Best crowds in a videogame

J

J2 Cool

Member
Me and my friends had this discussion when he told me how Shadow of Rome's crowd looked horrible. And I agreed, most crowds do look like crap. So I was wondering, is there any games that really excel at that? I think wrestling game's have really concentrated on that, and Raw vs. Smackdown did it really well. But I havent seen much beyond that.
 
Virtua Tennis on DC had awesome crowds for its time.

Nothing super impressive springs to mind though... Crowds generally suck in games, you're right.
 
J2 Cool said:
Me and my friends had this discussion when he told me how Shadow of Rome's crowd looked horrible. And I agreed, most crowds do look like crap. So I was wondering, is there any games that really excel at that? I think wrestling game's have really concentrated on that, and Raw vs. Smackdown did it really well. But I havent seen much beyond that.
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I know people are probably going to disagree but I really loved the way they handled the crowds in FF8 during the parade in Deling City. It was pretty impressive at the time and imho still kind of is.
 
I prefer 2d crowds to 3d crowds. I haven't seen a 3d crowd done properly yet. imo, if a crowd is 3d it draws unnecessary attention to the crowd, it should only be a backdrop for the action. give me high res 2d crowds!
 
Ken Griffey for N64: I thought the fact that fans would leave the game if you were sucking was pretty damn revolutionary for the time.
 
wwe-smackdown-vs-raw-20041019032525916.jpg


Here's Smackdown/Raw. In motion this actually looks very good.
 
vatstep said:
Ken Griffey for N64: I thought the fact that fans would leave the game if you were sucking was pretty damn revolutionary for the time.
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Great example of a crowd done right! Wonder why it hasn't been done more?
 
sega usually do the best crowd since year. That said i give my vote to the Tennis crowd in the capcom 3 in one sport arcade machine.

honarable mention:
snatcher bar
crazy taxi
JGR
 
The problem with the crowds in most games is that they're just using morph targets with about 5 or 6 keyframes at the most. There's no way you'd ever be able to do a full crowd with bones and shit, but at least they could increase the keyframes and randomize the actions. One person can only pump his fist in the air for so long.
 
Not really helping the topic along, but I'd like to cast a vote for the worst crowd ever (taking into account what can be done on the console and what has been done by peers).

All-Star Baseball 2005. While an absolutely miserable game all around, the crowd is the most embarrassing aspect of the game. There are about 6 fans at any given game, with entire sections filled by the exact same person. To make it even worse, they only have two frames of animation(clap closed, clap open). And you have to spend the entire game looking at them behind the batter. Bad times.
 
Another vote for Paper Mario 2 here. Especially when a boss uses them to supplement an attack or they throw things at you.
 
The crowds can stay 2d (or should stay 2d), that's quite sufficient.

Here's what I want the crowd to do in a hockey game:

- Leave when the going gets bad
- Throw in hats when you score an hat-trick (the crowd did that in NHL2000 but never after)
- Be less sold out when you've had some bad matches in a row
- Be sold out when you're in Stanley Cup
- Don't chant the same thing all the time
- If you score an important goal they should go wild for a long time and not just 2 seconds during the replay.
- Booh when you do bad things
- More team and player specific chanting
 
I'll second Virtua Tennis. The 2D cutouts were bog-standard and meh, but on some of the player closeups, when the crowd was smaller and 3d, they looked great.
 
Yeah, VF4 is my pick as well. The crowd isn't as large in VF4 as what you see in various sports titles, but it is very dense and beautifully animated.
 
Schafer said:
If you want to go beyond sports games:

589390_20040920_screen002.jpg


Now THAT is a crowd.
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Okay, forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I've never played that game (or that type of war game). Does the game really show that entire group, modeled in 3D? Or do they become 2D at some point in the distance? I ask because that seems insane - what sort of minimum reqs are there to run something like this?

~Cris
 
I'm more concerned with crowd noise than how the crowd actually looks. Especially when it comes to sports games. I can't stand playing a hockey or football game in which the crowd noise is totally dull and lifeless. If I score a goal, I want to hear a chorus or boos or cheers.
 
Didn't one of the NHL Blitz games on N64 have 3D crowds? I remember it being very impressive for the time. They would get up and leave too. It was only 3 rows of ppl though.
 
Youguys gotta promise you won't hurt me? Promise?

... Rocky. Haven't played Rocky Legends, but Rocky.

::Ducks::

Seriously, I know the fighters themselves weren't high res, but the crowd was the same res as the fighters, there were alot of them, and in certain stageS (IE: Bar fights) They'd throw bottles onto the stage, as well as get rowdy and animate whenever someone else was dominating or something amazing happened.
 
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