-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Blade Runner Enhanced Edition Coming to Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch
- Thread starter ManaByte
- Start date
ShadowNate
Member
Has there been any media material showing their work and improvements?
I still cannot find any.
I still cannot find any.
trikster40
Member
Slings and Arrows
Banned
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Just gimme the game so I can play it again. I bet it has been 15+ years since my last run through
VulcanRaven
Member
I haven't played the original game but I will definitely buy this.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
That M US. IC
Don't be daft by watching this through your phone. Play it on whatever you're actually going to play the game through - the closer to 4k the better.
I'm seeing a lot of disappointment on other forums, but, in remaster terms, the difference is night and day. The framerate alone makes the world of difference.
I can only imagine people are squinting at a 480p stream through their phone, and that ain't gonna cut it.
♂But as this is one game it should cost less, so I’m not too mad at the quality.
Ozrimandias
Member
Gaf read my mind.... i was thinking just a few days ago
Where is my Blade Runner
No info since march and still no release date.
Where is my Blade Runner
No info since march and still no release date.
ShadowNate
Member
lol, they all smooth now.
I guess this is just a teaser. I'm more curious about the in-game models and backgrounds and how it plays -- especially on consoles, since this is a point and click.
In-development might mean there's still much work to be done.
I guess this is just a teaser. I'm more curious about the in-game models and backgrounds and how it plays -- especially on consoles, since this is a point and click.
In-development might mean there's still much work to be done.
Harts316
Member
same here. I never got a chance to play it back in the day and am excited to play. Any info on the release date?
namekuseijin
Banned
you know what this is all about, really? All these oldies getting remasters that won't ever live up to the original classics?
it's about shutting down emulation communities and really the history of video games
it's about shutting down emulation communities and really the history of video games
FromDuskTillGameOver
Member
The last big masterpiece from the golden era of point n click adventures. Good call giving this to nighdive.
ShadowNate
Member
I was really hoping they would find a stack of old resources, like with the Command and Conquer remaster case. Yes, in that case they didn't really find better quality for the videos, but they *did* find a load of stuff from Westwood, that were considered lost forever when Westwood had to move offices.
Was there nothing there for Blade Runner?
God damn, any sample that one can find of original uncompressed and hi-res original art for the 1997 game looks absolutely awesome. Except maybe some of the in-game original models, although they also do look quite a lot better than their final compressed versions.
Was there nothing there for Blade Runner?
God damn, any sample that one can find of original uncompressed and hi-res original art for the 1997 game looks absolutely awesome. Except maybe some of the in-game original models, although they also do look quite a lot better than their final compressed versions.
Fuz
Banned
My copy still works.
CamHostage
Member
Wow, apparently they used AI enhancement to upscale and reinterpolate the footage. Looks surprisingly modern in the remaster (it's shocking that a 1997 game shipped with semi-decent CGI in the first place,) and it's really only when the characters speak that the modeling falls apart. Pretty great work, should make the pre-rendered backgrounds come out real clean as well. I'm interested to see how the character models match up for the redone backgrounds though, and how Nightdive upgrades the voxel/poly hybrid models enough to match the rest of the resolution bump. It's a good-looking game, then and now, so please take care...
*I'm curious, has the AI upscaling/interpolating technique been used in a shipped game product before this? I know that hackers are playing with it a lot these days, but I don't think I have seen a professional game studio trust AI yet, they just go to as high-res a source as they can find and carefully sharpen and color-correct as much as they can but that's as far as they go. I remember when REmake and FF7 Steam was coming out, the fanbase was able to make "better" remasterings of the pre-rendered assets with the nascent AI processing systems, and I wonder if that'll still stand as a lost opportunity to make those products better or if (because AI upscaling add a lot of interpretation and assumptions to the graphics) we'll look back on what we thought was good-looking AI Upscaling and see all the flaws and slurry in the algorithms. I think the Blade Runner upscale looks great, but already there are some who disagree...
Last edited:
Manstructiclops
Banned
This game was full of bespoke technology. To do it justice will take serious effort, and I doubt they'll ever recoup the investment to make that worthwhile.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
gimmy!
CamHostage
Member
It's not an "upres" though, it's an AI-interpreted upscale. They feed the original footage into the computer and it reprocesses it with machine learning algorithms to fill in the gaps, to correct blocking artifacts and color mistakes, and in this case to tween the framerate. It's a pretty significant "improvement*" in detail and framerate, and particularly in scenes of panning or zooming where the original footage and even the original rendering devices had a hard time with the full frame changes, this upscale significantly improves the jutter and haloing/macroblocking that made old video files look crunchy and blocky and CD-quality no matter how good the source material video quality was.
I don't know if this GIF embed shows it, but look for this sequence in the video (jump to 04:31), the difference is night and day.
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition Side-By-Side Comparison
Watch and create more animated gifs like Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition Side-By-Side Comparison at gifs.com
gifs.com
* I say "improvement" in quotes because it is a computer making the choices for how this upscale goes, same as how a retextured "remaster" is maybe higher resolution by the numbers but might not look as good in motion or by comparison against the original creation. Every algorithm sees the images differently, and as good as AI can be at re-creating an enhanced visual (or audio) presentation, those details are just not there in the original source obviously, and everything the AI does to "restore" an image is just an educated guess.
The extreme version of this, BTW, is the 2018 documentary by Peter Jackson, They Shall Now Grow Old, which is controversial in how far it went (they not only AI-enhanced the frames and framerate, they colorized it,) but is also is illuminating for how much it brings vibrancy and vitality back to these dusty old films of a bygone era.
Last edited:
Burger
Member
I disagree.
Yes, there is an 'improvement' to framerate, due to interpolated frames added. There is not an improvement to detail - in fact there is a loss of detail. Everything is smooth - the upscaling process cannot add detail, because it doesn't understand what the shapes are, only that they are shapes. Some of the shading detail has even been lost - it's smoothed out, averaged.
I work in VFX and we often have to remove the noise or grain from an image and add it back again - but you need to be careful because it's destructive. Removing grain is also removing detail.
I would argue that the macroblocking and chroma compression in the source videos is part of its character like the grain in a 35mm anamorphic feature film, and this 'remaster' is an ugly machine created disaster.
Also I don't believe They Shall Grow Old used any form of machine learning or AI - but simply motion vector based retiming. ML Retiming is only just coming to professional software - although not yet to Baselight - the colourist tool used in the video you linked to.
Stuart360
Member
Its Nightdive Studios guys, they dont do radical graphical updates to their remasters (except the upcoming System Shock remake of course). They just bring them upto date with proper widescreen, controller support, compatability options. Maybe they do the odd graphical update, like improving the draw distance in Turok, but asset and texture wise,they do zero changes.
YeulEmeralda
Member
ENHANCE (But seriously who the hell plays a late 90s game for the graphics anyway?)
This is one of a very few P&C adventure games that actually has a good story.
Most of that genre is crap- built around the puzzles.
This is one of a very few P&C adventure games that actually has a good story.
Most of that genre is crap- built around the puzzles.
Type_Raver
Member
Classic ‘Blade Runner’ Video Game to Be Restored For Consoles, Steam (Exclusive)
Nightdive Studios, known for restoring classic video games such as System Shock and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, has partnered with production company Alcon Entertainment to restore the 1997 point-and-click adventure title Blade Runner for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, as well as a PC...www.hollywoodreporter.com
That was such a big game in the day! Good to see it come back in a restored version on current consoles.
Stitch
Gold Member
VFXVeteran
Banned
Hey buddy! I worked in the VFX industry too for awhile. Nice to see someone else from the industry on these boards!
H
hariseldon
Unconfirmed Member
Absolutely this. It’s actually the first game that ever made me give a shit about it’s characters.
Alter_Fridge
Member
Srsly?
Burger
Member
Hey buddy! I worked in the VFX industry too for awhile. Nice to see someone else from the industry on these boards!
I Love Rock 'n' Roll
Member
I still have the pc box version. It was good. Somewhere between FF7 and Resident Evil.
Tesseract
Banned
yeah i'd say the same for me, my memories of this game are much stronger than i thought they'd be
anyway, dibs on the |ot|
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Ozrimandias
Member
D A T E P L E A S E
Slings and Arrows
Banned
I imagine it will play the same as Broken Sword and Monkey Island.
Slings and Arrows
Banned
I want to hear my 3 favourite quotes.
No messages, I'm in demand
Portrait of the sleep deprived
Sod off McCoy
No messages, I'm in demand
Portrait of the sleep deprived
Sod off McCoy
ThatStupidLion
Member
Hey buddy! I worked in the VFX industry too for awhile. Nice to see someone else from the industry on these boards!
samsies!!
ShadowNate
Member
I guess I phrased that badly.
Blade Runner has a few places with mouse combat and a few that you need to react quickly with the mouse. I am curious how those will translate to gamepad controls on the consoles.
And the other question is whether the remastered art and new models, if they actually make new models, will blend together as in the original. Of course, I really really would like higher quality for the character models. Most of them look terrible in the original.
Slings and Arrows
Banned
Good point. There's a bit on the rooftops early in the game where you waste a synth who charges at you and you only have a short time to fill him with lead.