The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness

[littha]

Some times, an HD remake does actually do a project justice.  It gives the game a better feel, a better atmosphere, a better level of immersion.

Some times, an HD remake makes no damn sense.  It ruins the game's feel, destroys the atmosphere, and takes you ou of the game.

It's entirely dependent on the game in question.  I thin an HD remake of FF7 would do the game good, because have you SEEN those graphics?  As long as the HD is good HD and not bad HD.  So Closer to Battlefield than Sonic Boom.  Of course, don't go overboard, so more Halo 3 than the latest Battlefield...

A good HD remake of FF7 would be similar to how they handled the upgraded graphics on Grim Fandango. They didn't completely retexture the game, they only remade the textures in HD. They maintained 100% of the gameplay, and only ever touched on the textures. As an added bonus, they reused nearly all of the same textures. What they could completely re-do in FF7 would be the cutscenes, as we've seen they completely nailed the feel in Advent Children. So, upgrade the polygon count on the models, but maintain the general texture, maintain the static 2D background texture, but make it HD, and the game would be fine for me.

A HD remake of FF7 should have:
Redigitised 2d backgrounds. Use the same images but they need to be uploaded in a HD resolution
New Character models (the old ones are way to old to just upgrade)
New Textures (because the old ones wouldnt work on new models)

I would probably go with a single character model per character as opposed to the 3? they used in the original (Exploration, Battle and World)

All in all, shouldnt be THAT expensive to make. Certainly less than a completely new game, unless you want it fully voiced of course.

[SolEiji]

Some times, an HD remake does actually do a project justice.  It gives the game a better feel, a better atmosphere, a better level of immersion.

Some times, an HD remake makes no damn sense.  It ruins the game's feel, destroys the atmosphere, and takes you ou of the game.

It's entirely dependent on the game in question.  I thin an HD remake of FF7 would do the game good, because have you SEEN those graphics?  As long as the HD is good HD and not bad HD.  So Closer to Battlefield than Sonic Boom.  Of course, don't go overboard, so more Halo 3 than the latest Battlefield...

A good HD remake of FF7 would be similar to how they handled the upgraded graphics on Grim Fandango. They didn't completely retexture the game, they only remade the textures in HD. They maintained 100% of the gameplay, and only ever touched on the textures. As an added bonus, they reused nearly all of the same textures. What they could completely re-do in FF7 would be the cutscenes, as we've seen they completely nailed the feel in Advent Children. So, upgrade the polygon count on the models, but maintain the general texture, maintain the static 2D background texture, but make it HD, and the game would be fine for me.

A HD remake of FF7 should have:
Redigitised 2d backgrounds. Use the same images but they need to be uploaded in a HD resolution
New Character models (the old ones are way to old to just upgrade)
New Textures (because the old ones wouldnt work on new models)

I would probably go with a single character model per character as opposed to the 3? they used in the original (Exploration, Battle and World)

But didn't you hear?  This professional large company just tossed out all the original code right out the window and overwrote the data with 30 GB of /d/ porn because PFFTTT why would we need the code to one of our most successful games ever!  It's absolutely impossible to get the assets for it.  Oh, no, of course we can't take it from any of the billions of copies out there, too hard.  Can't remake it either.  What do you mean we already have assets from a dozen side sequels and movies?  Nonsense, those images don't exist!  I'm sure there would be teams of dedicated people happy to rip or even remake the entire game for us for free, if we would only give our blessing.  But way too much work, so much money.  Excuse me, we have to make FF13-4: Lightning Forever brb!

All in all, shouldnt be THAT expensive to make. Certainly less than a completely new game, unless you want it fully voiced of course.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Of course, that's the problem with SE these days.  PS3, no, PS2 graphics, give me that and I'd be happy.  But they are the George Lucas of companies, they can't help but think it can only be done with bleeding edge tech, voice acting, and everything "modernized".

Vote of no confidence.

[Kuroimaken]

You forget the most important thing a FF7 remake should have.

That they actually implement the goddamn code to revive Aeris.

[Amechra]

All in all, shouldnt be THAT expensive to make. Certainly less than a completely new game, unless you want it fully voiced of course.

Ha.

Ha ha.

Ha.

FF7 is one of the more content-heavy FF games. It'd be a BEAR to go through and update everything, both effort-wise and money-wise. Plus, depending on how they are handling the rerelease, they might have to rewrite the damn thing, in which case they might as well be making a new game where they're using old assets.

It comes down to whether the disc is just a shell around an emulation of FF7, or if it is going to actually run on the hardware itself.

And, well, hey, if you don't like what they're doing, vote with your currency; you don't have to buy it just because it's FF7.

[brujon]

It all depends which route they take. If they take the minimalistic approach i outlined earlier, only ever completely remaking the cutscenes and just upping the polygon count on the models & using higher resolution textures for both them and the 2D background, they could write a PS1 emulator for the PS3/PS4 (which wouldn't be that hard, they have access to the original source code, and dozens of unofficial emulators), and have the game run like that.

That way, they don't need to rewrite the entire game for the new engine, they just need to point the cutscene triggers to the new CGI's, same for models and textures, and the bigger processing power of the system will take care of the higher strain caused by the higher resolution textures and models. Everything else in the game remains exactly the same, with no changes whatsoever.

FFS, there have been PC games where fans who don't have access to 0,1% of the resources Square Enix has have completely revamped every model and texture to breathe new life into the game. Portal 1, for instance, has various packages of higher resolution textures you can download for free and put into the game... The same is true for a lot more PC games.

[littha]

FF7 is one of the more content-heavy FF games. It'd be a BEAR to go through and update everything, both effort-wise and money-wise.

The way I see it you utilise the existing PC version of the game, update the rendering engine and replace the assets and release.

There is a lot of content to replace but if you have access to the original art assets and audio files it shouldnt be too difficult. The rendering engine might be a bit of an issue depending how the original rendering was coded. If it was hardcoded into the game itself as opposed to the engine based approach we use these days it could be a real pain. (swapping engines is no treat either)

That said, Square would probably build it from the ground up with 3d enviroments if they actually decided to do it...

[dman11235]

I made a mistake.  Do not get the Papa Johns cheeseburger pizza...it is a lie...

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Heh yeah.

I'm going for a Medium Thick crust, Chicago Pan like without the dripping oil and cake nonsense, normal tomato sauce, normal 4 cheese with the butter garlic mixed onto the tomato sauce, no tomatoes, then fresh vadalia Onions (!) , and topped with regular Mozzarella which is claimed to be local made ultra-fresh.

Oh I'm hearing my arteries clog just thinking about it.  Clearly I'm stupid-persnickity about my pizza.

[bhu]

Has anyone tried the new sriracha pizza donato's is offering?  I must admit being tempted...

[dman11235]

no, but I told my mom next time we make pizza we're doing stuff to the crust.  Those pizza hut commercials, as horrible as I expect those crusts to be, gave me ideas...

[ketaro]

I made a mistake.  Do not get the Papa Johns cheeseburger pizza...it is a lie...

All of Papa John's stuff is shit. They're servin ya frozen pizza :v

[bhu]

no, but I told my mom next time we make pizza we're doing stuff to the crust.  Those pizza hut commercials, as horrible as I expect those crusts to be, gave me ideas...

Their salami should not be on pizzas, it bleeds fat all over the pie while its cooking

The one crust with the garlic butter, toasted parmesan and herbs along the edge isnt bad.  I fear trying the others.

Pizza dough is a remarkably easy recipe though.

[phaedrusxy]

Pizza hut gives me absolutely horrible heartburn every time I eat it. I almost never get it from anything else, anymore, either.

[dman11235]

I like Papa Johns somewhat.  it's good bad pizza.  As opposed to Dominos, which is bad bad pizza.  Pizza Hut is...different.  So fatty, that I don't like it anymore.  Where we live, we have Pizza King.  Which is terrible, but people worship it.  It's an indiana thing, so most of you probably don't know it/have one near you.  And by worship it, I mean they literally send it to their kids at college, but it's like, 30 a pie, and the toppings are crap.  Normally we either get that take and bake stuff (I can't remember the name....), or make our own with Trader Joe's dough.  That stuff is great, it's $1 for amazing dough.  I've made dough myself a few times, and not really worth the hassle.  Just takes too long, and you have to rise it, and all that stuff.  Really good, so special occasions.  Otherwise: TJ.

[trappedslider]

  Normally we either get that take and bake stuff (I can't remember the name....)

Papa Murphy's?

[Nanshork]

Papa John's is my favorite delivery pizza.

[dman11235]

  Normally we either get that take and bake stuff (I can't remember the name....)

Papa Murphy's?

I wanted to say that, but I can't remember if it was that place or something else.  I'm thinking 75% chance it was them.

[bhu]

We had a papa Murphys here till they got chased out 

Also I has not seen kitty in almost 48 hours, and skunks are roaming the apartment complex 

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Aww


My darling ... you are like a flower ... lets run away ... leave daddy Bhu behind ...

[bhu]

Kitty is finally back, but now has a huge lump on his right side

looks like vet time