47 réponses à ce sujet

[QQNwizard]

Arkynomicon wrote...

Actually, I'm pretty sure that low fantasy is the realistic fantasy genera, and there is way to much magic and legions of doom for Dragon Age to even come near that category.

Two things: there really is no such thing as "realistic fantasy," by calling DAO realistic I simply meant the art was created so that it looks somewhat more realistic in comparison to other games. Obviously magic and dragons and race of pure evil doesn't exactly scream realism on a story basis. 

Also, legions of doom are better portrayed in a dark gloomy world than a Saturday cartoon cutesy world aren't they? 

[Lyssistr]

Regarding dragons, about on par. Regarding ogres, ok DA2's ogre does look like a fat retard, however you can't judge art direction from merely a couple of screenshots. What you can judge is texture quality, which is subpar.

[saruman85]

This again?

Not to be a negative Nancy, but hasn't this been argued to death in millions of other threads?

"Super hot" has become a joke. The dude probably goes to bed every night regretting saying it. And the devs' answer to this has always been "this isn't the finished product, wait and see".

I understand you're probably just adding your voice to the chorus of disapproval, but that's all the answer you're gonna get from them I'm afraid.

And yes OP, that's not a DA2 dragon, that's Flemeth. Which probably accounts for why it's different.

Modifié par saruman85, 01 août 2010 - 02:29 .

[Vicious]

First, the new dragon looks better.

Second, I wondered why the Darkspawn look the way they did in DA1, like orks, given they are really nothing like orks in conventional fantasy.

It kind of makes more sense the way they look now. Lacking in skin pigments and still looking freakish.

And best of all, don't look like orks at all.

Modifié par Vicious, 01 août 2010 - 02:36 .

[SOLID_EVEREST]

At least the spell effects look way better. DA: Origins spells were dull and drab. I would rather have the old models, though for the monsters they look way better.

[Riona45]

QQNwizard wrote...

Also, legions of doom are better portrayed in a dark gloomy world than a Saturday cartoon cutesy world aren't they? 

Good thing the new art style, based on what few screenshots we've seen, doesn't look cutesy like that, right?  And good thing Saturday morning cartoons weren't cited by BW as the inspiration, right?

[slikster]

And yes OP, that's not a DA2 dragon, that's Flemeth. Which probably accounts for why it's different.

Um, we could fight Flemeth in DA:O, no?  This is not that, and I side with the that being superior.
The new ogres do look ridiculous, with a round body out of proportion to the limbs and a face two-thirds the size it should be to be in proportion to the body.  The horns are also wildly huge.  DA:O ogres are far better. Edit: Actually, I can't really pin what makes them look worse.

And, could they make the darkspawn (hurlocks?) look less scary than DA:O and make them look more clownish?  Why, yes they could.  Indeed, they were wildly successful.  I'm not sure if that's what their goal was, but if so, good job Bioware!

To the positive!  I think Hawke and his sister look ok, certainly not a downgrade anyway.  And, I'm actually really impressed with the direction they are going with the new Qunari look.

/opinion

Modifié par slikster, 01 août 2010 - 02:51 .

[Arkynomicon]

QQNwizard wrote...

Arkynomicon wrote...

Actually, I'm pretty sure that low fantasy is the realistic fantasy genera, and there is way to much magic and legions of doom for Dragon Age to even come near that category.

Two things: there really is no such thing as "realistic fantasy," by calling DAO realistic I simply meant the art was created so that it looks somewhat more realistic in comparison to other games. Obviously magic and dragons and race of pure evil doesn't exactly scream realism on a story basis. 

Also, legions of doom are better portrayed in a dark gloomy world than a Saturday cartoon cutesy world aren't they? 

Well, I'm just saying that low fantasy is usually regarded as close to the real world standards you can get and it still being fantasy. I'm pretty grateful for lack of to many giant shoulder-padded armours and the somewhat realistic stock of outfits in the game.

As for Thedas being dark and gloomy it didn't really feel that way for me with maybe exception for the Deep Roads. Otherwise it seemed like the standard medieval fantasy setting I have seen in plenty of games already. But then again I'm used to a lot darker fantasy then Dragon Age. But yeah Legions of Doom fits better in with a darker world.

[Gaxhung]

looking at the images, and the qunari, whats with all the horns? Is the art direction too overly concerned about style instead of feel?

[Arkynomicon]

Article wrote...

BioWare’s been forthcoming about the new art
style for Dragon Age 2, but even that didn’t prepare us for the surprise
of seeing the redesigned qunari. Unlike the strange but decidedly
humanoid qunari Sten from Origins, the images of the Dragon Age 2 qunari
that we saw were muscular, nearly demonic-looking creatures. The most
striking difference was the addition of horns. As it turns out, Dragon
Age lore has an answer for why we haven’t seen them on qunari before.

“Not
all qunari have horns,” says Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider. “Some
are born without them, but it has never been considered a defect.
Instead the mark is considered special, indicating one who is clearly
meant for a
special role in their society—as a Ben-Hassrath who
enforces religious law or as an envoy to other races. It is also not
uncommon for qunari who abandon their beliefs to remove their own horns,
for reasons not yet clear.”

The change in qunari appearances
have practical roots as well. “Art wanted to create more space between
the races so we changed the way the qunari looked,” says senior artist
Matt Goldman. “We have also changed the way elves and dwarves look for
that matter, but qunari seem the most dramatic because you only ever saw
Sten in Dragon Age: Origins.”

Modifié par Arkynomicon, 01 août 2010 - 03:10 .

[Gaxhung]

@Arkynomicon

You missed my point.

[QQNwizard]

Riona45 wrote...

QQNwizard wrote...

Also, legions of doom are better portrayed in a dark gloomy world than a Saturday cartoon cutesy world aren't they? 

Good thing the new art style, based on what few screenshots we've seen, doesn't look cutesy like that, right?  And good thing Saturday morning cartoons weren't cited by BW as the inspiration, right?

Maybe cutesy wasn't the best word, but it is, at least to me and probably many others, certainly cartoonish like a cartoon. The current DA2 art style doesn't particularly scream dark, violent, or epic to me. 

[guru7892]

"super hot."
                -BioWare VP Greg Zeschuk

look what you made me do.

I don't think you should describe anything as 'super hot' unless it is A; very high in temperature B; a really hot chick C; of excessive color temperature, OR D; done in a sarcastic tone.

I will admit that Canada is a very cold place and it is possible that Mr. Zeschuk just got confused in regards to temperatures being much higher than what he has become accustomed to.


Honestly I'm starting to think that Bioware sees DA as a sort of innovation franchise; where each game is radicaly different in terms of 'style'. However any sort of pattern is hard to see until you have at least three objects to compare. Honestly However, I think people were kinda expecting a similar visual style akin to what we saw with ME and ME2. You had chicks in spandex of various colors, weapons that shoot and things that explode, and lots of neon lights with pumping techno beats.

A problem directly related to the redesigns and a reason why I'm against them is exactly what they are saying. They look visually much more different than the other races. this means its easier to associate all qunari or all elves as evil.  Its very easy to say that all those squid-faced aliens are evil becuase they look and act so much more 'different' than humans. When people see humanoid-aliens they can sympathize with them and much more often the more humanoid an alien is the less hostile it is.

dragons, battarians, darkspawn, Krogen; most often when they are more inhuman they become more evil.

the 'Grey' aspect of DAO really came from the fact that Elves and Humans looked very similar, Qunari just looked larger, Dwarves just looked shorter and a little stockier. you could 'Humanize' them.

If a Vorcha was running Omega, Shepard would've killed 'it', Aria was too 'human' to kill. (I bet most people can't name any Volus or Vorcha from ME2).

On the other hand if the game isn't all that grey; the art direction does serve the game. So maybe it will work. I guess when you said Dragon Age as a franchise you meant you would make games within that Age. If that is the case, don't call it DA2, call it Dragon Age; the legend of Hawke, because honestly, isn't that what you are making? (however sequels do sell better; in which case why the heck did you call you franchise Dragon Age? Just call it All Dragon Age 2. I mean hey, it worked for Left 4 Dead...)

P.S. If someone puts that image on a tee shirt, I'd buy it 

[Gaxhung]

QQNwizard wrote...
...
Maybe cutesy wasn't the best word, but it is, at least to me and probably many others, certainly cartoonish like a cartoon. The current DA2 art style doesn't particularly scream dark, violent, or epic to me. 

I am definately guessing, but the art direction may be getting too concerned with style, and forgeting feel.

[Brockololly]

The new art style doesn't do anything for me- adding spikes, horns, claws and jaggy edges to everything does not make for a better art style. Instead it just screams "You'll poke your eye out!"



I want to see more of it as the 2 city screenshots look rather interesting with some very nice lighting, but the new darkspawn are chalkspawn in S&M gear and I can't say I care much for the over the top nature of things.

But the darkspawn in particular look terrible- they went too far in making them look like their original race and instead of looking like twisted monsters, the new hurlocks just look like L4D zombies in fetish gear.

[In Exile]

The the darkspawn now look like chalkspawn, but then again the undead-looking darkspawn from DA were worse. I really think the art so far has absolutely failed to capture corrupted human as a look. The darkspawn have gone from devoured corpse to dried out looking muscles, neither of which is an improvement.

I think the ogre is a step down - it's gone from hulking and muscular to, well, fat. The qunari are a major improvement, though, and I think the two were designed toghether to look as if they did fit.

[Brockololly]

Gaxhung wrote...

QQNwizard wrote...
...
Maybe cutesy wasn't the best word, but it is, at least to me and probably many others, certainly cartoonish like a cartoon. The current DA2 art style doesn't particularly scream dark, violent, or epic to me. 

I am definately guessing, but the art direction may be getting too concerned with style, and forgeting feel.

Agreed- it seems to be going for style over substance. And the "style" doesn't even look that good. The thing I liked about Origins was that everything felt fairly grounded- sure some armor or things were a bit over the top, but it all looked fairly practical. With some of the stuff we've seen in DA2, like the spikey armor, it doens't look practical at all and more often than not looks ridiculous, IMO.

[Dennis Carpenter]

well I am not fond of the new art either but am willing to wait for final development as the product will surely be better then the early releases and it also may depend on the platform you are running.My only fear is that waiting for this to come out and hoping for the best is like waiting for your christmas present from Aunt Natalie and hoping its not socks and underwear again.

[Brockololly]

Its entirely possible they could change some things up or add more polish and detail to things like the darkspawn from here until release. They've got about 7 months or so and from the GI article on the art one of the improved things Matt Goldman mentioned was their improved ability to iterate on the art and get it in game. So here is to hoping that the hurlocks look a little less zombie like and a bit more blighted and monster-like, with less goofy armor.

[Jigero]

Well I thought the art style in DAO was terrible so I really don't care what they do. Nothing in DAO was impressive visually or unique.

[Saibh]

Jigero wrote...

Well I thought the art style in DAO was terrible so I really don't care what they do. Nothing in DAO was impressive visually or unique.

I really liked the main hall in the Werewolf Lair, and that's it. Everything else was...brown.

[Jigero]

Saibh wrote...

Jigero wrote...

Well I thought the art style in DAO was terrible so I really don't care what they do. Nothing in DAO was impressive visually or unique.

I really liked the main hall in the Werewolf Lair, and that's it. Everything else was...brown.

generic elven ruins? yea never seen that before in a fantasy game......ever >.>

[javierabegazo]

http://social.biowar...ex/3302458&lf=8