Mortal Kombat HD Remix with MUGEN

On the other hand they didn't have multiple lighting situations in the original game and simply used the same sprites on every stage with the same lighting on them.. strong highlights and light transmission and all. When I think about multiple lighting situations I think about Donkey Kong Country on the SNES though so something like that is doable if you don't think it's too much work. Or if you don't think the end result would turn out too cheesy. Sometimes people do "improvements" and they end up being too cheesy and overdone.

Of course engines even 2D ones also tend to support palette shifts in the software too... especially in the days when they had more storage space limitations. Not sure if MUGEN supports it but I'd be surprised if they didn't. Lots of engines used to fake lighting via palette shifts we didn't always have real time lighting in games. So the lighting in Donkey Kong Country was fakery with overlays and perhaps some palette shifts.

Speaking of overlays I was wondering if it was possible to do a subtle film grain overlay over the whole thing. This was mentioned a few pages back as running the sprites through after effects and baking it in but I think it'd probably be better to not do that and just have it as a screen filter overlay effect so it'd be uniform. I liked the idea of this being the filmic version of MK1.

BTW, I liked the self shadowing on the previous sprite too.
 
Last edited:
From what I understand, we can have different lighting using palette swaps instead of a character change. Which is basically the same thing as I was saying, because you'd still have a different set of sprites to replace the default version, it's just another form of doing it. I can't see anything wrong with this, because the palette would have self-shadowing already baked in so it'd look accurate. The shadow cast of the palette could be changed to suit the night environment also.

And I can't see us needing anymore than two versions:
Courtyard, Palace Gates, Throne Room - day lighting
Warrior shrine, Pit & Pit Bottom, Goro's lair - night lighting

We could experiment with a filter overlay, but I think it'd look good even without it, which would be my preference so we can keep more of the original tone.

Speaking of overlays I was wondering if it was possible to do a subtle film grain overlay over the whole thing. This was mentioned a few pages back as running the sprites through after effects and baking it in but I think it'd probably be better to not do that and just have it as a screen filter overlay effect so it'd be uniform. I liked the idea of this being the filmic version of MK1.

The idea sounds nice but I wouldn't do it personally. Natural filmic grain is appealing, but fake static grain is not. It'd also change the aesthetic because MK has always had a clean look to it. Even the VHS recordings of the actors evidently had grain and chroma noise cleaned for all the sprites, at least for everyone but Raiden (strange). I know some digitally recorded movies have added grain in post to mimic film, but for 3D models and CG backgrounds it doesn't make sense to me because they can never look 100% natural anyway. If we actually refilmed actors digitally then it'd be something to consider, but even then it'd be a lot of work to get the grain looking authentic as if we used 35mm. Since the characters are 3D models though then I'm against doing it.
 
Last edited:
Thought I'd just make a follow-up post about the grain, since the previous one kind of sounds like "let's not do our best to make it as natural as possible". What I was trying to say is that imitating natural filmic grain for moving sprites is a lot of work, and since they're not digitized actors it probably wouldn't look authentic no matter how hard we tried. However...for avatars and endings pics, I think grain might be a good idea because it could add some realism, and it'd be much easier because it's a static image and must be edited to match the original anyway. I have some experience with this stuff and can try making a nice, fine coat of grain for those. They are meant to be photos afterall. We can test it out at least and see whether there's any improvement.

Also something that no one's touched on...are the bio movies going to be remade? If it'd be too much work, I suppose we can just use the still frame at the end of the sequence.
 
Last edited:
Yeah my idea wouldn't be baked into the characters themselves and would be in theory an animated overlay filter on top of the whole thing. Just like how some people put an overlay image that is a semitransparent color in order to tint the whole thing or like the scan-lines or similar filters emulators use such as NTSC artifacts or other things like that.

Think of the film grain in certain 3D games like left 4 Dead for example or other 3D games. I know those are 3D games and this is not but even in those games the film grain effect wasn't built into the models or textures or anything it was a post process filter that is added afterwards. Post processing in games means after it is rendered but before it's displayed on the screen. Typically on those games it's even an option you can turn on or off in the options and sometimes even determine the strength such as in the sikkmod for Doom 3. Personally speaking it looks good to me even on CGI characters. In fact they do this on totally CGI based movies as well. Some games like Limbo have it as well... which is for all intents and purposes a 2D game.

limbo1.jpg


Technically speaking, If they fully leverage OpenGL rendering on the new MUGEN (like some hint they are going to) they could even put it in as a post processing option for anyone to use. But I imagine if they support animated overlay textures that can tile and overlay the whole screen one could make it that way too or even make it specifically to the size of the target output resolution if they want to make more natural variation to it instead of the same repeated grain pattern across the whole thing.

It wouldn't be any more work than other overlay filters or post processing a game can be put through.What Calactyte (IIRC) talked about previously about running the sprites through after effects and baking it in is more like what you are speaking out against. Seems like you misunderstood me and thought I said "the sprites and background should be edited to add static (not moving) film grain to them individually". This wouldn't require editing of each sprite individually.

In fact baking into the artwork would be the wrong way or a bad way to do it because of like you said the staticness unless you put in a ton of superfluous frames but also you could very easily end up with a lot of inconsistencies especially if one artist does it differently than another.
 
Last edited:
I would make a full screen animation of noise and overlay it on top of everything. Adding it to every sprite would work also, but not really necessary IMO. A simple overlay would do about the same, it's a very subtle effect but it does add a bit of realism to it. Similar to adding dirt on the textures.

Having it as an overlay is good in case you want to get rid of it all at once.
 
Last edited:
@smoke.tetsu Gotcha. Good explanation, the idea of grain as an overlay has me intrigued. It could work...but it's still going to be difficult to make it authentic IMO. Time will need to go into this for it function properly, otherwise it could just look like an annoying coat of noise. Subtlety is the key. If we do pull it off though then I do think it will definitely benefit the image. Just one thing - the in-game UI should be stacked on top of the animated overlay. I wouldn't want grain affecting any UI at all, only the backgrounds and characters.

Like I said I have some experience with this, but if someone else here is already capable of doing it correctly and efficiently, then please speak up. Otherwise I can move onto it later in the project.
 
Yeah what Bleed said is what I'd do. Overlay some animated noise, (easily generated in after effects.) Then apply it with a screen or add filter, should look fantastic. Also agree that shouldn't be overlaying any UI elements..Just the character and backgrounds.
 
OK the clouds were bugging me so I went ahead and made new ones. While it isn't anything really like the original, I think these look cooler.

the_pit_HD_g.jpg



Before anyone says anything about them repeating, the clouds cycle across the screen, you'll always see the same clouds more than once several times like in the arcade, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I don't think we can randomly generate clouds and it would be too resource heavy to have 100s of cloud types even if we could randomize them.

Anyway, I'm on to the severed heads but let me know what you guys think before I move on.
 
I like the clouds on this one better than the previous ones too. In the first WIP the clouds were too hard edged. It looked close to the original, but I find these better because it looks more natural with the softer edges and blending of the shades. And it still captures the feel of the original.
 
What are your ideas on it?

Too make it gory yet realistic at the same time. Very detailed blood, and I am going to try and match the "look" of the blood (the way it flows/sprays out) to match almost identical to that of the blood used in MK1. It wont be 3D blood. It will be created in Photoshop! Yet it will flow nicely with the games 3D graphics.
 
OK the clouds were bugging me so I went ahead and made new ones. While it isn't anything really like the original, I think these look cooler.

the_pit_HD_g.jpg



Before anyone says anything about them repeating, the clouds cycle across the screen, you'll always see the same clouds more than once several times like in the arcade, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I don't think we can randomly generate clouds and it would be too resource heavy to have 100s of cloud types even if we could randomize them.

Anyway, I'm on to the severed heads but let me know what you guys think before I move on.

Great work! This looks so much better! :)

There is some important stuff about the Pit I have to bring up though, which I'll put in a post soon.
 
I noticed some minor graphics problem with The Pit and Warrior Shrine while playing the other day.
When you beat your opponent in the corner of those two stages, it loos like this;

34t7eb4.jpg


34y2tdi.jpg


There, just in case you didn't know about this, stage makers. I guess this is avoidable?

The only stage in MK1 that got this correct is Palace Gates,
I guess that closer statue is a separate layer;

v3q9s5.jpg
 
yeah good call on that. No worries though. I can't speak for SubZera or Badmouse but I keep everything layered. It shouldn't be a problem in our version.

I noticed some minor graphics problem with The Pit and Warrior Shrine while playing the other day.
When you beat your opponent in the corner of those two stages, it loos like this;

34t7eb4.jpg


34y2tdi.jpg


There, just in case you didn't know about this, stage makers. I guess this is avoidable?

The only stage in MK1 that got this correct is Palace Gates,
I guess that closer statue is a separate layer;

v3q9s5.jpg
 
I was just going to ask if the statues on the pit were supposed to look at you, as in the HD remake. Should this be fixed?

11s315g.png


I took some artistic license. I prefer them looking at you. It's a bit more threatening, and a little creepy. Like, perhaps they could come to life.
 
Smoke.Tetsu, you mentioned who the 3 severed heads were, and I'm looking for reference photography so that I can begin modeling their likenesses. Can you list the names again? Was it Forden, Vogel, and Tobias?
 
2nvms2.png

i don't know who's that girl. john tobias is the other head. the guy with the spike is vogel i think and the guy hanging on the pillar is dan forden.
 
Top