So, am I the only person who think the amount of works he need/game size would be drastically reduced if he'd just split the image into parts instead of making each variation a full image on its own?
Especially the standing pic.
my 2 cent;
from a code guy view;
if u have a set of full pre-created image u can simply recall them one by one when needed, with a single command, and the job is done.
if u have a set of shattered image u need a system to recall certain image's, and then swap some of them with other (like facial expresion).
from a artist view;
in the first case u can draw a single scene, save it, and then add the modification (again, facial expression, body movement, liquid etcc) save it again and repeat the process. u dont need to re-draw the entirely image, only the modified part.
in the second case u have to draw a set of general image (or protrait) and draw each single difference and export them with a transparent background. and u have to be certain that each combination collide perfectly.
both method works, so, this will be a work choice of the dev/dev's.
i think that the majority of the work is made to code correctly the game. create each event, set variable, recall custom script, and do a plenty of handmade (hehe) event for cutscene and stuff like that. it's a whole fucking time consuming work. and also extremely boring one (at least for me).
but it is also true that in a one-man-team this work, plus the cg work, will can take a very huge chunk of time. and this without any sort of problem of course lol