Kickstarter Update #65: Dev room update

[Spaghetti]

The Bailu comparison is the best example to point to when people start hand-wringing over something not looking right yet.

[rdk_nl]

I'm sure we'd all be fine with silence until E3, but it looks like monthly updates are back on the menu - and it'll probably stay that way lest the usual suspects in the KS comments cry bloody murder about it.

It was a lot like that TV documentary on the making of the original Shenmue, wasn't it? Yu seems slightly less intense these days, but who knows how strict his checks will get before the end...

There were a few new faces around the table this time. One fella with the auburn highlights in his hair is definitely someone who was around the table in the old days, but I've got no idea what his name is or what role he fills. There's another guy with dark eyebrows who looks similar to someone in the old TV documentary, but I'm not sure it's them...

For the people who missed this documentary; Spaghetti refers to (starts @ 44:00):

phpBB [video]

[Hazuki00]

And you can see in this video how Ryo and ShenHua are not in their final design. Ryo's and Shenhua's nose are different even in the intro scene. Characters designs can change even in thelast month, don't worry because Ryo doesn't look like Ryo.

[Himuro]

Yu-san in that video is so badass. Smoking cigs, watching FFVIII to see the competition, the attitude, the strive for perfection.

[Spaghetti]

For the people who missed this documentary; Spaghetti refers to (starts @ 44:00):

phpBB [video]

It's a pretty great video.

Although Yu is being kinda harsh during that forest QTE test in the documentary... you can see when compared to the final game that he's right. That QTE sequence is a lot better with the more mellow QTE sounds.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

And you can see in this video how Ryo and ShenHua are not in their final design. Ryo's and Shenhua's nose are different even in the intro scene. Characters designs can change even in thelast month, don't worry because Ryo doesn't look like Ryo.

They still look a lot better than the current ones...
Regardless, I saw that documentary a couple times. Yu Suzuki is a great creative mind that can do magic with a great team behind him willing to do the extra work.

[Hyo Razuki]

We'll just have to wait and see about the character models. We've only seen Ryo and Shenhua so far. No Ren, no Chai, no Xiuying and so on.

Yu has stated numerous times that he's very aware of especially Ryo looking "off". We'll have to just toughen out the wait. They sure had a reason for not showing Ryo's face.

[Spaghetti]

As long as they're not showing Ryo's face, it's very safe to assume they're not satisfied or done with his model. Even when they do show him off, tweaks are still very much possible right up until the game goes gold.

[Sh3ppy]

I find it odd how some folks are stressing over the character models. No one knows better than Yu what these characters should look like so I have no worries whatsoever that come release time, Ryo will look like Ryo. To think otherwise suggests, at least to me, a lack of understanding (and belief) of how Yu operates.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

As long as they're not showing Ryo's face, it's very safe to assume they're not satisfied or done with his model. Even when they do show him off, tweaks are still very much possible right up until the game goes gold.

I don't think they have done any work at all or at least, it isn't implemented in the main code yet. Wish they wouldn't use it so much in promotional material, same goes with the spaced out Shenmue font but I'm not their PR guy.

[Spaghetti]

I don't think they have done any work at all or at least, it isn't implemented in the main code yet. Wish they wouldn't use it so much in promotional material, same goes with the spaced out Shenmue font but I'm not their PR guy.

But the model has changed and improved since the E3 2015 reveal, though. It's easiest to tell in the proportions, but everything from Ryo's shoes up has seen changes when you look closely.

E3 2015 jacket/hair/proportions:




Current unfinished jacket/hair/proportions:




Here are the improvements/changes I can see:

Ryo's legs aren't spindly twigs anymore, plus his jeans and shoes are different.

Ryo's jacket has additional detailing on the seams running down his arms and across his back, as well as lighter areas in the creases under his armpits where friction would have worn on the material and made it paler. Admittedly, details like the tiger and arm patches are currently incorrect in placement/size, and the seam running across the back should actually be over the shoulders when comparing to the Shenmue/Shenmue II jacket texture.

The screens from the latest backer video are at a disadvantage by being low res, but when zooming in you can make out a realistic "marbling" on the leather (most visible around the tiger patch, and in the light areas of the jacket). The E3 model has something similar but as far as I can tell the implementation is better here.

The jacket looks less like plastic now too, and isn't reflecting light sources like it's constantly wet.

Ryo's jacket looks more loose around the waist, like a bomber jacket should. Crossing my fingers they make it a limited physics object to flap/move around a bit during action/fights, but we'll see.

Ryo's hair has a better shader applied that is reflecting/absorbing light correctly, the highlights changing from black to rusty brown with a strong light source applied are now more natural and real looking. They still have more work to do on getting the mesh correct so it has that textured, spiked look Ryo had in the originals, but overall it's an improvement.

And those are all differences I can see in four screens, two of which being from a low res video, and three of them from the back.

[Hazuki00]

For me it's difficult to talk about changes on Ryo, proportions and textures could be influenced by the differents scenes in which Ryo appears with differents lights and position of cameras.

It looks like there are changes but very subtles. I'll wait patiently until the last model of Ryo is shown and I'm sure it will look just perfect for us.

[Himuro]

Ryo's jacket looks so much better now. The patch actually looks like a jacket patch now for instance. Can't wait to see this games final version.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

I don't think they have done any work at all or at least, it isn't implemented in the main code yet. Wish they wouldn't use it so much in promotional material, same goes with the spaced out Shenmue font but I'm not their PR guy.

But the model has changed and improved since the E3 2015 reveal, though. It's easiest to tell in the proportions, but everything from Ryo's shoes up has seen changes when you look closely.

Here are the improvements/changes I can see:

Ryo's legs aren't spindly twigs anymore, plus his jeans and shoes are different.

Ryo's jacket has additional detailing on the seams running down his arms and across his back, as well as lighter areas in the creases under his armpits where friction would have worn on the material and made it paler. Admittedly, details like the tiger and arm patches are currently incorrect in placement/size, and the seam running across the back should actually be over the shoulders when comparing to the Shenmue/Shenmue II jacket texture.

The screens from the latest backer video are at a disadvantage by being low res, but when zooming in you can make out a realistic "marbling" on the leather (most visible around the tiger patch, and in the light areas of the jacket). The E3 model has something similar but as far as I can tell the implementation is better here.

The jacket looks less like plastic now too, and isn't reflecting light sources like it's constantly wet.

Ryo's jacket looks more loose around the waist, like a bomber jacket should. Crossing my fingers they make it a limited physics object to flap/move around a bit during action/fights, but we'll see.

Ryo's hair has a better shader applied that is reflecting/absorbing light correctly, the highlights changing from black to rusty brown with a strong light source applied are now more natural and real looking. They still have more work to do on getting the mesh correct so it has that textured, spiked look Ryo had in the originals, but overall it's an improvement.

And those are all differences I can see in four screens, two of which being from a low res video, and three of them from the back.

I was specifically talking about faces than overall models since we were talking about Shenmue 2 beta vs. final builds but yes, I agree some overall improvements in textures/lighting have been made to make it seem less "plastic". Lip sync, facial expressions and animations are most likely being done by another team and not in the main code yet so they are still running with templates.

[ShenSun]

Good analysis Spaghetti.

Am i the only one who likes Ryo's face here? The other images look off, but this one is pretty good.