Messages

1

Modding / Re: Adult Mod, 18+ only!

« on: June 14, 2010, 12:01:17 am »

Actually, there's a child size of Naija too, I'd say she's in/past her teens in the game

The child sprite is similar in aspect ratios to the version played in the game.  It has smaller breasts, but overall a similar body shape.

Mia is just big.

Here I would have to fairly emphatically disagree.  If she were "just big", then she would look like a scaled-up Naija, and that she clearly does not.  Her aspect ratios much more closely resemble those of an adult - her curves are more pronounced, her head is no larger than Naija's, her legs taper more.  In every way she looks not larger, but more like an aduld.

Additionally, if Mia were just big, then the sprite for Lucien's girlfriend would more closely resemble Naija, and it doesn't.  It is clearly based (and the same size as) on the same adult template that Mia is.

Also, what child knows how to articulate so damn well?

I perhaps have not been clear enough that I've been referring to her visual appearance.  But if you want to speak of behaviour, while the speaking is exceedingly articulate, the non-verbal behaviour is young and quite cutesy - the giggling when she changes clothes, the little sigh when she hugs Li.  In fact, pretty much every in-game look, sound-effect, and behaviour except for the narration is fairly cutesy.

So really, I'm not going to change anything. It's a nude mod, not a sexy mod. I've kept the most original body shape as possible.

This is fine, it is your mod after all.  I should point out that my goal was not to promote a 'sexy' Naija.  In fact, this is specifically not my goal.  I really just want a Naija that is old enough for an adult to look at comfortably.  I don't like looking at nude pre-adolescents or tweens. 

Gobbo: I'm fairly certain the game makes the collision bounding boxes dynamically from the size of the sprite graphics. There are just too many creatures to have them all hard-coded. It would make changing any graphic element in the game a nightmare for the developers, and dynamically sized bounding boxes aren't hard to code.

Sindhi:  As mentioned above, I don't think any code changes are required to visually age Naija to a look that more closely resembles the age she is portrayed in the story.

2

Modding / Re: Adult Mod, 18+ only!

« on: June 13, 2010, 06:56:42 pm »

Compared to Mia, and considering that she is at a fertile age, she probably is somewhere in the 12-15 range.

I realize that in the context of the game she must be of fertile age. My comments were addressing the visual characteristics of her sprite.

"(and is a contrast to Li who does have hair)"

What do you mean? Naija has more hair than Li. Li only has a small mohawk, while Naija has a full head of white hair.

I apologize, I suppose I was unclear when I said "body hair".  I meant body hair as opposed to head hair.  South of the border... Li does have hair, and Naija has none.  Makes her look very child-like.

I just spent some more time looking at Naija's graphics trying to determine why else she strikes me as being so young.  I realize there are other strong visual cues that are making Naija look like a child.  One is her head size.  Children have a larger head-to-body size ratio, and that is a big visual cue to someone looking at a drawing as to how old the person is.  Naija's ratio is closer to that of a pre-adolescent child.  Also, the aspect ratio of the width-to-length of her legs.  The legs of a girl who is just pre-adolescent are almost as wide as they will be when she is grown, but pf course not as long.  As she enters adolescence and adulthood, they more "longer" than they get "wider", slimming them down.  In the game, Naija's legs are those of a pre-adolescent girl.  Finally, not just the width of the legs but they way the top of them connect on the sprite.  A good feminine curve sweeps in to the waist, out at the hips, and in again at the bottom of the hips as they meet upper thigh - the hourglass.  If you look at the original torso sprites alone, they look like they would follow this, but when the legs are attached in game, the tops of them eliminate some of the smoothness of the hourglass.  This adds to the tummy baby-fat look that makes her look very much like a child.

Naija's original sprites have obvious breasts, but the other visual cues are so strong, she looks like a pre-adolescent child.  So, some other things in this mod that could be done to make her look more age-appropriate:  Alter the head, I suggest 80% of its size.  Narrow the waist a touch along the inside curve (the one that is by perspective further away), narrow the upper legs - especially the upper outer curve where it makes a bump in the bum, and slight shading to outline abdominal muscles.  Here is an example of the above changes (keep in mind I am NOT an artist, so this is pretty rough).


If the above image doesn't work, go to: http://img217.imageshack.us/i/naijacomp.png/

3

Gameplay / Re: Missing cut scene - need help (spoilers)

« on: June 13, 2010, 05:16:04 pm »

Ok, I guess I did screw something up after all.  I went back to the third memory and even though when I went back there the cave was opened, I got the memory again and it told me of the new ending again.  Perhaps I saved on the crystal there before I got the memory, and restored without getting it again.  Anyway, I got the new ending. 

4

Modding / Re: Adult Mod, 18+ only!

« on: June 13, 2010, 03:13:11 pm »

An interesting mod.  I'm honestly not sure what to think of it, though, as Naija to me always seems so... young.  That's perhaps a criticism of the game, though, and not this mod.  She has the body shape of a quite young girl.  I know the breasts show someone somewhat older, but that's not what I mean.  The original end-body.png is best indicative of what I'm getting at.  The very slight hip curvature, from the angle she's drawn at, looks more like baby fat than hips.  It gives her abdomen the look of having the slight bulge of a younger girl's tummy.  For how short she is, her hip curvature isn't enough to make her look older.  She either needs to be taller (or more slender) with the same curve, or more curvier at this aspect ratio.  Look at end-body.png and put your thumb over the top half so you don't see her breasts.  It is the body shape of a girl of between 10 and 12.

You can also see what I mean if you look at the concept art.  There is one shot in particular where you see three versions of Naija - two of her slightly taller, more slender, looking like a woman, and one of her shorter and looking quite child-like.  It looks like it was a very conscious decision to make her look young.   Naija's general look of a young girl is compounded in this mod by the lack of any body hair.  Now this fact in and of itself is not bad, especially nowadays where this isn't as... fringe as it once was, and in context may even be expected in an aquatic creature.  It just adds to the feel of her as being very young (and is a contrast to Li who does have hair).  Additionally, in your mod the shading along the lower left of her abdomen (Naija's left) as her abdomen and left hip curve into her pubic area, is very 'deep' (continues from her hip towards her abdomen quite far) and emphasizes her abdominal 'bulge' as being child-like tummy.

All this contributes to the whole image of her being very young - unfortunately (to me) more so with this mod even than in the original game.  Perhaps it's my age, and the fact I have seen my daughters go through the body stage I perceive Naija to be at.  This mod, as it is, makes me slightly uncomfortable, like I'm not looking at a pretty woman, but at a naked pre-adolescent girl.  Especially as a father.

My suggestion is to slim out her body a little to change her aspect ratio.  Another idea that might even work better is to add some outlining in her abdomen to show the outline of some abdominal musculature - perhaps in concert with pushing the shading along her left side of her lower abdomen more towards her hip to 'flatten' out her tummy - this may give a better impression that her outer body curve is actually a lateral curve of her hips, and not a curve indicating depth.  Lastly, even a slight amount of body hair might give an older impression.

Please don't take this as a criticism of the concept of this mod.  I hope you will take it as constructive criticism to help make this better.

(Aside question - what is the suit that Alphasoldier has in his forum avatar?)

5

Gameplay / Re: Missing cut scene - need help (spoilers)

« on: June 13, 2010, 01:39:36 pm »

you just got Naija saying "you've become too focused on your immediate goal"?

No, I didn't get the "too focused" message.  I got the "Find me... my son" message at the very end (which I understand from other threads is what the memories unlock), but I didn't get the part with Naija and her mother.  I've seen part of a video on Youtube showing a fre-play segment after the credits, but I don't know how to get that to show up.  I haven't watched all the video, though, because I don't want to spoil the segment, but I would love to know how to get to the free-play portion.

6

Gameplay / Missing cut scene - need help (spoilers)

« on: June 13, 2010, 02:24:39 am »

I'm missing a cut scene somewhere.  I see people speaking of Naija being imprisoned by her mother in a crystal, but I never see that scene.  I went through the VOX files, and I found mia-and-naija.ogg that is the audio for a cut scene I never saw.  I haven't listened to it (just the first few seconds) as I would really like to see the cut scene.  Where does this show, and how do I get it? I unlocked all the memories, and got the little tidbit after the "the end", but that cut scene was nowhere.