Yeah, voice overs are expensive, but what about portraits?

[Nakia]

People seem to forget that this is a low budget game made by a small team.  It is filled with detail.  I am constantly being surprised by things I find and that others find and post.  I also think it is unfair to compare it to games that have had expansions and mods added to the original games.  There is nothing wrong with stating what we would like to see in the future but to voice complaints about the game is doing the developers an injustice in my opinion.  To me it is obvious that they worked hard on this game, put a lot of creative work into it.  Talented people worked on this game.  They deserve our appreciation.

[Crucis]

Still, it is kinda interesting question.

 

How much does it cost to create one mini-portrait for major NPC, over voice overing his key lines of dialog?

 

Is it possible that voice work is less expensive that portrait creation?

 

I doubt that the size of the portrait affects its cost much here.  After all, the artist isn't creating a portrait that's what?  110 by 40 something pixels.  He's creating a much larger portrait that eventually gets resized.

 

 

 

Still, it is kinda interesting question.

 

How much does it cost to create one mini-portrait for major NPC, over voice overing his key lines of dialog?

 

Is it possible that voice work is less expensive that portrait creation?

I have no idea but if I was able to choose one over the other I would choose the voice over. A static portrait would add little for me but the voice does add a lot.    

 

 

 

Honestly, I think that the combo of a nice pic and voice-over really makes the important NPC's come alive, but is it worth the cost?  I don't know, particularly since I don't know how much these portraits cost on an individual basis.  But if they weren't too costly, it would have been nice to have portraits for a few of the really major NPCs, such as Lady Webb, Lord Raedric (both versions) would probably be my first two choices.

 

Then on a second level, possibly, the leaders of each of the 3 factions in Defiance Bay.

 

On a third level, maybe Duc Aivar and the clan leader you meet with near the beginning of Act 3.   You don't interact with them often, but they are major NPC's in terms of their importance, I suppose.

 

After this, there's really no one all that important that might justify the cost of the pic.  You're starting to get into NPCs who are merchants or innkeepers, etc.  About the only one in this group that stands out a little might be the Aumaua woman who runs the Salty Mast.  It might be nice to have a pic of her, but hardly all that important.

[bonarbill]

Also: yes, in some cases, art is more expensive than VO.

 

Yes, even for a "small" portrait.

 

As an artist, I can tell you I could probably do a portrait for a few major characters in a little of a day.  A small portrait is cheap to make, but add that into the overall art budget, then it becomes expensive.

Edited June 9, 2015 by bonarbill

[Luzeryn]

As long as they don't reuse portraits just so every important character can have one (I hate that in Wasteland 2), I agree.

[Obsidian sucks]

I am happy for limited VA, but NPC's should have portraits because a picture can paint a thousand words. 

[s13ep]

Art also costs a lot of money, especially if you're asking for the Mona Lisa.

 

However, more art would be great.