Dynamic, Nuanced Expressions

Oftentimes, visual novels employ a limited range of emotions for budgetary reasons. Sometimes, as little as seven flat faces (happy, sad, mad, etc.) are used for the entire story. I find this a bit lacking— especially when the story calls for much more emotional nuance.

While it’s impractical to encompass every emotion, I try to give creators substantially more range by splitting up the .psd into several parts: Eyebrows, Eyes, Mouths and special FX.

This way, you can create hundreds of different emotions to better convey the characters’ exact mood. It is more time-consuming than simply using a few flat faces, but will greatly enhance the reading/playing experience and hopefully be fun for you, the author, as well.

Note: Only the eyes change here, but it defines the entire emotion.

What’s included in the MC Pack?

Everything a character needs for their story! Characters that are shy, stoic or reserved will obviously have less faces than a flamboyant extrovert. By default, what’s included is:

10 eyebrows: default, confident, angry, sad, furrowed, serious, confused, anxious, raised, mellow

10+ eyes: default, sincere, half-lidded, narrowed, surprise, shock, avert, avert half, closed, sad.

Additional eyes (character personality dependent) may include: wince, wink, ^_^, psychotic, dead inside, wobbly/crocodile tears, starry eyed, heart eyed, -_-, o_O, >_<, T_T, x_x etc. Depending on how comedic your character / project is, you can give them more silly faces.

14+ mouths: defaults included for all characters are :| :) :] :D :( :T :v :{ :/ >:[] :{ :/ :T :o :O D:<
Additional mouths (character personality dependent) includes :S :P :3 c: :F :0 P: :< etc

How exaggerated or wide a mouth opens can tell a lot about the character. Whether they wear or don’t wear lipstick, etc.

Special fx: blush, nervous sweat, gloom
Additional fx (character personality dependent): shock, sigh, sweat drop, crocodile tears, subtle tears, T_T tears, sparkles, dreamy, flowers, wink star, gloom, tired, stress, doom, anger / veins, disgust, whistle, chatter, deep blush, comic blush, idea, frustration, heart, question, exclamation

FX will be redrawn for every project, so no game has the exact same FX as another game. Not all characters will have all FX. Depends on tone of project and character personality, but you can of course request specific ones for your character if you feel anything missing.

Not all projects benefit from FX. If your game is more serious in tone, it may be better to use them sparingly, if at all.

I will choose at my own discretion which additional expressions to give which character, depending on the personality details you’ve shared. If you know you will need an emotion for story/plot purposes, just let me know and I’ll make sure to include it.

Below, are some additional tips for using the files.

Try Unorthodox Combos

I name brows and eyes in the .psd based off certain emotions, but definitely don’t feel bound by their namesake. Sometimes, a mix of unorthodox or conflicting emotions might make for the best result. (Sad brows + Narrowed eyes + Happy mouth = Sarcastic face?)

Play with Contrast

Show off a character’s sarcasm by mismatching what’s spoken and what’s on their face. A pissed off “Thank you” or a cheerful “Go to hell” is always fun. Or for more serious situations, pair a face that’s incongruent with the dialogue, to hint that the character may not be speaking what they feel inside. Maybe the character that’s breaking inside says, “I’m fine” with a forced smile.

Subtle Changes Speak Volumes

Try keeping the eyes & mouths the same and adjust only one element: Just the brows, just the mouth OR keep brows and mouths the same, but change only the eyes. Ever so subtle changes between slides can signal a change in mood or story direction.

Reduce File Size

When you receive the .psds, you can batch export each layer as its own transparent .png file. (Make sure you do not choose the crop empty space option, and then everything should align.) I recommend coding the eyes, brows and mouths as separate layers inside the game. You can also export out flattened sprites, but you may wind up with a lot of files!