Could be. I remember if you use debug mode to get Knuckles on Sonic's path, he'll appear in the wrong frame. Maybe it's related somehow?
I think they are referring to the A+B input while debug mode is active, that causes the sprite cycle through. Which is a possible reason.
So... Is there any chance of those artworks being given the HD treatment? I heard there's an intelligent software capable of doing a great job at that.
Kind of amazing that some of these assets survived until now. It sucks that these 200p pics are shitty JPG's though.
Seeing the renders in full color like that nearly cements that TT did get that official promotional render from Sega to use in 3D Blast. If only there was a way to find that model
Out of curiosity, did/will these images be posted to the Wiki? If it hasn't been done yet and it's alright to do so, I can find a place for them in the development article.
If someone were capable, maybe even try to HD-fy the images through the proper software or something?
That's called AI upscaling, and the results are only honestly as good as the sources are. Postage stamp resolution and lossy compression artifacts will invariably just make the image look worse afterward. To get good results, you have to have something hi-res and clean enough. And the larger you upscale, the worse it's gonna be no matter the source. You could take a clean photo at like 768p and maybe upscale it 2 or 3 times the size and get something acceptable, but good luck getting anything remotely acceptable looking when your source is 240p.
Wait a sec... @Neowl actually managed to upscale said images, months ago! And they actually look kinda nice. Since they haven't been posted here, I'll do so. Hopefully it won't raise issues... ^^"
I tend to agree with this honestly. If we had official versions of these pieces that were higher resolution we could possibly use them. AI upscaling can make an image look nicer, but it can change details and it's a modification of an original work. I should have the originals uploaded today.
Alright, they're up in their respective development pages under concept art. Not sure if it's the best place, so if anyone has a more elegant placement in mind, by all means.
While the upscales will never be perfect, they're great for spotting little details. I personally think that the top one looks absolutely gorgeous. That model looks so adorable and nice with proper shading.
I’d say that won’t happen, but given the recent luck with the Sonic 1 proto... at this rate, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was found.
I hate Sonic 3's actual 3D models, though Sonic on the Knuckles title looks a bit better than the bobblehead looking Sonic 3 render. One day I'd like to make proper pixel art for the titles to be used in AIR or any hack anyone would like to make. I actually like Sonic 3's sprites the most in the classic games, because they strike a balance of the hand drawn designs and looking three dimensional. It's a much better and more timeless look than the pre-rendered games of the era.
Actually I've always loved the S&K title screen render. Sonic and Knux look in model to me, and the render has the right amount of colors. They're not as dithered, jaggy, or artifact-ridden as many prerendered graphics of that era, allowing them to age better. The S3 title screen, on the other hand, always looked awkward to me (despite supposedly using the same model), especially with the way they rendered his hand. Although seeing the full-color render gave me a new appreciation for it.
