Opinion on potential art changes (future of the game)

I voted for Keeping it the same, and options 1 and 3
I love the original look, its what drew me to the game! But I do really like old school 2d into 3d.
I quite like option 1 as well though, so I'm torn!
Option 2 - I don't hate it it, but I don't like it as much as the others - no offense! :3

The art is what made me interested in this game, so unfortunately I'll say I would be dissuaded from playing if it changed. And I don't mean to be rude, but I thought funds were being devoted to hiring artists to draw new plants. An overhaul of what already exists in a new style would be incredibly expensive, wouldn't it? And it would only be new visuals, not new content... It's a nice idea, but I'm in favor of things staying the same.

I might be off the mark, but I imagine that especially when most of your playerbase is long-term users who have stayed and donated for the current style, a complete change in direction would cost more than it was worth, both financially and in user engagement.

If I could make a suggestion, there are plants from video games that many people would recognize and might be drawn to. If there was an update similar to "(Game) themed plants available!" I think people might be interested in being able to post those flowers on their webpages.

An Ancient Fruit from the game Stardew Valley, and a Starfruit in the Stardew Valley style, for example. A lot of people love that game. Similarly Qingxin and Naku Weeds from Genshin Impact would be recognizable. Maybe some plants in the pixelated Minecraft style, and plants from Terraria. Apparently Silent Princess and Hearty Durians are popular from Zelda. Plants vs. Zombies plants are also distinct. (I don't actually know that many games, I'm just researching ideas).

From what I understand, people get excited and develop positive relationships with anything that references something they like. I can't be certain of course, but additions to implement "relatability" in a way that'll still suit the charming style of Flowergame could both be inoffensive to existing players and attract new ones.

Edit: This would also skip needing to make several variations of the same plant.

Oh my gosh I forgot that would be a risk! My bad. But "inspired" might be okay, I certainly hope it wouldn't be an issue seeing as they're only plants.

I HOPE not with black backgrounds...

I really dislike option 2 - doesn't look garden-y at all. I could live with option 3, but - remembering "upgrades/improvements" to the dragon cave art, I'd really like to keep our history and stay the same.

I love how the photos of the plants

currently work well with dark mode

as well as light mode on my phone!!

Love the current, 1st and 3rd art styles!

For anyone concerned with the dark backgrounds in the first and second, those are the backgrounds of 3D modeling software. In programs where you design 3D models, black or white backgrounds help you see the details of your model more clearly as you rotate it around and edit it. I am almost certain that the plants would actually have transparent backgrounds in practice. However, 3D models would force the layout of plant pages to change.

If the models stayed at the top, simply replacing where the 2D plant pictures are, they would be indistinguishable from GIFs like these, which have been around for long over a decade now. They would be forced to rotate to make it visible that they're 3D at all.

But if the pages were to be rearranged entirely, it would still be the same thing. The model would need to rotate, but in order for it to be impressive, it would need to be detailed. Otherwise it's the same as a 3D GIF again. The difference would be negligible while the development would be costly.

The models look nice here, but how they would be implemented, I don't know. It seems like an impractical direction to go in, which is unfortunate because it really does look cool. But for Flowergame in particular I don't think it's worth it.

My issue is more with the stretchy look. But I am still all for if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Oh! Totally love how those are still transparent!!

These rearranged pages look so super fun already!!

(I like the current look and both of these ones!!)

But adding new 3D images is such an awesome idea,

would there be a possibility for 3D special items or

a collection (holiday/April 1st/anniversary??) set??

(Love the holiday plants so far, something to try it on?)

For Flowergame, but it's been so fun, think it's worth it!

I'm sorry, to clarify what I meant with my edits of rearranged pages was that it would be unfortunately a lot of work with a very minimal impact on the website. If the goal in this is to draw a larger audience, potentially rearranging things with HTML and CSS (time-consuming) to add 3D models (expensive) would be time and effort spent purely for the sake of the existing players who would like that look. At least from my perspective.

So sadly I wasn't drawing those as a suggestion, I was trying to say that if Flowergame were to try to add 3D models, and if it tried to in either of the ways I drew, it wouldn't be a wise idea... and that there isn't really any room for other ways of implementing the 3D models that wouldn't be even more work, from what I understand.

It occurs to me - and this IS just me - that - I operate on Windows 7. A few things won't work on it and there is no way I am upgrading. (Even my computer magazine says it is the best and most stable version they ever put out, and I gather that many businesses are finding ways to go back to it now that 11 is almost being forces on people !)

It would be nice if this game weren't yet another thing I have to give up on....

Another 2.5D or 3D gamemode would be cool, but incredibly expensive, and there'd be the difficulty of running something like that in-browser, and all of the lag issues, server strain, mismatches with different browsers and operating systems, etc. it could easily experience would make it a very large project. It seems like it'd be a risky gamble...

I am pretty sure that it would also lock out some backward looking tech nerds like me. And the nature of this game is not whizzy speedy glitz with all he bells and whistles; I don't think it would attract anyone new, in particular. Its main appeal is the gentle pace. I'm very much for leave it be.

I know this is totally unrelated, but I was hoping maybe I could get an answer? Putting under a spoiler since it's so unrelated :3

I just saw the new update and I don't want to drag this topic into that comment section just in case it's unrelated, but if the both "small and large" feature is this then I truly, seriously implore you not to waste resources on a gamemode that most definitely will not draw a larger audience. I donated a while back and was thinking about donating again for new plants and to help support the website for exactly what it is, even if in some small way.

More plants, more minigames, furniture (both actual furniture and maybe still images of cats, dogs, etc. the same as the Easter rabbits) a proofreader, an up-to-date wiki, a way to gauge exactly how full your watering can is, making the watering can give a full drop of water at a time (picking up four new plants and grinding through as many limited gamemodes as you need in order to water them would be too tedious for many people), artistic features like a nighttime themed "dark mode", for example, are all things that would be more worthwhile and would require money and/or an artist on a smaller, more achievable scale, and would make the website feel more polished and engaging. Frankly, for as long as there are as many grammatical errors as there are and a limited set of minigames, no other ambitious features should be considered at all.

To finally put it bluntly I think the 3D idea under these circumstances is borderline impossible to achieve, from the perspective of someone with a grasp on what it would entail. I don't want to be harsh, I am just alarmed at the idea that my existing support will be spent on a dead end, and it'd make me hesitant to donate any more in the future...

In any case, "change nothing" is the winning poll result so far, and I feel like it would be a betrayal to the people who have donated and supported this game in other ways to go ahead with the 3D gamemode. I sincerely hope I'm overthinking it and the potential feature mentioned in the update is something entirely different.