Actually, 2D fighting games with 2D sprites have a similar issue sometimes, especially in crossover games that don't draw new sprites. Morrigan, a green-haired succubus with a bat motif from the Darkstalkers franchise, appears in two cross-company fighting games, Capcom Vs. SNK 1 & 2, and what once was one of the sexiest, most provocative sprites in gaming in 1996 looked like utter shit compared to characters that had brand new sprites drawn for the crossover game like Ryu, Kyo, and Rugal. There certainly is an argument to be made that the same could happen in an Overhaul EE game, and the possibility that the difference could be stark enough to annoy is an issue.
Personally, even in BG2 I started to have this aesthetic dissonance with the sprites taken from Icewind Dale and Torment, as well as the brand new sprites like dragons and giants. Myconids, orogs, dragons, and glabrezu looked amazing, and the disparity between them and my party was jarring.
BG2EE will use the 1PP graphics, right? That's all I really want; visuals are not a concern for me usually but the default paperdolls in BG2 look awful.
BG2EE will use the 1PP graphics, right? That's all I really want; visuals are not a concern for me usually but the default paperdolls in BG2 look awful.
I think it's a fair guess that BG2EE will sue the same paperdolls as BG1EE.
BG2EE will use the 1PP graphics, right? That's all I really want; visuals are not a concern for me usually but the default paperdolls in BG2 look awful.
I think it's a fair guess that BG2EE will sue the same paperdolls as BG1EE.
Sue? That would be harsh if they were suing them. You mean use?
Because the original 3D assets for all character and monster sprites were lost, we would have to reconstruct every different model for a sprite in the game and animate it from scratch. And because Baldur's Gate I & II have so many different sprites, this would be cost prohibitive. To rebuild every model and recreate all of the animations would cost us more than we could make from selling the game.
All hope isn't lost, however. Upgrading the sprites is still something that's on our radar, and if we can find the right method of doing it that doesn't break the bank we'll come back to it in the future. There are some business developments on the horizon that may make this not only financially feasible but fairly straightforward to do, but it will be some time before we can take advantage of them.
I apologize for being vague here, but it's the nature of NDA agreements and the like.
BG2EE will use the 1PP graphics, right? That's all I really want; visuals are not a concern for me usually but the default paperdolls in BG2 look awful.
I think it's a fair guess that BG2EE will sue the same paperdolls as BG1EE.
Sue? That would be harsh if they were suing them. You mean use?
@PhillipDaigle, but adopt the sprite of IceWind Dale is not possible in the BG series if you have the rights to do a Enhanced Edition of it?? Hoping of course that has not been lost the original resource again.. In Obsidian we trust!!!
@PhillipDaigle, but adopt the sprite of IceWind Dale is not possible in the BG series if you have the rights to do a Enhanced Edition of it?? Hoping of course that has not been lost the original resource again.. In Obsidian we trust!!!
As far as I am aware the 3D model data for the Icewind Dale games was also lost. Additionally, I believe the character sprites for IWD were the original BG sprites - though I haven't looked at it in awhile, I could be wrong.
As a side note, many of the models would have to be rebuilt anyway. In order for the models to appear as look like what they're supposed to from an isometric perspective, some of the anatomy on the humanoid characters was... unrealistic.
Imagine, if you will, a set of manly pecs that connects below to nightmarishly long legs and connects above to a giant head.
As a side note, many of the models would have to be rebuilt anyway. In order for the models to appear as look like what they're supposed to from an isometric perspective, some of the anatomy on the humanoid characters was... unrealistic.
Imagine, if you will, a set of manly pecs that connects below to nightmarishly long legs and connects above to a giant head.
Well that explains why Abdel Adrian was such a monstrosity, at least.
How about improving the scaling so the sprites don't look too pixelated? This way you don't have to spend so much resources on re creating the artwork.
Anyone know why on the inventory page the sprites look so much better?
The inventory characters are not the same thing as sprites. The ones in the inventory are often called "paperdolls" I believe the paperdolls are one of the few graphical things that got upgraded right off the bat with the inclusion of the 1PP mod.
Anywho, the paperdolls are not animated or anything like that.
Just adding my voice to the "please do whatever you can to increase the clarity of the player character sprites".
I realize Overhaul has to consider recovering the costs to do this, and DLC packs sound like a step in the right direction. It would let you stage your releases and get a feel for the demand. It doesn't have to be a complete overhaul of every sprite in the game at the same time. By releasing them as DLC packs, the upgrade becomes optional. So that angry mob that will burn down the earth if you touch the sprites can just ignore the DLC and all will be right with the world.
Alternately, maybe do whatever needs to be done in the code to allow high resolution sprites optionally, and let the community do the artwork and release their own mods. I see a lot of well done graphics mods for games, there's no shortage of interest =D
I'm sorry but new quests, npcs, items, areas, voices, portraits, music, bugfixes etc etc are objectively more important than having the characters and sprites look a "bit" better.
I hate to be pedantic, but, even though I personally would tend to agree with you, those things aren't objectively more important. Assuming all parts of a game can't be improved for whatever reason, determining which aspects of a game should be improved is an extremely subjective matter, as the length and depth of this thread's posts will attest.
Because the original 3D assets for all character and monster sprites were lost, we would have to reconstruct every different model for a sprite in the game and animate it from scratch. And because Baldur's Gate I & II have so many different sprites, this would be cost prohibitive. To rebuild every model and recreate all of the animations would cost us more than we could make from selling the game.
All hope isn't lost, however. Upgrading the sprites is still something that's on our radar, and if we can find the right method of doing it that doesn't break the bank we'll come back to it in the future. There are some business developments on the horizon that may make this not only financially feasible but fairly straightforward to do, but it will be some time before we can take advantage of them.
I apologize for being vague here, but it's the nature of NDA agreements and the like.
What about adding sprites for a couple of new monsters/npcs?
Because the original 3D assets for all character and monster sprites were lost, we would have to reconstruct every different model for a sprite in the game and animate it from scratch. And because Baldur's Gate I & II have so many different sprites, this would be cost prohibitive. To rebuild every model and recreate all of the animations would cost us more than we could make from selling the game.
All hope isn't lost, however. Upgrading the sprites is still something that's on our radar, and if we can find the right method of doing it that doesn't break the bank we'll come back to it in the future. There are some business developments on the horizon that may make this not only financially feasible but fairly straightforward to do, but it will be some time before we can take advantage of them.
I apologize for being vague here, but it's the nature of NDA agreements and the like.
I assume when you say this will take some time, that it will probably take a year. If this does happen, will this be a free update?
@AndrewFoley I understand what you say and I was over exaggerating on purpose to make a point.
What I meant was, how can one put more importance on graphics in a game like this and more specifically this game. It would be understandable if the graphics were horribly outdated or ugly as hell like some DOS or Nintendo games or early 3D games (the first Alone in the Dark game).
But in this game, is making the graphics a bit better, more important than making the game richer and giving you things you have never seen before to play with? (Like kits, npcs, quests, portraits).
To me, if someone puts more emphasis on the graphics in this game, than anything else, then they're playing the wrong game.
Getting them in addition to new stuff is a different matter. We're talking about A vs B here, not that A doesn't matter.
I certainly am willing to pay for a DLC that improved the graphics of BG2EE, if i am willing to do so i am sure there are people out there who are fans of the game and also want improved HD sprites etc to enhance our enjoyment of the game, perhaps since the cost is an issue, Beamdog can maybe estimate the damage to their corporate wallet to hire a few more people to redo the 3d sprites and animation and put up a kickstarter for it to gauge if there is enough fan support to get the thing done.
BG2 is one of my favourite games of all time and i would love to see it in all it's full glory
Like I said and as Phillip said "To rebuild every model and recreate all of the animations would cost us more than we could make from selling the game."
Such a huge project would take lots of money and time to make. I would estimate roughly, based on what I believe it would cost, that such a DLC could cost 15-20$ if not more.
About the kickstarter thing, I doubt it, since it's not a project made from scratch like Project Eternity. Atari and the other companions would take a good share of that donation money just for the rights, plus they can't change existing content, remember?
Though, what they could do perhaps, is pass each animation through some filters to remove jagged edges, improve colors and make them sharper. That might be possible.
@AndrewFoley I understand what you say and I was over exaggerating on purpose to make a point.
What I meant was, how can one put more importance on graphics in a game like this and more specifically this game. It would be understandable if the graphics were horribly outdated or ugly as hell like some DOS or Nintendo games or early 3D games (the first Alone in the Dark game).
But in this game, is making the graphics a bit better, more important than making the game richer and giving you things you have never seen before to play with? (Like kits, npcs, quests, portraits).
To me, if someone puts more emphasis on the graphics in this game, than anything else, then they're playing the wrong game.
Getting them in addition to new stuff is a different matter. We're talking about A vs B here, not that A doesn't matter.
Well, (technically) the engine shift from BG1 to BG2 engine was a graphic improvement. Compare and see for yourself. And graphics have increased a bit if you compare BG2 to BG:EE (at least IMO).
I think that a graphic boost would be a great thing, unfortunately it's not very likely to happen due to reasons posted above, but one would also have to weigh the benefits and what is gained compared to the cost, the workload and what else is lost.
This, for example, would be a great improvement. Especially when zooming in the game:
Though, what they could do perhaps, is pass each animation through some filters to remove jagged edges, improve colors and make them sharper. That might be possible.
Comments
Personally, even in BG2 I started to have this aesthetic dissonance with the sprites taken from Icewind Dale and Torment, as well as the brand new sprites like dragons and giants. Myconids, orogs, dragons, and glabrezu looked amazing, and the disparity between them and my party was jarring.
All hope isn't lost, however. Upgrading the sprites is still something that's on our radar, and if we can find the right method of doing it that doesn't break the bank we'll come back to it in the future. There are some business developments on the horizon that may make this not only financially feasible but fairly straightforward to do, but it will be some time before we can take advantage of them.
I apologize for being vague here, but it's the nature of NDA agreements and the like.
Imagine, if you will, a set of manly pecs that connects below to nightmarishly long legs and connects above to a giant head.
Anywho, the paperdolls are not animated or anything like that.
I realize Overhaul has to consider recovering the costs to do this, and DLC packs sound like a step in the right direction. It would let you stage your releases and get a feel for the demand. It doesn't have to be a complete overhaul of every sprite in the game at the same time. By releasing them as DLC packs, the upgrade becomes optional. So that angry mob that will burn down the earth if you touch the sprites can just ignore the DLC and all will be right with the world.
Alternately, maybe do whatever needs to be done in the code to allow high resolution sprites optionally, and let the community do the artwork and release their own mods. I see a lot of well done graphics mods for games, there's no shortage of interest =D
(I also hate being fat, and I'm that, too.)
I understand what you say and I was over exaggerating on purpose to make a point.
What I meant was, how can one put more importance on graphics in a game like this and more specifically this game.
It would be understandable if the graphics were horribly outdated or ugly as hell like some DOS or Nintendo games or early 3D games (the first Alone in the Dark game).
But in this game, is making the graphics a bit better, more important than making the game richer and giving you things you have never seen before to play with? (Like kits, npcs, quests, portraits).
To me, if someone puts more emphasis on the graphics in this game, than anything else, then they're playing the wrong game.
Getting them in addition to new stuff is a different matter. We're talking about A vs B here, not that A doesn't matter.
BG2 is one of my favourite games of all time and i would love to see it in all it's full glory
Like I said and as Phillip said "To rebuild every model and recreate all of the animations would cost us more than we could make from selling the game."
Such a huge project would take lots of money and time to make. I would estimate roughly, based on what I believe it would cost, that such a DLC could cost 15-20$ if not more.
About the kickstarter thing, I doubt it, since it's not a project made from scratch like Project Eternity. Atari and the other companions would take a good share of that donation money just for the rights, plus they can't change existing content, remember?
Though, what they could do perhaps, is pass each animation through some filters to remove jagged edges, improve colors and make them sharper. That might be possible.
I think that a graphic boost would be a great thing, unfortunately it's not very likely to happen due to reasons posted above, but one would also have to weigh the benefits and what is gained compared to the cost, the workload and what else is lost.
This, for example, would be a great improvement. Especially when zooming in the game: