SIII Character Model Discussion

Shenhua is the best model in my opinion. I know people moan it doesn't look like her anymore, but the model itself is excellent regardless. Perhaps (controversial opinion) that's why it looks so good... because they weren't restricting themselves by trying to imitate the original model, unlike with Ryo and Lan Di etc. Not that those models look bad (they are also great), just that the imperfections are easier to spot when it's a recreation of a model you know really well.
 
Speaking about Shenhua's model, here is an interesting bit from Shenmue 500K's interview with Yu Suzuki at MAGIC 2018:

First up is a question from Scott: Who was the most difficult character in the series to design?

Shenhua. Shenhua was the most difficult. It’s tricky to get close to the image of her that I had been envisioning. But now there’s a new method of creation called physically-based rendering. [To translator: It’s difficult to translate, isn’t it… [in English] “physical rendering.”] With the adoption of this method, the light comes off the model really nicely, and with just a small adjustment to the model her whole facial expression changes. That goes for her hair as well as her facial expressions. Even if we’re able to make Shenhua a beautiful-looking character, it takes a lot of time to make her compelling and to give her a distinctive personality; to create a heroine who is a good fit for Shenmue 3. I think we’ve reached a good Shenhua!
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Interview with Yu Suzuki (MAGIC Monaco 2018) – Shenmue 500K

shenmue500k.net shenmue500k.net
 
"subtract the NPC interaction", in a game majorly built on interacting with characters to progress. okay m8

Hellblade isn't a valid comparison by any metric, it has a much more limited scope than Shenmue III in many, many respects. Ninja Theory concentrated on providing AAA production values in an independent game (hence their partnership with several leading photogrammetry and motion capture specialists) but the end result is narrow, shallow, and short. (Note: this has nothing to do with the quality of the game, a game can be all these things and still enjoyable).

Hellblade's average completion time according to "How Long to Complete?" is 7 hours, Shenmue and Shenmue II land just south of 30 hours; and Shenmue III is likely to be the same. You can probably count the cast of characters on your hands, and it's largely a linear story/action game. Hellblade is unfortunately the go-to argument for people who don't understand that you can't have EVERYTHING on a budget, or simply don't wish to learn the push and pull that comes with handling resources in game development.

"The length of the game has nothing to do with the animations and design looking like complete shit"

Not even touching what this guy thinks is "shit", the length has a huge amount to do with it. Developing game content isn't free, and neither are dedicating huge amounts of time, technology, and human resources to great graphics. Unless you have limitless time, budget, and staff size; when you put focus in a particular area it may mean cutbacks in others.

Yu Suzuki in 2015:

"The game itself doesn't have to be gorgeous visually - a lot of the money these days goes into the graphics. If we perhaps compromise on the graphics and put more into the story, we can make a good game. The most important thing, to me, is that the game's interesting, and that it's something people want to play."

These days we have an idea of how these priorities have borne fruit. Several interlocking mechanics and gameplay loops that revise, re-envision, and refresh Shenmue as we know it; with still quite a few aspects under wraps and hints of better non-linear gameplay than the originals were ever able to manage.

I'm sure these cunts would still be complaining if Shenmue III was a beautiful but linear 7 hour experience instead.
 
高野和泉 said:
Well, a quick peek around SNS and it seems the Monaco Salt is still pouring to this day.

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Haha...Btw is hellblade being kept brought up as a measuring stick becuz its actually valid(Scope/ambition/workload/budget/etc.) comparison or just cuz "Muh triple A Indie success story"?
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I think the person defending Shenmue 3 has the right train of thought but the wrong argument. I agree with his critic that it isn't the length of the game that determines the quality of the character models but the effort and money put into each one. A better argument to make would be to simply point out the scale of Shenmue 3 to Hellblade.

Like Spaghetti so wonderfully articulated, the developers put a lot of their time and money into one character. As a result, you can see the glaring contrast in quality now try making a game as complex as Shenmue on a tight budget. Remember the developers are working on over five hundred non-playable characters that all have to fit believably in this universe. What should really nip this argument in the bud is that even when Shenmue was a AAA franchise not every character was of high quality. That can even be applied to other AAA franchises.

Now some might point to the main characters like Shenhua or Ryo as examples. However every time they've showed up they've become better and better. I mean I don't understand how people can't put two and two together that if things keep looking better each time maybe their knee-jerk reaction was unwarranted. Honestly at this point, I think people wanted a game that just wasn't realistically possible.
 
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Hellblade comparison comes up because it's a small budget, small team, Unreal Engine 4 game.

What people dont get is... there's like 1 fuckin character in the whole game. Senua's character model is leagues above many games. For the sole reason she's the only character in the game iirc. Maybe there's another one. For the rest, Hellblade is all about realistic boring assets (the environnements are weak in the game imo).

Let's be honest: Yeah, the character models in Shenmue III aren't too hot. But the game isn't out yet and they have seen a shiton of improvements on that front. And on top of that: Shenmue III is also supposed to be a far bigger game compared to Hellblade while remaining in the same budget league.

And honestly, I'm quite confident they'll deliver a true Shenmue experience with III.
 
Hi All

Great to see the game in action as a game at E3, now looking at this footage it appears this effect has been reduced from the last trailer. That being said I believe that the character models are being done a bit of a disservice by the lighting. The skin on the models is reflecting at the same rate as the other items in the game leading to this over-exposed/high bloom effect. I have adjusted an image (which is a 5 minute job to try and show my point).

NOTE: This is an image from the widley circulated E3 demo footage (just incase you are avoiding spoilers to the max)
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For reference I simply did a crude selection of the skin areas on show and ajdust brightness/contrast

You can see a lot more detail - basically Skin isn't shiny really. It doesn't reflect in the same way as clothes, walls, water or stone etc. I feel if they can work on this in the next 6 months it could actually look quite impressive! I believe this is why people have commented on the game looking so nice during night scenes but the reaction otherwise has been a bit muted.

Thoughts?
 
Hey @Life_247, I've moved your thread to the character model discussion topic as it's a more suitable thread for your post and it could also use a bump :)
 
Art direction is the subject I'm most concerned about the game. How are Ryo Hazuki and the chatty bad guy supposed to belong to the same universe? They may achieve a tour de force to unify so different kind of models. Really curious to see the eventual result.
 
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