jett said:And why they went for SD-resolution sprites I guess budgetary issues obviously.I guess they didn't have the staff required or the money to make something with SF4-caliber graphics either.
I think they could have made something with SF IV styled graphics easily (or easier, anywho). Remember, they made the stages and character designs in 3D before using those models as "sketchwork" for their pixel art. What they actually DID do is add on a stupid extra step over what SFIV achieved.
If this game was done in 3D, we'd have something that probably had more characters and stages, more moves, everything. 3D animation data could have been shared between all characters, it woulda been easy to create a large cast that was a little less well developed than SFIV guys, especially since they had an engine to work off of from the Maximum Impact games.
These 2 latest KoF's are one of the few instances in modern gaming where you can say "the company made it's choice on style, NOT because it was the most cost effective. They chose it because THAT is what THEY wanted!"
orioto said:
I never understand why the "models to do it" thing ever comes up. That's like saying Street Fighter II's artwork isn't pure pixel, because they traced sketches with pixels to make it. Shinkuro at one point used 3D models to lay out his photoshop works (probably still does) and the SFIV character portraits are 3D models traced over as guides, until they fit the artist handdrawn style. That doesn't make the work not of the artist.
They might have used models, at most, for the "big color fills", but for the fine details that actually define pixel work, like the animation, clothing wrinkles, hair movement, faces, transitions, and the like, that was all hand-created, and checked by (what they say was) a single artist, to maintain style unity. All they did was think of a more efficient way to produce a mass of sketches in a shorter amount of time.
I don't think there is a single commericial company out there right now who is willing to hire the manpower to make SFIII/MOTW style animation, dot by dot, at 720/1080p. Why even try when vector or cel-shades would get the job done for cheaper and easier?
SNKP would try, but they'd also go bankrupt 6 times over while doing it! XD
I'll always think that, at it's core, frame per frame, comparable animation to comparable animation, XII is a true successor to MOTW, graphic wise. Ash in KoF XII is one of the most overly-animated characters ever. It's missing some extra stuff (like taunts and intro animations) but the acutal moves of the characters are just as good... When one considers the jump in sprite size, they might even be better.
Just watching all the light-sourcing tricks, and intriciate cloth and hair animations they put into these character, I feel it was their personal mission to say "Lets show them how far this old style can go!"
