Purple Software's Unique Take on Text Boxes

[EastCoastDrifter]

I've been browsing through Purple Software's releases on VNDB, and I've noticed that starting from Hatsukoi Sacrament in 2010, they would deviate from the standard "text box at the bottom of the screen" formula and experiment on text boxes placed on the characters themselves. Though this practice wouldn't become common place in their works until Mirai Nostalgia in 2011 where it's been improved upon. Since then, all of their releases post-Mirai have used this new formula. Chrono Clock being the one I remember the most.

Personally, I like this format because it diverts my eyes to the character sprites while reading, making it easier to notice their expressions instead of having to look up constantly. What do you think of this format? Do you think it's effective or not? Also, what other companies have utilized this style of text boxes other than Purple Software?

[Norleas]

Studio Ryokucha utilizes that style in all games since 2007.

[Huang Ling Yin]

yeah, pure pure which me and my team translating also available in this "manga format"
but i dont like it, bcuz once it translated, sometimes the text didnt fit into the bubbles

[EastCoastDrifter]

28 minutes ago, Norleas said:

Studio Ryokucha utilizes that style in all games since 2007.

Oh, so they're the ones who started it I assume?

27 minutes ago, Huang Ling Yin said:

yeah, pure pure which me and my team translating also available in this "manga format"
but i dont like it, bcuz once it translated, sometimes the text didnt fit into the bubbles

Yeah, that is one disadvantage to this format. The boxes are too small and only accommodate the original Japanese text. By contrast, the original format has a lot of space, which is a big advantage for translations.

Edited February 12, 2018 by EastCoastDrifter
Typo correction.

[Darklord Rooke]

Every day in every way, VNs become more and more like interactive comics

[Huang Ling Yin]

1 minute ago, Darklord Rooke said:

interactive comics

[mitchhamilton]

1 hour ago, EastCoastDrifter said:

Personally, I like this format because it diverts my eyes to the character sprites while reading, making it easier to notice their expressions instead of having to look up constantly.

this. I do like sprites, and i like their expressions. a tad annoying to constantly be looking up after and or before every sentence. purple softwares method makes it so I can look at the sprites more often and i approve.

 

[VirginSmasher]

I appreciate what they do with their text boxes. It's not unique at all, but I like it quite a bit because it reminds me of manga in a way. 

[Asonn]

I hate it. I want to read with a calm state of mind and that is impossible when the text boxes jump from one place to the other. 

[Narcosis]

This isn't anything new - a bunch of studios experimented with such ways of storytelling. LittleWitch was the most notable company - they developed their own FFD (Floating Frame Director) engine to handle such text bubbles and used them in their games since 2002.

7 hours ago, EastCoastDrifter said:

Yeah, that is one disadvantage to this format. The boxes are too small and only accommodate the original Japanese text. By contrast, the original format has a lot of space, which is a big advantage for translations.

Only when you don't know how to handle their engines. Most games don't have them hard-coded and FFD's text bubbles are fully customizable.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Narcosis

[HMN]

3 hours ago, Asonn said:

I hate it. I want to read with a calm state of mind and that is impossible when the text boxes jump from one place to the other. 

Same 

[Norleas]

8 hours ago, EastCoastDrifter said:

Oh, so they're the ones who started it I assume? 

They are not the ones who started, but I think they are the first to only use floating box.

[Funyarinpa]

I really like the sound of this idea. It could work very well, but I'd presume that it'd require Muv Luv Alternative levels of budgeting and positioning/tweaking.

[Beichuuka]

One other VN I can think of that utilizes caption is Tapestry by Light.
I don't really have an opinion on these. They are fine, but I don't prefer them over the 'traditional' text box.

I can see these making trouble for localization,
though manga scanlations must have had to deal with these types of things forever so you could just go ask them for advise.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Beichuuka

[Ranzo]

I think that sounds like a nifty feature though I haven't seen it put into practice myself.

[Ashley Horizon]

Frill - a nukige branch from Visual Art's - also has the manga-esque textbox. I think those are a nice touch on the Visual Novel medium.

[ChaosRaven]

It does have some advantages. You clearly see who's talking and you look closer to the point of the face which is more natural in conversations. The bottom of the screen is also not obscured anymore by the text box, so you see more of the CG. On the other hand, the free text boxes can block parts of the image you'd like to see and having the boxes jumping from here to there might be annoying for some. In general, it's good for dialogs, but not so much for narration text.

I think Chrono Clock had an option to switch it off and show a traditional text box instead if you don't like it, if I remember right. That way it's a pure gain since everyone can choose what he wants.

[Kabu]

Chrono Clock does have an option to switch to a traditional text box instead, which is something that any VN that takes this method should have. Personally I still prefer the traditional text box as that's what I've grown used to and it's a lot easier to keep track of for me but this can be fun in its own way.

[Freestyle80]

Its there in Sorcery Jokers tbh it doesnt really make a difference, it was a bit of a different experience at times thats all 

[Clephas]

I've always had a preference for the bottom of the screen text box... but that's just me. 

[Dergonu]

Not a big fan of that style, to be honest. I too like the text box to be fixed in place at the bottom of the screen.

NVL can be pretty cool at times, though. I enjoy reading LNs etc in Japanese, since you read in the standard Japanese book style, from top to bottom. I haven't found too many VNs that does this.

KKK does, (even in the menus,) but uhh, not really ready to read that yet, lol. The prologue alone gave me a headache.

[littleshogun]

On 2/12/2018 at 8:21 AM, EastCoastDrifter said:

What do you think of this format? Do you think it's effective or not? Also, what other companies have utilized this style of text boxes other than Purple Software?

Well, more or less I think it didn't make any difference when I'd read Chrono Clock, so guess I'm pretty much okay with that. As for the effectiveness, it looks like interesting because you could see which people who talking without guessing, although to me it's not much different anyay since usually ADV have the name for the speaker. For other companies, there's both of Nitroplus and Alcot that use same style like Purple Software.

PS - By the way, I'm pretty surprised when I saw your new avatar and new name there, KonpekiUmi. Not that I'm gonna say about that anyway, since it's everyone right to have username change.

[EastCoastDrifter]

1 hour ago, littleshogun said:

PS - By the way, I'm pretty surprised when I saw your new avatar and new name there, KonpekiUmi. Not that I'm gonna say about that anyway, since it's everyone right to have username change.

Unrelated topic to the thread, but yeah, I was KonpekiUmi on here. You see, several months ago, I was going to change my username anyway because I was becoming dissatisfied with it, and also because I feared that its meaning would be entirely wrong, given the abundance of Japanese speakers on here. However, at the same time, I became busy with college prep and a whole slew of jobs to do, so I became inactive for a year and totally forgot about the name change. It wasn't until recently that I came back on and I suddenly remembered that I needed to change my username, so that's what happened.

I'm not exactly well-known on the forums anyway, so I highly doubt most people would remember me. I'm rather surprised that you did.

Edited February 14, 2018 by EastCoastDrifter

[Veshurik]

I know Studio Ryokucha uses some feature, and their games on custom engine, right? Sorry for late reply.

To be honest, I also love "Studio Ryokucha" games for such hard work on technical part. Insane work on sprites, animation and scenes overall.

Everything is very alive, jumping, moving, falling, and you feel very drawn into the process. it is clear that this requires a huge investment of time, so I rarely see such things...

I don't remember where I ever see such a high quality technical performance of VN. Maybe, "mirai" also (Destiny of Star Girlfriend).

 

If someone also know such level for other devs, tell me please.