Topic: Rockman Online artwork and details.

[Mirby]

Well I meant none either!

[Flame]

Something about how Zero is drawn in the first picture actually reminds me of the Dreamwave Zero.

That being said, the limited releases are somwhat disappointing. pity, since it seems like an interesting concept.

[DarkSaturn]

I LIVE IN SOUTHAMERICA AND THIS GAME WILL NOT BE IN AMERICA AND JAPAN!!!?? OOOOH... *shrugs* 

[Flame]

DID YOU NEED TO SAY IT IN ALL CAPS

[Rad Lionheart]

Not all caps, the shrugging wasn't capitalized at all.

[DarkSaturn]

yeah, the shrug wasnt with cap  after all i feel soo bad.

[Align]

I'm still really curious about this game. If it has something like a mission generator (i guess like CoH but 2d platformer) and character creation, it'd be like an infinite amount of megaman games!... with no plot,and the same artwork, weapons, and music, but still.

[Gaia]

I'm still really curious about this game. If it has something like a mission generator (i guess like CoH but 2d platformer) and character creation, it'd be like an infinite amount of megaman games!... with no plot,and the same artwork, weapons, and music, but still.

What I'm really intrested in is the screenshots (and maybe a demo vid), there hasn't been any since it's announcement.

[Flame]

Bringing this back from the dead a bit.

New artwork and apparently it might soon start closed beta.




(credit Protodude)

You know, even if the game ends up sucking, at least we'll have some kick ass artwork!

[Zan]

I'm surprised at the design on the back of the torso and helmet.

[The Great Gonzo]

I'm surprised at the design on the back of the torso and helmet.

*looks at art again* Huh; didn't catch that. :/

[Hypershell]

Well, X's back has been the victim of many inconsistencies, but this is a new one, yeah.

[Gaia]

Hopefully the open beta would give us insight on the gameplay. I'd love to see it in action.

[N-Mario]

I'm surprised at the design on the back of the torso and helmet.

Wut..... Do we even have any official artwork of his back side as to what it is supposed to look like? I did a random google search for RockMan X, and only found one of the scenes of MMX7. Other than that seems most of them have been the front. Probably the reason why there's so many inconsistencies of the design. Otherwise it could be a designers take, like how in Maverick Hunter X has a different design style.

Although I doubt it'll help, but maybe if there was a comparison chart of the inconsistencies of MMX? I don't know. Considering this game isn't made exclusive from Japan. From my memory serves, isn't this game being made in Korean? Well case in point, its like how we have multiple designs for classic Mega Man. I guess it just depends on who is designing the character.

[Flame]

I think X OCW has the X5 concept artwork that shows front side and back.

Maybe the X4 also...

[Gaia]

I think X OCW has the X5 concept artwork that shows front side and back.

Maybe the X4 also...

That and X1's. But it could be just drawing preferences overall, like Zero's own prong problems.

[N-Mario]

Yup. I've got it! Let me check.....

There's a sketch of his back in the early X1-X3 design on P.102. Then on p.138, looks like his design for Maverick Hunter X, also shows his back.

Looking at both pages, they look the same as it should, except that X (and any other characters) apparently got taller from their original form.
So looking at these in my book, then back at the new RM Online artwork, I can see a difference. Wow. o_O 

[Zan]

There's also X7's 3D model.

[Hypershell]

And X5's base cutscenes.

Of course, the PS1's in-game sprites botched X's back, and nobody really cared then.

But it could be just drawing preferences overall, like Zero's own prong problems.

Zero's prong problems have nothing to do with drawing preferences.  They have everything to do with ease of modeling.  See MMXOCW page 138 (why Yoshikawa thought that anyone would CARE if official art matched such a low-poly model, I will never know).

[Zan]

MHX and X8 both "redesigning" the characters to begin with; I don't see why Zero's changed helmet is a "problem."

[Hypershell]

I'm not aware of anyone who has a problem with MHX's art while not having a problem with X8's art...

I can't speak for Flame, but for me personally, I don't care too much about the MHX helmet itself.  X and Zero have both seen plenty of minor detailing inconsistencies over the course of the series.  What bothers me is WHY it happened; that a simple matter of in-game modeling convenience (and badly done at that; MHX's character models are ugly) takes paramount over the official artwork.  Yoshikawa's entire redesign philosophy appears centered around what is most efficient for the game engine, and I don't agree with that.  While it's true that, to some degree, how a concept will be represented in-game is always a concern, the X-series design style was never especially easy to work with.  Ever since the first game, the artwork detailing went well beyond what the SNES sprites could possibly represent, and this became increasingly obvious throughout X2 and X3.  X-series character designs are their own, and are not especially subject to their gaming platform limitations.  The design comes first, and you then ask the best way to represent it within the limits of the hardware, rather than asking what design best conforms to the hardware.  Yoshikawa's approach just feels like a large step backwards; it's mentality that I expect from the NES era, not in present day gaming.

"Even though the game can only provide pixelated representations, I like to believe that all of the characters and awesome scenes come to vibrant life in the minds of our players."
~Sensei, MMXOCW, page 54

[Flame]

I dont have THAT much of a problem with MHX's Zero helmet than I do X8's. At least MHX kept the halfpipe his helmet should have on the back, which lessened the impact of the fact that they leveled his prongs. (again)

But now that you mention it... Its true. The concept art has the usual Zero helmet style, but they have notes saying that the way it is would add more curves to the model, and thus they should level the prongs. (they were saying similar for the Zero ll head ideas)

[Zan]

Yoshikawa's approach just feels like a large step backwards; it's mentality that I expect from the NES era, not in present day gaming.

I half agree, and half disagree. Beyond the NES games there is always the pixel representation to keep in mind when designing a game character. An example of that being the trouble Oakes and I had with Eriance's designs for New Horizon, which mirrors the issues Inti had with their own work on the ZERO-series. However, for MHX, a polygon based game; I think there's no excuse. Especially since Zero's old helmet already had various 3d representations.

[Flame]

Could it possibly be considered laziness? Just because they didnt want to add a few more "curves" to Zero's model? I mean, given the graphics the PSP is capable of, there should be no excuse for how bad the MHX models are.

[Acid]

I wish I had the time to argue over irrelevant details like this.