Shenmue III Update #67: Developer Room Update 3

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

I know people are stressed out but let's not fat shame Cool Z. The guy might be a bit overweight but he doesn't look like he has oil injections on his arms.

[Spaghetti]

It's such a departure from the photorealistic style we all remember.

To that effect:


I really don't get why there's a pushback on taking a step closer to the concept art. I mean, I guess I do (opinions, etc), but I'm really failing to see the big deal. Why push for absolute realism when you have a great lead character designer in Kenji Miyawaki with a distinct style?

People of a sensitive disposition to this should brace themselves for Ryo, because if they're going back to the original artwork he's going to look more like:



- than the passport model. Frankly, it's the right decision.

[mjq jazz bar]

My concern about character models has rised to the moon since this:



To me it looks like a doll taken from this



wich to be honest looks disgusting to me

It's an incredibly faithful rendering of the character design, so I don't really get the complaint about the model itself.

im guessing he doesn't like that it looks like a toy or a mannequin

[Spaghetti]

im guessing he doesn't like that it looks like a toy or a mannequin

He specifically refers to character models.

But even then, it's a test environment using basic animation to check for issues with the model. That's it.

[KidMarine]

They obviously need to texture his skin still. Jesus Christ.

[Gen]

I really don't get why there's a pushback on taking a step closer to the concept art. I mean, I guess I do (opinions, etc), but I'm really failing to see the big deal. Why push for absolute realism when you have a great lead character designer in Kenji Miyawaki with a distinct style?

People of a sensitive disposition to this should brace themselves for Ryo, because if they're going back to the original artwork he's going to look more like:



- than the passport model. Frankly, it's the right decision.

Because many of us really love the style of the old games and they didn't look like manga. The main characters are stylized but not cartoony. So it's not about a push for absolute realism. Though many of the ordinary people are made to look more realistic even though they are less detailed and made with less polygons.

The old games were never meant to look like Miyawakis original concept images. His drawings provide a basis for the characters but the in-game models are based on highly detailed 3d-models sush as these: (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13792) (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13794), and to some extent the busts that they made of the main characters. Even though the in-game models are obviously less detailed you can still see it's the same person and the peronality and character of the original 3D concept images is preserved. For me, this design is a huge part of what makes Shenmue my favorite game, and a manga style Shenmue is such a drastic departure from the old design that it wouldn't feel like Shenmue to me anymore. I highly doubt they will go that direction though.

About this new image i'm not sure we can draw that much conclusion from it, and the shading they're using creates a doll-like appearance similar to SFV which some has already mentioned, and we don't know if his skin is fully textured yet.

[Suzuki Yu]

i don't get the hate here!

IMO this Model work is superb and a very good sign.
not only they totally nailed the original artwork but how good the animation seems to be with all those flexible muscles! never expected the game to have this super fine details really.
in fact this makes feel reassured about the 3D modeling work state in general for this game, i can't wait to see how they would approach things aesthetically with other familiar characters... i hope they will carry on to faithfully translate the original illustration by Miyawaki into 3D.
i would like to see this Ryo in 3D

People of a sensitive disposition to this should brace themselves for Ryo, because if they're going back to the original artwork he's going to look more like:



- than the passport model. Frankly, it's the right decision.

[mjq jazz bar]

They obviously need to texture his skin still. Jesus Christ.

Is that typically something that's done 6 months before release?

[Spaghetti]

Because many of us really love the style of the old games and they didn't look like manga. The main characters are stylized but not cartoony. So it's not about a push for absolute realism. Though many of the ordinary people are made to look more realistic even though they are less detailed and made with less polygons.

The old games were never meant to look like Miyawakis original concept images. His drawings provide a basis for the characters but the in-game models are based on highly detailed 3d-models sush as these: (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13792) (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13794), and to some extent the busts that they made of the main characters. Even though the in-game models are obviously less detailed you can still see it's the same person and the peronality and character of the original 3D concept images is preserved. For me, this design is a huge part of what makes Shenmue my favorite game, and a manga style Shenmue is such a drastic departure from the old design that it wouldn't feel like Shenmue to me anymore. I highly doubt they will go that direction though.

The old games were made in a completely different time in completely different circumstances, to push the boundaries of what a video game even was in that era.

We were never going to get that with Shenmue III. It was never going to have the budget to keep up with the games that push those boundaries (visually, at least).

They made the right choice stepping closer towards the character designs, because the alternatives are either to shoot for something they know is out of their reach (at the expense of the whole project), or just produce a middling, fence-sitting attempt that doesn't capture any of the artistry of the designs or blow us away with technical prowess.

But yes, as you and others have said; things will still change, and we've only seen the character in a neutral test environment doing basic animation tests for defects in the model rigging. But don't expect them to suddenly do a 180 on adhering closer to the concept art that they have before. They've made the best, and ultimately most aesthetically pleasing choice in a difficult situation.

And with that also said, this character's design is inherently exaggerated. They're not all going to look this over the top.

[Spaghetti]

Is that typically something that's done 6 months before release?

This isn't coming out in 2017 now. You're not going to find much - if any - arguments on that at this point.

[Centrale]

I would suggest that anyone who thinks this is some kind of radical departure from the established style of Shenmue to take a moment to look at the older character models with fresh eyes. This is just a quick sampling of screen grabs from the Shenmue wiki. There has always been a strongly stylized aesthetic to Shenmue.



I don't know what people mean when they refer to "manga" style as manga is an entire vast body of literature that encompasses thousands of styles by tens of thousands of artists. To me this looks consistent with the established Shenmue style.

[Gen]

Well, I didn't say the new model from the update necissarily was a drastic change in design, I meant that if Ryo would look like Miyawakis concept image in the game, yes, that would be a drastic change.

[Spaghetti]

Well, I didn't say the new model from the update necissarily was a drastic change in design, I meant that if Ryo would look like Miyawakis cocept image in the game, yes, that would be drastic change.

Ryo Hazuki was literally introduced to the world in the Shenmue Premiere by crossfading from Miyawaki illustrations to his in-game model.

https://youtu.be/QM2bkUm1eT8?t=396

And what I said specifically, was people should not expect passport Ryo.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

I don't see why people shouldn't expect passport Ryo... after all just a few months ago they photoshoped Ryo's DC face into a screenshot, implying they were still going for that look.

[ChiefNeo]

This doesn't look like shenmue. I wholeheartedly disagree with the people that say that it does. This is what the character of a Jade Empire sequel should look like, not shenmue. This proves my fears that the texture work, with all it's "dirty" and "gritty" details will no be present in the characters. That classic look with the baked in shadows and lighting will be gone.

It looks like it's made out of putty.

This is what they are going for:

Instead of

For shenmue to look like shenmue, the facial textures have to be handcrafted. You cannot rely on polygonal geometry and lighting for the look. That's why you need to draw it in. They are not doing that. It will not look the same.

It's NOT the same. I will not cry over it. At this point I'm still just glad to be getting the game...though I am very sad that we are loosing the traditional look. Much like the title, it will be shenmue, with a different font.




*Sigh*... Oh well.

As far as the styling is concerned, I'm ok with it. I wanted some style, as it's in keeping with character design. Ryo has always had spiky stylized hair, for example.