Art Poll Preliminary Results

A way to simplify the character art approach would maybe to let players add an image / images of their character by placing it in a folder. Similarly you could have a library of NPC portraits based on certain traits (ie. Gender, hair color, etc.) and let players add / remove / replace them to suit their own preferences.)

R

Although I voted for character art, I don't think it should be added first. There is a very good reason to put location art first: it is easy to do. On the other hand, character art, like monokuma described, can be a really complex addition but definitely something that would add a lot of value to the game. So why voting on character art? Since it can get very complex to get it done properly you should start working on it. I really don't mind if the very first image will be related to location, character or anything else.

MM

Ahh, good point. I've been concerned about that myself, and I've been trying to keep things clean & simple. It's also the reason for some of the UI tweaks along the way. Definitely a concern, so it'll be getting attention regardless of art commissions. :)

ThaumX

The problem with character art in a game with a "roguelike" structure where a lot of NPCs are auto generated is that either you will have to auto generate the art as well (which rarely ends up looking good), have a huge image library to cover every possible combination of looks, or restrict art assets to the static NPCs. The latter option is probably the most appealing, but it also pushes players toward the static NPCs by making them more appealing (since they have images), which kind of devalues the dynamic content. (To use Fallout as a metaphor, you care more about Cook-Cook and Violet than some random raiders, even though they are the same in every game.) For that reason I would personally avoid taking the game in a direction that relies heavily on imagery (The "Girl Life" approach) and only use images to enhance mood and interface. (ie. adding a "cover photo" for areas you visit that portrays the surroundings does more for the players imagination/immersion than trying to portray every NPC they come across. Plus, too many images detract from good writing.) Anyway, that's just my opinion. Judging from the polls, I'm sure many/most would disagree. :p

R

I figured 'UI / interface' art was referring to general work on how you interacted with the game, refining the menu systems, fine tuning it based on actual play. I'm sure we've all played games where doing simple things required extensive menu navigation and seemingly simple things were made inordinately difficult. I figured it made sense to do some of this work early in the process before correcting problems might become difficult or impossible.