Terra_Ex wrote...
See, I knew you'd come around to the improvements eventually. [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/tongue.png[/smilie] I think with DA2 its pretty much sealed its own fate, DA3 will be under considerably more scrutiny by gamers after the embarrassments in 2 and BW would need a considerably longer dev cycle to produce the kind of quality their older titles embodied. If Deus Ex & Skyrim both deliver in similar ways to W2 I see little reason to retain much interest/hope here given that we know the expected course the leads will chart for DA3, the company wide mantra of making things "accessible" which seems to have been extended to ME3 with the news on gameplay revisions has me concerned as well. Oh well...
What, shoehorning in Kinect support for ME3 isn't super awesome!?
But really, after TW2, Deus Ex looking pretty great and Skyrim, BioWare really needs to step their efforts up. RIght now DA just seems like the red headed stepchild in BioWare's portfolio where its just kind of flailing about with no confident direction as to what it wants to be as a franchise- both in terms of story and gameplay. Is it going to play up player choice and reactivity via importing or is it going to settle into more retcons and a canon of some sort? Is it going to devolve into an action hack and slash with party members as window dressing for banter or fulfill the promise of Origins as a tactical party based RPG where you actually need to use your party members?
Despite what Laidlaw might say how DA2 sets the table for allowing better stories and deeper RPG mechanics in the future, when the 2 main games to your name are Jade Empire and DA2, I'm not holding my breath DA3 will be some RPG renaissance.
Terra_Ex wrote...
I was wondering how long it'd take for the Morri thread to begin the transition to the Triss thread. Agreed for the most part on W2 facial expressions, if you've played it LA Noire's facial tech seems to be pretty good in this regard, the difference is fairly striking in that game when compared to others so maybe we'll see other devs adopting the tech in the future.
Yeah, the facial animations aren't very good in TW2. And I do have some issues with how most of the females seem to have very similar facial features (similar shaped faces, similar sized lips, most having the same heavy mascara look on the eyes). But I'll take TW2 faces over DA2 any day.
And while LA Noire does have some impressive facial animations, every time I see it I can't help but think they just look like the
end cutscene of BG2 where they just pasted the video of someone talking onto a character model. LA Noire faces just have that rubbery/plastic look to them still- the fidelity of the faces needs some work I think.
And the problem with LA Noire's animations as I see it is that its basically turning a game into a movie, where you're simply using actors from movies and TV shows- thats not going to help with the already high costs of games and one thing I like about games is how you can have characters that don't look like existing actors. Now maybe if they could do some Gollum like mocap with the faces where you just have the voice actor act things out and then transpose that to the game model's face, it might work.
One last point on facial animations in games, I think one of the things I've noticed is how in so many games the only parts of the face that move are the eyebrows/eyes and the mouth. But rarely anything else. I think thats why facial animation often look so odd- when people talk, your whole face moves to some extent or another, with your cheeks moving and you get various wrinkles and creases. It would be nice if one day devs could have a procedural system that automated more life like facial animations with higher fidelity faces. But that sure as hell won't come so long as devs are clinging to the 360 and PS3 as lead platforms...
Zjarcal wrote...
Eh, I hate to be the one to say this (meh, not really, I love dissing The Witcher), but those TW2 faces don't
look good at all to me.
And really, while that Morrigan face is an abomination, there were plenty of good looking characters in DA2.
Every face morph system has its flaws- with DA2 I can't stand how people have the whole bloated look with the often huge eyes and plastic/smoothed look to their skin. I'd rather take TW2's or Origin's faces any day of the week. I just think with DA2 there isn't enough variation in the base components to make a face. More than other games it seems like its really hard to make a a unique looking face that doesn't end up just looking generic. Stuff like how most every nose is overly rounded, the lips all end up the same (can't have a lower lip more prominant than the upper), the eye colors all being neon, and so on.
Yet, taking TW2 again, I think what they did there with the faces of existing characters in a new engine is an example of how to do it right. Clearly the tech is a good deal better than TW1 and as such old characters like Geralt, Triss, Dandelion and Zoltan look more updated due to the tech, but they still retain their old looks I think rather well. Problem with DA2 being its still technically the same engine as DAO, so while Origins people look different there isn't a giant leap forward in graphical fidelity.
ximena wrote...
I just wonder why it's in the game files if it was abandoned/something that will not be used in game. Does BW like putting unusable things in the game files? o:
I kinda fear that it's there "to be used in future DLCs." *shudders*
BioWare usually is pretty sloppy with leaving stuff in the game files- hell, just look at all the missing/cut Morrigan stuff from Origins. Quite frankly though, I really think its there for a reason for future DLC, even if its just a cameo. Look at how ME2 had Shadow Broker stuff lying around in the files. Now maybe they change it up given how people thought Origins characters looked like rubbish in DA2, but who knows for sure.
ximena wrote...
Zjarcal wrote...
I can't really see a good reason why they'd bring her back in a DA2 DLC. All of the Origins cameos were short, as there was no good reason for the Origins characters to hang around for too long, and I don't really see a reason why Morrigan would cross paths with Hawke.
Morrigan is one of DA's top selling points, I think. (For a number of reasons, the OGB plotline being number one). People would really consider buying a DLC with Morrigan in it just because of the unanswered questions. I just hope they don't make a DLC just because a DLC with Morrigan in it would sell.
Yup- you can go back to Laidlaw when he kept teasing stuff regarding Morrigan after DA2 was announced, constantly saying how her story wasn't over and so forth. I think he mentioned how a good chunk of the questions at Comic Con were when we'd see Morrigan again or something- although that was before Witch Hunt too.
But I wouldn't put it past BioWare to essentially shoe horn Morrigan/OGB and or the fate of the Warden into a DA2 DLC, given how that remains a topic that still comes up on the forums regularly. NO matter how good that DLC may be, I think it would be a terrible decision though, as I think the only way to do that plot and the expectations people have for it justice is in a full game/expack.
Of course, I don't see BioWare as looking that long term- they'll likely be thinking of the short term profits to be had from DLC to try and salvage DA2.
Master Shiori wrote...
I doubt they'l bring Morrigan back in some DLC (again).
They already stated that she'll be back and play an important role, but how important can she be in a 1 hour DLC? Especially since DLC rarely ever have an impact on the overall story (LotSB and Arrival excluded).
Mark it down- either she'll have a cameo in some future DLC or they'll make the Eluvian/Warden disappearance some plot point. And the marketing will be just as bad as it was for Witch Hunt and people will gobble it up.
And sadly, I'm not putting much stake in what BioWare says nowadays. Just look back at some of the stuff said prior to DA2:?
PureMethodActor wrote...
For real! Pudding/chubby issues aside, the hair's the same, the makeup is (I guess) the same tint, but the features don't really resemble the original model. For example: her mouth shape, I think, is the most drastic example. And her eyes too. I don't think it's just you. 
Maybe it's just an unfinished morph, though, which would account for that.
Problems I have with that morph:
- The face shape is entirely wrong- its far too wide, with the jawline typical DA2 bloat.
- Her eyes are far too large and oddly slanted? Don't know where they came up with that idea- Morrigan's DAO eyes are very narrow.
- The eyebrows (besides looking like pipe cleaners) are arched way too much if thats supposed to be some neutral position. She looks she stole Jack Nicholson's eyebrows.
- The nose, dear god, the nose. Maybe it looks different at a different angle, but Morrigan's DAO nose is pretty small really. That DA2 one is wide and seemingly pretty big.
- The lips of course are wrong as DA2 can't have the lower lip larger than the top lip, so that DA2 Morrigan just looks like she has Trout lips.
Its one thing to want to change how someone looks to convey the passage of time. Hell, if they wanted to make Morrigan tubbier to show post pregnancy weight or some wrinkles for aging, go for it! Problem is, that only works when the original face morph is used so you can tell thats what they were going for and that its not just a crappy attempt at recreating the Origin character. Hmmm....maybe I'll download the mod to see if its just the lighting thats making it look bad
Modifié par Brockololly, 02 juin 2011 - 03:49 .
Retour en haut
)? 
lol haha, j/k 
um... yikes... well I'm really sorry I did that. You have to admit, though, that is a funny image to have in one's mind, though. Someone needs to make a demotivational or something with Cullen dressed as Marshal Mathers 
. Thats essentially what this morph reminds me of. I'm very glad KoP and Ximena effectively cleansed the thread of that blasphemy.
