Screenshots -- Creating Art in an MMO

III. Other games that have used a Screenshot Tool

While some MMOs such as GW2 offer something simple such as pressing the Print Screen (PrtScn) key whenever the game window is in focus. Other games such as Final Fantasy XIV and Elder Scrolls online take it to a whole new level.

We will start with Final Fantasy XIV, which has a built-in screenshot feature called “Group Pose”. Now what is Group Pose?

“Group Pose is a photo mode that allows you to take pictures of your character, party members, or friends at your command.

With this mode enabled, you can pause motions, move the camera, adjust lighting, change colors with filters, and decorate the screen with frames and stickers.

Even just using a filter or other design option adds an extra touch to your screenshots. Once you learn the basic functions of this mode, apply them in practice to create amazing screenshots!”

“To activate Group Pose, open the Actions & Traits menu under Character in the main menu and select Group Pose from the Extras tab.

Group Pose can be activated by typing "/grouppose" or "/gpose" in the chat.

The Group Pose icon can be dragged from the Actions & Traits menu directly onto a hotbar for easier access.”

From there you are offered a menu that allows you to do things such as use Emotes, Sync Emotes, make the screen brighter, cast lights on characters, add vibrant tones, use a face camera, add a frame to the screen shot, blur background, color the lighting and so much more!

Then there are games like Elder scrolls Online & other games which allow for third party addons to help them take photos that the Base Game would not normally allow. Sirinsidiator’s addon Screenshot Helper “automatically hides all remaining UI elements (e.g. floating markers, enemy glow, fps window, etc.) when the in-game UI is toggled via the game's key bind (not bound by default). Also adds an optional key bind that centers the camera on the character so you can make nice portrait screenshots. In addition, the arrow keys will allow you to move the camera and page up and page down and change the field of view while the GUI is hidden. You can reassign these keys in the controls menu.”

One of the most expansive Third Party Addon that I have seen for any MMO allows not only for full camera control but for the control of character bones to allow for custom poses.

IV. Community expectations

The Screenshot community can be both very simple and very demanding when it comes to the ability to take good screenshots. But in truth, we ask for one thing, the ease to do so.

– Use of Shaders
– Ease of Character Control
– Camera Control

The rest, while nice, are just bonuses.

V. Technical Requirements.

----A. Model manipulation expectations

While something like the image below would be the top end of expectations, allowing for people to control character bones to allow for custom poses & control. The truth is, the basics in the second image would also allow for people to create detailed screenshots. The use of walking & lip movement combined with control over emotes while having full control over the camera angles would allow for beautiful and detailed scenes to be captured.

Image 1

Image 2

----B. Image manipulation expectations

Camera manipulation is by far one of the most important things for taking good screenshots. From being able to center on your character to zooming in & out, camera control is key for any good photo; both in game and out! Again, Final Fantasy's Group Pose does an amazing job at this.

Let’s start with the focus of the camera. In FFXIV’s Group Pose to change the focus of the camera, simply select the desired target or Use the Tab key to toggle the focus of the camera between targetable characters. Next, let’s get into the game’s camera!

Final Fantasy XIV allows for basic camera positioning using both the G-Pose setting & your mouse to allow you to position the camera up, down, left or right as well as allowing you to zoom in and out. While this Third Party Addon allows for much deeper control of your camera.

----C. Expected Tools

While open world screenshots are amazing and great for in the moment shots. Something like Final Fantasy XIV’s Group Pose is an extra feature in the game. It allows for a client-side freeze of the game, essentially. A frozen instance of the game at that particular moment that can then be manipulated by the player that has no effect on the game-side mechanics or other players.

Additional expected tools would include a method for creators to essentially mimic the full suite of photography tools available to any self-respecting photographer. This includes ways to adjust the field of view and focal length, the associated depth of field, as well as to simulate shutter speed to add in a controllable motion blur associated with all animated aspects of an image, whether or not the image is considered “live” or “frozen”.

Similarly, the ability of image creators to place light sources in order to illuminate scenes and images to accentuate aspects of their scene as they see fit, is rather important.

VI. Shaders

----A. G-Shade

https://gposers.com/gshade/

GShade is a heavily enhanced and online-focused fork of ReShade maintained by Marot Satil. It’s a package of Presets, from-scratch utilities, and a whole ecosystem of shaders aimed at improving the realtime post-processing experience in any game. Games that allow the use of G-Shade include but are not limited to Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Black Desert Online, World of Warcraft, Warframe, Neverwinter, Guild Wars 2 and many more.

----B. Why Shaders?

These sorts of shaders, especially as an annex to the screenshot tools, allow creators and players to fine-tune the visual language of the game to better convey their own artistic intentions for the image they are creating. Color palettes can convey a story all its own. While of course the game will have its own geographic tale to tell with its color palettes, characters too can have their own visual stories. The ability of a player to manipulate the color palette through these shaders is going to be invaluable to those creators engaging in images created in the game through an intuitive and natively accessible program.

Additionally, the ability of players to access and manipulate these shaders will allow them to better fine-tune certain aspects of the graphical and visual languages of the game in accordance with their own hardware and preferences to a greater fidelity than the game’s native option settings may otherwise permit for a variety of reasons. While of course the expectation is that the game will always look good, there is always going to be a desire to push things a little bit further.

This can also allow for people to manipulate the art style of the game through these changes to better sync with their own personal view of the world, or the outlook of the world as seen by the character.

It should be noted too that the general accessibility of these shaders has another, though incidental, reason for its inclusion. In the modern age, accessibility is a great concern for many players, and while it is probable that Ashes of Creation will have many intrinsic accessibility options, the ability by players to manipulate certain visual settings to the greatest degree, and sometimes even on a per-shader basis, instead of very generally can allow them to better adjust the way they view and interact with the world.

VII. Conclusion

Ashes of Creation is a beautiful and well thought out game, as such the game you are providing us an opportunity to cultivate an amazing Screenshot Community. Let us come into your world and tell our story through our screenshots. Trust us, we will not disappoint.

If you are a G-Poser, please post a few of them below to show everyone what is awaiting in Ashes of Creation!

Examples ::

Screenshot using in game Movement (Run) & Splash emote with Shaders.

Screenshot using in game Lighting Settings, Emote & Shaders.

Screenshot using in game Emotes & Shaders.

Bad Wolf

Taking screenshots in a game is a past time that I have spent a lot of time doing, with whatever method is available to do so, sometimes to painstaking efforts to remove the UI and try to get a decent look at my character. I'd have to say I'd love to see a tool within the game that offers players the chance to easily capture posed shots, whether it is at launch or something added in later. Simple UI remove and Screenshot is the most basic but making sure emotes are interrupted when moving a camera, or the camera isn't so fixed you can get close up of your character like in base ESO does would be nice QoL down the road.

I think something like GPose or GShade and a Screenshot feature is absolutely a must.

With how player driven the game will be, there are tons of opportunities for RP moments and for cataloguing the story of the servers, as well as for content creators to tell stories about their experiences with greater ease.

Imagine having a wiki for the events and story of each server, and you actually get to post the screenshots of the Treaty of X between to major Alliances, and present it like some painting like we have IRL.

Plus with the many options to glamour/transmog you'll want to take screenshots like it's FashionSouls time.

Liniker

This would be great - if they have the time - if not - it would be a cool addition for a post-launch update

Schmuky

This post seems very technical and above my limited understanding regarding .... well this.

So let me give you my opinion: use the PrintScreen button. Worked for me thus far!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsnV6flJdjs&ab_channel=MerryMatsuri

Schmuky wrote: »

This post seems very technical and above my limited understanding regarding .... well this.

So let me give you my opinion: use the PrintScreen button. Worked for me thus far!!

It's honestly far simpler than it's presented to be on this thread. If you want a good idea of what GPose and GShade can do check out this 2 videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJZ17InepVw&ab_channel=Kyren

Nerror

I like the effort put into the post!

It's not something I would use much most likely, but hey, if it's a thing that a lot of people enjoy, sure, absolutely! If it's easy and fast to implement, go nuts for release. If not, sometime after release.

The downside with something like this is that Ashes is a PvP game.

Anyone that has both used a tool like this and played a game such as Archeage will understand the conflicts in play here.

The only way I can see this working at all is if Intrepid add in a system where players can set up a studio in their freehold or apartment - I would actually be all for making this an apartment only feature, tbh.

Noaani wrote: »

The downside with something like this is that Ashes is a PvP game.

Anyone that has both used a tool like this and played a game such as Archeage will understand the conflicts in play here.

The only way I can see this working at all is if Intrepid add in a system where players can set up a studio in their freehold or apartment - I would actually be all for making this an apartment only feature, tbh.

Risk vs Reward.

Wanna take pretty pics of the area or the events unfolding? Cool. Just be wary of axes flying at your head.

Asgerr wrote: »

Noaani wrote: »

The downside with something like this is that Ashes is a PvP game.

Anyone that has both used a tool like this and played a game such as Archeage will understand the conflicts in play here.

The only way I can see this working at all is if Intrepid add in a system where players can set up a studio in their freehold or apartment - I would actually be all for making this an apartment only feature, tbh.

Risk vs Reward.

Wanna take pretty pics of the area or the events unfolding? Cool. Just be wary of axes flying at your head.

Risk vs reward is a concept within the game.

You are supposed to risk things in game, and if that risk pays off you get things in game.

Unless screenshots are able to be put up for sale on the market and sold for gold, this is not applicable.

That said, I assume you are joking.

@Noaani I think you underestimate the vanity of most MMO players.

People don't just stand in hubs displaying their gear and acting cool and compete to have the better looking mount for nothing.

Screenshots of the GPose caliber, would absolutely be worth the risk of getting PK'ed for a lot of people. In fact I expect that some content creators would even hire bodyguards for the shooting sessions

Asgerr wrote: »

Screenshots of the GPose caliber, would absolutely be worth the risk of getting PK'ed for a lot of people. In fact I expect that some content creators would even hire bodyguards for the shooting sessions

Put this in the open world in Ashes, and it will be hours after launch before the first content creators (the whiniest players in any MMO) bitch to Intrepid to give them a safe space to take their screen shots.

The more vain these people are, the more bitching they will inflict on Intrepid until they get their way.

On the other hand, make it an apartment only feature and you do a few things.

First, you give players a reason to want an apartment. Since you can have one of each house type, this isn't restricting players in any way.

Second, since you are setting up a studio in said apartment, you could then incorporate different elements in to said studio. Make it so that you can capture views from different parts of the world and hang them up as scenes in your apartment studio. Even better, make it so that these can be traded, so players can go out, explore parts of the world and potentially have a product to sell via different scenes.

Then make it so lighting and camera effects come from different player created items. This means that not only can you show off the costume and mount you have achieved in game, but you can show off your collection of lighting and camera options, and all of your scenes as well.

And you can then do all of this from the safety of your apartment, meaning you can spend more time on getting just that right shot.

Basically, what I am saying is play in to the vanity of these people, but do so in a way where they aren't just going to be a target, and thus aren't going to bitch to Intrepid.

Noaani wrote: »

Asgerr wrote: »

Screenshots of the GPose caliber, would absolutely be worth the risk of getting PK'ed for a lot of people. In fact I expect that some content creators would even hire bodyguards for the shooting sessions

Put this in the open world in Ashes, and it will be hours after launch before the first content creators (the whiniest players in any MMO) bitch to Intrepid to give them a safe space to take their screen shots.

The more vain these people are, the more bitching they will inflict on Intrepid until they get their way.

On the other hand, make it an apartment only feature and you do a few things.

First, you give players a reason to want an apartment. Since you can have one of each house type, this isn't restricting players in any way.

Second, since you are setting up a studio in said apartment, you could then incorporate different elements in to said studio. Make it so that you can capture views from different parts of the world and hang them up as scenes in your apartment studio. Even better, make it so that these can be traded, so players can go out, explore parts of the world and potentially have a product to sell via different scenes.

Then make it so lighting and camera effects come from different player created items. This means that not only can you show off the costume and mount you have achieved in game, but you can show off your collection of lighting and camera options, and all of your scenes as well.

And you can then do all of this from the safety of your apartment, meaning you can spend more time on getting just that right shot.

Basically, what I am saying is play in to the vanity of these people, but do so in a way where they aren't just going to be a target, and thus aren't going to bitch to Intrepid.

Sadly, not matter what, there will be compilates in any MMO. If not with the screenshot system then with other things such as balancing. The thing is no matter what you put in the game -- not everyone is going to be happy. That is just a matter of facts, there is no pleasing everyone.

However, what you are suggesting is a bit impractical for a few reasons.

-- One setting up something like that would put a lot of work on Intrepid rather thing creating a system that can be used game wise. It would take a lot more to set up the coding for this rather then to just slap down something that can be used anywhere. That is not including all of the extra files that would have to be added to capture every area a person might want to use.

Besides, if this is something that is world wise. Those that do want a safe place to take screenshots can, like you said, just go to their privet apartments & houses. And that of friends as well! They would just have the options to also take that risk if they are up to the challenge.

-- Two if you put a limit on the use of something, people are always going to want more. Just with a game like this, the G-Posing community that is born will know that it comes with a risk. Those that don't like that risk with most likely move on to other things, while those that don't mind the risk will stay and help grow the community. Just like any other aspect of the game. It's just part of the game we are signing up to play. Will there be complaints? Yes. But there will also be complaints about all aspects of the game -- PVP, PVE, Nodes, Crafting, Gathering... the list goes on. Because everyone will be expecting & wanting something different

However, if you put a limit on something it breeds it's own problem -- Moding & the use of 3rd party tools. Which is something Intrepid addressed in the live letter as something they don't want.

In short --

Like Asgerr said -- Risk vs Reward. The risk is that this is a PVP game, the reward is the screenshots we want to take. Will this make us money on the market? No, but I have seen a lot of people make IG money off of G-posing in other MMOs. Just like housing decorators are a thing. How will that happen in this game, I don't know. I also don't know if this will be something that will grow to such a level. However, it is a reward, even if it not a reward most people would not consider. It is still a reward in the mind of the person taking the sceenshot.

I mean there are MMOs that host yearly competitions around Screenshot with In-Game rewards. That is something worth taking a risk over.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/c3f7b1928470c9559078a7758291d968df87d92c

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/495674/screenshot-outfit-competition-pc-eu

https://guildwars2.com/en/news/the-guild-wars-2-path-of-fire-elonagram-screenshot-contest/

Schmuky wrote: »

This post seems very technical and above my limited understanding regarding .... well this.

So let me give you my opinion: use the PrintScreen button. Worked for me thus far!!

Oh I agree for the most part! But there is no harm in hoping for something a bit more lol

But as long as there is an easy to toggle the UI & a way to control the camera (even on a basic level), maybe have it so that emotes are not interrupted when the camera moves. That with G-Shade and I will be golden. But like I said, there is no harm in asking for more. If they give it to us good! If not, I'm sure we will make it work.

PocketFox wrote: »

-- One setting up something like that would put a lot of work on Intrepid rather thing creating a system that can be used game wise. It would take a lot more to set up the coding for this rather then to just slap down something that can be used anywhere. That is not including all of the extra files that would have to be added to capture every area a person might want to use.

Indeed it would - more setup than those wanting to just use the system for taking screenshots would warrant.

This is why I specifically suggested it would be worth adding in player made things. Now what is happening is you are bringing together these people wanting to take screenshots in as being a part of the game economy. This means that Intrepid can attribute the bulk of the time needed to set this system up as being developer time spent on increasing economic activity in the game, rather than just being something for a few dozen players.

-- Two if you put a limit on the use of something, people are always going to want more.

Indeed, and Intrepid can always add more to this if it is of value. More lighting and camera effects, more props and objects, all kinds of things.

Simple fact is, you are not going to get anything like the systems in FFXIV or ESO in Ashes if it is an insular thing where only a few people are ever going to use it. Ashes just doesn't have the development team size or budget for it.

The only way you will get anything like it is if it is able to be incorporated in to other systems in the game. Incorporate it in to the economy, housing/decorating system, and make it an aspect of world exploration and you are FAR more likely to get something good than if you just ask for it to be added for no reason other than to have it.

Also, the screenshot competition thing isn't a specific argument for adding something like this - games have been having screenshot competitions for decades.

Noaani wrote: »

Simple fact is, you are not going to get anything like the systems in FFXIV or ESO in Ashes if it is an insular thing where only a few people are ever going to use it. Ashes just doesn't have the development team size or budget for it.

And that is 100% okay! But like I told Schmuky there is no harm in asking & making it know that this might be something worth looking into (even if they don't add it on right away and instead wait until later down the line.) There is a community that would back it and if they end up making something like it that would be amazing. If not, then that is okay as well.

However, my point was -- Just because it's something you don't care for or feel that people might complain about that's not a reason to limit it. Something like this is not everyone's cup of tea, and that is okay! Not everyone is going to enjoy every aspect of the game. It's simply best to agree to disagree about enjoying different things and focus on the aspects we do enjoy ^.^