dekarous
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The Art Problem
🕑 Added 2024-04-15 17:00:40 +0000 UTCHello folks. As you may have noticed, we've been having some delays when it comes to the Ruby update. The primary reason behind this is the change of the art direction and - primarily - our displeasure with it. We've made a number of polls last month concerning this issue, and it seems like you are thinking the same way. This is a problem that requires a definitive solution, as artwork is very important to a game like this.
Now, we understand that we'll never be able to have an art style exactly the same to the one we had with Shakie. Shakie's style was her own and it's going to be extremely hard to replicate it perfectly. The goal is to get as close as possible, for the sake of the game's continuity. We've tried multiple solutions to this problem the past few months, but ultimately, no artist we have contacted has been sufficient in our opinion.
The "art problem" has been oppressing our efforts for more than a year now, and it has been the primary reason behind the lack of updates and content drops. About two months ago we realized there is really only one way to definitively solve this problem permanently. Being reliant to third parties and/or freelancers could bring us back to the same position we are now and it would really be out of our control. Thus, our solution is to learn to draw ourselves.
We have acquired the necessary equipment and have been exercising like absolute maniacs for the past 2 months in order to reach the required level of skill that's needed. We have also contacted the help of a friend to join in the effort, so we're now a team of 3 (so hopefully handling the artwork along with our existing dev work won't be too much for the schedule). While we obviously still have months or years ahead to perfect the art, we can focus on modifying Xenssei's (our current freelancer artist) work to better suit our interests and style.
I am including Ruby's design in this post (surprise to 2$ patrons I guess!). One is Xenssei's original design, the other is our rework of it. Really, our only problem with the original design was the face (last poll showed the same result), so that's what we have modified. Please take a look and let us know if you like our rework or not.
Thank you.
Comments
jpoh smith
wanted to say very glad the game development is ongoing and you keep pushing on and evolving regardless of the challenges. that is incredible to see. hats off to y'all for continuing to push forward and keep getting better and better.
chevy84
I Like the tweeked version!
Просто чел, или нет
I am so in love with the twiaked version. Its perfect
geebster
As a not-artsy person my self i wont make any specific critiques but I will say... Tweaked version is MUCH better. Like for my tastes thats perfect.
Footfan
Hello, I love the rework <3 she looks sweet and hot, if you can create mean looking faces and glares with the same style I think the problem you have been facing for so long is finally resolved, good job on you all for learning and reaching such a good level in just 2 months, thank you for the effort <3 we are looking forward to the updates.
Dekarous
Thanks for the detailed response! Btw Ruby has a reason she's "older" than the other Dominas and has wrinkles present, we've written some very detailed lore for her, but we're keeping it a secret until we actually drop her update lol
Seraphim2118
Love the rework personally. I think she would be good to go as is. In response to the previous critiques of her being sweet and cute I would say that reducing the saturation level of the blush would do alot to give her a more neutral or melancholic expression. Which would work fine if you want to make her feel more dominant than sadistic. Alternatively, tightening the lines around the mouth and or eyes will go a long way to making her appear more severe. And if you want to lean into the hard sadism angle, altering the angle of the head 2-5 degrees upward and or adding the hint of a smirk on the further side of her face would give the impression she is consistently looking down on you. Alternatively, choosing to keep or even deepen the blush paired with an alteration to the mouth to make her nibble on her bottom lip could send a powerful message of innate eroticism as if she were sizing up a new toy. Finally, if you are shooting to make her appear more mature physically than the other Dominas I think some light shading at the edges of the eyes and mouth to give the implications of developing crows feet would be more effective than returning actual wrinkles to her face given that the Dominas are intended to be timeless beauties. Adding features that could be seen as flaws to their material forms would not make much sense lorewise in my opinion. That being said these are all just suggestions and yall do what feels right for you. Thanks for all the effort and we look forward to Ruby's official debut!
M
This post says it well so I'll just reinforce it here. This is clearly an improvement to the point that I consider it effectively equal to the original Shakie artwork. This said, I definitely also prefer a stern expression.
david knox
Love the current one, however I have to agree with what's been said in the previous comments she needs to seem sadistic and I think the phrasing for her lines would work marvelous with more intense presence from her design.
dylan dark
Much bigger fan of the rework, read the other comments and I agree with her looking older than the others would be good. Not even remotely artistically inclined so not sure how to make that happen but despite all the speed bumps, I’ve been very content with these updates and the directions the team has been working towards!
Dekarous
Fair. We could definitely add the wrinkles back and make her a bit more authoritative (I think just a soft redesign of the brows could really help here)
Dekarous
Yes, we have that in our plans. Ideally we're going to re-design all AI work by hand when we have the timeframe, and also the faces of the first Xenssei's works (the multi-domme scenes for example)
AretarZ
I think the rework one is overall better than the previous design, but the only problem I have with the rework version is that while her face looks more refined and smoother, it lacks the element of sadistic and angry of the old one. Since you mentioned that Ruby is the oldest one, I think it would be perfect if you give her more dominant presence. I'm not sure whether it is her eye lashes or pupils, but her face currently slightly lends toward sweet and pretty.
UmbralUmbreon
While I was personally a fan of the older design, I can’t deny that the rework is an improvement over it. I do have to ask though if eventually all characters will be reworked into a single artstyle before the final version of the game releases. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say having 4 different art styles (Shakie’s, the AI, Xenssei’s and the team reworks) would be a detriment to the game’s appeal.
