Explaining our Art Direction

Late comment but i love this style so much! I cant imagine how delicious the food is gonna look ingame... I imagine it will look like how they draw food in anime! *Drool*

I'm a huge fan of illustration-y video games and this one is really hitting the spot. I like that it's there, but it's not totally in your face. There is still blending and shading, but the style is still present. It's a difficult thing to achieve and you're doing it perfectly. I'd imagine one of the hardest things perhaps is, how do you make that style flow through animations in like character creation? I'm really really excited to see more! <3

This is my dream game. This is exactly the art style i have always dreamt of, the cozy and soft background, Threes that move so softly in the wind, the blue soft moving oceans, cozy beaches and everything looks so Beautiful, put together and magical. I got very inspired from the goose game of how the world art style is in the environment, More smooth and cozy. I wished that it would come a simulation game like that. And the art style reminds me of that. i love this so much it fills my heart with joy. This art style is unique and make you calm, more interested in the environment and it really feels like a story and the parafolks feels more unique. i really love the outlines of the parafolks so much, and how the characters and environment differs from each other but still suits very well! I love every artwork of this game, how the water looks, the wavy hairs and dresses that moves, it is something i have always wanted. It makes the environment, the world more alive and the surroundings are a part of everything and it make a impact on the whole story, I could just look at this beautiful world for hours when this game will be released! I love when you see from the window in the game in some of the videos you have released, the threes and bushes and grass moving when a wind comes, it really looks like real wind, It is just so magical to me and it makes everything so real and full of beauty I am in love with this, You are doing such an amazing job I love this so much Thank you ❤️

i dream with this art style just get a crush on that

The art style has evolved in a wonderful direction I think :) you've all clearly put in a lot of thought and effort to take it to where it's going and it's in such a good place now. I think it is really unique (but not in a way that's jarring) and definitely identifiable.

I love the art style!

I like it!

I love the idea of having hand-drawn textures in games, we need more of that in general. It's so unique! I love it! Very good post, it made me smile :)

The art looks amazing! Thank you for sharing more of how you chose the style. It gives me the feels of paper cut characters I played with when I was a child and could put different clothes on. I love it!

Forcément, un choix artistique est soumis à l'appréciation de chacun et induit que cela ne plaise pas nécessairement à tous, chacun ayant sa propre sensibilité. Pour ma part, cette espèce de "cell-shading" me plait beaucoup, et je suis donc chanceux que ce choix artistique me plaise. Cela me rappelle les jeux Telltales d'une part, si vous connaissez (je pense particulièrement à leur jeux "The Walking Dead") qui utilisait le même genre de design art un peu "cartoon"/"manga", qui peut laisser suspicieux aux premiers abords, mais auxquels on s'habitue tout à fait et rend très bien, pourvu que ce ne soit pas trop minimaliste (je pense notamment à la 1ère capture d'écran de ce post où, parcontre, je trouve que les couleurs sont vraiment trop plats à mon goût. Et du coup je suis content que ça ait évolué quand même). Je pense également à un assez vieux jeu, pas aussi connu qui ne le mérite, "Dark Chronicles" sur PlayStation 2. Un jeu d'aventure fantastique bon enfant en 3D avec un gameplay excellent et qui utilisait également du cell-shading. Bref, ce choix de DA ne me donne que des bons exemples en tête. Et effectivement, même s'il y a un consensus parmi des joueurs qui préfèreront toujours une approche graphique "photo-réaliste", je pense que cela aurait été un mauvais choix. Déjà, je pense, pour la plus importante des raison technique : la performance graphique du jeu. Dans un jeu qui se veut en "monde ouvert", une DA "réaliste", c'est s'imposer un très, très lourd fardeau pour les graphistes mais aussi pour les gens en charge de la performance du jeu. Trop gourmand. Et l'autre raison qui me parait évidente, c'est qu'une DA "réaliste" aurait beaucoup, beaucoup trop fait penser à "cette autre franchise" de jeu de simulateur de vie. A un moment donné, il faut aussi faire des choix qui permettent d'avoir son identité bien marqué et affirmé et trop ressembler à un autre produit déjà sur le marché c'est se tirer une balle dans le pied, clairement. Donc, ce choix de "toon-shading" est aussi un choix de bon sens et pragmatique d'un point de vue "identité" du jeu. Certes ce toon-shading va déplaire à un certain nombre, mais choisir une approche de graphisme "réaliste", j'en suis persuadé à 2000%, vous aurait été beaucoup plus préjudiciable, car il aurait été certain qu'en bout de chaine, une multitude de joueurs vous l'aurez reprocher, en mode "ça ressemble trop à CE jeu". Donc voilà, à 5000% avec vous sur ce choix artistique, par ailleurs très beau et réussis. Un bravo à vos artistes. ;-)

It looks fantastic. I am really excited to play.

I wonder if the environment, the decor will be a bit mobile. I mean for example the grass, the candles, the curtains will it move with the wind?

I remember seeing something about Paralives years ago and only just re-discovered that it's still in development, and seeing the direction y'all are taking the art had me running to Patreon. I think it's stunning, unique, and you can really tell that thought and care is being put into it. I know some folks hate the cartoon look and want it to be hyper realistic but in my opinion the more artistic style stands out from the crowd in a really powerful way. Super excited to be supporting this project. :)

super!!

Such a beautiful way to incorporate art into the game! I am SO IN LOVE. Keep on keepin' on! Much love from North Carolina!

I adore the art style you've chosen, i cant wait to see it in it's entirety. I love that it reminds me of paper dolls. I'm sure folk who are partial to realistic and alpha type content won't be satisfied but l think people should also respect your constraint for what is realistic to the software and their vision for their labor of love

Not only is your art style extremely beautiful, it also makes so much sense ! I feel like this game will be so relaxing and pleasant to play, I am really looking forward to a live mode video once you're ready to show us one !

I love this art style honestly I never had a issue with the art style. I am soon graduating for Animation and motion graphics, as student I completely understand why this works perfectly, another of why I can’t wait to see the world in which our parafloks will be living in. As a student in animation I am happy that you have explained this to us it’s important and valid thank you.

I agree!

Thank you for deciding to stick with your chosen art style instead of just caving to whatever the community has to say. We may be the ones funding the project, but i think it's important for the developers to have a decent amount of freedom in what their game looks like, since they're the ones putting in any of the actual work. That said, I personally love the art style, and I'm really excited to see how it'll evolve even more over the years. Best of luck to you all <3

Your style is magnificent, it has a something of Zen, artistically relaxing.

I like the art style you've decided on - both the realism and the amount of detail! Thank you for this insight into your process/thoughts.

I honestly really love the art style being used for Paralives right now! Both the characters and the environment look really nice, and I like how the characters seem to 'pop' when compared to the furniture and whatnot. It all works really well together, I think.

I’m still having a hard time feeling immersed when going from Sunny Market vibes to feeling like a 2D paper doll was placed in the scene. I like the art style and concepts, they’re just not quite there yet. I like how the characters look and how the scenes look, just not how they look together.

Personally, I love the art style in Paralives, I don't want ultra-realistic characters. This style is unique to Paralives, which I think defines it as its own game and not a clone of something else. I have followed the Paralives Patreon from early on when it was just Alex on his own and although I liked the original style, I think the graphics have evolved really nicely and I am looking forward to playing the game when it comes out.

I really love the boldness of this style. It also has the benefit of being timeless - it will age beautifully.

I love, love, love it! It's beautiful, and I feel it'll be better for storytelling and pictures. At first I wasn't sure, because the environment lighting I saw the first couple of times made it feel like a great place for ultra realistic, but the more I see it, the more I adore it. Keep up the great work!

Umm my first comment got deleted for some reason so I’ll say it again I think the art style isn’t great but I’m still gonna play the game as long as it’s good.

I really like the current art direction. Keep up the good work :D

Thanks for this post. I've said it before, but it's always a good thing when one can know something definitively. I'm not supporting this endeavour for what I want it to be. I'm supporting the dreams of those working on it, for what it will be. Even if (for whatever reason) I were to play the game at launch and not really get into it, I'd still be satisfied that I helped get it to that point. Take the time you need, make the decisions you need, and here's to Paralives' launch down the road!

OH so it’s like anime! Well, the characters are more realistic than anime tends to be but I don’t think that’s an issue.

"At the end of the day, our main focus is the gameplay, not the aesthetics." THIS. This is why I've followed Paralives. If I'd wanted to play with lifeless dolls with no personality, I'd have been thrilled with The Sims 4. I want people with personalities and depth - that's a world. The Sims 4 is just a doll house. And I think what a lot of people aren't seeing is that the artstyle is MORE realistic in many ways. I've seen people's replicas of real life celebrities in the Sims 4 - they look NOTHING like who they're meant to portray - all the Sims characters could be anyone with different hair. I don't think that'll be the case with this game - I think when we try to recreate ourselves or a real person we'll be able to create characters that DO resemble those people enough that we won't actually have to TELL people who they are. Yeah, it's cartoonish, but it'll grow on people. The best games out there, the most popular games, are NOT the ones with awesome graphics - at all! The best games often have incomplete graphics - Rimworld to choose just one as example. Rimworld isn't popular because of graphics - it's not even 3D. It's popular because of DEPTH. And in that 'low graphic, 2D world, the "pawns" have MUCH MORE personality than The Sims 4 "people". Ridiculous that a 2D game that isn't a life sim, doesn't have that feature as the major point of the game, even, has so much more personality in it's "pawns" than The Sims 4 does as a so-called life sim! And it's not alone in this. Same goes for many other games. The games that stand the test of time are those with depth, not pretty graphics!

Explaining Why I'm Leaving I really don't like the hand-drawn para art style. It's not what I want in a sim game, and this won't be the first sim or game I've chosen not to pick up because the art style prevents me from getting immersed. I'm leaving your patreon. With luck, your modding tools will be sufficient that someone, down the road, will be able to change your characters to something I consider more appealing, and then I'll wait for a discount on the game and give the rest of the money to the modders. In other words, if you aren't listening to what someone like me says, it's time to talk with my wallet. Good luck, and I do mean that, because The Sims needs a competitor, and your tooling is certainly well above what they offer. I just can't get with your choice of art style, and I'm not going to pick up the game, so there's no point in supporting you going forward. ----- Edit: I don't want to be harsh on your artists, mind you. It's not that I don't think the art is well-done. In fact, I think they've done a stellar job of implementing the art style you've chosen. It's the style choice that bothers me, not the execution.

You have come a long way, and I know the destination is going to be sweet upon arrival. As yet I have had no reason to place any input. My attitude being, let's see where this is going. I have not been disappointed

I think the art style is fun and pleasing. And you sum up my opinion in that one sentence anyway - "gameplay is more important than aesthetic".

The art style is indeed well developed and I love the contrast between the characters and the background it’s very well thought about and visually pleasing. The character style at the moment is so beautiful and polished, I feel this will be one of those games that age well over time. I’m super super excited to see the development you wonderful lot put into the game this year ! 🥰😍🤩 it’s in its own lane already the vibe is there and it’s such an important thing to get right otherwise you have a stone cold game like the sims 4. I breeze past comments that even compare this to the sims 4, it’s impossible because this game is taking everyone’s feedback to be better and provide a fresh way of playing a simulation game. EA do everything they can to suck the money from their customers pockets without having any consideration for what the community want it’s lacking and it’s morphed into a 2 dimensional franchise sadly. I’m really looking forward to being fully immersed in this paraverse 😍😍

I really like your art direction, it will make Paralives to stand out. I don’t like when people treat Paralives as another sims game and want what they are used to, it deserves to be seen as it’s own game . I am also really curious about the Gameplay and looking forward to see a lot of it in the future

I personal like a more unrealistic style as people have said it ages better, doesn’t fit the uncanny look you can get when you try to be to realistic and I like how they’re focusing on an animation style that’s easy to animate. Like with sims 4 their style is difficult to animate which has led to recycled features and limited shallow gameplay so I’m glad they’re priorities ease of animation and graphics and art styles that fit that

I am glad to hear that you agree on gameplay being more important than graphics! Good gameplay makes you the player forget about graphics*, but good graphics can't save bad gameplay. (*provided the graphics don't scare people off *cough*DwarfFortress*cough* or are so bad as to mess with the playability.) I am looking forward to seeing what you can create for the livemode - I hope we players get to feel a vibrant and lively game, with opportunities (for good and bad), challenges and surprises!

This style is beyond adorable.

I prefer a cartoony/artsy style over a hyperrealistic one and I like the art style Paralives has gone with so far 🤩 The haters will always be the loudest, but that doesn't mean they're the majority

I absolutely love the artsy style! I couldn't imagine it any other way! Definitely looking forward to everything y'all do!

I would just like to understand the red face and knees. Is that an intentional part of the art style? I would be fine with the art style if it wasn’t for those out of place, strange elements. Even Marvin’s upper cheeks were much paler than the rest of his face.

I adore the hand drawn/painted feel. It is so different from the realism many current games go for (don't get me wrong, I love Bethesda and that is their style, but nice to see a change). I have always adored the tell tale games for this asethetic, and Borderlands (though I have played that minimally, mostly I just watch Youtubers haha).

I'm loving it, everything about the direction the team is heading for Paralives!! I'm in it for the long haul and have been when it was only Alex... and now I'm loving his awesome team and the creative journey all of you are taking us on!! Thanks always for sharing!!

I love it!! And I knew it reminded me of demon slayer for a reason haha

I love the amount of thought that has gone into everything in this game. You can see that you really want to make a wonderful thing. Much love to the whole team ❤️

These latest images look good but some of the previous images just looked so off and uncanny. I like the style so I hope the end result wont be uncanny like some of those previous images

Is there any chance to add RTX features to the world . I.e reflections. Atmospherics ( dust , fog . Mist. Smoke , fire , ) . Shadows , color shading

So ultimately, not everyone is gonna like the artsttyle. It's a very subjective topic. Even if you go ultra realistic to please the dissenters, you're gonna end up alienating people like me. Who prefers the stylistic approach. All you can do is have decent enough modding tools, I guess. I personally like it. I like how I can glance at it and go. Oh, that's a para! I love how not everyone looks generically hot, and instead the premades seem to embrace life's quirks. I like how it's Not steering into the uncanny valley, in an attempt to reach realism. Now, sometimes I think. hey, these guys stand out too much. But I think that will vanish when the gameplay kicks off. In a still image, the characters from persona 5 stand out too much from their environments. Especially outside of dungeons. While playing it though, I don't notice that. Instead I can easily spot my teammates from a cluttered scene, without even thinking about it. So I'm assuming Paralives will have that quality too. If there's one thing I'd want though, it would be more of an emphasis on light and shadow on the Parafolk. As is, they seem a bit on the muddy side. Even the comparison pic you had next to Sebastian had stronger shadows.

Love that the style of environments is different from the Paras, just like in real life!

I love the art style so much, its very unique and has so much personality!

I LOVE the art style and hand painted/drawn style of this. I don't think it's fair to compare it to Sims 4 or any other game because it's MEANT to be uniquely reflecting this Team's Vision. Definitely stay true to yourself and I can't wait to play!

I think it’s gorgeous! So unique and personally I love the two art styles together. I get it’s not for everyone, especially since it’s so different than the simulation games we’re used to.. but that’s the point! I love that the developers want you to be able to look at it and immediately know that it’s Paralives, not any other game. I’m glad they are staying true to their visions

I love it and like that it will be something unique to your game.

You guys never cease to share your visions with us and to listen to everyone when ideas are put forth. And that fact sets you sooo far above the other game developers out there these days. I love the art style and am so proud to be able to support its development! Keep up the phenomenal work, guys!

I have to be honest, as it is right now, I still don't like how the characters don't feel at home with the environment. I do understand the reasoning and art is subjective. But the one single thing the Sims 4 got right is graphics. Everything feels like it belongs. I feel like you don't want to break immersion. There's ways for your characters to stand out without the style being so... disconnected. But that might be just me. Still love the development of the game.

Hi, I really like the work of Jasmin Habezai-Fekri too 👍 Thank you very much for your work and for the updates !!! ^^ ☺️

It's amazing to see how far you've come in two years! The art style is insanely beautiful. Can't wait to immerse myself in that world! <3

gosh i love this art style even more now- it’s so cool to see the references and i love that they based them off of that cute anime feel :,>

Honestly, I think it's ridiculous that people are complaining about the art style which, in my opinion, is one of the few things the devs shouldn't need the potential players' opinions on. Technical/proportion issues, yes, but style, no. With that said, I love the art style, mainly because the details in the face make it so each Parafolk looks *different* from each other. Sebastian, Marvin, and Maggie all clearly look like different people because of the art style. I can't quite verbalize why, but the distinction in each face is there, and that's what matters to me. You guys are awesome for what you do and I can't wait to pick Paralives up when it gets released.

Great explanation. I hope this Patreon post becomes public and shared on Twitter in the near future because this is helpful context

I love this and I’m more concerned about the gameplay anyway! ☺️I’m just wondering how that will play into generations?

I love the anime inspired art style choice it’s different from what I am used to in a life simulation game. I have a feeling this game will be perfect for me.

Look, I don't care how you envision you're paras, just give me control of the game and I'll be happy. Don't take my previous statement as me disparaging your work, I've always been more about gameplay than art style. Create your vision, please let me recreate it in my own way though

Thank you for giving us an insight in the thought process about the art style as well as the progress! Very interesting! ☺️ It is definitely subjective about what people like but it’s your project and I’m happy you guys are happy with it! Even though I would like it (mostly the Paras) to be a bit smoother and not as harsh in details, I still like it. It looks cute and I like how you guys mixed a few styles (like with having the hair smoother). Good job guys and keep up the good work! 😁

I love seeing the team's process and watching the game evolve! The characters are so cute and the environment feels dreamy and peaceful. I can't wait for the day I go on social media and see everyone posting screenshots of their game ;-;

Unfortunately, art styles are largely a matter of personal taste, so there is no way you will ever please everyone. I personally love the direction the look of the game as gone. I think it looks unique and fresh! I don't want just another sims look alike. I think you guys are doing a great job!

It is a nice insight and an interesting read... but it doesn't really change my opinion of the new look. I get you want them to pop out, but for me it ends up with them feeling "off" and much more uncanny than the previous iteration.

I love the way the art direction has gone so far. It's unique and expressive without being overly exaggerated. Definitely can't wait to see it continue to grow and improve in the future.

Thanks for your first patreon post Chloe. Very informative and easy to understand. :)

I’m in love with the art style and how far it’s come already. You guys make up an incredible team and I know this game is in amazing hands. I can’t wait until it’s playtime! 🥰

i love the concept

Tbh I'm not a huge fan of the way the paras look now but the gameplay is the most important thing to me AND it's probably going to be easy to eventually find a mod that changes the look to something more to my liking. At the end of the day it's the team's decision how their game looks and there's no way to satisfy 100% of the players either way

This is so exciting! I’m loving the hand drawn look. Sometimes the hyper realistic stuff creeps me out like the ads I get for IMVU - their faces weird me out. The inspiration of hand painted background will really add to the sense of serenity when we play. Can’t wait to see how this continues to develop.

you have had an incredible progress, wonderful work 🥰

I mean the art style isn’t ideal but I’m still gonna play the game it’s not that big of a deal as long as the game itself is amazing.

It's really interesting to hear the details of the design choices, I like that there is a distinct style!

I think it looks pretty nice, but I would like to see some pictures without the outline around the para folks to see how it looks and maybe request an option to disable the outline (like in Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

So far I've loved what I've seen from you guys!