Hi there,
I pledged early to this Kickstarter, and was very excited about the part in the video presentation about the Infinity Engine, the fixed viewpoint isometric graphics in particular. This thread isn't about the roleplaying or combat mechanics or the story of the game, but purely the graphical look. What I think made the Infinity Engine games and others like Fallout 1/2 and Arcanum look so good, was the pre-rendered graphics, they looked so "realistic", like a work of art. So it got me thinking, I'm sure Obsidian isn't going to make a game that looks exactly like the Infinity Engine games except in higher resolution (although I wouldn't even complain about this), but the Infinity Engine games were made in the late 90's and the year 2000. What kind of 2D graphics could be acheived, within budget and time limitations, with modern technology?
I've been following the development of an indie adventure game called STASIS for a while now, the guy making it is apparently a professional CG artist, and in addition to that game he's also posted "tech demo" screens for other ideas he's had. So as they say a picture says a thousand words, so I'll post some...
There's also videos of these in action.
Now I'm not trying to parrot this guys stuff, but it got me thinking, one (obviously very talented) independent developer is able to put together stuff on a limited budget that looks that good, imagine what Obsidian could accomplish with up to 3 million dollars or more, experienced developers etc.
Also, there's a bit of a preconception among younger gamers that 2D graphics always look retro/pixelated, which I think this proves they don't.
There's also some screens of "tech demos" he did for a post-apocalypic setting, and a noir science-fiction one, which I'll post in a second due to image limit.
