Quote: Flame58Ok so, I'm not gonna say it's 100% fake, but as someone who has a background in 3D modeling/animation and worked inside a video game company in the past, I hope some of you will value my thoughts, especially the first paragraph.
There is an unwritten rule when it comes to character design for cartoon/comics/fantasy/etc. characters, that gray should never be used as a primary color. It is a dull neutral unappealing color, something you would want to avoid being used too much on a toy you want to sell to customers. Check all other Senseis and Skylanders from previous games and characters from a Top 50 Comics Heroes. They very rarely use the color gray as their main color. Krakatoa is mainly gray with yellow features, which is not particularly appealing. Gray textures are often used on unfinished character models during their development though, so the argument that the leaked picture only shows an unfinished version of Krakatoa can be made. However, the anonymous person who leaked the picture says that what we see comes from b-roll footage that will be shown at E3. Usually, when a company intends to show something at a big show like E3, they want to make sure it looks polished and as close as possible to the final product. Krakatoa as shown in the picture does not strike me as a finished character. All Senseis have a weapon and a gear part that can be unlocked for Imaginators creations. Why does Krakatoa have no weapon or gear at all?
Some people stated that this kind of fake 3d model could only be done by someone working the industry, but that's not true. This can be done by someone with only a few months of learning 3D modeling and texturing who does it as a hobby. Integrating 3D models to a different scenary without making it seem like it is photoshopped is also something that you learn throughout 3D illustration courses.
The arguments regarding the displaying of "Fire Brawler" instead of "Sensei" is a bit of an endless ping pong match. "Krakatoa displays "Fire Brawler" under his name instead of "Sensei", he is fake." "Yeah but characters like King Pen had a "Water Brawler" text when they were first revealed before the release of the game, means nothing." "Yeah but we are several months after the release of the game, why still use the incorrect text?" etc. so I don't think we can really rely on that text to tell if the leak is true or false.
The fact the leak comes from 4chan is not something that really goes against whether it is real or fake. It has the same legitimacy as if it would have been leaked with a fresh account on Reddit or Instagram.
The chart showing "Adventure Pack" for Q4
http://uk.businessinsider.com/...march-29-2017-3 the article says the source of the chart is from UBS, but I am unable to find the actual source, which is annoying and prevent me from getting a clear idea of the accuracy of the chart. It does not seem to come from a public Activision press release or whatever, it may not be 100% accurate. These kind of charts are sometime subject to change. Why does it say Q4 Adventure Pack, but there's no mention for the Q1-Q2 CTT and LIM packs?
Really interesting reading!
Didn't know quite a few of the things you mentioned.
So, about the first part, I don't think Krakatoa is necessarily grey: the lighting during magic moments is a bit weird at times, especially in SuperChargers and Imaginators.
Couldn't find one (well, I did but it doesn't let me post it because of a glitch, I think) but you can see some images where Senseis' black garments appear blue-ish grey while inside the vortex.
They are all low quality images just like the leaked one, so Krakatoa might actually be darker, which would make the yellow parts pop a lot more.
I do agree he looks unfinished but it wouldn't be the first time they provide old and even messy b-rolls.
Weapons aren't a problem: Grave Clobber unlocks brass knuckles despite not wearing any and we had some curve balls, like Air Strike and Boom Bloom, which don't look or play like their Battle Classes would suggest.
Coincidentally both Grave Clobber and Air Strike are Brawlers.
Again, the point regarding modding is not that it cannot be done but rather that most likely no one would have interest in doing it with a Skylanders game, not even to create false hype.
The gaming community mostly hate this franchise, but never actively tried to trick us so they could make fun of fans, they prefer to ignore it entirely (at least until guest-stars show up).
Absolutely agree on the label.
On one hand knowing that all the Senseis had it at one point makes me hopeful, on the other makes me suspicious because they should have gotten past that part quite a few months ago.
Could be just messy b-roll again, it's not a very important thing and we would probably simply find it curious if we had seen the actual gameplay in action.
Regarding the chart, my best guess would be that they didn't care to mention the last two Adventure Apcks because they already announced the first and released an update to include both, but I can't go any further.
Don't know if the original source has ever been posted or found.
Sorry if I wrote so much, but I wanted to be exhaustive since you took quite some time to write as well.