Shenmue 3

The core concepts behind a 3D model haven't really changed - it's a set of coordinates. I'm not even sure they'd have to wrestle that much with the file formats - there was an Xbox port of Shenmue II, and that console's almost modern in terms of standards.

I suspect they felt it was better to make things from scratch so they could better tailor it to the hardware. Although if they've built Ryo from the ground up four times because he's not been up to standard... maybe actually using the standard would have been a better choice.

 

There are still a few things to keep in mind. One being that this 'new' old trailer was technically leaked because they didn't want people recording it, and that their original plan was changed at the last minute so to keep Cedric's promises of showing gameplay they showed it. Another is that apparently Suzuki-san apparently felt obligated to create the teaser last August because of the delay & Deep Silver announcement.

I'm still disappointed that they haven't been up front about their goals and schedule, which would somewhat alleviate the need for them to show new media to please people. I want to see what their major goals are, times, and how far they are. Something like "We want to start voice recording by this date. We've finalized x of n planed character models. We have 99% of the environments completed. X number of cutscenes are mocked up and/or finished. Out of n features that we want in the game, y have been implemented or are partially complete." I'd be fine with updates like that just so they can show people they're progressing, without having to show progress if they don't feel it's ready.

Anyway, I understand / agree with your expectations in that regard. As a software engineer, I'm used to dealing with incomplete stuff so I guess I'm more inclined to see things for what it wants to be rather than what it is right now. I haven't regretted anything I've seen so far, unlike Mighty No. 9 which I wish I hadn't backed.

 

Not really necessary to post this here because it was covered pretty well by the media, but Shenmue III has been delayed to 2019.
https://www.deepsilver.com/en/shenmue-iii-release-window/
The wording they chose includes the phrase "best possible timeframe" so some of this could be strategic as well, to avoid some of the other big titles launching this fall or to space it out from the Shenmue 1 & 2 re-releases a bit more.

Voiceover recording for Shenmue III was supposed to start around the end of this month, according to Ryo's English voice actor. The game also received a provisional PEGI 12 rating in Europe last month. Both of these point towards the game framework at least being structurally ready and now they're filling in the world & content, but I suppose that doesn't mean much. I hope they reach the point where they can start talking about it again soon.

 

Hmmmmmm...

Idk place your bets. Will #3 be shit? Delays can be good or bad.

 

Hard to gauge this one in terms of how the game will turn out upon release. Some indicators from the media released signify that it's going to be god-awful whilst others indicate Yu Suzuki still has the magic and will release something beautiful. A delay which means more time in development is a very positive sign however as it vastly increases the chances Shenmue 3 will be good.

I think we might have more of an idea once they show gameplay and release a more comprehensive trailer which should (hopefully) be at E3.

 

Honestly, everything I've seen so far has indicated that Shenmue 3 will be a disappointment. The development seems troubled to me. Hopefully I'm wrong and this delay will serve to polish the game.

 

For something as big as Shenmue, I'm more relieved that the team are taking longer to complete it - it would suck waiting 17-ish years for a rushed mess.

I'd much rather it be a polished mess. :v:

This feels different to when stuff like Mighty No 9 had it's delays, where I really felt like something had gone wrong, especially when those delays were announced so close to the supposed original launch date. (also, the benefit that Shenmue III isn't being ported to 13 consoles/handhelds/systems...)

 

Let me retract my statement. If Sony releases Playstation 5, the Shenmue 3 team is going to need even more time(delays) to port the game. So 2024 or 2025 more likely.

 

I know you speak in jest - but no way does this game miss 2019. They just won't have the financial runway by the end of that year. Deep Silver provided additional development funding but it isn't unlimited. There's finite and limited funding and therefore limited time so the game will be force-released that year if it comes to it whatever state it's in by then. Each year the game is delayed is millions in development costs of which they only had 6.8 million to start with via crowd funding and I can't see Deep Silver having given them anywhere close to that amount - so the game will come out in 2019 as it pretty much has to.

Whether the game will be any good by then is anyone's guess. I'm leaning towards "hopefully but not probably" though then again I do have some faith in Yu Suzuki.

 

He pioneered textured polygons and motion capture into fighting games and did it again with a lot of Shenmue's engine, but it's hard to see what he's bringing new to the table here, even with the delay.

 

Unfortunately I do expect it to go that way. I'll be genuinely surprised if the game comes out in 2019 or 2020.
And people are going to be disappointed, with the game being 6/10.
I wont go into much detail(and I probably cant explain it well anyway) but there are a lot of red flags with the development of this project. The game doubling its development time from 2 years to 4 is just one of the symptoms.

 

Not surprised by the delay. Gives me more time to play the first two... if I can get off my ass and get back to the first one.

 

I'm surprised that there's a lot more negativity here than I've seen elsewhere. It seemed like most people on Resetera were in favor of the delay.

Shenhua's face has greatly improved since the August trailer. Ryo on the other hand, hasn't changed as much since January. It looks to me like they're sticking with the stylized characters over realism, but I don't really care. The 2015 models were garbage, these aren't perfect matches for the old ones but I think they at least look nice.

My expectations for this are still in line with the previous games. I think some people are over-remembering how good the previous ones were. I mean, you shouldn't be, they're famous for the terrible voice acting. I found Shenmue 1 to be rather boring at times, but the experience and attention to detail were what made me really enjoy them. Shenmue 2, it was the environments and living world as well - I don't enjoy fighting games. The pace and action definitely improved though, and I loved the yellow head building at the end of Disc 3. The environment and level of detail stuff seems to be shaping up fine from everything I've seen so far, I don't know how they could mess that up. From a gameplay standpoint, it could be mediocre. But I'll wait to pass judgement until we actually see that. The game world meets my expectations thus far.

 

Looks the same to me.

 

Here you go, then:

 

That's the August 2017 version of the Ryo character model though, that screenshot was released during Gamescom 2017. They've made more changes since then, with last week's video being the same version as the screenshots released in February. Yet in the August 2017 trailer's model it looked worse than the screenshot released less than a week later, despite appearing to be the same model, so it just goes to show that some of the accuracy comes down to the facial animation.

They've still been making big changes (Ex: Shenhua) over the last 6 months, so I wouldn't be surprised if 6 months from now we're arguing about even newer character models. I think I've already said where I stand on this, the point they reached last August (the screenshot above) was good enough for me. It's not a perfect match for the original, but it actually looks like the same character now and the texture quality exceeds the CG version from 15 years ago, so whatever. They promised something better looking than the shit from 2015, and they delivered on it. I'm looking forward to finally seeing gameplay whenever they decide to show that.

 

How many years does it take to make 1 character model?

They have the engine set in stone, they know the rendering and the materials workflow, UE4 is using PBR. They aren't particularly constrained visually by the polycount budget or texture sizes. The only thing that is potentially subject to the programmers and hardware resources is the character hair.

Ask any competent modeller and they'll tell you it takes this or that number of *weeks*(2 without the rig and animations?).
Why do they need to make 10 revisions of the character models? Don't tell me its 'changing the art style' because that sounds like poor excuse.