Well, it would sure make for a decent reason to optimize ResidualVM further. I guess it will push TinyGL to it's knees though (and I can't really say I blame it ), but the OpenGL-renderer should scale quite fine with more polygons.
I'm wondering if a quicker way to deluxe Grim Fandango would be with code hacks and tricks within ResidualVM rather than trying to rework the original content. It would also ensure the original flair of the graphics is retained as much as possible. Besides a few polygon clips during animation, I don't think we should muck with the original models.
The textures, however, could be improved in the same way ScummVM upsamples 2D pixel art. Perhaps an equivalent of that could be added to ResidualVM - where the renderer applies a different scaling algorithm to textures - i.e. instead of the current OpenGL bilinear interpolation, a supersampling alogrithm or hqx or something is used to make the low resolution textures smoother...
Plug:
Code tricks won't fix the dated models. They need rebuilding.
Images can't be upscaled nearly as well as 3d sprites. It's a technical limitation. The textures need to be massaged by hand, applying one filter to all onscreen textures wouldn't look great, and it would mean a lot of extra processing at runtime, and major changes to residual. Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't think that's going to work.
Johnny:
The essense of the original characters is really important, and I agree we don't need to change his design at all. I'd like to stick closer to in-game Manny than concept-art Manny. The main point of remodelling should really be to make it so you can't count the giant polygons on the characters, but we should aim to keep their paper cutout, angular look.
Darxen:
Great work! There's a few things I'd suggest, but the overall look is solid.
1. I wouldn't smooth the top of his head too much. It's got a very distinctive, angular shape and I think we should try and preserve that. Perhaps try and sharpen the angles on the sides of his head back up a little as well, but not too much - just so the sides are a little flatter.
2. The legs look great, we'd have to see how the animations work and see what needs to be happening at the knee in terms of intersecting geometry.
3. The shape of the arms looks good, but perhaps consider sharpening the angles a bit more. The smoother curves are nice and I like the smoothness, but perhaps just tighen the edges a bit so they're more rectangular.
4. Maybe add a bit more roundness to the top of the feet, and give him a small arch on the inside, and a bulge on the outside. Just a little bit - we don't want it to look organic, but the shape could be more aesthetically pleasing.
5. Shoulders, when they animate, should probably blend into the body/arms, as on the original model. We don't want it to look like he's got epaulettes.
6. Skirt thing - would like to see how this looks textured and in-game, that's tricky to judge. It's probably fine though.
7. I love the collar. You've taken a little detail that was on the original model, and brought it out. I'd have to see it textured to be sure, but I think that's a really good idea. Would it be possible to do his tie like that? Maybe extrude it out of his chest, but scale it out to the sides so it /looks/ separate from his body, but is actually growing out of it.
Really good work, keep it up!
Oh, and don't take everything I say as definite, if you (or anyone else) have more ideas or opinions on it, we should get it all out.
But I think Manny's stomack has become too thin. To the point that it's making him more of a her! You know, his stomach is thin to the pint that a female anatomy is. small chest and big hips.
I don't know how to explain how his chest/stomach should be in words. So here's Peter Chans' concept art which worths a thousand words;
Don't touch the hands. They have to be as close to the originals as possible, while making them look just a little more boney and 3d. When they're being animated, they will look fine - but if they are adjusted into a better default pose, it will screw the animation up.
The head looks a bit better now, but make take those cheekbone shapes much smaller, but when I said make it more flat, I should have been more clear. In your earlier version, it was very round. In the original model (and that great image from Jon), it's got an angle to it. It's not as round as your first try, but it's not as flat as you have it now. Use the model sheet by Jon as a guide.
I think Jon's point about the torso is valid too, he shouldn't go in at the waist like that, it should be more straight up-and-down. Making him a little wider (from a side view) is probably good too.
The arms look good to me, he's based on a paper doll so I think the boxyness is good.
With the shoulders, look at the original model. If you look at it, you can't see the shoulders are separate objects. They look like part of the torso. Try and fix it so the shoulders/torso/arms have less of a visible join line, that's what I mean by that.
the head looks fine, but I agree that manny looks too girly now... the chest should be bigger an the pants should be much narrower towards the shoes. it breaks too much away from the original imho. Peter Chans conceptdrawings should be the starting point to work from. the shoes look a bit wrong too me as well.
The last one looks excellent from the waist up. I know this was hard work, but 3 things you need to correct for this to look perfect (at least from my point of view):
1. His pants, not so round on the bottom, but sharp and flat-cut like the original or your v2 model. The last version's pants look like Michelin Man.
2. Sleeves need to be rounder, sleeves on v2 and v3 look OK.
3.A Fingers on hands need to be curled on the inside, not stiff flat.
3.B Try doing fingers more "sharper and edgy", like wooden stakes or cut-outs, just like small blocks instead of imitating realistic bone shape. Look at the cover, and in-game close-ups of the hands.
Just my opinion.
Everything else is amazing: head, shoulders and how they merge, the "tie"... excellent work!
P.S. Residual can run GF only in 640x480 right? And Anti-Aliasing is still in development? I'm not sure how some small details are gonna look like in 640x480 without AA, especially when Many isn't in extreme close-up... GF needs to bi in High-Res for details to look nice.
Darxen, next time you post some screenshots from Maya, can you switch to some low resolution like 640x480, switch OFF AA and zoom out from Many... just the make a simulation of how will your highly detailed model will look like in GrimE conditions.
Also, do you have Johnny Walker's upscaled and remastered textures? The one he used in his 2nd blog post titled "adding the detail"? have you tried pasting them onto your model?
@ Darxen
Excellent work! This is really coming up nicely . I do share however the comments made by longcat and ultraneonoirantihero.
P.S. Residual can run GF only in 640x480 right? And Anti-Aliasing is still in development? I'm not sure how some small details are gonna look like in 640x480 without AA, especially when Many isn't in extreme close-up... GF needs to bi in High-Res for details to look nice.
ResidualVM fully supports AA now. The resolution is instead hardcoded to 640x480, but the code (at least the opengl renderer) is perfectly capable to run at higher resolutions. All it's needed is to change the value of two constants.
Head is looking much better. Maybe drop the point on top just a little bit (closer to the original), and scale in those cheekbone structures a bit more. But good work.
I didn't realise you had changed the hand pose. The fingers need to come into that more natural "relaxed" pose. I know I said don't move them, but it looks like you already have. They need to match the pose of the original as precisely as possible, or animations will break.
Longcat is right about the pants, scale them in a bit more at the bottom. He's also right about the chest, it should stick out more. I think maybe make the stomach a little bigger too. Not so he looks fat, but he's a well built skeleton.
Shoulders look much better now. The only other thing is they are too square. Drop them a bit for more of a slope.
Shoes should bulge a little more at the top, so they're a bit less boxy.
I'd like to see your wires for the collar/tie, it looks like the mesh might be a bit pinched there.
when I look at the original model, I imagine a line at the front, like pressed dress pants. noone has pants that are as round as this:) more strong lines please! if you look at the concept drawings, the back arches more in towards the lower back and the flaps of the jacket stick out a bit more..
), but the OpenGL-renderer should scale quite fine with more polygons.
. I do share however the comments made by longcat and ultraneonoirantihero.
