VN Ren'Py Questions - [Ianthine [v0.0] [Ranivorous]]

[ranivorous]

I'm trying to make a game in renpy and thought that I should ask some questions to you folks before starting and being depressed at already having to remake some stuff. I think I'll use this post as a list of all the questions related to the project.

• First one: Regarding the screen size of the game. Do you prefer:
  • Full on 1920x1080 - 16:9
  • 1280x720 - 16:9
  • A 4:3 equivalent like 1440x1080

I'm open to any suggestion as I have already been frustrated with some games in the past and don't want to add to this.

 

[Sam]

Repeating my advice from the other thread:

1080p is fine, however if your art is 3d renders then it'll take a lot more time/computing power to render crisp 1080p images. Many artists render at 4K or 1080p and downscale in order to get higher quality renders, remember, a high quality 720p image is better than a low quality 1080p image. The other thing to consider is file size.

 

[Cyan]

There isn't a huge amount of data in regards to what types of computers/monitors the general population use, or what this segment of the population use. The closest approximation we could use is the survey steam did of its users, listed

You must be registered to see the links

.

The vast majority of users play with 1920x1080 monitors - the next highest being 1366x768 (a popular laptop resolution), which is also uses a 16:9 aspect ratio.

That being said, I wouldn't use anything lower than 1920x1080, for a number of reasons. 1920x1080 will scale down perfectly fine to 1366x768, and it will scale up just fine to 3840x2160 (though it will look slightly blurry). Scaling a 16:9 to a 16:10 will make the image blur vertically, and scaling a 16:9 to a ultra wide(21:9) will blur the image horizontally. I'm unaware of what capabilities Ren'py has for 'letterboxing' resolutions, but in Unity it's fairly simple. If possible I'd try to keep the image as close to the original in-game as you can.

 

[lodadsaq]

let me just say this
as long as laptop user are fine then its all good. just dont make the images stupid sizes, 4K or less than 1280X720

also, if u are going for really good quality render, dont be afraid to compress your images, png and websites and programs and such

good luck on your game

 

[Bloo]

There isn't a huge amount of data in regards to what types of computers/monitors the general population use, or what this segment of the population use. The closest approximation we could use is the survey steam did of its users, listed

You must be registered to see the links

.

The vast majority of users play with 1920x1080 monitors - the next highest being 1366x768 (a popular laptop resolution), which is also uses a 16:9 aspect ratio.

That being said, I wouldn't use anything lower than 1920x1080, for a number of reasons. 1920x1080 will scale down perfectly fine to 1366x768, and it will scale up just fine to 3840x2160 (though it will look slightly blurry). Scaling a 16:9 to a 16:10 will make the image blur vertically, and scaling a 16:9 to a ultra wide will blur the image horizontally. I'm unaware of what capabilities Ren'py has for 'letterboxing' resolutions, but in Unity it's fairly simple. If possible I'd try to keep the image as close to the original in-game as you can.

It just puts black boxes around if it's not the same aspect ratio, not sure if you can even force it to adjust to your aspect ratio.

And yeh 16:9 is by far the most used aspect ratio today.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I'm trying to make a game in renpy [...]

So you don't care about the screen resolution, just the screen ratio.
If a picture resolution is higher than is rendering window, ren'py will resize the picture (while preserving the ratio) in real time. So, you can make a game with 5000x5000 pictures, it will still display the whole picture in a 640x480 monitor. Obviously, avoid it. Not for a size question (even if) but because it will lead to a lost of 9/10 for the picture and make it barely understandable.
This said, most of the Ren'py games actually seem to have a native 1920x1080 resolution. You also should probably don't go further than 2560x1440 pictures since it mean a lost between 1/2, for 1280x1024 which is the most used resolution for none 16:9 screens, to 1/2.5, for 1024x768 which is the most used resolution for 4:3 screens. Going further in size reduction start to lead to some lost in visual quality and can make your pictures looking weird.

 

[ranivorous]

Ok. It's now clear that 1920x1080 is the way to go. Thank you for the detailed answers, that makes it easier to understand the pros and cons.

Now I have a question on the aesthetics of the game. Do you prefer:

• 3D renders like the DAZ Studio based games
• 3D "renders" made with some Illusion games poser
• 2D pictures with real models
• 2D pictures with a cartoony/anime look

Sub-question that I've been asking myself for some time: is it ok to earn money with a renpy game based on illusion poser and the like or does it work just because the official owner of the resources doesn't really give a f**k?

Useful info to have related to the actual game: I want the characters to be depicted with the same model. Let's say there's a character based on Sasha Grey it needs to be her in every visible interaction, unless some close-ups or needed and there's no choice. That's why I tend to think a 3D poser would be the best choice since I can virtually make the model do what I want with no real limitation. I'm curious to see what you guys have to say about this and need to add that I can't make original 2D art on my own and don't plan, at least now, to hire anyone.

P-S: seems like I can't edit the first post, sorry if it becomes harder to keep track of all the questions.

 

[jande21]

Daz3d would be my top choice.
I hate illusion.
Maybe 2d with real models, as you answered my top complaint already when some games use them. No consistency in models.
And I would say no to 2d art as well. If there is no consistency in art, IMO, it looks terrible.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Now I have a question on the aesthetics of the game. Do you prefer:

• 3D renders like the DAZ Studio based games
• 3D "renders" made with some Illusion games poser
• 2D pictures with real models
• 2D pictures with a cartoony/anime look

Whatever for me. Daz 3D pictures are better that Illusion 3D, but it mostly depend of what you do and how you do it. There's great CG made with Illusion and games where the Daz pictures are really too weird. This said, I have a preference for 2D CG, but here again it depend.
So, in short, as long as the CG don't look too weird or awkward, it's not what will make the decision for me. Choose what you master the most.

Sub-question that I've been asking myself for some time: is it ok to earn money with a renpy game based on illusion poser and the like or does it work just because the official owner of the resources doesn't really give a f**k?

For me, they don't really care about what happen outside of Japan. Anyway they now make "3D studio" more than they make games, so they probably see a game using their assets as CG like a free advertisement for their products.

 

[ranivorous]

Ok, that's what I thought. I'm learning how to use DAZ 3D and apart from buying assets it doesn't seem that hard. Many a newbie must have said that before scratching their heads to death, but let's stay optimistic.

You're not wrong sadly, they don't really make games anymore. I didn't see it like that even though it seems quite obvious now that you've said it, they're selling a tool now.

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] apart from buying assets[...]

Why buying when @Lt. Aldo Raine do a so great work here :

You must be registered to see the links

? Well, obviously there's more than what already leaked, but it's a good start.

 

[ranivorous]

Why buying when @Lt. Aldo Raine do a so great work here :

You must be registered to see the links

? Well, obviously there's more than what already leaked, but it's a good start.

Yeah, I've just found out last night. It would have cost a lot otherwise ahah, thanks for the info anyway.

• While I'm at it: I plan on making a map of the town/city. Do you prefer:
  • A stylised map made more or less from scratch (only the main characteristics of the buildings are visible, it's minimalistic)
  • One based on real-world pictures
  • A 3D one (made with "Cities Skyline" for example)

I'm going for the first option for now, but I'd like to have another point of view.

 

[Studio Errilhl]

I really can't stand the "real world" photos. There is rarely, if ever, gonna be any feeling of actually being in the real city, the buildings won't really match the outside when you walk into them, and so on. Stylised is my preference (for instance like in the "Man of the house" game, where you have a simple "google map" like map, with hotspots shown). I've not really seen any games with 3D interactive maps, so I can't really say anything about that.

 

[ranivorous]

I think you're right. I may have something "fancier" than a google map, but that's all. If you want to see what a 3D interactive map looks like, at least what I think can be called that, you can look at the "

You must be registered to see the links

" game by Mr.C. I may be wrong, but I think he did use a city builder game to make the map.

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] you can look at the "

You must be registered to see the links

" game by Mr.C. [...]

It's a good compromise, at least for me. The player will not assume that the building will really look like this, and still be able to differentiate the location on the map.

 

[Lykanz]

Using your topic, I have a question about using "pirated" DAZ assets.

If I do, for example, use the assets Aldo shares here and publish a the game on Patreon, don't I incur the risk of receiving a Cease and Desist from DAZ?

 

[ranivorous]

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I'm not sure some popular games on Patreon paid for everything they're using from DAZ and they seem to be doing just fine. Apart from being detected from Patreon it seems like they don't "phone home" when you use downloaded assets in DAZ Studio.
It must be ok if you're not that popular and already published a game version on Patreon, but I'd end up buying everything if it brought me the cash some game developers made, just in case.

 

[Studio Errilhl]

I would assume that you could do the same with DAZ as you do with Adobe-products - ie, there is no way to tell if an image made in a pirated version of PS or a legitimate version of PS - same for DAZ, I would assume? (Never touched the program, so I don't _know_ this).

The in-game assets is untrackable, however, of course the program itself could probably do something like "ET phone home"... but that would be weird, and easily blockable, as long as it wasn't needed for the program to operate. I doubt they can track everyone who's bought the models and such, and even if you did, most countries have laws giving you the right to re-sell that, and so on. Maybe you would fault if they need a commercial license to be implemented in a game or such (I think I remember seeing something like that?), but then you could probably argue that the release of Patreon games is a non-commercial licensing of your own work (utilizing their assets), and that the patreons don't really pay for your product per se, but to see you make more interesting content (would probably not hold up in court)

 

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

I would assume that you could do the same with DAZ as you do with Adobe-products - ie, there is no way to tell if an image made in a pirated version of PS or a legitimate version of PS - same for DAZ, I would assume? (Never touched the program, so I don't _know_ this).

The in-game assets is untrackable, however, of course the program itself could probably do something like "ET phone home"... but that would be weird, and easily blockable, as long as it wasn't needed for the program to operate. I doubt they can track everyone who's bought the models and such, and even if you did, most countries have laws giving you the right to re-sell that, and so on. Maybe you would fault if they need a commercial license to be implemented in a game or such (I think I remember seeing something like that?), but then you could probably argue that the release of Patreon games is a non-commercial licensing of your own work (utilizing their assets), and that the patreons don't really pay for your product per se, but to see you make more interesting content (would probably not hold up in court)

set up your firewall to block outbound connections to the program and ET wont be able to make that call home.

 

[Studio Errilhl]

Yeah, or just block the hosts in your hosts file, same as you do with Adobe's checks.