Ren'Py Using Speech bubbles in my game.. Need your opinion.

[FosterRen]

Hey there, I'm currently 'working' on a little project in Ren'py, and I need your opinion on using speech bubbles instead of the regular text box at the bottom of the screen. I had all the intentions to make the game with a text box in mind, but then I tested a few sex scenes with speech bubbles, and it just feels more fitting.

So I just need your opinion on whether you would personally play a game with speech bubbles or if it's more of an annoyance for you. Keep in mind that I will try to keep the bubbles on a fixed part of the screen to make it more cohesive for the eyes. (The only change in bubble placement would be in the sex scenes, depending on the angle of the camera and character position)

Here are some screens just to show you how it would look in the game. Thanks for feedback.

 

[Jack Madrigal]

heya ! that's neat, I may have a couple of ideas and suggestion if it can help,

First of all you could scale up the font size, and you could use different typography and colors depending on who's talking, so the reader instinctively know who's saying what, as it get confusing once you have multiple protagonist on screen.

the bubble shape usually tell if it's vocal speech or an inner monologue, (like the classic cloud shape speech bubble)

the contour of the bubble itself can have some sort of illustration, shape or colors, like flowers in the corner when the character is being flirty,

don't be afraid to use all the space in the screen, but try not to hide a character behind one, unless you have several bubbles appearing successively on screen, there's no need to put it in a corner.

from a photography perspective, speech bubble are part of the composition, so they should be aligned on lines and points of strengths



this way you keep an harmonious composition ^^

 

[anne O'nymous]

So I just need your opinion on whether you would personally play a game with speech bubbles or if it's more of an annoyance for you.

I don't know...

Strictly speaking, bubble speeches wouldn't annoy me, but they imply three different constraints:

Firstly, they need the CGs to change between each dialog line.
It's a way to imply some dynamism, and staying on the same CGs for few dialog lines would totally oppose to this.
The CGs themselves need to be dynamic, whatever that dynamism is. For CGs relying on sprites it can be just a change of position/expression for one character, for CGs relying on full images or renders, it need to be a new image/render.
So, if you can achieve to have one CG for each dialog line, without just constantly switching between 2-3 CGs during the discussion, nor making the different CGs feel forced, if not totally useless, they I would probably not be bothered.

Secondly, speech bubbles need the dialog lines to stay short.
Strictly speaking it's not difficult to do this, it's doing it right that is a challenge.
There's two many games that use one sentence dialog lines, but also chains the dialog lines for a single character because it have more to say than a single sentence. And this is bad writing, really bad writing, making the character looks like it need to have a reflection time between every single sentence it say.
So, if you're a good enough writer to stick to short sentences that aren't part of a chain, while still having dialogs that make sense, I would probably not be bothered.

Thirdly, and this is a really good point, it force you to limits the narration to the strict minimum.
You can't have the narration in speech bubbles, neither can you have it in the usual dialog box. Both would looks ridiculous. Which mean that you need to find an innovative way to show the narrative part or, better, totally get rid of it.
If you can do this, I would probably not be bothered.


But if you fail with at least one of those three constraints, then I would probably be quickly bothered, before being totally annoyed.

 

[twinklecake]

It's fine. The principles of visual design probably differ somewhat when it comes to classic VNs and graphic novels, but none of it should be unlearnable.

I'd be more concerned with those blank, gray spaces visible in the pics you posted. It doesn't really make it particularly appealing to mentally inhabit the world you're depicting if that's the overall look in your game.

 

[FosterRen]

Thanks for feedback, guys.

It's fine. The principles of visual design probably differ somewhat when it comes to classic VNs and graphic novels, but none of it should be unlearnable.

I'd be more concerned with those blank, gray spaces visible in the pics you posted. It doesn't really make it particularly appealing to mentally inhabit the world you're depicting if that's the overall look in your game.

Interesting.. So you find the pictures above to be too grey-ish ? (not counting the sex scene, I just took random location for animation testing, its not gonna be in the game looking like this)

Or is it too much empty space around the main character in first two pics that you don't find appealing ?

 

[twinklecake]

Thanks for feedback, guys.



Interesting.. So you find the pictures above to be too grey-ish ? (not counting the sex scene, I just took random location for animation testing, its not gonna be in the game looking like this)

Or is it too much empty space around the main character in first two pics that you don't find appealing ?

Ehh, if the third pic was just a testpic I probably don't have enough data for a useful critique tbh. I just saw a lot of grey and unpopulated spaces and had to say something. CG games definitely have a lot of overlap with photography and interior design, so you gotta pay a ton of attention to color balances, lighting, framing, object population, etc.

And I guess if you're using speech bubbles you'd also be dipping into illustration on top of it.

 

[FosterRen]

Ehh, if the third pic was just a testpic I probably don't have enough data for a useful critique tbh. I just saw a lot of grey and unpopulated spaces and had to say something. CG games definitely have a lot of overlap with photography and interior design, so you gotta pay a ton of attention to color balances, lighting, framing, object population, etc.

And I guess if you're using speech bubbles you'd also be dipping into illustration on top of it.

I totally agree with you. The biggest challenge is the right lighting and camera placement at this moment, but thanks for the feedback, man! Appreciate it.

 

[twinklecake]

I totally agree with you. The biggest challenge is the right lighting and camera placement at this moment, but thanks for the feedback, man! Appreciate it.

Good luck.