Character Portraits: Variety

[Lephys]

One thing I noticed in the newest Shadowrun Returns (another isometric game) update is that they've opted to make a plethora of different, individual character portraits to choose from, THEN went on to make variants of each of these.

 

I just thought this was an excellent idea, and I implore Obsidian to consider this if they haven't/aren't already.

 

Basically, instead of seeing that one portrait and going "Aw, man! That face is AWESOME! But, if he JUST didn't have the hood and arcane tattoos! I'm a Warrior, not a Mage!", you'll see that same face with 3-or-4 different variations. Maybe one has a helm on, or a topknot, or scars/piercings, etc.

 

While it IS more work for the art team, it's less work than entirely new portraits, as you only have to create the foundation portrait once, then go from there in a few different directions.

 

Anywho, this was basically just a suggestion to Team Obsidian, but I'm never against hearing others' thoughts on the matter.

[JFSOCC]

If I could import my own images, that'd be fantastic too.

[Lephys]

If I could import my own images, that'd be fantastic too.

 

True that. Now I'm wondering if there couldn't be some "snapshot" feature, to simply take a picture of your model's head/shoulders at a given angle/pose (using the higher-quality paper doll model), then simply apply some Photoshop "make this kinda look like a painting" filter to it or something.

 

I mean, I know that's pretty ultra-simple in Photoshop, and the sheer snapshot-creation thing has been in plenty of games, but I wonder how hard it would be to get just the filter migrated over from a software like Photoshop and have it affect your in-game snapshot. Boom. Unique in-game portraits directly from your character model. If only...

[Sensuki]

Shadowrun Portraits are a completely different art style. They're far more cartoony than the P:E portraits are going to be. We are getting portraits inspired by the Icewind Dale 1 & 2 art style.

 

http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/updates/0040/orlan.jpg

 

This is more indicative of the style of portrait that is going to be in the final game.

 

So while the Shadowrun Returns portrait addons are cool, that kind of thing would not work for P:E as the LOD is a lot higher.

 

I'd prefer to have more portraits than less portraits with 3 versions of each that have slight differences.

 

 

 

You'll be able to import your own portraits anyway so.

[Greensleeve]

Shadowrun Portraits are a completely different art style. They're far more cartoony than the P:E portraits are going to be. We are getting portraits inspired by the Icewind Dale 1 & 2 art style.

 

http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/updates/0040/orlan.jpg

 

This is more indicative of the style of portrait that is going to be in the final game.

 

So while the Shadowrun Returns portrait addons are cool, that kind of thing would not work for P:E as the LOD is a lot higher.

 

I'd prefer to have more portraits than less portraits with 3 versions of each that have slight differences.

 

 

 

You'll be able to import your own portraits anyway so.

 

I really don't see why the art style or level of detail has any impact at all on the idea itself. The idea itself is pretty fantastic. 

 

Now, a higher level of detail might make it more expensive to implement this, but I still think that the idea is worth investigating. More portraits is always better than fewer portraits. 

[Gumbercules]

+1. Say what you will about the rest of Shadowrun Returns, they really seem to have nailed the character creation + portrait-matching process. Here's the link to the post where they talk about this, by the way.

 

 

Shadowrun Portraits are a completely different art style. They're far more cartoony than the P:E portraits are going to be. We are getting portraits inspired by the Icewind Dale 1 & 2 art style.

 

They're a different art style, sure, but they don't appear to be any less detailed than that orlan painting.

[Nonek]

I vote for a full range of Mr Avellone stick figures, with differing expressions and poses.

[Sensuki]

+1. Say what you will about the rest of Shadowrun Returns, they really seem to have nailed the character creation + portrait-matching process. Here's the link to the post where they talk about this, by the way.

 

 

Shadowrun Portraits are a completely different art style. They're far more cartoony than the P:E portraits are going to be. We are getting portraits inspired by the Icewind Dale 1 & 2 art style.

 

They're a different art style, sure, but they don't appear to be any less detailed than that orlan painting.

 

They do to me, and it will probably take more time to make custom variations of them than the time it took to do the SRR ones. Note that P:E will have some pretty large size art assets - so the portraits for the 2560x1440 high res art assets will take some time.

 

I'd prefer more original portraits than devoting artist time to making slight modifications to already completed portraits.

[Gumbercules]

They do to me, and it will probably take more time to make custom variations of them than the time it took to do the SRR ones. Note that P:E will have some pretty large size art assets - so the portraits for the 2560x1440 high res art assets will take some time.

I'd prefer more original portraits than devoting artist time to making slight modifications to already completed portraits.

 

Seriously, what are you seeing that I'm missing? Both styles have the same amount of attention paid to lighting and detail. The only difference is that the brush strokes are more obvious in the PE painting, which lends it more texture and makes it appear to be more detailed without actually requiring more effort.

 

I'm not entirely clear on whether the Shadowrun Returns people are including each minor variant when they give the "nearly 200 player portraits" number. Some of the changes seem to literally be color swaps or the addition of a single accessory, so I can't imagine that type of thing taking long even at high res. Hopefully the PE artists will have plenty of time for lots of portraits once the project moves into production and less concept art is required.

[rjshae]

I'm wondering if they could use the same technique for the portraits that they employ on the game scenes? That is, initially render the character busts as 3D models, then convert them to 2D portraits and allow the artists to apply their skills to make the faces look appealing and non-creepy. The portraits could thereafter be modified by a variety of different backgrounds, clothing, jewelry, helms, and hats.

[Matt88]

I just hope we only get unique portraits this time. Being able to only pick from existing character portraits was pretty confusing. Especially when you bumped into that character or got him to join your group.