The Art Style and Graphics Discussion

[Tyaren]

Maybe I should do a trailer and gameplay watching marathon so that I will be in the know.

 

[Jadeinchains]

I've watched a couple gameplay videos and i still can't find footage of driving manual so I guess it isn't uploaded anywhere so I can't see how it is yet. And there was weird flying things and i have no idea what they were. I love how you can get out of the car at any point just to look around at little random things.

 

[UpSideDownGRUNT]

...
I was getting ready to watch this trailer to prove you wrong but I really don't know if ive watched it because I remember him sitting in a car and I think that Serpent ( which reminds me of Bayonetta 2 ) but I don't remember anything else.

Maybe I should do a trailer and gameplay watching marathon so that I will be in the know.

It might be a REALLY old trailer to be fair. Some are harder to find than others now.

FFXV looks good, I just hope they make the gameplay even better than Episode Duscae couldn't really care about free roaming etc.

 

[Tyaren]

Okay, lemme make another Witcher 3 post, especially to get @Chapstick to finally buy it. XD You will probably love it, maybe even more than DA:I?

So wonderfully moody... *sigh*
(And you can swim and even dive in every body of water you see... *insider*)

By the way, also @UpSideDownGRUNT and @Jadeinchains, There will probably be no Enhanced Edition (that's what later released editions of Witcher games were ususally called), since there has been a rumor that an enhanced version was coming out in February, but CD Projekt Red said it was fake and there is none planned (so far?). If there will ever be one it will take at least another half a year, because somewhere in the first half of this year the next expansion will come out "Blood and Wine" and will add up to 20h of more gameplay! O:

And now I'm going to watch some Dragon Age reviews, to find out if it really is something for me. Chapstick's pics sure look amazing.

 

[UpSideDownGRUNT]

Have you played any Mass Effect? Dragon Age is pretty much Mass effect but with Dragons and stuff (not actually true but has similar conversation styles and stuff)

 

[Chapstick]

What actually sold me on da:i was this

Because I watch his "reviews" every week and this one wasn't entirely negative plus it was on sale for $30 at the time. The Witcher 3 happens to have a review too, oddly I find it funnier when he's bashing games I like maybe you'll feel the same

 

[Tyaren]

Look what game can look really pretty too...

You just have to take the right photographs...

New banners this year? @Mr. Wah

 

[Jadeinchains]

Just don't look directly at the floor.

 

[UpSideDownGRUNT]

And only use the defaults because they actually have half decent textures xD

 

[Tyaren]

And only focus on the female characters since they have double, even tripple the polygons of the male characters....

 

[KasumiLover]

And only wear their hair up or short

But seriously, nice pics!

 

[Chapstick]

New banners this year? @Mr. Wah

I wouldn't count on it, I made banners myself with the correct dimensions in the 5lr photo thread a while back and nothing happened

 

[Tyaren]

We have talked before about architecture in games and it's inspirations. Large and famous cities like London, Paris or New York naturally wind up a lot in games (and other media) but today I'll show you a little town that you might also have often seen in video games (and other media) and you probably didn't even know it existed:

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
It is the quintessential German medieval town and whenever a developer wants to depict a particularly quaint and whimsical German/European medieval town it's their inspirational go to. Rothenburg has already become so famous, especially with Japanese tourists, that in summers and winters (for Christmas) it's cobblestone lanes are absolutely packed and most signs in it are bilingual: German and Japanese. Funnily enough many Germans have never heard of the town.
This is what real life Rothenburg looks like and after that how it is translated in games:

Rödergasse by Deborah Guber, on Flickr

Rothenburg ob der Tauber by Phillip Brown, on Flickr

Röder Gate by Deborah Guber, on Flickr

Siebers Tower and Plönlein Fork by Deborah Guber, on Flickr

Klingen Bastion by Deborah Guber, on Flickr

Paseando por Rotemburgo by Fco. Javier Cuenca, on Flickr

Rothenburg ob der Tauber by Phillip Brown, on Flickr

Thomasturm by Deborah Guber, on Flickr


The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red):

Spoiler

(According to the developers especially the city wall and it's towers were inspired by Rothenburg.)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco):

Spoiler

(Almost an exact replica of a square in Rothenburg.)

Street Fighter III (Capcom):

Spoiler

(The building on the right is Rothenburg's so called "Gerlach Smithery")

Monkey Island (LucasArts):

Spoiler

(According to the developers it's architecture was heavily inspired by Rothenburg)

Shadow of Memories (Konami):

Spoiler

(According to developers it's architecture was heavily inspired by Rothenburg)

The Beast Within (Activision):

Spoiler

(Exact replica of the main market square.)

You might also have seen Rothenburg in movies, animation films, Japanese anime and manga like:

- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- The Brothers Grimm
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1 and 2)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (original 1971 version)
- Pinocchio (Disney animation)
- A Little Snowfairy Sugar (anime)
- Princess Tutu (anime)
- Yoko Tsuno (comic/manga)
- Monster (comic/manga)

 

[Jadeinchains]

It looks beautiful. The closest thing I could compare to that city would be Edinburgh. The first thing that popped into my mind when you posted that was the Tekken stage. I love when video games take inspiration from small locations instead of always just being new york etc.

 

[Tyaren]

It looks beautiful. The closest thing I could compare to that city would be Edinburgh. The first thing that popped into my mind when you posted that was the Tekken stage. I love when video games take inspiration from small locations instead of always just being new york etc.

Wasn't Edinburgh featured in one of the Project Gotham Racing games? *searches*
Ha, found it!

Do you think it is a good representation of the city?

My home city, Trier, was actually featured as a location in a video game too, namely Deus Ex (by Eidos Interactive):

The game level is so dark that you can hardly make out any of the architectural details. The old building above is the Porta Nigra, an ancient Roman city gate, which was called "Black Gate" in the game and was the secret base of an evil organisation. I'd rather Trier would feature in the next installment of the series:

Would probably look a lot more impressive.

 

[Jadeinchains]

Its been a while since I've been there but I can definitely recognise places I've been and of course the most noticeable part is Edinburgh Castle. Strange for seem to make Edinburgh a racing stage but then again I did once see a bunch of mini coopers driving extremely fast through the city together so many its not that much of a leap.

The new deus ex games actually been on my radar since its trailer. Human revolution was great when it came to in visioning the future. I don't quite think by 2025 we will have double layered cities though.

 

[Tyaren]

Its been a while since I've been there but I can definitely recognise places I've been and of course the most noticeable part is Edinburgh Castle. Strange for seem to make Edinburgh a racing stage but then again I did once see a bunch of mini coopers driving extremely fast through the city together so many its not that much of a leap.

Funny you should say that. Edinburgh will probably be featured in another racing game soon. Driveclub announced new city courses for 2016 but they didn't specify which cities. Only these two screenshots were shown:

These cities are clearly European and only two European countries are featured in Driveclub: Norway and Scotland. It's very likely not Oslo, the capital of Norway and the only really notable big city in the country. Norway also doesn't have yellow street markings... So it is very likely Edinburgh or maybe Glasgow but more likely Edinburgh since its more famous internationally and distinctive looking in style. The yellow street markings and grey stone facades would fit perfectly right?

 

[Jadeinchains]

I can't find a comparison of the first photo no matter how hard I search however the second picture really looks like Victoria Street just at night time.

 

[UpSideDownGRUNT]

I remember The Getaway had a brick by brick recreation of London. But that game was on PS2 and looks terribad nowdays though xD

 

[Jadeinchains]

Omg i was on tumblr and look at this dog from Lightning Returns.