shihonage said:
Actually it is possible to make a 3D rendering which is quite authentic to the 2D original, as can be seen in recently released Simpsons game.
Well, that is true, which is one reason that I added the caveat that I don't think there is much of an attempt at fidelity. I think that they've tried to reimagine the supermutants in a style that they prefer. But there is a point where my analogy breaks down, and it ties in with your second point:
shihonage said:
Not to mention, the original images of Mutants in Fallout were not the same flat, almost vector-based 2D that Family Guy is known for. They were, for all intents and purposes, tiny images pre-rendered in full 3D. And you could see them at 8 different angles.
The original sprites may be too detailed to reproduce them faithfully in full 3D. Hair, for instance, is always going to be a problem if you adopt anything but a cartoonish style, so baldness or headwear become ubiquitous.
Whilst 8 angles were available for the orignal sprites, a 3D engine of this kind necessarily means that character models can be viewed from a greater variety of angles, which will change the
feel of any characters.
Sorrow said:
How many real Fallout weapons have you seen in the demo? Have you seen the original Combat Armor and the original T-51B Power Armor?
To me it looks like "reinvenshun" not like adding new types of weapons.
Well, there may be some practical issues which underlie the reimagining of some objects; how good would the original laser rifle look rendered in 3D first-person perspective? Would it be particularly distinct from, say, the sniper rifle?
Also, I can't see any reason, given the wholesale changes to art direction, perspective, and so on, not to take the opportunity to improve things.
Improve of course is a subjective judgement.
Brotehr None said:
But replacing the laser rifle with an equally or more fitting 50's retro-design is a step forward in Fallout's design, not a step back. Their other weapon and armour design and choices (PA that looks weird in motion, Chinese assault rifle, Fatman) are terrible, but this? Nothing wrong with this.
Does the PA look weird in motion because of the way it is animated, or is it inherent to the design? (I quite like it in the stills.)
I cannot see any reason why any developer would have to be completely and utterly restrained by the original designs (and the
Fallout 2 development team - for good or bad - certainly weren't). If improvements can be made, or just changes that suit the different setting or narrative, then why not?
Nobody is trying to justify the diminution of the game, but the spirit of
Sequel should surely be to enrich and grow beyond the original. Change is not necessarily a bad thing, so I'm with you; we should worry about obviously poor elements, rather than reacting against mere change.
Fallout is likely to suffer from problems which extend far beyond whether or not a 3D laser rifle is faithful to the 2D original. A faithful 3D recreation of the 2D
Fallout world would not ensure a good, congruent sequel.
