darkSpyro

So, I know the big deal the Vicarious Visions staff was harping about with Swap Force was the fact that the "cutscenes" are in fact in game rendered and not pre-rendered.

So, I'm noticing two distinct styles of Tessa in the game...Please observe.





Are these based on different artistic choices not fixed in game or did they in fact DO use cutscenes in certain parts of the game? The inconsistency is alarming...any other major differences you've seen?

no other major difference, it might be just those 2.

I noticed it with Tessa, but I didn't see this with any of the other models. I'm willing to bet that the Tessa model used there was an older version, which was already animated for the cutscenes it was used in, and then they couldn't animate the "new" version into them for whatever reasons.

I think they may ave done it on purpose. There are few races on skylands PROVEN to age past twenty. I think they are just flaunting this with their mostinportant foxcharacter.

Not all cutscenes are rendered in game. In the first post, the picture on the top is an in game cutscene and the second one is pre-rendered.

I think the second one`s change in clothing was because Tessa was chieftess then and needed to look more formal.

Quote: newkill

Not all cutscenes are rendered in game. In the first post, the picture on the top is an in game cutscene and the second one is pre-rendered.

yeah, pretty much this
it's pretty obvious the cutscene the second pitcure is taken from is not ingame but pre-rendered. The environment looks smoother too

Quote: yokey25

I think the second one`s change in clothing was because Tessa was chieftess then and needed to look more formal.

Ok, thanks for spoiling the game for me

Quote: jet-vac6000

Quote: yokey25

I think the second one`s change in clothing was because Tessa was chieftess then and needed to look more formal.

Ok, thanks for spoiling the game for me

The whole Swap Force section has spoilers.

^ That are marked as spoilers...

Quote: jet-vac6000

^ That are marked as spoilers...

To be fair, a game's been out since October has kind of moved past the 'spoilers' threshold. Plus, that's such a minor plot point it doesn't really even matter in the grand scheme of the game.

Personally, I don't really see a big difference in the models...maybe someone can point them out? Looks to me like the later one may have more hair features which could have been added at a later point. As Arc of Archives pointed out, it could have been from a earlier version of her model, however I'd say newkill is right on the money, i believe that ending part is a prerendered cutscene, not using the game's engine. It's probably pretty negligible in the differences for Flynn though since he doesn't have much of anything to be accentuated. (except maybe his jacket or something.

The in-game cutscenes were developed by VV while the CGI cutscenes were developed by PandaPanther, the same company who did the Beginning Trailer for Spyro's Adventure. They have two different styles to the characters.

Quote: Aura24

The in-game cutscenes were developed by VV while the CGI cutscenes were developed by PandaPanther, the same company who did the Beginning Trailer for Spyro's Adventure. They have two different styles to the characters.

Good to know. I'm totally interested what technical problem with the in game engine forced them to go pre-rendered/CGI.

Tessa is the cutest NPC ever!

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Aura24

The in-game cutscenes were developed by VV while the CGI cutscenes were developed by PandaPanther, the same company who did the Beginning Trailer for Spyro's Adventure. They have two different styles to the characters.

Good to know. I'm totally interested what technical problem with the in game engine forced them to go pre-rendered/CGI.

CGI allow better visuals than the in game cutscene. Actually, your interrogation should be the other way around: Why not make all cutscenes pre-rendered?

Quote: newkill

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Aura24

The in-game cutscenes were developed by VV while the CGI cutscenes were developed by PandaPanther, the same company who did the Beginning Trailer for Spyro's Adventure. They have two different styles to the characters.

Good to know. I'm totally interested what technical problem with the in game engine forced them to go pre-rendered/CGI.

CGI allow better visuals than the in game cutscene. Actually, your interrogation should be the other way around: Why not make all cutscenes pre-rendered?

IMO, the CGI cutscenes of Tessa are horrible. Unlike other characters, she looks worse (face tones off, fatter face, etc) than her in game engine. CGI scenes of her didn't appear until much later in the game, after my perception of her had been firmly planted. The fact that I had to ask tells me that the in game stuff is pretty darn good now. No one else in the CGI scene looked "off" or "different"... also, the animation of the CGI scenes seemed stiffer. Sounds like I prefer in game rendered to CGI--speaks to the talent of who did the work I guess.

so my question is pretty damn valid...why the difference? This is less of a technology question and more of a "why did they allow this" type.

I personally prefer CGI Tessa, but the inconsistency is not a good thing.

Thing is, guys... You can also see this in the first cutscene of the game. Which points towards it being a mistake. It's nothing really major though, but I think it's kind of pointless to debate wether it was intentional for an artistic reason... When it clearly wasn't.

Yeah I forgot the first scene. Not trying to debate it, other than why it happened (I bought the line about all scenes being in game).

Hey--its amusement, and nothing better is going on here.