A Matter Of Opinion

[Nestat 80]

Hello guys

 

I'm working on a game using somewhat of a bust/bubble system. It looks like that:

Thing is (and it may be just me) to my eye it's kinda... empty; Like something is missing.

 

 

..so i came up adding a small semi-transparent frame with the character's name on it to fill the emptiness. Looks like this:

..and because this is a dark map, i've added the same pic with a different background so you can see the difference better.

 

without the frame...

 

..and with it.

 

or even darken the background while the bust pops up?

 

 

Aaahh, so many ways to do things. I need to choose one to move forward with the game.

But which one? What do YOU think?

Edited April 10, 2015 by Nestat

[+ Chaosian 617]

Visually, I suggest without the name.

However as someone who absolutely cannot remember names of characters for the life of me (especially Japanese names) it has incredible utility value.

[Nestat 80]

Aaah... you're a real diplomat huh Chaosian?

 

You opinion is valuable, no doubt, but you're not really giving me an answer to my question...

You're telling me 'good without the name'... and 'practical with the name'...

 

I like your comment anyway...

[Gui 61]

IMO, the graphics are a bit too complicated: a more standard bubble (white background and black letters, possibly with a more angular frame) and a more neutral typo for the name may look better – such choices would fit better a more variety of situations independantly of the type of background pic.

 

As for the screen looking empty: well, it does even with the name of the character anyway... unless you want to go for a name whose size/length will take all the width of the screen but this will clearly be too much IMO.

[Nestat 80]

IMO, the graphics are a bit too complicated: a more standard bubble (white background and black letters, possibly with a more angular frame) and a more neutral typo for the name may look better – such choices would fit better a more variety of situations independantly of the type of background pic.

The first thing that crossed my mind when i read your comment Gui was, "nah... No way i'm gonna change the bubbles!"

But then i thought it's not gonna hurt to try it out... so i did. Looks not bad, not bad at all.

 

 

As for the screen looking empty: well, it does even with the name of the character anyway... unless you want to go for a name whose size/length will take all the width of the screen but this will clearly be too much IMO.

Yes it does indeed looks pretty even with the name in the right-bottom corner. As for the name appearing in greater size, that would not only be too much, it would ruin the whole picture.

So i though... frames. Elegant frames and maybe (just maybe) a version with the character's Class in the top-left corner. The Class info will change if the character levels up. The "LV5 Coder" gonna change to "LV6, 7..." blah blah blah.

 

 

Version A

 

Version B

 

Version C

 

?

[Gui 61]

Frames usually are a bad idea because they simply reduce the screen size: if you think your screen size is too big, just reduce the display resolution – but how can a screen size be too small to begin with, especially with RPGM?

 

I think the bubble coud have a more pointy "arrow" (the part indicating who's talking): the white border you use tends to smooth it up in a weird way IMO.

 

Displaying the level/class of the character is not a bad idea: it will help the player to remember the details of each character...

 

At the moment, I think you could keep in mind the different possible animations which will help "fill" the screen, not in terms of space but simply in terms of... let's say entertainment, for lack of a better word: you could have a bubble popping out in some sort of a cartoon way, with its text being displayed letter after letter, possibly with the accompanying sound of a typewriter machine or a computer console; things like that may help distract the player from the emptiness of the screen while entertaining him/her.

[Latoa 37]

I would say lose the name, just makes me think...is this char that forgettable that I need to be reminded of his name?

[Nestat 80]

At the moment, I think you could keep in mind the different possible animations which will help "fill" the screen, not in terms of space but simply in terms of... let's say entertainment, for lack of a better word: you could have a bubble popping out in some sort of a cartoon way, with its text being displayed letter after letter, possibly with the accompanying sound of a typewriter machine or a computer console; things like that may help distract the player from the emptiness of the screen while entertaining him/her.

I don't understand how "different possible animations will help "fill" the screen", i'm talking about the moment a conversation occurs and not for the actual gameplay. As for the typewriter sndfx, yeah i tried that. I did not like it. In fact for myself as a player, i never liked that mechanism in any game. I always pushed the buttons (if it were possible) to make the message appear at once. So, that suggestion is already dead for me. Thank you for bringing that up though. I like to talk about different solutions and suggestions that could make gameplay more fun. 

By the way, i'm going for version B.

 

 

I would say lose the name, just makes me think...is this char that forgettable that I need to be reminded of his name?

Nah, it's not only for him. The name-system will appear for all the characters who have busts in a conversation. I think i do this for two reasons. The first is a screen change, something like 'a conversation is now going on; the game is paused'. The second, as i wrote above, is for the screen not to be that empty.

 

But it's nice to hear different opinions on the matter...

Edited April 13, 2015 by Nestat

[HumanNinja 144]

I think you should forget about adding the name. Your message delivery is unique enough without having to add the fluff of name-tags.

[Gui 61]

 

At the moment, I think you could keep in mind the different possible animations which will help "fill" the screen, not in terms of space but simply in terms of... let's say entertainment, for lack of a better word: you could have a bubble popping out in some sort of a cartoon way, with its text being displayed letter after letter, possibly with the accompanying sound of a typewriter machine or a computer console; things like that may help distract the player from the emptiness of the screen while entertaining him/her.

I don't understand how "different possible animations will help "fill" the screen", i'm talking about the moment a conversation occurs and not for the actual gameplay. [...]

I understood that    I just meant that some brief animation could help distract the player from the emptiness of the screen and do in sort that he "forgets" about it, for lack of a better word... Basically, it would be a way to hide the problem instead of solving it but maybe it could help.

[Nestat 80]

[...] Basically, it would be a way to hide the problem instead of solving it but maybe it could help.

 

Yes, that's an interesting thought Gui. But i don't like to hide problems. That's not what i do in order to get past the problematic area so i can move on with other things. It's just not the way i function. Instead i analyze them. I study them, try many things out and finally solve them. Sometimes it takes a lot of time, but that's the way it is.

 

 

@HumanNinja:

Yes, in the end you're right about that. So i will do.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Nestat