The Art Direction Of MK10???

Fayte

Fayte

New member
One of the things that first swayed me over to Mortal Kombat from Street Fighter in addition to it's violence was how realistic it looked (for a game back then)

As much as I enjoyed MK9 gameplay wise I just feel it looks a little cartoonish for me. Obviously not as cartoonish as Street Fighter or Blazeblue but definitely more cartoonish then the older titles.


Recently It had come to my attention that some people had requested to see the digitized graphics return while I do not exactly agree with using such an outdated method for games graphics I can see why some people desire to see it return the old school Mortal Kombat had a look that the MK series as of late can not match. Again I DO NOT wish to see MK return to digitized graphics but what I would like however is to see a more realistic art direction. Think La Noire or the NBA 2K Series they could even base the 3D graphics off real actors much like sports games are based of real people......
 
MK9 isn't cartoonish, AT ALL.
If anything, it seems more pseudo-realistic and more of a dark direction, IMO.

The cartoonish art direction was more of the Deadly Alliance thru Armageddon games, but not MK9.
MK9 was FAR prom being cartoon-like.

Making human sprites for MK10 would also require a lot more difficult process than in MK1 thru UMK3.
If they used the same technology that they did back then, something tells me that it would look outdated.
 
I don't think cartoonish is the word for MK9's art direction, more like vibrant, with all the colorful, bright stages in the game and whatnot
 
Metal Overlord said:
I don't think cartoonish is the word for MK9's art direction, more like vibrant, with all the colorful, bright stages in the game and whatnot
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Maybe cartoonish isn't the exact words but your right it's too colorful and vibrant for a game that meant to be dark and menacing


Araknyd_Commander said:
Making human sprites for MK10 would also require a lot more difficult process than in MK1 thru UMK3.
If they used the same technology that they did back then, something tells me that it would look outdated.
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I agree which is why I said I was against it =)


Also I forgot to mention it's not just the art direction it is the general game itself like the animation and way the characters react to fatalities it still has an cartoon anime feel to it. I'm not asking for a simulation but I would like to see a bit more realism in the face and bodily reactions. I've played far more disturbingly violent games then this
 
Fayte said:
Also I forgot to mention it's not just the art direction it is the general game itself like the animation and way the characters react to fatalities it still has an cartoon anime feel to it. I'm not asking for a simulation but I would like to see a bit more realism in the face and bodily reactions. I've played far more disturbingly violent games then this
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Gotta remember, though, that the ESRB are a bunch of pansies these days.
Certain fatalities had to be "UNLOCKED" in MK9 because the ESRB probably would have had a shit-fit and labeled MK9 as an AO-Rated game.
There were even a few that probably had to be changed, such as Jax's arm rip / head smash fatality, to get that M rating.
I'm pretty sure that if Jax would have ripped the arms off first, with the opponent screaming before he smashed the head, that the ESRB would be all over that.
MK art style from MK9 would be perfect in MK10, IMO.
 
As Metal said, perhaps "cartoonish" wasn't the right word but I still agree that the art direction could have been much better, especially with the character models, many of which I found quite bland. Although Injustice seems to have improved a bit in this regard, I feel the blandness still persists, more like the character's expressions, facial and body features lack life. Look at the Tekken series for example, the character models from Tekken 5 and above are quite top notch.

Fortunately since MK10 will most likely be developed for the next gen systems, the art direction can be taken to a whole new level, given the potential of the systems. Just check this character rendered for a PS4 demonstration for example


A perfect trade-off between digitized actors and rendering I feel, I really hope NRS taps into its potential and goes in that route.
 
Yeah, everything about the character models is solid besides their facial features, it's like NRS is still stuck in the 3D era when it comes to face models

A more modern, expressive take that feels less one-size-fits-all for the character models would definitely be appreciated
 
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I actually think cartoonish was the right word. MK9 looks like a bunch of He-man figures from the 80's fighting each other. They have super hero proportions anf wear colorful clothing.
They are using Keyframed by hand animations for characters instead of people in motion capture suits. It isn't bad at all just very stylized and I agree it gets away from what Mortal Kombat started out as.

That Quantic Dream demo on PS4 with real time sub surface scattering is a great start. With next gen they could have real actors scanned and mocap their facial expressions and body movements. They can use AMDs TressFX for ultra realistic hair. They can scan in realistic objects and drop them in the background. There really arent any technical excuses anymore to not have everything look hyper realistic. The next gen systems can even handle particle based liquids. So blood can be rendered and splatter in realtime
I hope they choose a more realistic art direction for the next MK.
 
calactyte said:
I actually think cartoonish was the right word. MK9 looks like a bunch of He-man figures from the 80's fighting each other. They have super hero proportions anf wear colorful clothing.
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MK9 is believable though.
These are trained ninjas and warriors in martial arts, who dedicate their lives to fighting and self defense.
Their bodies are in top notch condition due to years of training.

The ONLY character in MK9 that I thought was WAY overdone (proportion-wise) was Liu Kang.

Aside from that, it felt like the same body proportions that we've seen since the MK1 thru UMK3 days.
Shao Kahn was always muscle bound, ever since MKII.
Goro and Kintaro were always huge (muscle-wise).
Sheeva was ÜBER ripped in MK3 and UMK3.
John Turk was also pretty ripped when he did the roles of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Ermac, Reptile, Rain, Smoke and Noob Saibot in UMK3.
So, I don't see what the complaint is.
Mileena, Kitana and Sonya have always been in shape too, since MK1 and MKII.
In fact, Kerri Hoskins, who played Sonya in MK3, was a glamour model.

I don't expect the warriors to be average joes and janes, because these people train their bodies for this type of kombat.
 
Flying Jinko said:
As Metal said, perhaps "cartoonish" wasn't the right word but I still agree that the art direction could have been much better, especially with the character models, many of which I found quite bland. Although Injustice seems to have improved a bit in this regard, I feel the blandness still persists, more like the character's expressions, facial and body features lack life.

Fortunately since MK10 will most likely be developed for the next gen systems, the art direction can be taken to a whole new level, given the potential of the systems. Just check this character rendered for a PS4 demonstration for example


A perfect trade-off between digitized actors and rendering I feel, I really hope NRS taps into its potential and goes in that route.
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calactyte said:
I actually think cartoonish was the right word. MK9 looks like a bunch of He-man figures from the 80's fighting each other. They have super hero proportions anf wear colorful clothing.
They are using Keyframed by hand animations for characters instead of people in motion capture suits. It isn't bad at all just very stylized and I agree it gets away from what Mortal Kombat started out as.

That Quantic Dream demo on PS4 with real time sub surface scattering is a great start. With next gen they could have real actors scanned and mocap their facial expressions and body movements. They can use AMDs TressFX for ultra realistic hair. They can scan in realistic objects and drop them in the background. There really arent any technical excuses anymore to not have everything look hyper realistic. The next gen systems can even handle particle based liquids. So blood can be rendered and splatter in realtime
I hope they choose a more realistic art direction for the next MK.
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That's what I'm talking about!! also another point.

Character fatalities are a little cheesy for me and seem to border on the line of "cheesy" more realistic looking deaths like the 1's found in Manhunt 2


Take a look at how the characters are reacting see how it seems more realistic? Again it's not so much what particular methods are used to kill in manhunt it's the way the victims react that makes it realistic...
 
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Fayte said:
Character fatalities are a little cheesy for me and seem to border on the line of "cheesy" more realistic looking deaths like the 1's found in Manhunt 2
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Character fatalities have been cheesy since MK1.
I don't get this complaint.
When was the last time you saw someone pull another person's spine out with their bare hands, or give them a kiss that sets them on fire.

Cheesy fatalities are part of the charm of MK, and even though they are cheesy, the fatalities in MK9 are pretty damn brutal.
 
Darker, less vibrant colors, more sinister, horror like looks for characters, more mystic and paranormal things. Mercyless killings in fatalities that actually make sense. This is what i want.
Imagine: the camera shows you the floor for a moment, then steel spikes covered in blood come out from it, camera fly alot higher and show you the spiked columns, with dead bodies that never reached the floor and died in horrible pain, the bridge with golden lions on it who saw how so many guys had failed to reach Shang Tsung's Palace and falled into spiked pit, the dark sky with the moon, night clouds and strange shadows, the whole classic Pit stage with your character on it ready to fight this Sub-Zero, camera goes closer, some dust and little stones fall from the bridge into deep abyss, and the announcer finally say "Round 1..."
 
I feel as though the ESRB did have a huge effect on how realistic the violence can be and so MK9 is a natural reaction to that. We have the graphical horse power to show some truly horrifying and realistic imagery, but should we? The Devs on Call of Duty 4 were talking about how they viewed war footage of people being killed various ways so that they could create a more realistic game. From a moral standpoint they felt that graphical realism actually detracted from the fun of playing the game. We are at that level now where the graphics can be so disgustngly real that it will adversly affect game sales in certain regions of the world. I am sure this plays a large part in why the MK games have evolved the way that they have. Also realism is costly. You need a mocap studio and actors. You need body and facial scanners and the personnel who know how to work that equipment.
I respectfully disagree about MK9 ninjas looking realistic. In the game everyone is built like a body builder. You would expect a ninja to have a more athletic build, more ectomorphic if you will. Scorpion shouldn't look like he does steroids.
 
calactyte said:
I feel as though the ESRB did have a huge effect on how realistic the violence can be and so MK9 is a natural reaction to that. We have the graphical horse power to show some truly horrifying and realistic imagery, but should we? The Devs on Call of Duty 4 were talking about how they viewed war footage of people being killed various ways so that they could create a more realistic game. From a moral standpoint they felt that graphical realism actually detracted from the fun of playing the game. We are at that level now where the graphics can be so disgustngly real that it will adversly affect game sales in certain regions of the world. I am sure this plays a large part in why the MK games have evolved the way that they have. Also realism is costly. You need a mocap studio and actors. You need body and facial scanners and the personnel who know how to work that equipment.
I respectfully disagree about MK9 ninjas looking realistic. In the game everyone is built like a body builder. You would expect a ninja to have a more athletic build, more ectomorphic if you will. Scorpion shouldn't look like he does steroids.
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Thank you.
Very good points made, btw.


As far as the ninjas go:
In UMK3 the ninjas also looked TOO muscular, like they were on steroids, because the actor who played them (John Turk) looked like he was on steroids at the time.

In all honesty, there's no way in hell that a normal ninja should look like this either.
VVVVVV
mk3-24--article_image_zpsf2571b74.jpg
 
calactyte said:
I feel as though the ESRB did have a huge effect on how realistic the violence can be and so MK9 is a natural reaction to that. We have the graphical horse power to show some truly horrifying and realistic imagery, but should we? The Devs on Call of Duty 4 were talking about how they viewed war footage of people being killed various ways so that they could create a more realistic game. From a moral standpoint they felt that graphical realism actually detracted from the fun of playing the game. We are at that level now where the graphics can be so disgustngly real that it will adversly affect game sales in certain regions of the world. I am sure this plays a large part in why the MK games have evolved the way that they have. Also realism is costly. You need a mocap studio and actors. You need body and facial scanners and the personnel who know how to work that equipment.
I respectfully disagree about MK9 ninjas looking realistic. In the game everyone is built like a body builder. You would expect a ninja to have a more athletic build, more ectomorphic if you will. Scorpion shouldn't look like he does steroids.
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I admit that is a problem especially with a well established series like Mortal Kombat.... I heard it was literally a fight to keep the game rated Mature and not AO

It really is a shame I do miss the old realistic look of the older titles (again I'm not asking for digitized actors) 3D graphics can look plenty real when done right and yes you're right the Ninjas too WWE looking for my liking...
 
I've never heard them say anything about it being a challenge to keep the game M-rated, only that they would push the limits as far as they could without getting an AO rating
 
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