darkSpyro

For those like I who don't want to go to the website, and since the parent post didn't include it.

I forgot page media was a thing.

Grabbing this new avatar while I'm at it. Speaking of which, I'm VERY sure the crystal dragons are a subtle reference to the guardians from LoS now. Reminds me specifically of Volteer's Krome version features and the DOTD artwork, though Ignitus is the one with two sets of horns. Their silhouettes are very fun to look at, so I'm glad they studied this part of the series history.

It could very well be, even if I’d be more inclined to think the opposite.
After all, the original pose is pretty much the same and the only very big differences are the more spreaded wings and the four horns.



The head does feel LoS-esque but I’m not sure if that’s just a rather stereotypical dragon design.

A couple quick positive and negative things about these videos:
- I highly doubt it’s in-game, but the Reignited clips both have very annoying bluish or purpleish filters which greately affects the colors.
Also, while I like how enemies are knocked back by the attacks, I think the distance could be shortened quite a bit.
The previous gameplay video looked a lot better;
- the rams sound just like they did in the original games, but I don’t think they used the exact same effect: I wonder how much different a non-compressed file can sound like.

The trees in the first video turn white 2 seconds in Some kind of lighting error?

Other than that, Stone Hill continues to look fantastic!

I think they're referring to the other video





I'd say it's either a lighting, or a material error. (Or both)

Quote: JCW555

Quote: Drek95

- I highly doubt it’s in-game, but the Reignited clips both have very annoying bluish or purpleish filters which greately affects the colors.

That's IGN's very crappy video compression.

Wow... You’d expect better from professional journalists.
Especially since I don’t remember any of their other clips I saw in the past to look so bad; a bit low in definition maybe, but it’s like they slapped a purple filter on it here.

Noticed that glitch with the tree as well, probably a result of them still messing with the lighting and models (at least at the time the clip was recorded) and most likely quick to fix.

Also just want to point out how amazingly intimidating the dragon head looks: the golden decorations not only help with the design, in my opinion, but also fit the original concept description of Artisans using “marble and precious metals”.
Could go even as far as saying I genuinely think TfB managed to outdo Insomniac under certain points of view, either because of technical limitations or arbitrary decisions.
I sincerely love these remakes a bit more each time they show off something new.

Better not think about the possibility of seeing Avalar in all its majesty rather soon, or my heart will explode.

People keep saying that purple haze/lighting/filter (whatever it is) is because of IGN. It’s not. Some of the earlier screenshots and the very first gif from the Spyro Twitter has it as well. Also the Stone Hill screenshot on the official website has it too. https://cdn.discordapp.com/att...627/Capture.JPG

Yeah, but those most likely had that sort of “Instagram filter effect” so they would supposedly look better, and came from a build which apparently still had the yellowish grass.

I think the first Stone Hill clip they posted is what the final product is going to look like, but I admit it would be weird if that color was just a result of some compression.
Might have been intentional but only for promotional reasons.

EDIT: actually, a comment on Twitter evidenced how Spyro’s tail doesn’t move from side to side like it does in the first clip.
So chances are these new ones were taken from an earlier build, where they were still adjusting colors and lighting, or perhas a newer one.
Still, not from the same.
It would also explain why the tree glitched out a bit in one of them.

Oh, that's kinda unfortunate. Hopefully they find out a way to fix it!

Oh my god the Alpine Ridge monster looks badass!

I love the redesign of the punk gnorcs in Beast Makers/Terrace Village.

I noticed in the article when they talk about the dragon redesigns that they mention an art gallery. Does that mean we'll be able to go inside the Artisans home castle?

Are Artisans and Stone Hill the same place or is Stone Hill a level you go to from Artisans? I'm asking because I really want that Sunset in Artisans to stay.

I love how goofy the druid looks

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Are Artisans and Stone Hill the same place or is Stone Hill a level you go to from Artisans? I'm asking because I really want that Sunset in Artisans to stay.

Stone Hill is a level you enter from Artisans.

If that’s what the Alpine Ridge beast looks like, then imagine the devil dogs.

Quote: dark52

They're talking about the room before you get to Toasty being filled with paintings, we've previously seen a screenshot with a painting of Gnasty Gnorc there.

Oh I see. I thought in the article, they were referring to Spyro leaving an art gallery before rescuing Nestor in the Artisan Home. My mistake.

Looking at that beast makes me wonder how badass Crush, Gulp and the YotD bosses will look.

I'm just gonna copy+pasta what I wrote on Reddit since there's SO much in this article to comment on.

Oh my god, there's so much in here that I love.

First of all, the Alpine Ridge beast looks FANTASTIC. This was one enemy I was really looking forward to seeing redesigned, since they scared the crap out of me as a kid. On the other hand, the grass in that screenshot seems weirdly green for Alpine Ridge. I think here is where they should have used the yellowish grass that was in the original Stone Hill screenshot.

I love that they're including little details like the painting hallway and Spyro's fire being able to melt snow, in addition to burning grass. It's those small things that really help make a game world feel immersive. I'm also happy we have confirmation that every dragon elder will look unique, though I hope they remember to keep the distinct "species" looks (ex. Beast Makers dragons having almost ram-like horns). The new dragon elders plus the extra world details are really going to push the lore to its full potential.

It seems like Terrace Village is going to be as pea soup green as ever, which isn't my cup of tea, but I'm in awe at how good that electric panel looks. The Gnorc looks great too, but my eyes keep going to that panel. Terrace Village was one of the more unremarkable levels for me in the original game, so I'm hoping I will be able to like it more soon.

It took me a bit to realize the environment concept art was the Magic Crafters home, but it's painted wonderfully. It definitely looks a bit more natural than the original Magic Crafters, and part of me misses the darker colored grass. The Ice Cavern art looks perfect. Every time I see one of these paintings, I feel extra inspired to to more landscape art!

The Green Druid isn't really what I would've imagined him as, but I am amused that his head/hair now looks like a Piranha Plant. I guess it fits since druids are usually associated with nature in fantasy settings. I really love Sheep!Toasty's art. It's cute, yet mean, and I like his spiky, burnt back.

The thing I'm most curious about is the changing music they mentioned. I was already hyped enough for the remixes of Copeland's score since Stone Hill sounds so good, but having the music shift between exploration and combat? I might need to get both versions of each song in that case!

EDIT: There's also another shot of Spyro in the banner of this page.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/...e-schedule.aspx

I think that a lot of the recent gameplay and screenshots we've gotten from non-Toys For Bob sources are from older builds. The main reason I think so is because in the Stone Hill footage we got on Friday, Spyro's tail didn't have the yellow gradient on it anymore. Conversely, looking closely at the IGN footage as well as these Game Informer screenshots, it's there again. Plus the lighting of Stone Hill seems to be completely different, and I doubt IGN's awful video compression is 100% to blame for it. Of course I could be horribly wrong, but that's just what I observed.

Regardless though... all of it looks absolutely fantastic. The beasts from Alpine Ridge are genuinely kind of scary and I love it a lot. They also managed to capture the druids very well, which was a huge detail that I was concerned about looking at how little there is to work with. This alleviates my worries quite a bit. And that's not even scratching the surface! The environments are stunning, and I'm super excited that they kept the punk rock aesthetic of the Beast Makers Gnorcs.

Also, when the article is discussing Toasty, they mention that the music will now be dynamic, which is so awesome. I was really hoping that they would do this, especially because of the way Toasty's track is. Part of me has always thought that it was intended to be that way, even before I knew what the concept was; as a kid, I would always try to rush through the level to Toasty himself by the time the music picked up (about 1:21 into the song).

I LOVE Spyro's paws, they're amazing. LOL That's all I can think about from these images of him.

Quote: alicecarp

Looking at that beast makes me wonder how badass Crush, Gulp and the YotD bosses will look.

I hope they make Buzz, Spike and Scorch really horrifying. Really looking forward to seeing them.

Isn't the Alpine Ridge beast's head a little too small?

Ok, BIG post incoming!

As someone else has mentioned, due to some small revealing details it’s likely that all these screenshots were taken from earlier builds from the ones we’ve seen these last few days, so I’m going to focus on characters and level designs instead of colors, skyboxes and lighting.

MY. GOD. The Alpine Ridge beasts.
This is the definition of taking a character concept (big, hairy scary beast) and pushing it even further thanks to technological advancements and a top notch art direction.
This screenshot alone makes me very hopeful for enemies such as the Dark Passage transformed dogs and turtles, the High Caves spiders and the creatures from Jaques.
And that’s only some examples from the top of my head, and strictly from the first game.

I’ll use the Ice Cavern screenshot as a chance to mention how happy I am that they are stuffing these games with soooo many details which either weren’t possible back then or are simply fun to see.
Melting ice and snow (though probably only in certain specific spots) is a great way to expand the already cool idea of burning grass, which feels like the natural evolution of burning cacti and bushes.
Same goes for added animations, such as the ones for the dogs in Toasty stated in the article.

Toasty looks as good as always, not much to say here except I’ll riot if they won’t release an art book.

Loving both the new Laser Gnorc and Terrace Village aesthetic.
The former is lacking a couple cool details, such as the belly button piercing or the flappy ears, but the visuals are absolutely making up for them, and the electric grid is looking both magical and technological.
Loving it!
Agree on this bing one of the most forgettable level, which is now suddendly more unique because of that very same detail.

The Green Druid is so close to how I always imagined him to be that it’s almost scary: he just looks like an weird elderly guy who enjoys mocking you with his magical powers more than anything.
This to me is the definition of “recreating the games the way you saw them through your younger self’s eyes”.
Waiting for the Armored Druids as well!

The Ice Cavern concept art left me speechless.
It’s like looking at an artist rendition of a screenshot from the PS1 game.
Astonishing.

Yeah, we got it, Toasty is cool.
Now put some clothes on him, please.

FInally, the article.
I’m really intrigued they decided to went with dynamic music, at least for some levels, because I always felt like the music kinda accompanied you through a level and now this is going to be actually true.
Same goes for dragons looking more unique; I’m super fine with it, as long as they’ll at least make each tribe’s member fit with the rest.
The “art gallery” part suddendly made me excited for some hidden areas in Artisans, but I still love how they are sub-themeing each level: seems like they went with various forms of art for the first Homeworld, going with books for Dark Hollow, paintings for Toasty, statues (?) for Town Square and architectures (?) for Stone Hill.
All stuff the Artisans would actually work on.
Very exciting, just as all the talking about staying as true as possible to the original geometry, placements, collisions and even controls.

With each day that passes I feel more and more the need to play these remakes, and I sure hope we’ll see a demo released by the end of E3.
Don’t know how I would be able to hold back until September, otherwise.

Quote: Drek95

The Ice Cavern concept art left me speechless.
It’s like looking at an artist rendition of a screenshot from the PS1 game.
Astonishing.

I have the feeling this is quite literally what they're doing, actually. If you look at the Misty Bog concept art they showed a short while back, it almost seems like they took that screenshot of the empty brown cavern and painted directly over it on another layer in whatever art program they're using. It's also kind of noticeable with the High Caves concept art. That art lines up perfectly with the screenshot found here, down to the textures on the grassy tower: http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/High_Caves

Link to the High Caves art for reference: https://twitter.com/ToysForBob...512980477558784

Crystal Dragon looks like Ignitus. :o

or rather ignitus resembles them?

when does plant wizard there show up

Quote: Bionichute

when does plant wizard there show up

It's the Green Druid from Magic Crafters.

Quote: Tsutori

Quote: Drek95

The Ice Cavern concept art left me speechless.
It’s like looking at an artist rendition of a screenshot from the PS1 game.
Astonishing.

I have the feeling this is quite literally what they're doing, actually. If you look at the Misty Bog concept art they showed a short while back, it almost seems like they took that screenshot of the empty brown cavern and painted directly over it on another layer in whatever art program they're using. It's also kind of noticeable with the High Caves concept art. That art lines up perfectly with the screenshot found here, down to the textures on the grassy tower: http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/High_Caves

Link to the High Caves art for reference: https://twitter.com/ToysForBob...512980477558784

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I agree it’s indeed what they are doing.
What I meant is... I feel like I’m looking exactly at that screenshot, but in artwork form.

Both High Caves and Misty Bog show more or less evident changes from their Reignited design, such as the more complex and detailed towers or the obvious hollowed log part filled with plants and puddles.

With Ice Cavern, I can’t see anything which wasn’t already there in the PS1 version, yet it’s all enhanced to the point of looking like a next-gen product.
The snow between the various bricks, the spikes and of course the geometry itself.
I’m sure there are subtle changes, I just can’t notice them.

And to me, that’s incredible.

And to think all this content is in the first game alone. No telling what surprises Ripto’s Rage and Year of the Dragon will have. And speaking of Year of the Dragon, if the skateparks have graffiti, I will totally lose my mind. Wouldn’t even know how to react. Based on that art gallery Toasty has, graffiti sounds like a possibility.

Mmmh... Could TfB be teasing something...?

https://mobile.twitter.com/ToysForBob

The screenshot is from Spyro the Dragon, but maybe they are using it as a way to introduce Gateway to Glimmer.
Or perhaps a new trailer for the first game.

This week has been sooooo ful of news and excitement, can’t imagine what they are preparing for E3!

Quote: Drek95

Mmmh... Could TfB be teasing something...?

https://mobile.twitter.com/ToysForBob

The screenshot is from Spyro the Dragon, but maybe they are using it as a way to introduce Gateway to Glimmer.
Or perhaps a new trailer for the first game.

This week has been sooooo ful of news and excitement, can’t imagine what they are preparing for E3!

T R A I L E R T O D A Y P L E A S E

Imagine if they just randomly drop a couple of images from Spyro 2 out of nowhere

For a split second I though that the Spyro image in the banner was taken in Winter Tundra, then I realized it was just Ice Cavern.

Judging from their last tweets, it seems like TfB concluded the Reignited Trilogy development today, which means they’ll probably use the remaining months for finishing touches and maybe fans-suggested changes.

If that’s true, CONGRATULATIONS!
It may also mean that the “The Adventure Continues...” image could be referring to actual new games, which the studio is now more or less free to start working on.

Let's hope that the adventure never ends for Classic Spyro.

This is waaaaaay closer to the Nestor we all know and love (not an official concept art, unfortunately):



I like how he currently looks in-game, but the turban would be the last thing I’d change, especially since you can see both his horns and ears here.
His face is particularly off and the “frills” improve it a lot already.

Let’s hope TfB can take inspiration from this if they have some time left for those kind of changes, I personally don’t find Elders to be that important but it still doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated with the same care as the rest of the game.

https://breezeharbour.tumblr.c...art-i-wanted-to

((^__Original Artist credit, very important.))


Seeing as changing a whole model is a LOT more complicated process then editing lighting, and they've got three games to go through, I highly doubt they'll change Nester beyond maybe a 0.9% chance of some texture/color tweaks. Maybe. They've long already passed that milestone in the pipeline.

Sidenote-

https://twitter.com/ToysForBob...515306809712640




MORE CONCEPT ART!

Alpine Ridge beast concept art
https://twitter.com/toysforbob...6809712640?s=21

I literally can't get over how adorable and terrifying the beasts are. Toys For Bob's artist are immensely talented, it blows my mind each time they post something new.

Whoops, sorry if I didn’t credit the artist!
Got so used to simply share concept arts, since we all know the source, that I simply didn’t think about it and moved onto something else.

Shame on me, very talented person.

On Nestor, I fully understand that, which is why I specified that they should work on him only if they have more time than the one required for polishing and refining the trilogy.
Not to mention that they might have already worked on him, as that build is most likely older than the ones we got to see lately going by Spyro’s design: just think about the difference between the ram in the “dry” Stone Hill screenshot and the one in the gameplay clip.
Official artwork of him could really help getting an idea of the intended result.

Regarding the official artworks, lovely as always.
Interesting that they choose to draw Green Druids on the Beasts’ back instead of the Armored ones.
Really curious to see those little guys.

Well, trying to eat a Wumpa Fruit, at least.

I MUST make a Beast Plushie!