind of sex choreographies successful games use. It's kind of the bread and butter of the genre.

 

[Lerd0]

 

[Meaning Less]

(except for the "long video" part, all you have to do is click once and the video will end, that's how long you're forced to watch, one click long)

But what if the video has multiple animations in one? Or tells more story? In the end the player never knows how long it is and is forced to watch unless he doesn't mind skipping possibly important content.

Do you think Milfy City would be as popular as it was without animations? No one said it wouldn't work without animations, but it wouldn't have as many players without animations.

Well noone can go back in time to check that but I would easily take this bet if the cgs were in the same level as the animations.

In fact, you can check how games like Karryn's Prison that have no animations are getting very popular regardless. Not everything boils down to animations.

 

[Lerd0]

But what if the video has multiple animations in one? Or tells more story? In the end the player never knows how long it is and is forced to watch unless he doesn't mind skipping possibly important content.

Well noone can go back in time to check that but I would easily take this bet if the cgs were in the same level as the animations.

In fact, you can check how games like Karryn's Prison that have no animations are getting very popular regardless. Not everything boils down to animations.

..also fenoxo games......mostly text...sometimes a pic......still makes more money than 99% of devs.....