HOMM 3 : Pros and Cons of Digitized portraits
Sebastien Patenaude
I'll be try to be a little more elaborate in the reasons why I like
hand-drawn portraits and dislike digitized portraits so much in my
fantasy-based strategy or roleplaying games. You already know my opinion
about this debate. Hopefully I'll convince a few people with my
arguments.
PROS OF DIGITIZED PORTRAITS
1) Dressing up unknowns at a photo shoot with medieval props and taking
snap shots, retouching them a little with a graphic program, is so much
less expensive and quicker than hiring a good fantasy artist to do the
same work.
2) Human pictures can convey so much more different expressions than a
mere art-painting picture ever could.
3) Real human faces look more realistic.
CONS OF DIGITIZED PORTRAITS
1) Portraits depend very much on who shows up at the photo shot.
2) Cheap props and bad acting make characters look goofy, cheezy and in
most cases downright ugly (witness MM6 where I personally had so much
trouble picking appropriate faces for my party, I won't even talk about
the vast majority of NPCs who I could not stand).
3) Good fantasy art simply makes the characters look more heroic or evil
(depending on the case).
4) With art, you can have a lot more variety with the heroes because the
artist can design and draw what he wants instead of being stuck
modifying real snap shots.
5) HOMM 3 has 3D pre-rendered art for the creatures, digitized portrait
photos simply don't fit in (a lot of people complained about the same
thing in MM6)
6) I find it tougher to identify with a real picture of someone who
looks nothing like me or like heroes I always imagined my party
characters would be like in previous RPGs (I know HOMM 3 is a strategy
game but still...)
7) Good artists can convey expression for the characters too and
probably better than a guy who makes "faces" for the camera.
8) Forget about ever getting the HOMM 2 heroes back (even in HOMM 4 &
the rest) if they go with the digitized portrait route. Why ? Because it
would be next to impossible to find their likeness (has anybody else
noticed how few heroes from HOMM 2 were present in MM6 ? I found that
very disappointing since we were supposed to be in Enroth).
9) Forget about inhuman-looking heroes (Sandro, Zom, Mandigal, etc),
different fantasy races (Kastore the Elf, Maximus the lizard-man, etc),
different weird face colors or paintings (Jezebel, Zam, Alamar, Myrini,
etc).
10) I thought some of the pictures in HOMM 2 did look bad but that's
more a question of artist than anything.
11) The name of the game is Heroes of MIGHT & MAGIC. We need some
continuity with the previous games in both series.
12) And the final argument... no Astral the Wizard (or other known HOMM
community persona for that matter) in the game because no other man
looks enough like him to convey his grandeur, absent-mindedness, sparkly
intelligent wary eyes and his weird otherwordly pointy hat (could you
imagine someone with a false beard and a goofy vacant expression on his
face where a customized painting would be so much better ?).
Feel free to comment.
--
\ \
\\---\\ The Quebec Dragon
_\ \ -=(UDIC)=-
_\(o\ \o)
_\/\ \ \ Strategy and review editor of the
_\/\/\ @--@ Astral Wizard's Heroes of Might & Magic pages
_\/\/\/ \VVVV/ http://www.astralwizard.com
Christoph Nahr
On Tue, 09 Jun 1998 03:17:13 -0700, Mark Eubank
<meu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>You know, I find it interesting that we are left with complaining about
>character portraits. Lucky for us the games are that good that we are
>reduced to complaing about eye-candy in a strategy game. M&M6 is a great
>game, aside from the portraits and 3d movement which isn't very smooth
>in turning, but certainly minor gripes. We're not talking 'Outpost' or
>BC3K are we? If the game's good, what difference does it really make? I
>can certainly live with it.
You're right, it's certainly a good thing that we are down to
discussing character portraits in our criticism of NWC games but
still... it's so annoying when an excellent game is less excellent
than it could be because they got one thing wrong! I wouldn't mind if
Outpost had painted or scanned character faces but I do mind in the
case of HoMM and M&M. I agree with Sebastien, NWC might refine the
hand-drawn portraits a bit but overall photos can never give the same
feeling of cohesion and immersion.
--
Chris Nahr (chn...@emailNOSPAM.msn.com, remove NOSPAM to e-mail)
Please don't e-mail me if you post, or with a spam-trapped address
Mark Eubank
You know, I find it interesting that we are left with complaining about
character portraits. Lucky for us the games are that good that we are
reduced to complaing about eye-candy in a strategy game. M&M6 is a great
game, aside from the portraits and 3d movement which isn't very smooth
in turning, but certainly minor gripes. We're not talking 'Outpost' or
BC3K are we? If the game's good, what difference does it really make? I
can certainly live with it.
Mark(Ohbe1)
George Ruof
chn...@emailNOSPAM.msn.com (Christoph Nahr) wrote:
>On Tue, 09 Jun 1998 03:17:13 -0700, Mark Eubank
><meu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>You know, I find it interesting that we are left with complaining about
>>character portraits. Lucky for us the games are that good that we are
>>reduced to complaing about eye-candy in a strategy game. M&M6 is a great
>>game, aside from the portraits and 3d movement which isn't very smooth
>>in turning, but certainly minor gripes. We're not talking 'Outpost' or
>>BC3K are we? If the game's good, what difference does it really make? I
>>can certainly live with it.
>
>You're right, it's certainly a good thing that we are down to
>discussing character portraits in our criticism of NWC games but
>still... it's so annoying when an excellent game is less excellent
>than it could be because they got one thing wrong! I wouldn't mind if
>Outpost had painted or scanned character faces but I do mind in the
>case of HoMM and M&M. I agree with Sebastien, NWC might refine the
>hand-drawn portraits a bit but overall photos can never give the same
>feeling of cohesion and immersion.
Y'all should just be happy we're not shipping with the programmer art!
:)
--
George Ruof gr...@pacificnet.net
Senior Programmer New World Computing
I speak for myself, not my employer.
Please do not repost this message without prior permission.
Christoph Nahr
On Tue, 09 Jun 1998 04:47:18 GMT, gr...@pacificnet.net (George Ruof)
wrote:
>Y'all should just be happy we're not shipping with the programmer art!
>:)
What, the drawing efforts by the programmers and their pre-school
kids? Please leave them in, we wanna see them! <G>
Sebastien Patenaude
George Ruof wrote:
> >You're right, it's certainly a good thing that we are down to
> >discussing character portraits in our criticism of NWC games but
> >still... it's so annoying when an excellent game is less excellent
> >than it could be because they got one thing wrong! I wouldn't mind if
> >Outpost had painted or scanned character faces but I do mind in the
> >case of HoMM and M&M. I agree with Sebastien, NWC might refine the
> >hand-drawn portraits a bit but overall photos can never give the same
> >feeling of cohesion and immersion.
>
> Y'all should just be happy we're not shipping with the programmer art!
> :)
>
> --
> George Ruof gr...@pacificnet.net
> Senior Programmer New World Computing
Isn't that what we were complaining about in MM6 and that we don't want
to see in HOMM 3 : bad programmer photographs ? ;-) ;-) ;-)
George Ruof
Sebastien Patenaude <pa...@total.net> wrote:
>George Ruof wrote:
>
>> >You're right, it's certainly a good thing that we are down to
>> >discussing character portraits in our criticism of NWC games but
>> >still... it's so annoying when an excellent game is less excellent
>> >than it could be because they got one thing wrong! I wouldn't mind if
>> >Outpost had painted or scanned character faces but I do mind in the
>> >case of HoMM and M&M. I agree with Sebastien, NWC might refine the
>> >hand-drawn portraits a bit but overall photos can never give the same
>> >feeling of cohesion and immersion.
>>
>> Y'all should just be happy we're not shipping with the programmer art!
>> :)
>>
>> --
>> George Ruof gr...@pacificnet.net
>> Senior Programmer New World Computing
>
>Isn't that what we were complaining about in MM6 and that we don't want
>to see in HOMM 3 : bad programmer photographs ? ;-) ;-) ;-)
There aren't any programmer photos in MM6.
--
George Ruof gr...@pacificnet.net
Senior Programmer New World Computing
Nan Wang
What's wrong with the HOMM2 portraits? I really like them. Just hire the
same artist to draw more if needed seems the easier solution. I love the
cartoony feel of HOMM + M&M games.
I hate real actor/faces in games, somehow they just seem so fake and out
of place, ironically enough.
Bruno Wolff III
From article <6lpbbh$j...@fridge.shore.net>, by Nan Wang <nw...@shore.net>:
I didn't like the POL expansion portraits. I thought the original HOMM2
portraits were fine.
Sebastien Patenaude
Nan Wang wrote:
>
> What's wrong with the HOMM2 portraits? I really like them. Just hire the
> same artist to draw more if needed seems the easier solution. I love the
> cartoony feel of HOMM + M&M games.
I definitely think they need to change artists for the portraits (if
they do go by that route) and I'd love to have "facelifts" for some of
our old beloved heroes.
> I hate real actor/faces in games, somehow they just seem so fake and out
> of place, ironically enough.
I agree. It's very hard to pull out correctly.
Sebastien Patenaude
George Ruof wrote:
> >
> >Isn't that what we were complaining about in MM6 and that we don't want
> >to see in HOMM 3 : bad programmer photographs ? ;-) ;-) ;-)
>
> There aren't any programmer photos in MM6.
I know, I know... It was lousy attempt at a joke. No offense intended
:-)
George Ruof
Sebastien Patenaude <pa...@total.net> wrote:
>George Ruof wrote:
>
>> >
>> >Isn't that what we were complaining about in MM6 and that we don't want
>> >to see in HOMM 3 : bad programmer photographs ? ;-) ;-) ;-)
>>
>> There aren't any programmer photos in MM6.
>
>I know, I know... It was lousy attempt at a joke. No offense intended
>:-)
Hehehehe I just didn't want to scare all the customers away. :)
--
George Ruof gr...@pacificnet.net
Senior Programmer New World Computing
cs...@isunet.net
I liked the POL portraits and the original. I hope they stick with artwork
instead of digitized photos. It doesn't give you the same feeling to lead
some guy from New Jersey into battle.
In article <6lphjb$h7b$1...@uwm.edu>,
br...@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu wrote:
>
> From article <6lpbbh$j...@fridge.shore.net>, by Nan Wang <nw...@shore.net>:
> > What's wrong with the HOMM2 portraits? I really like them. Just hire the
> > same artist to draw more if needed seems the easier solution. I love the
> > cartoony feel of HOMM + M&M games.
> >
> > I hate real actor/faces in games, somehow they just seem so fake and out
> > of place, ironically enough.
>
> I didn't like the POL expansion portraits. I thought the original HOMM2
> portraits were fine.
>
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
New Homm
cs...@isunet.net wrote:
>
> I liked the POL portraits and the original. I hope they
> stick with artwork instead of digitized photos. It doesn't
> give you the same feeling to lead some guy from New Jersey
> into battle.
>
The current issue (August 1998) of CGS+ has a review of Might and
Magic VI. It shows several screens of digitized portraits.
The guy on the left looks like a punk. When they're hurt, they
are shown with a black eye and they roll their heads to the side.
I prefer the artists work in Homm 2.
Zweldron
>The current issue (August 1998) of CGS+ has a review of Might and
>Magic VI.
And get this- they classified MM6 as an ADVENTURE game, not an RPG!
What are those guys smokin'?
--- The Qurqirish Dragon, (Matthew Charlap)
<<UDIC>>
cs...@isunet.net
I've some screenshots for HOMM3 and I think I can live with the digitized
faces. I think with all the improvements it looks like it will have, the
faces will be the last thing I will be thinking about. Hopefully, they will
do it correctly and the faces will look real. The more I read about it, the
more excited I get about it. It seems like there will be more depth to it,
more decisions to make about upgrading creatures(the previews say that *all*
the creatures will be upgradable), and more choices in hero development.
In article <358215...@total.net>,
pa...@total.net wrote:
>
> Nan Wang wrote:
> >
> > What's wrong with the HOMM2 portraits? I really like them. Just hire the
> > same artist to draw more if needed seems the easier solution. I love the
> > cartoony feel of HOMM + M&M games.
>
> I definitely think they need to change artists for the portraits (if
> they do go by that route) and I'd love to have "facelifts" for some of
> our old beloved heroes.
>
> > I hate real actor/faces in games, somehow they just seem so fake and out
> > of place, ironically enough.
>
> I agree. It's very hard to pull out correctly.
>
> --
> \ \
> \\---\\ The Quebec Dragon
> _\ \ -=(UDIC)=-
> _\(o\ \o)
> _\/\ \ \ Strategy and review editor of the
> _\/\/\ @--@ Astral Wizard's Heroes of Might & Magic pages
> _\/\/\/ \VVVV/ http://www.astralwizard.com
>