Breaking news!: Iwao is seventh generation? & more!

[sega27]

I'm disappointed: I thought the shenmue mirrors were done by creating a "reflection" effect, using the graphics engine to figure out what a reflection would look like from that angle. I didn't realise that they just built a mirror-reversed copy of the room in the 3D system and added a fake reversed Ryo to mimic the real Ryo's position.

I thought that as well, so I'm equally disappointed, albeit not surprised. The graphics chip in the Dreamcast is only an old nVidia PowerVR, and while it's not exactly crap (it can run DirectX 6.1), you can't compare its capabilities with nForce (DX 8.1), for example.

I think DX7 implemented some mirror-like functionalities, not sure.

PowerVR is made by NEC. And you're right, in order to create a reflection w/o rendering the same objects twice you need to use a shaders, which started in DX8. DX8 being something that the simple Dreamcast graphics chip cant handle.

On a side note, keep up the good work LanDC. Although there are not alot of poeple posting, im sure everyone loves to read your Shenmue discoveries. I know that you found some textures from Niao-san, is it possible that her charactor model is still in there?

[Buckaroo]

I have actually counted how long Ryo stands each foot (watching how he switches between them when he stands still.) Last I remember it was 13 seconds. Now, for mirrors. Mirrors are just a shader with a target_position about 128 grid-units above the brush that is going to be the mirror. Any thing seen by the target position is relayed to the shader and the information is processed. This is how it is done in Quake III engine games (I know because I make mods with this engine; used to.) In Shenmue, I suspect they do the same thing, but a mirror room is possible. Mirrors slow down FPS a lot, so usage should be limited in any engine.

Just by looking at the architecture in Shenmue; you can see a lot of sprites (2d textures on bezier patches used to mimic 3d brushes), and you can see that the real architecture is surprisingly simple (just a lot of boxes.) The real detail in Shenmue comes form the texturing, which is incredibly detailed for any game. If you look at something like the ship Ryo leaves to Hong Kong on, you will see on the stern that the texture is slightly warped; this is because they had trouble fitting the texture to the odd curve. Little errors like this are due to the limited capabilities of any Dreamcast game. I can't wait to see a Shenmue with graphics like UT2003 or Doom3. WOW!!!! Could you imagine how detailed everything would be?!

[LanDC]

I know that you found some textures from Niao-san, is it possible that her charactor model is still in there?

I can't say for sure yet. The possibility is looking less likely now, but you never know.

[Leon]

OK... is it okay to bump up something so old? But i've got something about the Hazuki family background...

It is said that the origin of the Hazuki Style kick goes back to the time when Souemon Hazuki, the second master of the Hazuki Style, went to battle. The army in which Souemon served was losing the battle and as one of the leaders, Souemon was responsible for covering their retreat (the role of warding off enemy persuers while being the last to retreat). Souemon bravely carried on the fight alone, but was overcome, his powerful arms were injured, and he became unable to fight. Souemon was in despair, but his will to live and protect his overlord caused him to turn to his still uninjured legs as weapons. Unused to kicking moves, the enemy fell one after another.
Based on that experience, Souemon became aware of the value of kicking moves as a secret weapon and developed a system of kiking moves called the Hazuki Style Grand Arsenal of Sickle Leg Attacks.

This was taken from the "Shenmue passport moves scroll text FAQ" by Triple Lei.

Some more Hazuki reference...

It is known from written records passed through time that at the end of the Warring States Era, theHazuki Style and the Yagyu Shinkage Style enjoyed close relations.

[Gingefners, The]

Jeez just how deep is this game. With the amount of work thats gone into the game it would be a sin not to complete the series. We're (or LanDc to be more precise) is still finding out stuff about the game. "Shenmue how I love thee...."

[Gustav]

hahaha "Red Rum" your sig is like saying shenmue is bad, "a night without shenmue is like a night without nothing", like saying that if you arent playing shenmue, then you dont miss anything ;p

or maybe thats the point? whatever ;p

[Who Really Cares?]

this game is too deep to remain unfinished!!!