Arcadia Awards 2008

"highest polygon count and whatnot" doesn't mean shit if the backgrounds are boring. See 80% of VF's backgrounds. There is A LOT of stuff going on in many of the backgrounds in SF4... look at the China stage, where people drop from freaking two storey buildings when someone gets slammed, and watch as people gather around that dude to check if he's okay, and then turn their attention back to the fight. Stuff like that makes the backgrounds more alive and more interesting to fight in, especially if you're an observer.

 

Sidna7 you seem to be making outlandish claims that a fairly wrong for the most part. It's really hurting your credibility in the discusion.

Poly count in SFIV bg's are crazy high with all the little things and ways you can interact with the background. In the temple stage you can be slammed into the doors to open them up.

I love VF but compared to Tekken or SF BG's it's still lagging behind. I'm not really sure what direction VF tries to make with each graphical overall. I blame poor art direction.

 

Reno, I can’t disagree with you on that…more fun stuff happening is for the better, but having tons of things going on is a poor excuse for under-bar gfx. In the China stage, I noticed all the peeps running around, I also noticed how they look like playmobil models.
I personally believe that you should scarcely trade quality for quantity, and I also rather focus my attention on what the fighters are doing, which is almost never static (unlike the npc AI).

Tricky dude, I might be making outlandish claims...I don’t know much about gfx but SF4s look pretty weak in that department.

 

Myke cmon I think that's a pretty silly point. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

There was this fight in the VF5R Sarah stage where i noticed there's a lady window-shopping in the background. She's there and persists between rounds: she showed up at round 2 and kept walking & pausing till the end of round 4 where she goes into a store or something. She also <u>kept walking</u> between replays /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif I tried to spot her in some other VF5R Sarah stages but haven't been successful yet.

Anyway, no, i disagree, there *is* life and animation in VF backgrounds it's just moderated, and not over the top like in SF4 (or Wolf's VF4evo stage). I think the design team at SEGA realized that having random movements in the background can be distracting. Since, there's no SPARKS, LIGHTING and FIREBALLS that totally differentiate combat animations from background "noise". A personal pet peeve of mine was hitchecking for counterhits out in VF4evo Sarah's stage /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

IMHO it's an aesthetic choice, the VF5 background fluff is toned down but still everpresent - if you want to spot it you will. Take a LONG look at Lau's stage, notice all the detail and animation & interaction going on, there's people on scafflondings building and sometimes they stop and cheer SF-style. But, you know, in the background.

PS: that's not to say SF4 is bad or ugly or anything,no, it's just.. just, different. And i can appreciate some of the finer details, like the idea of being able to pre-set your chracter's intro & winpose /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbs_up.gif

 

SFIV is a win in graphic domains.
Except the main menu, all is really fine designed. From the VS character screen, to the fights, the stage, and the win pose+ battle points, all is rocking.
The game is not a technological performance like Soul Calibur 4 but it has a unique and particular design, and it gives it an awesome overall look.

That's the same thing for WoW: the game is not outstanding, but it design makes it actually look better than most other MMORPG's which have far better core graphics.

PS: I sense some english fails in my post but I hope you'll understand what I mean.

 

I can understand what you mean.

I agree with you, but at the sametime I think this is also what can create some lack of "soul" in VF. EDIT: on a game aspect.

And on a somewhat related note, to be honest I dont even think I'd like VF as much if the game lacked the customization stuff, that was a HUGE step imo for appeal.

 

Definitely, as a matter of fact I bet you that VF5 is still probably king in the arcades with the customizations. I saw a youtube video on vanilla T6 Nina custom items(someone used tekken-net on their cell phone to show) and it was very limited(I'm sure BR added more though), a single character on our xbox vf5 has more stuff to choose from. What's also funny is I though that Sega took a step back from evo to 5 with the customs on console and it was still on top. And I really really have to agree that it helps you to relate and connect, it's to the point where you might not have even really been a fan of a character in the roster but a customization you see in use changes that. I keep my Hero Sarah.

I was disappointed with Capcom with the palette swaps and all that, it's mad played out now. Some hardcore fans might actually complain though if the game had outlandish customizations like VF and Tekken cause they wouldnt be able to "see." /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

When I played SF4 online I probably pissed my opponents off because I would keep picking the Drive-In map. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/whistle.gif
Also atleast you didn't get those opponents that turtle on the select screen for you to pick.

 

shoot I picked up lei-fei for a hot minute because I thought making him into Krillin would be cool.

I loved Akira's Costume C so much I decided to make him a 2nd character for a long time and still do to an extent. He's kinda my warm up, get the kinks out my armor, character (him and Jeffery).

 

Hahahahahhahahaha, Hilarious. I agree. They are all a linear, side-scrolling fighting area. Pick one already!

 

I can agree with this. SF's backgrounds that are interactable but do not interfere with the game (like they do in DOA4) would be good. Ofc Virtua fighter still has the ring out and walls which interact with the game. I just dont want VF to ever have items in random places which create randomness in the match. Or uneven terrain that does the same.

 

Its a good point.

ps. The biggest grife I have with SF4 graphics is that <span style='font-size: 8pt'>the text in menus is horrendously small and nearly impossible to read with my 32-inch but old widescreen tube television..





I completely fail to understand why for instance persons gamertag is the SMALLEST text in the challenge window.








And theres HUGE tracts of empty space in the screen and all it







does is showoff Ken's ugly mug when Im looking for matches.










UGH. Personally I want to know who I am fighting against. </span>

 

More realistic should be seen as more bland, same as disagreeing with artistic direction shouldn't make you think ill of the graphics.