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Before or after? Which one do you think works best for our game?

A topic by InkToPixels created Jan 26, 2022 Views: 483 Replies: 8

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Hey everyone.

For our project, System Under Surveillance (Itch.io, Steam), we have just started a collaboration with a new artist. This artist is going to help us with drawing, improving, and slightly redesigning the storytelling. Naturally, this brings a new style to the storytelling altogether.

We believe that the new style is so much better, almost night and day difference, compared with the previous one. Yet, quite a lot of people still prefer the old one. They say the old one looks similar with old ps1 and amiga games.

Well, which one do you think better fits our game specifically, based on the pictures you can see on the store pages? And which one do you prefer overall? Everyone seems to have a different opinion, so maybe you can help!

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40wattstudio2 years ago(+1)

Well, on the one hand, your game page says it's 80s and 90s inspired. So based off of that I would say go with the more pixelated "Before" picture.

But then further down on your game page you emphasis the comic book aspect of it. So the "After" style would fit that better.

The question you need to ask yourself is: Is it more important to have a consistent 80s/90s vibe or a comic book vibe?

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InkToPixels2 years ago

We want it to be reminiscent of old games from the 80s and 90s, but not copy them. So from this point of view, I think the new version fits better. With this in mind, what do you think?

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40wattstudio2 years ago(+1)

The "After" picture certainly stands out more which would be great for screenshots, promotional materials, etc. So I would go with that.

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Midnight Spire Games2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

We want it to be reminiscent of old games from the 80s and 90s, but not copy them. So from this point of view, I think the new version fits better. With this in mind, what do you think?

Reminiscent of which games, though? One looks like an early 3D render, as in Resident Evil or even Flashback, and the other looks like a cartoon adventure game, as in Full Throttle or Snatcher. What do you want it to look like?

I can say that since you mention comic book storytelling several times on your page, I would be expecting something more like the new version. It's hard to say which one fits better with the in-game visuals. Either could work.

Ultimately though, if your team likes the new version a lot better, then that is definitely what you should go with. The two are distinctly different styles, so don't worry about it if some people prefer the old one. If you went back to the old style when you all prefer the new one, would you really be satisfied with that choice?

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InkToPixels2 years ago

Cartoon adventure for sure!

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Eldwood2 years ago

Definitely go with "after". I've never understood nostalgia for bad art, and the "before" picture is definitely bad art.

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InkToPixels2 years ago

After running survey on multiple sites, I would say a considerable chunk of people prefer the first one. I would put it around 30%. Nevertheless, the second one better captures our design goals and vision for the game, so we will definitely go with the After version.

If more people had truly preferred the second first version (and if it would have fit the game design), then we would have chosen that one.

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Bagsley2 years ago(+1)

Go with the "after" picture. The before picture has the arm on the right of the dead person extended too far, and I've never understood why people like bad art. The attention to detail of the second picture is stunning, and the attention to detail in the first one is less than that. The emotions look much better on the second picture for the person on the left of the after picture, compared to the "before" where it looks like the hand is floating above the mans head, not on the mans head.

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