Mortal Kombat HD Remix with MUGEN

Hi smoke.tetsu,

I like the velvet look. The speckled look does technically look more like the original, but as you noted, I think those speckles are actually due to bad dithering in the gradient rather than any hint of texture.
Yes, although to be honest the speckles became a part of the character of that screen so it was simply looking too clean and spartan without at least some kind of texture in the background. So even what you came up with with the velvet is preferable. Don't get me wrong I'm not dissing it in any way.

I'll keep messing with the cloth on this, It still looks bad to me.


What about making the costume look like it's been used. You know scratches, faded, dirt stains. He looks too much like a toy IMO all clean like that.

For the realism fading, dirt stains, scratches etc. would make a pretty good difference so I think that's a good idea. Black karate gi's in general like you used as the base underneath the ninja costume don't tend to be pitch black anyway especially if the warrior has been wearing them for a long time. I know this especially because I've owned black karate gi's myself as I used to go to karate.

The yellow parts could have some shading to make them look like the rougher material they are that lets a little light through as well. Right now they look a little too heavy\plastic although the official classic models for MK9 suffer from that as well. Mostly what the cloth parts need are to look more like cloth really.

Also just a thought but the original costume was cheaply made with plastic shin guards but I think you could probably make it look in your model a little more like colored metal shin guards..... I mean in the original sprite they where non-distinct anyway and it would be a benefit in HD to make things look a little more expensive if you know what I mean. That's usually what separates props for a big budget production from a toy replica... more expensive materials like metal vs plastic.

Those example cosplay pics posted are pretty good for reference on the cloth materials as they most likely used a cotton type material similar to a gi in the pants\shirt area... although they are obviously more of the style of later games with the tighter fitting hoods and such.. especially the face masks which I'm not even sure look like in any of the games.
 
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Hi Bleed,

I love what you are doing here but I agree it needs to not be all one color.

The area where there is alot of flexing like elbows and knees should be slightly lighter in color where the fabric is pulled. The lighting might even blow-out certain areas of the yellow to match the original look, though I think overall we're shooting for an improved look instead of mimic the poor camera quality of 1992. I think certain spots could look a bit dirty...but nothing too dramatic since that's not how the original character looked. Also we might want to run the frame in a program like after effects and apply desaturation and a bit of film grain to really sell the refilmed look.
 
I'm with you Smoke. Honestly I appreciate your attention to detail. Thanks for your input.

Yes, although to be honest the speckles became a part of the character of that screen so it was simply looking too clean and spartan without at least some kind of texture in the background. So even what you came up with with the velvet is preferable. Don't get me wrong I'm not dissing it in any way.



For the realism fading, dirt stains, scratches etc. would make a pretty good difference so I think that's a good idea. Black karate gi's in general like you used as the base underneath the ninja costume don't tend to be pitch black anyway especially if the warrior has been wearing them for a long time. I know this especially because I've owned black karate gi's myself as I used to go to karate.

The yellow parts could have some shading to make them look like the rougher material they are that lets a little light through as well. Right now they look a little too heavy\plastic although the official classic models for MK9 suffer from that as well. Mostly what the cloth parts need are to look more like cloth really.

Also just a thought but the original costume was cheaply made with plastic shin guards but I think you could probably make it look in your model a little more like colored metal shin guards..... I mean in the original sprite they where non-distinct anyway and it would be a benefit in HD to make things look a little more expensive if you know what I mean. That's usually what separates props for a big budget production from a toy replica... more expensive materials like metal vs plastic.

Those example cosplay pics posted are pretty good for reference on the cloth materials as they most likely used a cotton type material similar to a gi in the pants\shirt area... although they are obviously more of the style of later games with the tighter fitting hoods and such.. especially the face masks which I'm not even sure look like in any of the games.
 
The area where there is alot of flexing like elbows and knees should be slightly lighter in color where the fabric is pulled. The lighting might even blow-out certain areas of the yellow to match the original look, though I think overall we're shooting for an improved look instead of mimic the poor camera quality of 1992. I think certain spots could look a bit dirty...but nothing too dramatic since that's not how the original character looked. Also we might want to run the frame in a program like after effects and apply desaturation and a bit of film grain to really sell the refilmed look.

Yes, I agree with this also. Also obviously HD mimics film a lot more than early 1990's video.... that's the point of HD basically. So this would make more sense. They've been doing this for remastering old television shows to HD as well like Star Trek going back and remastering from the film negatives giving the HD remaster more of a film look. So it would be interesting if the look for the MK HD remix would be to simulate that sort of effect. Although if the engine supports it it'd probably be best to implement what you are talking about (color grading and a bit of film grain) as a post processing effect at runtime. Although if it's not possible to do with MUGEN baking it in is the next best thing.

Also I hope Bleed sticks with the cloth ninja masks for MK1 as that's what they used in MK1 rather than the hard masks used in later games (or those cosplay shots that are using masks that again I am not sure they where in any of the 2D MK games). If he goes with my metal shin guards idea (for any area that was previously plastic in their outfits) a little bit of the paint could be worn off around the edges and there could be a little dent here and there to simulate equipment that has been in battles.
 
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That's it for today, but tomorrow I'll fade the knees and add some scratches to the shin guards, etc.

MK1Scorp_WIP_cloth_03.gif
 
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I blew it up to get a good look at it and I'm liking the direction you are taking it... I look forward to seeing it with what you have in store for it next. I also look forward to seeing him in the actual poses he'll be in for the game.
 
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Bleed, here's one suggestion. When you start making the final renders, place one brighter light spot and one darker one behind the character, this will give more volume to the picture. I meant something like this:

71909820.jpg


This effect was in the original game:
mk1ss06_2.png


71910062.jpg

And don't forget to add some gloss to Scorpion's yellow part of costume!;)
 
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I agree, I think that Scorpion's yellow areas are semi glossy, like a silky material. Right now they are appearing matte.
 
A little update in my work.

I finish the 2 Ending screen and sent to interloko

I have left :

VS Screen [90%]
Menu [80%]
Bio [0%]

After finish this 3 UI screens i will continue with Goro's Lair.
 
I agree, I think that Scorpion's yellow areas are semi glossy, like a silky material. Right now they are appearing matte.

Are you sure about that? I have seen the scorpion yellow vest as used in MK in person actually as one of my local high schools has one in their drama department believe it or not. Also I refer you back to this picture:

MK1Scorp_actor.jpg


What one may perceive as semi-gloss in the original sprite is actually the material being backlit by the studio lights while shooting the video. The actual material itself is not really silken or anything... more matte. At most at the lower end of semi-glossy. It's mostly the light\some level of subsurface scattering in play there. That's what you are seeing in the test your might screen for example the bright almost white part is the light going through from the back and then exaggerated by the colorizing they did in photoshop.

I wouldn't go by the classic skins for MK9 as they made everything Unreal Engine 3 glossy there.

The one yellow part that is glossy like a silken material is his face mask.
 
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Great work Badmouse! Any chance you can post the ending screens (even if they don't have text or images in them yet)?

A little update in my work.

I finish the 2 Ending screen and sent to interloko

I have left :

VS Screen [90%]
Menu [80%]
Bio [0%]

After finish this 3 UI screens i will continue with Goro's Lair.
 
here the endings, I made them in HD size and re size to post here.

MK1ENDING_1_HD.png


MK1ENDING_2_HD.png


* Click to see a bigger pic

Tonight i will finish VS Screen and Bio Screen, Tomorrow The Main Menu.
 
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