User blog:Angel Emfrbl/Videogame models

So... Ever noticed how very different the models of the characters can be in the games?

So I have Grand Adventure on the PS2 and Pirate Warriors 3 on Steam. Can't help but notice how very different models in games can be. Typically, I'll take Shanks as an example.

Now Shanks is a weird character for Oda to draw. In some instances he is handsome and in another frame he can be a little strange looking. Generally most of the video games tend to struggle with matching his face to the artwork for this reason. The proportions of his facial features in the video games (and in some models) tends to be a lot more different then with characters like Whitebeard, Luffy, etc. In one game series his chin can be narrower, in another his forehead wider, in another more facial hair.

It happens also with some characters like Robin. Now I'm not against Oda boobs, but I feel the way the game has her in PW3's is a little OTT. As she runs it feels like you awkwardly cannot help but be drawn to her figure because from the front its fine... From the back... ITs ridiculous looking. Its just the way the character runs mostly, her walking stance isn't too bad at times. In Grand Adventure, however, due to the style of 3D graphics they pick being more chibi-esque the figure of her body ends up being a lot less exaggerated anyway. The thing is I know that Robin has Oda boobs and I've not been bothered by the anime or any of his art as I know "its Oda's style". But the PW3 models leaves her more like your looking at a pair of watermelons tied to a thin stick that is wobbly left and right as it is travelling.

I overall feel PW3 has some of the best models looking at the video games in general, but generally this seems to be an eternal struggle for game makers.

Other characters like Mr.2 tend to have better attempts and while style are often hugely varied, you don't tend to feel like their facials are too different at first glance. In fact, the models often can be much better then expectations for characters like him... IT gets to the point wherein PW3 playing Ivankov is uncomfortable and I don't like doing it as its "too uncanny valley" feeling and is honestly a little creepy. In fact I'll just go out and say the "weird characters" like these two tend to end up better then the more "real world like" characters like Shanks almost like at times the developers put more effort into making the strange characters accurate then the others. :-/

I often put things down to that the video game makers have only the anime and the manga to go by. The anime cell frames are drawn to a "model" since the artists have a guide of the characters build to reference. Oda as the original manga has the advantage of being able to draw "off model" and be looser. Even as far back as chapter 1, characters can have hands like look like clubs and then in the next frame look realistic. ITs done for humourous reasons. When the anime draws that seen it often sticks to the model more so you loose the characteristics that Oda inserts a lot of the time and you don't always seem it to the exact frames of the manga.

Game models are precise, so when *they* do the scene everything is really uncomfortable on-model to the point that there basically is little room often to match Oda's style. So this is another aspect... And to be fair they don't have time to produce a thousand variations on a model to closely match the style either. So this doesn't help with some characters who benefit from Oda's looser manga original style.

Technology isn't so much the issue though overall with the models... The PS2 was at a stage in technology where we didn't have triangle faces, and it was capable enough to produce a decent looking character that can closely resemble its counterpart from the anime/manga. Despite the style one or two models in that game weren't too bad and their facial features are decently close enough to source. In some respects, some of the more recent games can feel "off" more then the game. Though anything 3D prior to the latter PS2 games is just laughable. But the transition from 2D to 3D didn't do a lot of justice... I mean FF7 is on Steam and playing that, its been noted the original game was on a console that didn't have the resource handling for mouths, they have them in later re-releases. So I tend to say the older 3D games really can't be referenced because of their era was a era of "its a bonus if it actually looks human" stille.

Anyway, that's my overall thoughts on the topic.