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When I moved into my apartment five years ago, the first thing I did to make it feel homely was set down pictures of my family and friends. With a framed photo of my eight-year-old self tightly hugging my dad outside the front door of my childhood house, a snapshot of me in my teens smiling next to my mum, and little polaroids of the family dog Freddie, I also decorated my kitchen with very special photo booth strips taken at my late uncle's wedding some months later. Suddenly, this new, foreign place that I'd moved into started to feel more personal, that it was actually my space. It's natural to want to fill your home with things that you love, which is why the addition of SmartFrames in Cyberpunk 2077 is such a meaningful touch.
In the 2.2 update that was released back in December last year, CD Projekt Red introduced a variety of welcome features, such as more cosmetic character customization options, new paint job tech for certain vehicles, and Johnny Silverhand's occasional presence in the passenger seat of your car – which is a personal favorite. But from a role-playing perspective, the SmartFrames are far and away what I appreciate the most. The mounted digital screens allow you to display your screenshots in any one of V's various abodes, along with an overhauled photo mode that lets you add in NPCs, I've fallen in love with the way the Kiroshi frames let me make V's homes feel as personal as my own place in real life.
See you in the major leagues
As soon as I downloaded the latest Cyberpunk 2077 update, I started playing around with the NPC options in photo mode. It was already extensive to begin with, offering up various filters, decals, and viewpoints, along with a myriad of poses and facial expressions for V. But the option to add in up to three NPCs within any given shot is a real game changer. I no longer have to wait for just the right opportunity to line up a photo with the likes of Judy, River, Panam, or Kerry at their homes or during a questline, because now I can orchestrate my own photo shoot set ups with ease anywhere in Night City at any time. Plus, with so many characters from the cast available, there's so much fun to be had when it comes to messing around with the different poses and placements of each person in your shot.
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Thanks to the SmartFrames in V's apartment, I've mostly been setting up shots for role-playing purposes, and having a nova time creating photo memories that I think V would likely put on display at home. As soon as I heard the news that they were being added, I just knew I needed to take a photo with Jackie Welles for sentimental reasons. As V's best friend in Night City who doesn't make it past Act 1, it felt only right to pay homage to him. In order to make it feel more credible, I even thought about what V should wear, opting to put them in their signature favorite shirt that they got after their first job with Jackie. Then, it felt like a natural choice to set the shot within V's first apartment, since he would have likely visited.
After spending some time messing around with their poses and smiles to try and capture how I'd imagine the pair posing together, I decided to place the shot in the SmartFrame hanging near V's stash, as though it was a precious piece of memorabilia they wanted to protect. I really enjoy how it lets me role-play as V in a new way by allowing me to get inside their head and try to imagine who they'd take photos with. From creating cute photos of V with their chosen paramour, to making shots that look like selfies with good pals like Viktor Vektor, the frames and the new photo mode additions really are a role-playing match made in heaven for me.
When it comes to RPGs, I'm all about the smaller features that let you feel like you're really embodying a role, or being immersed in the virtual environment you're in. CD Projekt Red's open world is full of such features – whether that be doing mundane things like taking a shower, having a glass of whiskey to unwind, or riding the metro, everything works together to simulate a slice of life in Night City. But SmartFrames add to the role-playing experience in a way I didn't know I wanted until it came along. Not unlike the photos that decorate my own place in reality, I love how these curated screenshots help to make V's apartments feel just as homely as my own.
