Discussion SoYouWantTo / MakeAVisualNovel

Anyone else think that the bashing of the graphics of When They Cry is a bit tiring? It's relevant in some places (like where the article points out that a VN with mediocre graphics can be saved by other strengths), but it doesn't need to crop up every time those games are mentioned.

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird Hide / Show Replies

Hey I'm currently making a Visual Novel with my VN Group. And I was just wondering if it's a good idea to put CG's or in the common route? And if so what kinds of moments would be suitable?

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There are a couple things I feel should be polished regarding this SYWT—namely, the tone and apparent bias in certain sections.

My first issue is the section on character sprites. It's possible the intended use of biased language here is to illustrate the loads of work required to create a visual novel's art assets (and the novel as a whole, for that matter). This is a true pitfall for those new to dabbling in the medium, but the way it's presented undermines the purpose of the article by intimidating the reader into not doing it at all. The purpose of a tutorial is not to scare people away but to show them how to do something. People don't learn best by intimidation, especially if it drives them away from doing hands-on work in the first place.

My second issue is the treatment of voice acting. Yes, no voice acting is better than bad voice acting, but the same thing can be said of just about any component of a work of media because Tropes Are Tools. You might as well say that one shouldn't use The Hero's Journey story archetype because if that's done badly, the entire story suffers. That's all well and good, but that doesn't help the reader improve at all. Instead, consider linking to an external source or perhaps another SYWT article describing how to more professionally execute the component in question. That is leagues better than saying, "If you're not good at it, don't even bother," and leaving it at that.

Finally is my issue on Rule of Fun in regards to gameplay mechanics: "No one cares how symbolic the Mini-Game is if it's not fun." Ridiculous. That is a mindset that limits the potential that gameplay has in putting people in the right mindset for the experience. Some games use poor gameplay in creative ways to convey certain meaning to the audience. Case in point: Spec Ops The Line. (Perhaps these will explain better than I can.)

Overall, while this is an otherwise decent SYWT article, it still needs a bit of work.

Edited by 50.42.130.255 Hell hath no fury like a computer science student bored.

I have to object to the assertion that "...no one likes a visual novel with poorly drawn character sprites..." and CGs. Perhaps I say this because I don't have any skills at discerning relative quality in drawn art. Sometimes I will see a video game (regardless of genre/category) with a visual style that I don't find appealing. In that case, I will focus entirely on whether I enjoy its music, gameplay, or writing.

Also, I have only a few contemporary standards for which I can fairly compare quality in regards to visuals, music, and gameplay. Every now and then, Freeware Games can compare with commercial products in terms of pure gameplay. But it's pretty rare to see a freeware game that can be appropriately compared with even a low-budget commercial game in terms of visuals and music.

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