first of all i did not get these models from anyone and they were never ripped from anywhere, they were 100% created by me, they belong to me, and are unique to me as a modeler, i did every process started with a cylinder extruded the shapes and made it all watertight then triangulated every last damn polygon on these models nothing was from a game or anyone else... so before you go off and become a lawyer here, you need to realize that if something is "fan made" and 100% me putting time in with my wacom tablet and maya 2014 and my up mini 3d printer and my acryllic paints who do i give credit too? ME! it is inspired by the mirrors from the game but not ripped or stolen at all. please just everyone stop with the damn negativity here. its sickening.

Thats like going on ETSY and saying to 99.9% of the pople who create fan art items such as pokemon, zelda and heck EVEN SHENMUE STUFF and accusing them they stole designs from zelda, mass effect, skyrim, i can go on and on... so please just chill out... i am doing nothing illegal at all its actually comical how people get when they see someone else doing something good, there is always going to be those people out there in the world, and as a artist i know it comes with the territory.

the files are mine i created them, and if you have nothing nice to say say nothing at all, i have over 10 hours in each set i create in paint alone.

also i am sure if you compare my models to the ingame ones they do not even look alike at all! i used extrusion technique and low poily design to make the phoenix and dragon using create polygon tool in maya, i am 100000% sure the ingame models use a flat shape and use the texture. so before you go about thinking you know about how models an geometry work and talk check your facts first dont just jump on the bandwagon and say hey you are wrong because i am 100000% right in creating and selling these they are "inspired by the game" and created by me from scratch not direct rips like you think.

Whether or not you modeled them yourself is irrelevant. The intellectual property belongs to Sega and Yu Suzuki. You clearly have no idea how percentages work (the clue is in the name) - but regardless, you are not 'right' to sell these morally or legally.

Going back to the model issue; I seem to recall you constantly begging people to rip models for you for your 'Amibo' products because you were too lazy/incompetent to rip them yourself. If you're unable to rip a pre-made model I find it somewhat suspect that you're able to model from scratch (not that that would make what you're doing any less illegal).

I'm sorry if the 'negativity' is affecting your ability to illegally profit from somebody elses IP. I suggest either contacting Sega about licensing or contact your government about making an exception to copyright laws just for you because you disagree with them (Maybe they'll let you get away with a few murders too?). Until either of those things happen I suggest you quit whining and take your illegal business elsewhere.

The next time I see you posting about these mirrors or any other unlicensed Shenmue merchandise for sale I will be reporting it to Sega ;-)

Here are some references you have made towards selling & Price Tags

i used a ryo model i had and cleaned up his hair hands and body and am in the process of 3d printing him with a base and phoenix mirror top! if it comes out good i may print paint n sell them! i want to make a lan di with the dragon base does anyone have a ingame model of lan di so i can make this 2 pack of amiibo!?

if you have a ingame lan di POST IT HERE FOR ME i would greatly appreciate it so i can clean up his model too it today too...


Well i can not wait to start painting them! if they turn out well like they will i may make more n sell them :) very happy with the progress of this project thus far...

here is the almost finshed set! all that is left to do is more detail and clear coat sealer~ i want to make joy, ren, Iwao and nozomi but am having no luck finding their models... if someone can provide them to me i would appreciate it! i want to make as amny figures from this game as i can!

not for sale... but everything has a price :)

Thanks so much for the models let me know! when i can get them so i can begin fixing up their models and printing! also to print one model out it all depends on which one each one requires their own amount of time and plastic. also would you want it painted? they each took 6-7 hours to finish. the faces alone took 4 hours lol! so let me know and i can give a price on one .

here are the final photos all 3 have been cleared with a matte finish clearcoat and it really made the colors pop on the faces and clothing.it has been a long journey but man i am super pleased with them! hopefully someone can provide me with IWAO, ren nozomi, joy in game models also a don niu and xiuying hong! i need as many ingame models from 1 and 2 as i can get in the A pose so i can fix them and make them printable! :) anyway if anyone has them PM me so i can start on more! enjoy!

(NOT FOR SALE BUT... EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE :) anyone interested let me know... )


Just wanted to give everyone a update. I will be selling these 3 statues i created the money can come in handy right now to pay some bills and donate more to the shenmue kickstarter. If anyone is interested i will be putting them up on ebay soon i will post the link here if anyone is interested.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ryo_hazuki-san
got em up for sale ! anyone interested offers accepted as well! also i have the amiibo of ryo up :)

Sorry but they sold ! thank for the interest but i just sold the set last week for $110... i have the Mirrors up on ebay now though if you are interested in those?

here is my page with the listing i am open to offers. i have sold 9 sets of these mirrors already all happy customers.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ryo_hazuki-san

got the last set of Mirrors painted and looking spiffy on sale people $25 off the original price! only 20 hours left! anyone interested. please visit my page.

here is my page with the listing i am open to offers. i have sold 9 sets of these mirrors already all happy customers.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ryo_hazuki-san

1) These are just some references to making money ,
2) There are tons of posts of you constantly asking for models.

I'm not pissing on your parade because I'm trying to be a dick ..
I'm pissing on your parade because I have problems with the way you are running your ' Amiibo (Trademark) business Empire ON A WEBSITE THAT HAS KEPT SHENMUE ALIVE FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS without Unlicenced Ebay or Paypal sales, trying to make it sound less innocent because you have donated money to a Shenmue Kikstarter that doesnt exist anymore is also quite aggrivating.

I honestly couldnt care less who you sell models to they are clearly a desirable item and SEGA have been Lazy at any kind of marketing but learn to get the models yourself OR if you are a skilled 3D artist as this link seems to show RyoHD.carbonmade.com you should have no problem modeling them from scratch. This is all I will say on the matter, but I choose not to help you .. then again everything has a price ](*,)

Here is the second translated installment of the January 1999 edition of the Dreamcast Magazine, which contained a multi-part feature on Shenmue . The theme of Part 2 is "The World of Shenmue".

http://i.imgur.com/tPiMPntt.png

Background to the article : as part of the build-up to the release of Shenmue, and following on the heels of the Shenmue Premiere event that had been held the previous month in Yokohama, the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine ("DoriMaga") published this 16-page special report covering various aspects about what could be expected with the as-yet unreleased Shenmue.

The feature consists of these parts:
Part 1. Shenmue Premiere Event (previously translated here)
Part 2. The World of Shenmue (this post)
Part 3. The Hero and Other Characters (future post)
Part 4. It's Magic! Special Effects and Production (future post)
Part 5. Interview with Yu Suzuki (future post)

PART 2: The World of Shenmue

http://i.imgur.com/rNcvXwAt.png http://i.imgur.com/m2SIloyt.png http://i.imgur.com/kSWtLWht.png http://i.imgur.com/px5STGCt.png

Shenmue’s Most Distinctive Feature: Its Immense Play Area!

Here's what Yu Suzuki has to say about Shenmue’s new genre, FREE (an acronym of "Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment"): "It imposes fewer constraints than the games of the past, and lets you play as you want and without stress. It’s about making sure anyone can get through the game smoothly, without being frustrated - that’s what I wanted to create. Even a 10-year old can play. When the boundaries between generations and countries are overcome, people from all over the world can share the emotion of its themes, and feel as if they have experienced a different life from their present one. To put it another way, I want to give the player a complete, self-contained world."

A World Whose Creation Has Spanned 3 Years

This game is the product of 3 years spent by SEGA’s top developer, Yu Suzuki, after taking on the challenge of creating an RPG. The project got underway in secret in 1996 at AM2’s research department as development was in progress on Virtua Fighter III, a game greatly anticipated by all game players. Things took shape steadily, and a massive number of image boards were created in the construction of the world. Work on Yu Suzuki’s masterpiece came to be known by the code name " Project Berkley ". And now, at last, the time has come for the veil to be lifted.

Yu Suzuki’s goal with the game is the "creation of a huge world" - nothing less than a reconstruction of the real world. Something that’s easy to say, but for a game to take ordinary, everyday things and recreate them before our eyes is one of the most difficult challenges. For that reason, in games before now objects have always been symbolized or simplified: the symbol of a castle; a 3D sandbox world that lacks authenticity; badly-shaped characters... It’s only natural to question why this has become the accepted method of expression in conventional RPGs. Yu Suzuki took this as his starting point, along with a vast and complete world. Indeed, Yu Suzuki took the concepts everybody had taken for granted and made them his point of departure. Upon seeing the world that Yu Suzuki has created, players will surely catch their breath.

http://i.imgur.com/2lZxf2p.png
Above: One of the locations in Shenmue: the bewitching capital of Hong Kong. Kowloon City, standing in the evening sun, may be a town that best reflects the impressive scale of the game. Enclosing all kinds of people, this giant city is a complicated tangle, forbidding access to outsiders...
※ All images are work-in-progress.

The May 21st Dreamcast Demo:
Was “The Tower of Babel” a Glimpse of Things to Come?!

21 May, 1998: at the Dreamcast event, along with demonstrations presented by Mr Irimajiri [the then-CEO of Sega] , a demonstration video of "The Tower of Babel" was shown. It is said to have been put together by three staff members in just ten days. This demo bears a striking resemblance to the walled city of Kowloon in Shenmue. What would have been produced if three years had been spent in the creation of the city? The answer to that is: Shenmue.

http://i.imgur.com/7ODFYxJ.png
Above: from above, countless stores and houses surround the huge tower. Creating something like this in a period of just 10 days is now within the realm of possibility.

http://i.imgur.com/rgFjKbtm.png http://i.imgur.com/sSiJARfm.png?1
Left: this is how it looks viewed from afar: one large island. Right: going in closer, the detail in the work can be appreciated. Is this the kind of world that will exist in Shenmue?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4fAbTrhvto



http://i.imgur.com/k401lnil.png
Above: this is where the protagonist of this game lives, the area of Yokosuka. With its slightly retro feel, the town feels more than a background to an RPG - the sense of realism shown in this screenshot makes it easy to believe that it actually exists: the aerials on the houses, the power lines, the store signs and post boxes... Just as in the real world, the player can navigate around using them as landmarks when navigating around.

http://i.imgur.com/ir8XYAUl.png
Above: in stark contrast is the landscape of Hong Kong. The player will realize immediately just by observing the differences in the city’s appearance that they are in a different country. It is as if an entire world exists there. A boundless expanse awaits the player.

"A system that can be enjoyed at any age, where simplicity and depth stand side by side; a realistic world with fine attention to detail enticing you to see what’s around the next corner; a space that feels real. These are the kinds of things I wanted to create." Just from this brief glimpse of the stage on which Shenmue is set, Yu Suzuki’s thoughts can be clearly understood. However, Yu Suzuki isn’t content with just creating a realistic world: "A story and experience that will leave players with lasting memories". We mustn’t forget this crucial aspect of the game. To put it another way, the purpose of constructing this great world was to evoke such emotions. What sights will be in store for you in this vast world?

http://i.imgur.com/4IaP4R7l.png
Above: the Hong Kong cityscape, a sight familiar also to Japanese. One of a number of cities in Asia said to boast a million-dollar night view, the gaudy signs of its shopping district will no doubt leave an especially strong impression. In Shenmue, such views of Hong Kong city are faithfully reproduced, down to the last detail. Those who see it will be amazed!

The protagonist’s name: Ryo Hazuki!!

China’s expansive history and vast lands spoke to Yu Suzuki’s heart. At first, in order to give the world consistency, only the theme music was created, and this helped to fan his imagination. Then, two years ago, in order to flesh out the visual images, a CG movie was created. That movie was the one seen in places such as the Virtua Fighter 3tb special disk and the TV commercial for the premiere event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu86tlnFLVE

However Suzuki says that the creation of the most important character, the protagonist, turned out to be much more difficult than he had been expecting; recently, it has at last been firmed up.

The main character’s name is Ryo Hazuki. A Japanese youth, he pursues the mystery of his father’s death, setting out on a journey to a country in the west he has not laid eyes upon before: China. What awaits him there?

http://i.imgur.com/Wc0E7Kkl.png
The main protagonist, Ryo Hazuki, revealed at the premiere event. He was modelled in 3D using an actual plaster bust. Having lost his mother when he was a child, Ryo’s childhood days were passed training under the strict instruction of his father. Although reckless and with a quick temper, he has a strong conviction. He is the main character of the game.

Is this really a game?! A fully-interactive world using no pre-rendered movies. The town, the rooms, the people... everything, even the dogs and cats, are drawn to full scale!!

Shenmue: a townscape that has been crafted to reproduce the real world in fine detail; and among the development staff, there are even a few hallucinatory souls who ask themselves if this is truly a game.

The townscape that has been crafted is not a spurious sandbox; you can round corners following a smoothly-curving path, and if there are obstacles in the way your pace will automatically slow as you avoid them. In other words, if there is somewhere that you want to go, it’s just a matter of pressing a direction button.

Pressing Up moves you foward; Down and you turn around. If you press Left you move to the left; if you press Right you move to the right. Furthermore, if there is something you wish to look at, you don’t need to come to a halt. Just press the analog stick in the direction you wish to look as you walk along. Indeed, just like in real life, you can search for signs that show the way, or look up at a building while you walk. It’s also possible to look down as you move, and search for dropped items on the ground. Players can go where they want, looking at what they want. Naturally, the controls are simple even for a child. One of the main features is that everything has been made to be user-friendly.

http://i.imgur.com/SWbrHKkm.png http://i.imgur.com/3yPqzBXm.png
Above: in the world of Shenmue, there is no disconcerting switch to a movie scene, with the commonly-seen obvious change in graphics quality. All scenes are created and displayed on the fly.


Furthermore, in Shenmue there are many characters who don’t have a direct connection to the development of the story. People who helpfully tell you the way to go, people who hurry past you and in-your-face road-side vendors. The player can progress through the game without having to converse with all the characters, just as in the real world. Of course, a quick conversation might turn out to give you an unexpected clue. If you are lost, or don’t know what to search for next, just as in the real world you can try asking people at the wayside.

http://i.imgur.com/OL49lS9.png
Above: the inhabitants are rendered in high-quality, real-time CG, and the story unfolds seamlessly – just as if in the real world.

The Story Starts in the Winter of 1986, in Yokosuka!

The setting for Shenmue is Yokosuka. Yu Suzuki comments regarding the time period: "I’m planning to have the story start in Yokosuka, in the winter of 1986. That’s something that probably won’t change". When asked the reason for choosing Yokosuka as the setting: "There’s not really any great reason per se, but I wanted to use a town in Japan with a bit of character – like Kamakura, Kurashiki or Kyoto. Even now there are towns brimming with the atmosphere of Japan. Yokosuka and its surroundings feel right: somewhat exotic and out-of-the-ordinary. And the time period that I thought was the most Yokosuka-like goes back 10 years, to around 1986".

Suzuki says that under the scenario currently created, the setting for the first chapter will be around Yokosuka, where the main protaganist Ryo Hazuki grew up. With Yokosuka as its departure point, the world of Shenmue will gradually expand out. The size of this world is bound to exceed our expectations.

http://i.imgur.com/O6NDdmR.png
Above: the atmospheric streets of the suburbs around Yokosuka. The historic Hazuki dojo, also the home of Ryo Hazuki, and its surroundings together with the area of Shin-Yokosuka harbor make up the setting of Chapter One.

http://i.imgur.com/ei3AuNq.png
Above: once you have become somewhat familiar with the area of Yokosuka, the setting moves to Hong Kong. The recreation of the complicated buildings is remarkable, its composition serving to give a sense of height.

http://i.imgur.com/r1Vr6no.png
Above: the people there carry out their lives just as in the real world. Don’t hesitate to have a chat with them.

Answers to Our Quiz

Aerials

In the December 25 [1998] edition of Dreamcast Magazine, we showed you pictures of several aerials. So what meaning did they have?
http://i.imgur.com/rdOGyAT.png
http://i.imgur.com/SrND7kh.png
Here’s the explanation: the huge environment that has been created for Shenmue is not merely large in size, but has been built with an insane level of detail. Aerials are one such example. Aerials have been recreated and placed throughout the expansive town, with each one a shape different from the next. This result of this ludicrous amount of effort is that the world in which the player moves feels realistic, giving the illusion of being in the real world. Indeed, a "world" really does exist there!

Animals

We showcased these animals in the December 18 [2015] edition of Dreamcast Magazine.
http://i.imgur.com/JsQKPuV.png
Yu Suzuki has this to say about them: "My aim was for a game where everything develops at full scale – while the player moves around, animals like dogs and cats will also appear at full scale." "I think something interesting can be done using these animals." Let’s wait to play the game to find out what he means.


*** End of Part 2. Translation by Switch ***

It's already quite a pivot from "it's shocking that everybody doesn't know about this" to "it could be really difficult/take a long time to trigger it."

Yeah, I remember, it was at the time when I made this video :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTnhlmKY43Q
Very convincing! If I didn't know Ryo's character I would think it was straight from the game =D>

After spending a fair amount of time with Awave Studio (30-day trial version is a free download) I eventually managed to precisely locate and mute out the QTE sounds in the Shenmue SYSTEM1.SND file. In Awave Studio the sounds play at a different default speed & pitch than in the game so are a bit harder to recognize, plus the interface for playing and editing is pretty restricted so it took much longer than I'd expected. Oh yeah, the trial version of the software makes you restart after every file save too. #-o

After editing the soundwaves and resaving in the same format (Yamaha 4-bit ADPCM @8000Hz) I reinstated the header bytes from the original file since they are corrupted after saving from Awave. Finally I copied the file back on top of the original SYSTEM1.SND file in the MISC directory, and rebuilt the disk image to test. It worked nicely!

The modified SYSTEM1.SND can be downloaded here .

Quick video of the result:
https://youtu.be/dhlv_8Vgd2g

Although it would still be kind of nice to get the result without the hassle of editing the actual samples.

In the list there are several beeps. Are only the QTE beeps muted now or is it still shared with the menu beep?
Two sounds from the list (the short QTE beep & the QTE correct sound) are reused in the menu screens so the result is they get muted there too. But other menu beeps still play as normal, such as the four quick beeps.

Sorry to ask but is there any chance using codebreaker codes to mute QTE sound effects?
It should be possible - for simplicity I suggest using the first method I looked at, which mutes the QTE sound effects but also a few additional ones such as the notebook page flip sound.

In Demul the change is to set 4 bytes at memory location 20810358 to zero. Perhaps someone can help convert this to a format suitable for Codebreaker.

the trial version of the software
Well.. there is always "cured" version if you know what I mean ;-)

In Demul the change is to set 4 bytes at memory location 20810358 to zero. Perhaps someone can help convert this to a format suitable for Codebreaker.
That's address is for sound RAM i.e it is below 2C000000, I think Codebreaker works only with main RAM unfortunately :sad:
I believe there should be some values in main RAM, but the question is how to find them?..

they can render Choubu, and then change where the houses and trees are and all of a sudden we're in Luoyang for Shenmue 4
I'm sorry but that sounds way too cheap for Shenmue. Every area should be created with the effort it deserves to give it a unique design and feel.

It's a very different situation we're in now. Hard to compare it to Shenmue I and II developement. The funds are limited and ALL effort should go towards making Shenmue III as good as possible, no matter what. We need a good Shenmue III if we want a chance to get Shenmue IV. It's as simple as that. And even if it needs another Kickstarter and takes until 2020 to hit the market, they could still reuse certain assets.

Hi everyone!

With my product des. degree (finally) coming to a conclusion I invested in a 3d printer, engraver, scanner and drawing tool to learn how to keep up my interests and learn some new skills. I have a background in product, but I've never been familiar with working this sort of machine. And now that I own one, I'm keen on making it a hobby to produce some really cool pieces.

And what better place to start than Shenmue! I've just been running some quick tests by modifying images on google, but I hope to actually produce something bespoke whilst pertaining to Shenmue.

I started out with the Mirror to be drawn on sketch paper:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160814/17c7d75a863d85691637cd89e60bd101.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160814/dd8d7dfc32d38999790a04f3d2f70b02.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160814/667ea4755e348fd4eb67056620ecf59a.jpg

I was impressed with the output of this piece. I wanted the effect of natural ink strokes here. The machine took like an hour to do this though :/. I think next time I'll try engraving on cork...

Atm I'm in the process of benchmarking this machine in order to spot any defects as it's warranty period is short.

This piece may be unimpressive as you could just 2D print this, but I imagine it would look cool on a different material.

(BTW I think it's worth mentioning because I saw another 3D printing guy get flack for this on another thread, I do not intend to profit or sell this stuff, this is purely a pursuit of craft and passion for myself in my own time. I take the handling of other companies IP's seriously and wouldn't want to infringe. I do however intend to send some of the more 'creative' stuff to several of my favourite Dojo members as gifts for being awesome and an amazing source for this community over the years.)

Tl;dr Very excited to try out some more stuff and add to this thread! Share your thoughts! :)

Thanks a lot Dark1x, Can I ask you some questions?

1- In your opinion, how long or how hard would be to port Shenmue 2 to current gen platforms?
2- The release of this video in this very week (PSX, S2 the movie) was a coincidence or have you chosen by a special reason?
Thanks

1 - I think it is quite doable BUT I do think it might be challenging. I'm sure the game uses a lot of very low-level code designed for the Dreamcast (and Xbox, I suppose) which might be difficult to work with. I can't imagine there was a lot of documentation or record keeping done on that so the team might be challenged there. It uses a lot of old data formats as well which could be tough to deal with. Still, I'm positive it can be done. It just needs a decent budget and a talented developer. I have high hopes that it will happen some day!

2 - Heh, it was a mix of both. Really, though, I made a promise to those that enjoyed the first video that I would do one for Shenmue 2 before the year was out and I finally had the time to make it happen.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed it because I love highlighting games like this. I feel like a lot of the retro talk from large sites tends to be very Nintendo-centric but I was more of a Sega/PC guy back in the day and wanted to really highlight those types of games.

I have a feeling Shenmue's engine is designed to not render more than a specific number of NPCs at the same time. This could explain why changing the draw distance doesn't effect them. If it's constant, it might be extra difficult to find and edit such value.

You guys just agree to disagree.

This forum is for an open discussion on Shenmue 3. All opinions are valid. Positive, negative, etc. You can agree with someones opinion or disagree with their opinion. Its all good. But for the love of Lan Di, do not go down that road where you start mildly attacking each other. That's when it turns toxic.

Play nice people and i'll allow you die like a warrior.

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a separate thread or section for community artists who want to re-imagine or suggest what they think Shenmue III assets should look like. I think it's interesting but I don't want it to take up so much space in the midst of discussions of official images and videos. Especially since (with any luck) we're going to be seeing new material soon.

Spaghetti wrote: I like how you seriously responded to the written equivalent of a Rick Roll.

It wasn't a "Rick Roll" post so stop pretending. Also, for a mod, you tend to stray a bit.

Remember when everyone was universally wowed by Nocon Kid’s awesome remaster?
Had the Shenmue 3 team used a similar Ryo, this debate would be nonexistent.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLfOOUqUsAAG0z5.jpg:large

It’s especially frustrating knowing that he’s on the team, and yet they’re choosing to go in a completely different direction…which is nowhere near ‘there’ yet.
But he never looked like that in the games. This is a game, not a tech demo like passport or a piece of promotional art. I don't want Ryo to look like that in-game.

I do. A lot of other people do. The new model does look indian. I think very few people saw it and went "wow, that's Ryo." The new model is inferior. But hey, not like us bitching here will change anything. The model will be what it will be. And I will play the game regardless.

http://i.imgur.com/UbpxXCe.jpg http://i.imgur.com/t4GUxbn.jpg

Sometimes, I wonder what I'm doing with my life.

Also, my fitty cents:
- The promo image looks like something a college student would do.
- Subsurface scattering skin shaders can be great, but S3's artist(s) seemed to have just found them and added that shit to everything. Plasticmens.
- Shenhua looks into your soul and finds emptiness, because she's dead and can't find things.
- Ryo was dipped in olive oil and came out a Filipino. Though, it does sort of "grow" on me as he looks off into the distance.
- Animations are great, but could probably look less floaty with more manual tweaking of the mocap data.
- I honestly thought the promo image was a shitpost or fanart...but at least the environments look pretty good despite the constant need to blow out all the colours with coloured lighting and mannequin Shenhua.
- I don't mind the old martial artist/fisherman guy in the teaser. If that's the look they're going for, hopefully Ryo and Shenhua get more treatments. The muscle man is pretty good, except the same SSS shader nonsense that makes him look like a doll.
- Highlights on eyes please.
- The logo is bad and whoever made it or accepted it should feel bad. Photoshop beveling? Da fuck?
- I wonder if this cartoon style is to make it easier to create NPCs. Shenhua, for example, looks like an NPC that you only want to talk to a couple of times before never seeing her again because she's too fucking creepy to want to hold a conversation with.
- Ryo doesn't look like in-game DC Ryo. DC Ryo is definitive Ryo for me and not the countless other renditions of him, which I'll never understand why Suzuki has kept on accepting. There has to be a way to update that model and still make it fit the new cartoon style, if production limitations are what's driving this look, fine, I'll accept it. I just think it can look a lot better and I really hope it does.
- I regret giving money to DayZ when I should have given it to S3.

Sat at my desk today I thought about how I would have handled the release of the trailer. Felt like writing it for shits and gigs and most of this was thought up in 15 minutes so it's not perfect. I also wanted my plan to cost as little money as possible.

For starters I've said since the Kickstarter that they need to create a Yu Suzuki twitter account that tweets in English, Kojima has both a Japanese Twitter and English twitter account that tweet at the same time.

5 days before the release of the trailer you release a short teaser which just shows the cave footage which fades to black and then gives a date for 5 days time with a message. "See the full trailer 22.08.17." You release this short teaser around 4:30PM BST. That way everyone on the West coast of America sees it before work, east coast sees it at lunch and Europe see it after work so you're striking when everyone is looking on Twitter/YouTube. This will create news articles and start 5 days of hype rather then the one day if you just release the trailer in full straight away. As much as people moan about teasers for teasers the fact is they work and this will get Shenmue talked about on places like Twitter and NeoGaf with people getting excited for 5 days creating their own hype. It also gives an impression that this is a big deal and something worth waiting for which can get people who aren't normally interested paying attention. Humans always want to know more and being teased makes them curious.

Every day leading up to the date at the end of the teaser you post an image or two on Twitter of a screenshot, like the ones which were posted on the PlayStation Blog. You do this at the same time everyday at 4:30PM BST. This keeps adding fuel to the hype fire for the five days between teaser and trailer.

The day of the trailer. You release the trailer yet again at the peak time for maximum coverage and exposure. Before the trailer there is a short message by Yu Suzuki who says something along the lines of.
"Hello everyone, it's been just over two years since we launched our Kickstarter and thanks to the support of our amazing fans Shenmue III will be a reality. You may have also seen recently that we've partnered with Deep Silver who're giving us amazing support which will make the game better then originally possible. I will now be able to make the Shenmue III I have always dreamed of making. To celebrate this we have a short trailer for you but I want to stress the game is still in development so some things such as the animation will not be exactly what you get when the game is released. Also I have something else very special. *Yu pulls out something that was laying around the office like a signed copy of Shenmue I on Dreamcast or a signed piece on concept art* . We will select a person at random from the list of people who retweet this video from the Shenmue twitter account to win this prize. Thank you for your time, please enjoy. *trailer plays but cut out some awkward parts*.

The result. Shenmue has been one of the most talked about games in a day for at least two different days. You're controlling the message by getting ahead of any issues which may be raised and creating hype. You've set up a contest which will make people promote the game for you and all it costs is the price of a stamp. After E3 and now 5 days of hype at Gamescom you're setting a precedent that Shenmue news is big news. News sites such as IGN and Gamespot will write first about the original teaser and then the second one, this keeps people coming back to their sites for Shenmue news and the more clicks they see for the series the more they will talk about it any chance they can which creates more hype for Shenmue. There is no talk about the faces as you've nipped it in the bud before it's become an issue and all talk focuses on how excited people are and how Deep Silver is making the game better.

If YsNet want to talk to me about the next push I'm willing to talk.

^^To be fair, their funding goes beyond just the money raised in the kickstarter.

Anyway, I'm not impressed, I'm not disappointed.
It just is what it is. And what it is, is a twenty-second look at someone on the dev team moving a couple sliders to make a face move. Even he's kind of making fun of it as he goes.
It's a work it progress, and only barely represents what the final product will be. It's not exactly something we can gauge overall quality on.
I don't understand this need to either be really impressed by it (it's really not impressive at all; I've seen better animation in SFM porn), or to put it down for not being on the level of a friggin' Naughty Dog game.
I'm pretty sure it's okay to be neutral about it.

The biggest problem with being critical is not actually seeing the game in motion for real. We really just have very short videos of prototype stage development, which usually are just normally kept in house shared between personnel within the building, kept under lock and key, not for the public eye to see, a lot of the characters we've seen are constantly being changed, tweaked here and there. But really it all comes down seeing the game in motion when it's nearer completion. I can't for the life of me understand the original 2017 release date, no way was the game going to be visually (or from a gameplay perspective, things would have gotten cut for sure) up to par with what either the fans or the devs themselves wanted.

I'm personally glad it has gotten delayed again, let them iron out the kinks and release it at the best they can with the resources they have. They are going for a hybrid art style that combines the look of the old with the new, I personally like the direction they've gone, the little girl literally looks like she is from the same art style/DNA of the classic games to me. Same goes for the roided bodyguard enemy, like one of the street fighters from Shenmue 2, just built in the Unreal Engine. I think they're trying to stay true to the art style that fans expect. I personally would have been more disappointed if they went the other way and made the art direction more realistic. We have plenty of those sort of games nowadays. As they near completion, I'm sure more might warm to it as the character art become more cohesive and they make Ryo look like what we all want (which seems a bit divisive going by the topics on here, ah well).