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General Poll - artwork in text-based games (Patreon)

Published:
2021-06-12 16:50:26
Imported:
2026-06

Content

There is a growing movement to include artwork in text-based games despite the fact that they are largely text-based. Visual novels, games built in Twine, and even recent games by Choice of Games (such as Night Road) make use of more professional artwork. These games still largely use text, but the artwork lifts the overall polish of the game and provides a visual depiction of major characters or events.

The largest trade-offs for using artwork in a game are the time it takes to produce the artwork and the cost of the artwork. Some single pieces of artwork could take 2-3 months to produce. They also can be expensive. On average, original artwork that includes the rights to own the piece can cost several hundred dollars and up. Intricate and complex artwork in color with lines and shading can cost over $1000. Some games choose to recoup that cost by increasing the price of the game or by funding through support by patrons during development, such as using Patreon or Kickstarter.

In this poll, I want to get your sense on how much you value artwork in games.

Comments

Amir

Honestly, I personally think that putting an artwork into the text-based novel would limit the imagination of the reader. If the artwork are limit to the the prologue or epilogue then i don't mind much but if the artwork are put throughout the story then it's pretty much aren't "text-based novel" any longer.

jimdattilo
>>61738373

I actually tend to agree with you. It's why I don't specify things like race. In this way you can make the story be about people you can visualize as you see fit. But I also really enjoy some artwork. My vampire game will have about a dozen character portraits. I do think it will be a good test to see how people like the artwork.

Kaede Ayamine

I recommend against it, not even Dating Sims like Wayhaven Chronicles have official artwork for each character

Paradigox

Okay, so here's my (probably unnecessarily ;P) detailed thoughts. I think about this a lot, so the more I consider HG or COG becoming like those other platforms, the more I don't want them to go that route. Honestly, I love that they're staying (kinda) close to their roots despite what other interactive story mediums are doing. I've definitely noticed an uptick visual-esque stories gaining popularity, but I reckon simple text-based is still well appreciated, too...well, as far as me and my friends feel, that is. We've had the occasional convo about this before. I do like when writers add art before/under chapter headers, portraits of NPCs, and/or provide detailed maps. I definitely appreciate the latter, because it helps give an idea of the PC's surroundings if they're on the move a lot with tons of different locations. Regardless all of that is completely optional and not automatically expected. I understand why readers might want visuals and/or even music as they play. Even so, I enjoy how simple COG and HG games as they currently are. Even though I do keep up with a handful of stories on Twine, itch.io, etc., I don't really play them when I'm out and about the house or bored and need something to do. A lot of them are executable files, so they require a computer or need internet if they're coded in browsers, which can be a pain in the ass if you don't have consistent wifi. I live out in the country, so needless to say, my internet isn't all that reliable 😆 I also hate that if I switch tabs on the browser ones, the page usually refreshes when I click back a few minutes later, and I oftentimes lose my progress. Auto saves or remembering to do a manual save frequently only goes so far. It doesn't help that they seem to freeze up more often than COG or HG games, so that can increase the chances of losing saves or the page you were on. That's not even mentioning that most of the more visual stories I've seen or find myself interested in aren't complete upon publication, unlike the bulk of COG and HG games. Unless the incomplete story gives frequent-ish updates with enough material that lets me replay vastly different routes or even try creating a whole new character to keep hyped between waiting for the next update, there's a high chance that I'll lose interest or forget what happened by the time we get fresh material. With many stories, these updates also only include a chapter or two, so playing different routes doesn't take long or change much. The way COG and HG does things gives us the opportunity to play a story in one (and very long, depending on the word count 😁) sitting literally the day it's published. Barring that, I can equally break up the chapters into chunks that'll let me jump back into the story if I don't finish it all at once. I love having the choice to do that or not, because sometimes I wanna just binge read and finish a completely published book that day, and other times I stretch it out and take my time. When it comes to playing different routes if there are several ways to mold your PC's life, I end up doing both methods of reading frequently. Stories like ZE:SH is a perfect example of getting HUGE updates, even though it's not done yet. It doesn't help that other platforms seem to crash more often than COG or HG games, too, so that can increase the chances of losing saves. When writers on COG or HG add more content/update with a new part, I don't have to worry about losing my progress up to where the previous part ended, because we're given options to just jump straight to that part after the update or the email-based save system is very reliable. On that note, though, I do wish it was possible to delete old saves from the list 😅 Anyway, playing COG and HG on the go is also a breeze. There's the added bonus that their apps work well on pretty much all phones and you don't need the latest iPhone or Galaxy to play them. If you're playing a browser based game on the go, sometimes older devices take forever to load, even if you've got good wifi. That's the issue I had with my old gaming phone before I upgraded. Before that, the bulk of games I could play on it were basically just from HG and COG, because it lagged so bad. My last -- and biggest -- concern with adding art, soundtracks, etc. is it becoming commonplace or the sort of thing more established writers do because they might have more resources. This could put a lot of pressure on new writers to do that stuff, too. When you're first starting out as a HG or COG writer, everyone is on (kinda...?) level ground when they publish their first book. There's exceptions, of course, such as a WIP gaining a lot of followers on the forum before that first publication, but even those writers weren't instantly well-known from post 1. As a newbie, writing an interactive story and hoping it gets enough attention that you might one day become one of those established writers is stressful and intimidating enough as it is. Then if they are published, I worry about new readers who are discovering COG and HG just brushing off these books or leaving reviews on how playing it wasn't as good or interesting or immersive as [insert game with tons of art] because the newbie's book should've had art, music, etc. That could be really disappointing. You all already get tons of reviews of people saying you should put that stuff in despite every story description saying plainly that the apps are text-based with little to no art. I can already imagine a lot more WIPs not being finished or stories with a lot of untapped potential not even attempted if new writers notice how their fellow writers fared. I hope this makes sense haha sorry for the ramble! 😔 I do have a few other reasons why I prefer HG and COG over the others, but I'll leave it at that LOL

Robert Scott VanHoose

I appreciate some may value the artwork and the effort which goes into it. However as a gamer with zero visual acuity and zero light perception the artwork has a little value for myself. It’s not that I don’t care about the artwork it just has no value in regards to the game in my particular situation.

Sarah Winters

I'm middle of the road with this. Yes, I like to see the odd piece of artwork scattered throughout a text-based game, but only places where scenes take place to help the reader get a better sense of their characters environment - such as what was done with the junkyard. As others have said, having an image of characters takes something away. I know writers have to speculate to accumulate, but if artwork costs that much, then I don't think the cost of artwork would be offset by upping the price of the game (or at least, not by a worthwhile margin).

6267

I think artwork for setting and scenery only, would be okay, to help better visualize.But I don't think there should be artwork for characters, because everybody imagines them differently and a "canon" look would throw it off.