So I’d like to know what are your thoughts on having pictures to better depict the scenery being described in the writing. Or having a set picture of the other characters.
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Honestly? I hate it and appreciate the option to turn them off when that’s in place. Maps I suppose could be alright, but I’d rather fill in the blanks on my own when it comes to how people and places and objects look.
In short, please just give an option to turn images off.
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I see 
. Well I certainly don’t want anything that would make the reader’s experience unenjoyable, so I’ll nake that an option yes.
Btw is it because it might conflict with your image perception of the characters?
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In part, yes. Some of it is probably preference-based, some is more that I find a lot of the art (particularly if AI generated) to be samey to a rather annoying degree. Also the eyes are almost always too “wet” looking 
. And everyone’s 16.
I could go on.
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I get you. I can see how that would be uncomfortable for some readers.
It’s up to the author, ultimately, which is why I so appreciate being given the option to toggle them on and off. If it’s part of the author’s vision and important to them, I’d prefer they have it just as much as I prefer being able to not have it for myself.
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I’m mostly unable to visualize what I read, so I appreciate a picture or two.
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And this is the bigger reason I say just give me an option to turn them off. Not everyone can visualise.
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Hi!
Actually there was a similar discussion recently about characters portraits, here’s the link if you want to take a look:
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I hate it. I only play few games with them and only if is something like vampire. The add or motto of Cog is “fueled by the bast power of your imagination” Putting images of how you autor imagines the characters is vanishing and destroying any chance of me as reader imagine them. Then you sell you see X and attractive and I only see someone I consider all except such. That image just have cheapen and damage my view of characters forever.
As writer you have to trust in your description and the power of your narrative; nor on images that have zero to do with writing.
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I’m of the same opinion as the majority of people that commented above me, I hate it too! 
I like to visualize the characters the way I want to and I like to imagine the escenery the way I like, too. So when authors put images it kind of ruins the fun. When there’s an option to turn them off, I always click it.
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I should probably add that I’m almost as bad retaining visual imagery as conceiving it, so pictures included with the text rarely create so strong an impression as to impact my enjoyment of the work. And at best, I can take it or leave it. But written character descriptions without accompanying images tend to go in one eye and out the other for me.
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I wander what’s the point of your imagination when 90% of the writers here give you so many explicit and implicit description anyway… And, worst offender, the infamous but thou must.
I think reader’s imagination is pretty dead at this point, or it starts stinking like decay
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I’ve done a poll about this a long time ago, maybe you can find some more information there.
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Some stories and games do better with graphics. Some are better told and explored through words.
There are many different engines that present stories and games in different ways, and I believe that is why some projects end up moving to different platforms.
The same description can evoke different imagery in different people. For example, a “lace cuff” can be interpreted in as many different ways as people who read “lace cuff” … I believe reader imagination is both vibrant and alive.
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Fair enough. But then… Why choice if you most get a series of text based predeterminate action and reaction or fake choices?
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Because a story and a game are both limited in scope to what is written by the author and developer… not even life itself is unlimited in this sense.
A lot is made of “fake choices” which with the advances made in Choice Script is somewhat dated and even archaic.
Flavor-rich choices, of which artwork can be a part of, can enhance the experience of a reader, especially when the reader uses such devises to overcome specific limitations of their own.
Why do chefs use different flavor profiles when the nutrients of food remain the same, no matter how you prepare and serve the meal? Because it changes the experience of the eater, with no two experiencing exactly the same meal.
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I’m a little confused by the idea some people have that images are contrary to CoG’s description of their games as “without graphics.” They’ve never released a game with graphics, they’ve occasionally released gamebooks with illustrations. I’ve never heard the illustrations in a conventional text-based book referred to as “graphics.” There are graphic novels, of course, but they tell their stories as much through visuals as through text. Still images that aren’t an inherent part of the story are illustrations, not graphics. And CoG games have always had cover art, which usually depicts characters and which I have rarely seen complained about.
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I have no problem with images as long as they aren’t
eldritch horrors
or sex offenders
of caricature.
Also preferably images are the same style as boxart(or whatever it’s called)
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Your sacrifice will be remembered.
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