Support NeoGAF

[jett]

Third screen is about what I expected.

 

[Velkyn]

Are people seriously complaining about placeholder particle effects, placeholder UI and placeholder textures? Come on guys, alpha means not feature complete and lots of placeholder assets. Give them a chance to work on it.

 

[Village]

I dont have an insane obsession with things looking like 2d, so i don't mind it looking 3d its an early build so obviously the models will look better later.

Also 2d weird art style platformer is something that has been overdone, IMO quite recently. For better and for worse, and I would enjoy it being 3d actually. Not that big a fan of how the ray man games look either.

 

[Kuro]

This thread is why developers don't and shouldn't show off early footage of their games.

Pretty much. The alpha shots look fine to me for alpha shots. I have faith in Inti Creates.

 

[Takamura-San]

Inafune has a screen dedicated to overseeing his staff work..... ?

 

[EL CUCO]

I'll pick it up for PS Vita, but it looks bare bones right now.

 

[Bungie]

When I seen this, I did a peace sign back.

 

[spineduke]

I don't mind the renders that are in place now, but the color palette/lighting needs some serious revising. Everything looks a little too desaturated. Enemies and characters need more contrast from the backdrops.

 

[Village]

Heres the first time we had a look at the games engine back in September 2013:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=688117

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXDiQrgI6M

and the same concerns were voiced. I'd start tempering expectations greatly tbh.

Think it looks fine.

 

[Mechanized]

I didn't back this or anything but I'm kinda surprised. I know concept art is concept art but if you're making a spiritual successor to Mega Man, wouldn't it make sense to make it 2D?

 

[Floex]

This:

Is the only target render/concept art I remember them they showing for the KS, those images look to be from the alpha (which you can tell from the monitor like you said)

I signed up for this

 

[topplehat]

I think this is why developers don't give out much info during the development process. People are jumping to conclusions based off really early screenshots.

 

[Khaz]

Alpha is alpha. Art is still being worked on, this is placeholder to test the engine, gameplay, level design, etc.

Spy party has been in development for over three years with graphics like this and only replaced the placeholders once he felt the gameplay was done right.

instead of

The latest art will be inserted near the end of dev, in the meantime engine designers just need basic art to test their stuff.

 

[otaku-asia]

Finding it hilarious how people get disappointed about placeholder images. :-D

 

[highoffcoffee496]

I think it's looking great!!

 

[mclem]

As I said above, they already had that back in September.

Fairly sure that was largely a proof-of-concept, not an actual functional product. It's the "initial reveal of Killzone 2" of M#9.

 

[Black Door]

I didn't back this or anything but I'm kinda surprised. I know concept art is concept art but if you're making a spiritual successor to Mega Man, wouldn't it make sense to make it 2D?

Well, 2 1/2 D is a thing, and to be fair, MMX8 looks like a million bucks and plays well

 

[ElectricBanquet]

I think this is why developers don't give out much info during the development process. People are jumping to conclusions based off really early screenshots.

Since so many people backed this through Kickstarter, I wonder if what some posters are saying are the same kinds of things a publisher would typically be saying to a developer at this point in development.
"This doesn't match your target renders."
"This doesn't look very good compared to [insert game title]."
"I hope we didn't make a mistake by funding this project."

 

[Paz]

I actually dread reading kickstarter or in progress threads lately, there are always super positive comments for things that I know for a fact are heavily faked/won't ever end up looking as good in an actual game and then stuff like this that is clearly placeholder and in no way indicative of what a game will look like gets trashed as if it was final.

Then in another thread you read those same people getting angry at how often the marketing machines lie to them, as if they didn't bring it on themselves.

Looks great because it shows they are clearly focused on getting the game right before working on all the visuals, props to the team and I hope they achieve their goals!

Oh and here is what Bayonetta looked like early on in development: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZa3OWBxSVo horrendous! They should have just canned the game! Am I doing it right?

 

[mclem]

Since so many people backed this through Kickstarter, I wonder if what some posters are saying are the same kinds of things a publisher would typically be saying to a developer at this point in development.
"This doesn't match your target renders."
"This doesn't look very good compared to [insert game title]."
"I hope we didn't make a mistake by funding this project."

Publishers have a better understanding of what to expect over time. At least, they ought to. Some publishers... are a bit less realistic than others.

 

[Draft]

I'm not a smarty pants game designer, but I probably wouldn't share my alpha build with the world if it looked like shit.

 

[Hermii]

Ok starting point, but I hope these are in no way done.

 

[ElectricBanquet]

I'm not a smarty pants game designer, but I probably wouldn't share my alpha build with the world if it looked like shit.

My guess is that since it was crowdfunded they feel more of a responsibility to show people how the game is progressing. If they didn't show anything there'd be complaints about that.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

(It looked better on the actual screen tho.)

 

[Whompa]

Reading some of the comments makes it obvious that the community should never be involved in game development...it looks fine right now. It's definitely in its alpha and they're definitely more focused on design right now then the friggen art.

 

[ArtHands]

What I don't get is: Why release screenshots like the ones in the OP if they've already had this kinda stuff in September? It feels like a step back and it's not gonna get people excited.

Its just to share with the fans what and how is the progress of the development.

 

[Comet]

I would prefer a cell-shaded style, but I will not crucify the game like others here are and will do if that's not the style we get. As long as it plays well, has tight controls, and has old-school difficult, it's a win in my book.

 

[Hedge]

This is why I never back a kickstarter. There is no guarantee that the product you paid for is the one you end up with at all. Not that there ever is, but it's more likely to change drastically when you purchase something still in production.

Personally I'd prefer 2D as well, because I think it looks more slick.

 

[LiK]

Looking good. It's an Alpha guys, don't dwell on it too much. Major changes can still happen.

 

[Jaeger]

Alpha Build (literally just started making it).

lol bloom. I really hope I didn't waste my money...

Lmfao.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Alpha Build (literally just started making it).

Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta. They've lost all meaning over the past couple of years.

 

[BruiserBear]

I think this looks pretty nice.

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

ew. Cel-Shade please.

 

[Jaeger]

That model looks cel-shaded, to me. Or do you mean 2D Sprite/Graphic? Two completely different things.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

I thought its going to be more cell shaded and cartoony and more "flat" looking rather then "lets just add bloom and blur to everything"

Same here, I thought 9 was at least going to be a sprite. Disappointing.

 

[Silky]

lmao Mega Man fanbase finna riot

--

Reminds me of Powered Up, honestly.

 

[Mesoian]

Same here, I thought 9 was at least going to be a sprite. Disappointing.

...why did you think that?

 

[Messofanego]

Yeah, if people really have an issue, this is where you voice your concern as a backer. People have done with other Kickstarter games (Broken Sword 5, Neverending Nightmares, Dreamfall Chapters) and it's worked. I'm sure they're more than willing to listen. This is why they left the publisher model, to get instant feedback from fans and get suggestions rather than managers breathing down their necks to hit the deadline for the month who don't understand game development or how to give real suggestions. After all that, they only get to show the people who'll actually play the game years into development when not much design can be changed and they have no outsider perspective to give insight. That's how they end up with a rush job with a bunch of glitches.

 

[Village]

...why did you think that?

I am also interested in the answer to this question.

 

[kick51]

*cries about mega man for years on end*

*rejects new mega man game on a couple alpha screens*

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

Hanging on ledges, huh? Interesting.

 

[entremet]

I always find bosses watching employees from a screen in their office to be creepy.

Is that a Japanese thing? I've never heard of that.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

AWESOME! I'm OK with the graphics but would've like cel-shaded.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I have no idea how many times they have stated they were going with a more "modern", "western" 3D art style for this.

Also, much more importantly, this appears to indicate that there will be a MMX-style dash.

*cries about mega man for years on end*

*rejects new mega man game on a couple alpha screens*

I've come to expect little else. Recent events have proven to me that I no longer have much in common with large swaths of this fanbase.

 

[HK-47]

*cries about mega man for years on end*

*rejects new mega man game on a couple alpha screens*

Are you telling game development doesn't involve fairy dust and spring dreams popping a full formed product into existence?

 

[Village]

Are you telling game development doesn't involve fairy dust and spring dreams popping a full formed product into existence?

also
*basing your entire view of how the game will look like on 2d concept art*

You mean 2d concept art =/= 2d game, who would have think that shit.

 

[thefil]

Already in alpha? but how? and are those voxels I see in the second pic?

No. Voxels are axis-aligned, like pixels. These are just rudimentary particle affects.

 

[mclem]

This is why they left the publisher model, to get instant feedback from fans and get suggestions rather than managers breathing down their necks to hit the deadline for the month who don't understand game development or how to give real suggestions.

While I agree in principle, I do feel obliged to point out that most fans I've spoken to understand the realities game dev worse than most publishers. Most publishers, at least. There are some...

 

[kick51]

Are you telling game development doesn't involve fairy dust and spring dreams popping a full formed product into existence?

IF IT'S NOT PERFECT RIGHT AWAY, FUK MEAG MANG

 

[antibolo]

To be honest I wish they'd just go with straight-up 2D graphics instead of going for a "2D game with 3D graphics" thing. I never really liked that, especially for platformers, it never looks quite right.

But I guess it's cheaper to use 3D graphics, and it's not like they have an unlimited budget.