The watercolor-style portraits

[Eivenne]

There are also hunderds of portraits we can find online which look very similar to PoE's style. Now, if watercolor portraits will be used in conversations for every companion, we basically won't be able to use external portraits, because only our PC won't have one. I do hope they will reconsider that or at least make it optional. Of course you can argue that it's not a big deal, but those small things can make or break immersion.

[Merany]

That's why the game should move away from hand-drawn portraits and move to facial in-game shots. AFter all the new engine allows for great character models.

 

That said, though, I prefer portraits of all NPCs that nome. Even if its watercolor

That's an absolute no. Please, never do that. They tried with Tyranny and it was awful.

As for the stretch goal itself. I think it's cool. Low commitment, won't break the game, won't change the way important NPC are portrayed, just a nice touch for added roleplay.

[Osvir]

There are also hunderds of portraits we can find online which look very similar to PoE's style. Now, if watercolor portraits will be used in conversations for every companion, we basically won't be able to use external portraits, because only our PC won't have one. I do hope they will reconsider that or at least make it optional. Of course you can argue that it's not a big deal, but those small things can make or break immersion.

 

If Obsidian goes the way Amentep mentioned (they create 6 faces, 6 ears, 6 noses, 6 mouths etc. etc.), then they could probably create a ton of portraits, and there'd be more than enough for the Player to choose from for their PC (Custom Portrait or not).

 

​Otherwise I'd suggest Obsidian creates like 10 water colored portraits that are just a "Banner", specifically made for the PC.

[Heijoushin]

Completely agree with OP. I am hyped for POE and of course would love more potraits. But the examples presented in the backer update simply struck me as unprofessional looking.

[Yonjuro]

That's why the game should move away from hand-drawn portraits and move to facial in-game shots. AFter all the new engine allows for great character models.

 

 

 It would be nice to see that as an option. You can do it in PoE by taking a screenshot, pasting it into an image processing program ....

 

 Having it as a one button option in game would be nice. There aren't enough portraits to cover the majority of appearances you can give to your characters.

[Sedrefilos]

 

That's why the game should move away from hand-drawn portraits and move to facial in-game shots. AFter all the new engine allows for great character models.

 

 

 It would be nice to see that as an option. You can do it in PoE by taking a screenshot, pasting it into an image processing program ....

 

 Having it as a one button option in game would be nice. There aren't enough portraits to cover the majority of appearances you can give to your characters.

 

Yeah. Many games have done this. D:OS2 is going full character face shots this time. Wasteland 2 had that option of either screenshot or drawn portrait.

 

Some other thing I'd like to see, since they are going full portraits is make it easier to import custom ones. Like just upload them and edit them instantly than doing that size processing and naming in a picture editid program.

[Gromnir]

the watercolor portraits appeal to our aesthetic. sure, we liked iwd's jason manley offerings for character portraits, but for the little dialog window portraits, such stuff would be wasted.  will give the game a distinct look. nice little addition.  however, is kinda a stretch as a stretch goal.  there is ui customization at the same tier, and italian too, yes?  not complete "meh."

 

HA! Good Fun!

[LordCrash]

The watercolor portraits look nice, but to be honest, they aren't really that necessary and in my opinion they won't enhance the game that much. I would rather have them spend the money and time on a new quest or two than on dozens of portraits. 

 

2D artists make portraits, designers, writers and 3D artists make quests. Deciding against the portraits won't magically create time for the designers, writers and 3D artists to make more quests.

 

Apples and oranges, mate.

 

 

Personally, I really love the idea of the watercolor portraits and I also like the ones presented in the update. They neither look unprofessional nor inconsistent to me, quite the opposite.

Edited February 1, 2017 by LordCrash

[Justinian]

The watercolor portraits look nice, but to be honest, they aren't really that necessary and in my opinion they won't enhance the game that much. I would rather have them spend the money and time on a new quest or two than on dozens of portraits. 

 

The portraits will enhance every single NPC interaction in the game. They also are done by artists which means it will have nothing to do with quest designers and won't impact number of quests.

 

Besides, if I had a choice between enhancing every single NPC interaction in the game vs one or two extra quests I know which I would take.

[Yonjuro]

....

 

Some other thing I'd like to see, since they are going full portraits is make it easier to import custom ones. Like just upload them and edit them instantly than doing that size processing and naming in a picture editid program.

 

 

 

 Yes, I agree completely.

 

 As an aside, I hope the art team doesn't die a little inside when they see a suggestion like this. My first choice would be to have a beautifully painted portrait by one of Obsidian's amazing artists for each possible character I might want to play. However, there are too many of them, so ...

[Zitchiock]

Not necessarily true. They could use that money to hire people to do other projects rather than hiring artists to create these portraits.

[boffmoffet]

I think the style of the portraits is exciting. The wording of the stretch goal makes it sound like the main companions will maintain the old look, and the new style will allow for MANY portraits to be made in a timely manner. It would be great if they made all these portraits available for player made mercs.

Edited February 1, 2017 by boffmoffet

[LordCrash]

Not necessarily true. They could use that money to hire people to do other projects rather than hiring artists to create these portraits.

You really think they'd hire extra people for writing and designing two quests?

[LLaney]

An employee is very, very expensive

 

Now, it isn't my jurisdiction to provide up to date answers and examples about fig campaign business. I've sent word up the ladder that this subject could use some clarity. For now all I can provide is a link to one of Josh's many teases which includes an example of this style of portrait in context.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMC1lcrAqci/?taken-by=jesawyer1975

 

Please keep in mind that the above is only a mockup. Also, this is not portrayed in the mockup, but the player character and companion characters have their own watercolor style portrait to use in this UI.

[LordCrash]

This mockup looks already pretty good, I like it. This could really enhance the dialogues in PoE2, by all means visually.

[LLaney]

In my experience the playday after we tested the NPC portraits was a lot more memorable than the playday before

[Fluffle]

But isn't it a bit strange when in a discussion you have both kinds of portraits? I don't think they compliment each other, do they?

[LLaney]

But isn't it a bit strange when in a discussion you have both kinds of portraits? I don't think they compliment each other, do they?

 

The player character and companions will have their own watercolor style portraits that will be utilized in this UI. We all agree it looked very odd to have the fully painted portraits alongside the NPC portraits.

[LordCrash]

But isn't it a bit strange when in a discussion you have both kinds of portraits? I don't think they compliment each other, do they?

In dialogue screens all portraits will be watercolor. Every companion will get a watercolor version of their normal portrait as well if I understood the concept properly.

 

Edit: Ninja'd by somebody with real insight. 

Edited February 1, 2017 by LordCrash

[Fluffle]

Ah thanks for clearing that up. In the end it would mean we would see the fully painted portraits less often.

 

Ha sorry, I think then I'd prefer no watercolor portraits after all. However this is not a huge "problem" for me.

It's just a matter of preference.

 

And I feel like the fully painted portraits should never be replaced. I just like them too much

Edited February 1, 2017 by Fluffle

[LLaney]

Ah thanks for clearing that up. In the end it would mean we would see the fully painted portraits less often.

 

Ha sorry, I think then I'd prefer no watercolor portraits after all. However this is not a huge "problem" for me.

It's just a matter of preference.

 

And I feel like the fully painted portraits should never be replaced. I just like them too much

 

Someone is probably going to come after me for oversharing but I am FAIRLY certain you could replace the watercolor portrait with a (appropriately scaled & cropped) painted portrait as easily as you would override any portrait in POE1.

 

Time to leave before I say anything else!

[Fluffle]

 

Ah thanks for clearing that up. In the end it would mean we would see the fully painted portraits less often.

 

Ha sorry, I think then I'd prefer no watercolor portraits after all. However this is not a huge "problem" for me.

It's just a matter of preference.

 

And I feel like the fully painted portraits should never be replaced. I just like them too much

 

Someone is probably going to come after me for oversharing but I am FAIRLY certain you could replace the watercolor portrait with a (appropriately scaled & cropped) painted portrait as easily as you would override any portrait in POE1.

 

Time to leave before I say anything else!

 

 

Yeah but then wouldn't you have both types of portraits in a dialogue again?

 

What I would like is to only see the fully painted portraits. So in other words, an option to switch the watercolor portraits completely off.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Fluffle

[Tigranes]

Depending on how it's coded, it might be as simple as creating a blank watercolour portrait and using it to overwrite all watercolour portrait files, or something like that, if you were really determined to exorcise them.

[Silent Winter]

 

 

If it applies to PCs what happens when you have a custom portrait? Can you import a custom watercolor or do you get a blank head or...?

 

I guess it's the same case than BG with different size portraits. I gues you'll be able to change both your portraits since they are different files.

 

And how I'm gonna make meself a watercolor-style custom portrait using my other custom portrait? Not everyone's that handy with pix software.

 

check out Fotosketcher (free software) - takes a little fiddling, but no real talent, and can produce some good results

(though admittedly not quite the same style as the examples shown as it doesn't provide the black outlining)

Edited February 1, 2017 by Silent Winter

[anameforobsidian]

 

Ah thanks for clearing that up. In the end it would mean we would see the fully painted portraits less often.

 

Ha sorry, I think then I'd prefer no watercolor portraits after all. However this is not a huge "problem" for me.

It's just a matter of preference.

 

And I feel like the fully painted portraits should never be replaced. I just like them too much

 

Someone is probably going to come after me for oversharing but I am FAIRLY certain you could replace the watercolor portrait with a (appropriately scaled & cropped) painted portrait as easily as you would override any portrait in POE1.

 

Time to leave before I say anything else!

 

 

Thanks for all the info!