What's new

Opinions on 3D CG and games for English devs


DaBouncer

Demon Girl
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
265
Reputation score
62
There are a lot of English game developers out there, and it pains me to say that a lot of them all have the same flaws. I'm no game dev myself, but I'd like to offer my opinions on what some 3D games do right, and what so many do wrong. I, like quite a few other people, are turned off a game project when they see a H-game with a 3D aspect in it, however 3D isn't always bad in my eyes, and the main issue is the misuse of 3D.


Misuse #1 - Mismatched art style
If you're making a game in RPG Maker, for the love of god don't use 3D CG or 3D standing pictures without having a custom tile set to suit your 3D pictures. Seeing 3D with the default tiles in any RPG Maker game is absolutely ridiculous and is a real bad distraction. Even worse is when a CG has a "realistic" looking background. To go from a "realistic" scene to a sudden, cartoonish array of greens, blues and other bright colours, it is very disorientating. People like continuity in their art style, and making 2D tile sets suit 3D CG is impossible with the default RPG Maker tools.

Misuse #2 - Awful 3D models
The best 3D I've seen has always been custom made models. Because I'm no game dev, artist or animator, I have no idea how these are made, but what I do know is that the majority of premade models are just poor quality. I've seen threads of games with 3D models filled with discussion about the programs and prerendered models the game's dev used, and it's almost always people saying that it was a bad idea. Only once have I seen such a discussion be positive, and that was when people recognised the 3D model was custom made from a program.

So, what are some good ideas?
Do some research before you choose a 3D program or model, don't just settle with the popular. 3D CG is best suited for worlds that are 3D themselves, or VNs. If you want to make a 2D game then get a tile set that suits your 3D, though doing that could be difficult unless you're a good artist, find a good artist, or have a 3D model that isn't realistic looking and can suit the bright, saturated colours of RPG Maker. I can think of one popular 3D model that is cartoonish, but the models themselves are awful.


That covers everything 3D, however there is one more thing I'd like to touch upon that can benefit any game dev, and that's presenting your project. Do not say you're doing anything unique, just don't, because it's pretty much guaranteed that your concept or idea is not unique and has already been done a hundred times, and on the off chance that your idea is unique, then let the people following your project say it for you, you'll gain a larger following if it's others saying those things compared to if you do, even if it's true. Also, if you are a lurker or not that well known in the community you're trying to sell your idea to (because that's what you're doing, regardless of if the game is free or not), then do not advertise your Patreon or other crowdfunding source unless you have a damn good reason to, and even then don't advertise it directly on your thread, instead link it to your blog that has a link to your Patreon. Hopefully you have been keeping a blog that has been in use for a little while, else it'll just end up looking like you're going "Hey I'm trying to not look like a money grub by not advertising my Patreon in an area nobody knows me in, instead I'll do it in a blog that I've only created to host my Patreon advertisement!" and that is just as bad as linking a Patreon with no pictures or demo. The best time to link Patreon is when people in the community start to follow your project actively, your followers start suggesting Patreon, or your game is at a point where there is a considerable amount of content for people to look at.

I'm sure there're other things I could have talked about, and maybe even some things I'm mistaken on or just plain wrong in, but I'm no developer, animator or artist, I'm just a consumer.
 

Dorumeka

Lurker
Joined
Feb 23, 2017
Messages
17
Reputation score
9
As a dev, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm also not a big fan of "premade" or procedurally made models. Hand made with love is always better in my opinion!

I can't agree with you on the Patreon point. I normally put a link to my patreon on my main threads in forums. Its useful for people that like your project. I'm pretty new here, but I've been around other places and I've seen that people will almost always ask for your Patreon since that's the standard way of sustaining our projects these days. Instead of making people wait for you to give them a link, why not just leave it there? It's not like you are trying to shove it anyones throat. It's just for convenience.
 

MrMe

Lurker
Joined
Nov 26, 2009
Messages
1,835
Reputation score
352
I'm not sure what 3D program every Patreon money dumpster keeps using but I hate it, its got this weird uncanny valley effect with china doll stare eyes and the models look ugly.
 

NLL

Demon Girl Pro
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
155
Reputation score
23
I'm not sure what 3D program every Patreon money dumpster keeps using but I hate it, its got this weird uncanny valley effect with china doll stare eyes and the models look ugly.
I think it's Poser + Daz3d assets. They even use premade poses, geez.
 
OP
DaBouncer

DaBouncer

Demon Girl
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
265
Reputation score
62
I can't agree with you on the Patreon point. I normally put a link to my patreon on my main threads in forums. Its useful for people that like your project. I'm pretty new here, but I've been around other places and I've seen that people will almost always ask for your Patreon since that's the standard way of sustaining our projects these days. Instead of making people wait for you to give them a link, why not just leave it there? It's not like you are trying to shove it anyones throat. It's just for convenience.
That is fine too, if people ask for ways to support you directly, all the more power to you, and that tells me one thing - people like what they see. My patreon statements are more along the lines of randoms who have only just started, that have no previous work to show off and have likely not even fleshed out what they want or what they're after. Essentially people who tend to have little information available, or have very little progress done. Even worse when said progress is minimal along a long timespan.
 

FinalCloud

Jungle Girl
Joined
Jul 27, 2014
Messages
90
Reputation score
17
Seems a bit of a dead thread (actually there doesnt seem to be alot going on here in the h-games part of ulmf at the moment or is that just my imagination?). The site seemed a lot
more full of life back when I first started using it.

Anyway, in response to the thread:

I agree, I prefer the hand drawn games, but I have played and gotten to like (out of lack of choice) some of the 3d games. Why? Because they are in English
nothing more, nothing less. I would love to be able to read Japanese and play other games (machine translations are too jarring). My preferred games are things like
Arms Devicer, PFIF etc... (Busty female MC corruption) but I have not seen many games of that nature being translated lately (Makina, but it just wasnt of the same standard, gameplay-wise imo).
While some English hand drawn art is very nice, I tend to prefer the Japanese style, and there are simply very few English artists around that can/choose to draw like that.
So yea, having completed most of the games of this nature (i.e. the ones I know of) that are translated to English, and even some using machine translations, I ran out of ideas for what to play and had
to get used to the 3d renders.
 

dudes_tractor_yeah

Jungle Girl
Joined
Nov 13, 2013
Messages
79
Reputation score
17
Fuck 3d tbh.
The only game of that kind I´ve actually enjoyed was Dreams of Desire but that´s like what 1 out of a million?
 

AstralBlader

Jungle Girl
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
43
Reputation score
2
3DCG is kinda boring ... I like it if you can roam freely around the world and interact on different levels with the subject, rather than spectating an act
There are some rly good 2DCG animestyle games that I love but most of my favorites consists out of 3D Games ... Skyrim modded, XStoryPlayer, and some Patreon WIP projects like
Abandoned : A tale of forgotten lives by
's Project
Virt-A-Mate by

If you think you have something that might interest me, feel free to msg me
 
Last edited:
Top