by Mortze » Fri, 16Jan22 17:29
Not sure if this is the group to post this Topic. This group is more for technical topics, like how to avoid poke through in the clothes of my model, or how to avoid sharp shadows, etc..
IMO this questions should be adressed in the General Chat group.
That said, here's my opinion:
A) Pretty much agree with what Tlaero and Sky said. If you’re going to program and code, and write only, any post 2001 machine will do. For drawn art, same thing, but it has to support your drawing software, either Photoshop, Ilustrator or Manga Studio for example. I’d suggest a good and big monitor though, with great color contrast.
For 3D art you need a good machine. I did DwE on a ICore i5 - 480M 2.66GHz, Radeon HD6370M 512mb Graphic card, 4GB Ram and I sweated. Some pics where 45 minutes long to render each, some 1h plus, like the ones in the bookshop.
Now, for Pandora and Redemption for Jessika I used a ICore i7-5820K 3.3GHz 15Mb, Motherboard Asus X99-A, Asus GTX970 4GB Graphic Card, 32 Ram, and an IPS 27’’ Asus monitor, that renders at an average 1/6 ratio from what I used before. This setting only allows me to render using a CPU intensive rendering engine like 3DEngine. Like Sky said, if you want to use a GPU intensive rendering engine like IRay you’ll have to boost your graphic cards. Wolfshadowe once told me that a minimum of 10GB of GPU is necessary. My goal is to improve that. So, yeah, for 3D rendering you need a powerfull setting.
B) I only know about AC and Adrift. I hesitated if Pandora should be more written orientated or graphic. Tlaero good help led me to choose AC. I knew I’d have a good tutor using that platform. But I like Adrift very much. The pros of Adrift is that you don’t have a limit of the lines you can put. AC has a 4 lines limit per page. Also, Adrift allows more interactivity in that you can program gazillions commands for the player to find and type to do this and that. AC is less interactive. But I think they fulfill 2 very different roles. For AC you don’t need much or any programing skills. For Adrift you need some. And when I say programing skill I’m not referring to actual coding languages and programing expertise. I’m talking about logical and focused mind, more proper to a programmer than to an artist. Lots of small details to take into account. I suck at that.
C) I’d second what Tlaero and Sky said again, but they didn’t really answered the question. The pros and cons of 3d art, draw, real pictures, stick figures, etc is mostly up to what you can and are willing to do. Stick figures are easy but don’t express much. Real pictures are easy too to find and work with but they make the game somehow unbelievable because people know they are from somewhere else. Besides, there are property issues you have to deal with. Drawing is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of the art. You create, almost free of charge, and from nothing. You only have to pay for the material (pencils, erasers, sheets, scanner, software, etc) you work with. But to draw good you must have a godly talent. Those artists are the best. Cons; it takes a huge amount of time. Lastly, for 3D art you also have to acquire the material (computer and software) and the content (props, figures, clothes, penises, yes, penises). And that costs you your skin. The pros are that it’s somehow easier to work with than full drawing. I say somehow because it’s a thing to make a 3d picture, it’s another to make an awesome one. For the later you need huge talent that borders the godly talent of the drawing artist. You need to have the sensitivity to make a good camera angle and good lighting. Only that. If you are a master of camera angling and lighting you’ll make a rendering of a trash can a sublime picture. Of course, some lucky dudes are born with talent. The other 99% of us have to make lots of shitty draws and renders before learning to do anything that is passable.
D) Again, it depends on what you are good at. If you’re only good with writing then I’d say go for a writing only game like Adrift. If you’re a noob with programing go for AC. If you’re a noob at everything but have great ideas for games only, well, find people who don’t have good ideas but are good at programing, writing or making art, to use your idea. In my opinion, without disregard of what Tlaero and Sky said, it’s better to work with someone else. Sure, Adrift and AC allow for a person to make the game by herself, but I’m not talking about skills. I’m talking about debating ideas. I, myself, know that when, as a creator, you have an idea, you become focused on it and lose perspective. Well, it’s good to seek some outer perspective. Ask someone about this or that idea, what they think or would do differently. I seeked and still seek Tlaero’s opinion on Pandora. Besides her expertise and experience in writing games and fantasy novels and stories, she is a representative of the beautiful gender and I think we men, sometimes, need a female overview on how characters (mostly girls) would behave or think. And of course, working with someone else will allow you to correct each other errors, or share opinions. Tlaero makes good suggestions on the pics I render and I myself also suggest some things on the whole story plot and dialogues. Lastly, and I learned from it the hard way, find someone to test and proof-read your work.