Bionic Heart 2 - the real deal!

[pysali]

New Tom doesn't do anything for me, though I am curious about his moral dilemmas. I also prefer his original look, but hey time's passed, he'd decided that stodgy old professor is this new 'in' look. <.<

I think a lot of us (I'm assuming women) are excited and happy about the different breast sizes because in way, way, waaaayyyy too many games women come in one size. Gigantic and feeling plasticy. Even in games where you're able to have different body models the breasts are almost always uniform in size and it's just so unrealistic it's like a tiny victory in the way of having more female diversity. However that said, I also throw my two cents and whole hearted cheers behind Jim's suggestion. It would be nice to have a pear shaped womanly shape thrown into the mix. I'm already excited over the Marada warriors in PS2Warzone for having a body builder type.

I know that in visual novels we like to paint a picture that everyone looks ideal because as the player we're living vicariously through our character and cheering them on, but again just because the body is gorgeous in a supermodel way, shouldn't be the only factor in picking a character. I mean even having a fit or athletic body has a pretty wide range of examples: http://ninamatsumoto.wordpress.com/2010 ... -artists/#

[jack1974]

Yes I'll try to put the "pear-sized-woman" in a future game About the drawing I also think that's because how artists are used to draw, or perhaps is easier for them. Not sure, honestly, but definitely will try to add more variety. Even for Luke there's a scene in which he is naked-torso and told him to draw with toned muscles but NOT body-building type (like Amukiki).
Though I wonder, would a slightly fatty man would be attractive in a dating sim for women?

[Aleema]

Though I wonder, would a slightly fatty man would be attractive in a dating sim for women?

Not now, but further down the line, yes. I say not now because women have a lot of catching up to do to even come close to matching the amount of eye candy/fanservice/objectification of women in video games for men. Right now, simply having an attractive romancable man is ground breaking. Trying to subvert that prematurely comes off as unfair towards women, as if they don't deserve idealization. So we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Real life overweight men aren't unattractive, though. I'm speaking strictly video games.

That said ... if I can have my eye candy without anyone complaining (that includes passive aggressive "why don't the men look more like me?" comments), then you can have your eye candy, too. I'll butt out of this thread.

[jack1974]

Haha thanks for the feedback. For the record I'm just asking opinions and I wasn't implying anything or joking and so on, because my goal is really to make games that people want to play I do agree that women have a lot to catch up, while I don't follow/play all the other games around I know for sure for mine there's a gap to fill

[pysali]

Nah you're taking great strides Jack. Guys already come in a few sizes in your games, some of us just want a bit more variety in the ladies. :D And eye candy, sweet, sweet, eye candy.

[Luksis]

I mostly agree to what was said in the earlier posts, and the new artwork is in my opinion definnitly better (since the new artist can make the women seem more natural.. my first thought on Helen in BH1 was "WTF? do i have to hide?!" xD)
Personally though i would like Tina a little bit bustier. I admit there are women with almost completly small chestst (especially those who do gymnastics as a pro from erly childhood on) but Tina looked almost like a very feminish boy^^
Then again that may only be my opinion.

Next thing is:
atm i am reading BH1 after finishing LtAP and needing a break till the expansion is out i started to see how you made a VN. Since a normal VN is quite different in storytelling and -developing I was interested in how exactly you managed to do it.
I quickly came to the Conclusion that i dont like all those little choices since i dont know exactly which Route i am in xD. But this is just a mood point and with ongoing playtime i actually came to like it. Quite funny to be able to decide how Luke would react to Helen or Tanya.
However i found that you could improve how you presented the backgrounds, maybe e.g. like when there is a big picture, like the one of the town early in the beginning, move the camere slowly over the picture while narrating. That would create an illusion movement in the mind of the reader. The important point here is, that this will make the narrated story seem more fluently than without the movement of the camera.
Of course this wouldn't sit well in every situation but for purely narrating while the background shows something that is in Realilty everything but stagnant, this works wonders.
Other possibillitys could be blending in or out of various CG'S maybe with difference in how fast or in which way they blend in to reflect the situation. Could be pretty interesting in fighting scenes or tailing someone or something... or whatever :D
Oh and if you plan to implement movement of the sprites again (like when they go to talk with you as already mentioned above) I would recommend some basic sound of Movement like steps or such. it would make the movement of the sprites seem more natural and can also work wonders to the atmosphere (like clashing swords in a battle or a creaking door opening itself slowly and unexpectedly, hearing the rain fall as already implemented and so on)
Admittadly i dont know exactly if you already implemented such ideas in BH1, after all im not even through it yet :D. That would make my Ideas pretty much useless as critics or inspiration ^^. And naturally i have zero experience in making a game, just playing them. So i dont know exactly how difficult these ideas actually would be to implement.
What i really liked was the kinda "moving" of the character sprites into the center of the screen while beeing in a conversation with them. Although the zooming in had quite a .. alianating.. affection on me. But i Believe part of that was seeing a women so androgynos up close :D (no offense against androgynous women though, they have rights too xD)

As a seccond thought i would advise you to make the text box bigger for BH2. The relativly small Textbox may be good to view the background, but i dont know it kinda.. felt wrong to me. cant explain it right. Maybe its just me rather having a little higher but less wider textbox than an absolutely wide on like in BH1.
Oh and lastly the choices... some made me think "Huh? why would he do that now?" sometimes in a good and sometimes in a bad way. E.g when Helen comes into Luke's Flat and Tanya is in the Bathroom (stark naked ... I totally love this typical situation :D was almost a bit disappointed that Helen didnt seem to see Tanya despite the bathroom door in the picture in the background beeing open. Guess that was just the background :D but the closet idea while Luke and Helen had some fun was nice too.

Well yeah those are my thoughts and hopes on this matter. seems like i really like to see myself writing ... this has gotten a rather long post xD looking forward to your next games^^

[jack1974]

I will surely make the text bigger, since this new game should be available also on tablet devices.
About all your other considerations, I know, but the problem is budget. Backgrounds in particular are VERY expensive. So I know is silly to see the image of the bathroom with the door open, and think "how is possible that Helen didn't see Tanya in there"?
If it was an adventure game, that would be a big mistake, but luckily in visual novels you have often to imagine the situation, without any real art describing it (like moving / talking characters). Think of VN as a sort of illustrated book where the art will give you an idea of the situation but not reflect EXACTLY what is happening.
I wish one day I'll be able to afford making an adventure game, or even better a VN with lots of animations, but right now I'm far away from that goal!

[Luksis]

I figured as much^^, seeing how small in size your games are and how big in how much time it takes to play them through. when i downloaded Loren i first believed to have got a wrong file since it was so small :D
All my Ideas were propably just me beeing spoiled by Vn's like FS/N, Sharin no Kuni, Yu-No etc.
But you'r on the right way and already have lots of fans to support you (me included :D) so i hope someday i will be able to play that adventure game you talked about

[jack1974]

The "cheapest" way to make an adventure is through pixel art, like my indie friend Wadjet Eye is doing, but personally I don't like much that art-style, even if probably is the only possible way to do it with indie budget

[fleetp]

Luksis said, "Personally though i would like Tina a little bit bustier."

I second that, but you knew I'd say that, didn't you?
very respectfully,
fleet