Spyke

Help me out: which looks better for the Duck - the neck tie or the bow tie?

So I'm re-doing some of my Do Not Press The Button (Or You'll Delete The Multiverse) character models and I have this duck that is kind of inspired by the Companion Cube in Portal. I want to make it as appealing as possible so the players will attach to it and carry it around with them. Which looks better! I'm more partial to the neck tie (because I like wearing them) but what do you guys think?

(If you want to follow how development of the game is going, a simple wishlist on Steam will be well appreciated STEAM )

View original on lemmy.world

It looks too high up to me, maybe a little to large. It's definitely too close to it's bill.

2

My issue is the disparity of the pictures, with the bowtie picture having the duck's entire neck almost completely in shadow, while the shadow is comparatively minimized on the necktie image. It'd be nice to see both options under both light and dark conditions.

That said, I currently prefer the necktie; it provides an element to the rest of the body. I'm the bowtie picture, everything is happening around the head - beak, eyes, hat, bowtie - leaving the rest of the body comparatively empty.

54
lemmy.world

Bow tie, but lower on the neck. Very dapper :)

(Also, in the future maybe post identical bodies/relation to background. There might be some subconscious preference occurring based on subject's proximity to viewer or foot appearance.)

46

Please swap both tie and hat! Also, make one other hat the classic pinwheel hat. :B

1
Odigo2020reply
lemmy.zip

I like the bowtie better, but I feel it gets lost in the shadows of the duck head. So, I'm leaning towards the necktie, just for visibility sake. I wonder what embiggening both tie styles a bit would do.

6

I agree with this. The tie looks too business/professional. The bowtie has a certain charm. But it needs to be like "neon bus seat" design. You know the one I'm talking about. Or like water cups from the 90s.

0

Bow tie but it seems a little too high on the duck's neck imo, should be moved down closer to the body a smidge

18

Bowties have been out of fashion for so long they just look silly most of the time. That seems like exactly what you'd want for a character who's supposed to be whimsical.

Also a necktie doesn't go with a tophat. For reasons I can't explain, that kind of incongruity looks more accidental than it does whimsical.

17
lemm.ee

The neck tie is less crowded. The bow tie with the hat and the ducks bill has a lot going on all in the same area. Maybe if the bow tie was lower or overall there was a little more space, it'd work better.

16
swg-empire.de

The neck tie has the appeal of flapping around in the wind.

15

Unfortunately most of the game takes place indoors so no wind, but I can make it to flap around when you carry the duck which is a cool idea

13

I like the necktie. I love neckties in real live.

Bowtie is still the clear winner for me and apparently the general opinion. But it is your duck, your opinion matters most.

2

Flip a coin and choose the one you secretly wished for during the flip

11

Neck, but the bow would also look great if it was a little lower

10
lemmy.zip

Bow tie, it makes the ducks neck look a little less long and that's more aesthetically pleasing to me, just one opinion.

10

I want a tall skinny duck with a long neck tie and a short fat duck with a wide bow tie.

1

What if, and here me out, there are additional tie and hat options hidden through out the game?

10

Bow tie for sure. I suggest raise the hat a little bit so you can see the eyes a bit better.

8

I don’t know anything about how this character is used in the game, so please pardon my ignorance. Having said that: the bow tie has a huge advantage in that it never has to move. If the duck waddles along, the tie should move side-to-side independently. If the duck jumps, is hit, or near wind or an explosion, the tie will need independent animations for each circumstance. If the duck is carried, the neck tie should always point down, unless it’s fast or wobbly; then the tie should move accordingly. I’m sure there are other circumstances I haven’t mentioned, but you get the point.

Wow. I have overthought this.

From a development perspective, I lean strongly towards the bow tie. It’s much simpler. Also, as another commenter mentioned, that top hat demands a bow tie.

7

Necktie. Fully rigged and physics enabled. I want that necktie to crush all modern video cards.

7

The necktie needs a line of horizontal stitching along the chest as it puts a lot of vertical focus on the duck. The bowtie balances out the vertical stitching with its horizontal orientation.

Also/alternatively a vertical seam up the neckline might help with the neck being noisy with the stitch and tie.

6

Neck tie, but I'd love to see it comically long or at least more proportional and realistically sized. Right now it just doesn't take up enough space, in my opinion.

That being said, if we're "stuck" with these two options exactly as they are, the bow tie works better because it's a more fitting size and better proportions. For me, it makes the design a little unbalanced with too much going on above the neck, too little going on below. Coincidentally, if you made it comically small, that might actually work out better, but I'd have to see it before I could be certain. However, that's a fairly minor drawback.

6
lemmy.world

You could make it a selection for the player, they choose one then the other is destroyed in a comically horrific manner. The narrator could berate the player for so callously destroying the unchosen duck who clearly has a deep and tragic back story and has long lost relatives who will sorely miss them. The duck you choose may turn out evil or maybe somehow the worst, just an awful duck who you should not have saved. The Duck Linked Content could be an included DLC.

6

The bow tie looks better, but feels more cliched to me (not sure why) i think the neck tie would make the character more memorable

5
slrpnk.net

If i were choosing a duck to be the new mayor, definitely the necktie.

If I were looking for a duck with whom to party, bow-tie in the convertible all the way to the liquor store and back.

5

Yeah. This is the important nuance. I would vote for necktie duck, but I'll carry bowtie duck with me to a party.

2

Both are perfect. But if I had to pick one, the Bowtie duck is the one I would carry to hell and back.

5

I'm on the fence. Visually the bowtie seems more flattering because it draws attention to the head, but I also get the argument about the necktie filling empty space and being able to flap around. Opinions in this post seem somewhat polarized too, so depending on the effort required to implement it I might suggest giving the player the option to choose either.

4

A beret and a cravat!

A fedora for the necktie like a 1950s hard boiled detective!

A pointy wizard hat and a robe!

4

This is brilliant. You want players to feel attached to this character? Let them customize a few things.

2

Bowties only look good when the shirt has studs instead of buttons. Since the duck isn't wearing a shirt, the neck tie looks better.

3
feddit.it

I think the only problem with the necktie is that it looks like a flat texture. If given some volume it'd work really well. As for witch to use i'd prefer the necktie since it it doesn't leave the torso like a blank canvas;

Utimately it depends on where in the game the duck is going to be seen first, first impression matters a lot. If it is in a really plain room, like a barren office with white walls the colors of the bowtie might give some contrast with the blandness of the room; If the room is more caotic, seeing the duck more "put togheter" than it's surrounding helps break with the ambient.

(Its been a while since i played portal, so my memory it's a little fuzzy, but if i remember correctly it worked so well because in the monotone enviroment of the test chambers, having something as simple as a cube with a heart was enough of a break from the mold to be memorable, also it had interactions with it in the game; an option would be to somehow integrate it into the game in like a small puzzle of sorts, making it appear near the button when the player comes and goes, stuff like that)

With that though i need to say that i am colorblind, so take my 2 cents with a grain of salt.

3

Neck tie. You could also make it all lopsided and loose when the duck is all discombobulated, it'd be mad cute.

2
sopuli.xyz

Why not both and add a few more. Make the game randomize which attire the duck has from a limited pool of costumes and force a change maybe as often as after every save/load/level.

Totally unnecessary but silly feature. If there is any mention of the duck in the environment/narration you can add jokes about ducks being indecisive.

2

Interesting idea I will try to explore it. Not sure how to randomize assets tho but probably there is a way : )

1
lemm.ee

With THAT hat? Definitely a bowtie. It's a verticality balance thing. The hat is vertical so the tie should be horizontal. Now, if the duck had a WIDE hat, THEN you go for the long tie.

2

Necktie makes him feel a bit… sad and pathetic. And I usually have no problem with neckties! It's just the way it looks on this particular duck… team bow tie all the way.

Also, is he plumper on the bow tie side? The models definitely look different so this might not actually be a fair comparison. Plump duck might look good with a necktie. But the picture you gave us on the left… well…

2

The bow tie looks like a duck I would carry around and love, the neck tue looks like a duck you punch in the face. That might also have to do with the angle and eye, but the bow tie makes it look better and more loving.

1

I think the neck tie looks better overall, but I still prefer the bow tie because I have a much more positive association with them. I see people put bowtie collars on their cats and it's always adorable. When I see neckties on an animal, I either think 'cute animal that's always getting down to business' or 'criminal'.

1

The pictures are different, so it's hard to evaluate them the same. Objectively the bowtie makes it all too crowded around his face. On a more subjective note, it might be because of the lighting, but the necktie looks like a distinguished gentleman, whereas the bowtie is giving me serial killer vibes.

1