Sonic Social Media Shenanigans (This totally just happened...)

It's funny to me, every time I've tried to visualize a decent looking Sonic with high res 2D graphics, I always wind up drawing a blank. I think a big part of that is that the art style hinges entirely on clean-cut geometric shapes that are particularly well-suited to tiling. Tiles are anathema to HD 2D- really, the only reason to even go HD to begin with is to break everything off the grid. Games like Rayman Origins and Ori are hyper organic, foregrounds are bashed together with tons of clone stamping and glowing fog to mask the seams. There's no good way to apply that workflow to Sonic without undermining its 80s interior design look. And when you try to translate it straight (as with S2HD), the end result is just gaudy and sterile because you don't have any detail to fill all that empty space with, and trying to add extra detail makes it look worse. I'm not saying a hand painted HD 2D Sonic couldn't look good, but it's ultimately too much trouble for too little gain.

Classic Sonic looks good in 3D, if not better. 3D facilitates that rigid mechanical design while allowing for density of detail when you don't have to micromanage the look of every object in the scene. Classic Sonic is already primed for the 3rd dimension when the look of the original games was directly inspired by CG graphics, by the developers' own admission. Not to mention that they were incorporating prerendered assets as early as Sonic 2. If there's a future for classic Sonic, it ought to be a polygonal one. The franchise desperately needed a refresher, but if we get another retro throwback Sonic after Mania (and if I'm still not the one doing the art for it, goddammit), I don't expect my enthusiasm to last. It's really only time, desperation and vanity that keeps us from comparing Mania unfavorably to S3K, so I hope we don't push our luck like Capcom did.

 

No offence but I don't agree with much of what you said. So many assumptions about everything... I could load this up with examples but this isn't the place.

 

Just for the record, not to derail further but I think we're on the same page here. My only concern is a theoretical Mania 2 having a jump in art style, Classic sonic as a whole doesn't have to be stapled to Mania's art style but at the least I'd love to see the graphical style grow and expand into more than just one game. Using Mario as an example there's nsmb, paper mario and the main games running along side each other, no reason sonic couldn't do that same imo.

 

Find a place, then. Ultimately, I don't think either of us are going to be able to illustrate what we think an HD 2D Sonic could or should look like- all I have to offer is my perspective and experience as an artist. I've thought about it long and hard, but it's not a problem I've been able to solve. Modern 2D games all look like 90s Disney to me. They're too soft, and too grounded in reality when the elevated baseline for detail means you can only stray so far before taxing the audience's suspension of disbelief. I know nobody has the slightest clue of what I'm talking about here, but put it to you this way: Sonic isn't an oil painting, Sonic is graphics for print, industrial design. Sonic is Archigram. Grids are intrinsic to the visual style of these games- the style works on a 320x228px screen, because pixel art constrained to tiles with an indexed palette is inherently mechanical. It works in 3D because everything is vector geometry at its core, so rigid forms are trivial to produce. The brush tool in Photoshop doesn't like drawing straight lines. Start stroking and blending on a 1080p canvas trying to capture the essence of Sonic, and you're guaranteed to fail. And if you succeed, you'll have done it in spite of the tools and at the expense of your time. Any artist will tell you, it's far easier to paint something organic over something artificial.

The S2HD guys had the right idea trying to produce everything as vector art, but the problem is that flat graphics don't actually look any better when you blow them up; you're not going to see the extra detail in the blades of grass or the dirt on the walls. The lines are still straight, the colors are still digital flats and gradients, and vectors are still a pain in the ass to work with. This romanticism for 2D is a dead end for Sonic when the workflow for producing high res 2D graphics efficiently is antithetical to the style of the games, and anything else is subject to diminishing returns. Just do it in 3D- Colors and Generations are proof enough that classic Sonic's appeal is completely independent of the rendering method.

 

I can't convey an idea which meets your individual desires, which you've already expressed has yet to materialize. On some things we can agree: Sonic is graphic, archigram, industrial design, geometric, not 90s Disney/Pixar. But I don't agree on other fronts... For example, it is acceptable for Sonic to inhabit a world which is implausible. 3D forms can also be rendered with filters to achieve a "hand drawn" look. I don't think Sonic should maintain a rigid grid system, but that it should retain the geometric modular aesthetic... I've always thought of Sonic's world as existing on a different scale of reality. Us humans exist on the most complex level of reality, but when you ascend or descend by several orders of scale you find that the world consists of more geometric and fractal like forms, almost synthetic. The nano scale may assist in imagining such a world that Sonic inhabits. Similarly, there is a digital aspect to Sonic's world, and to utilize a simulation theory perspective we can manifest physics (and matter) by unique variables. Anyway what I'm saying is... start with a conceptualization of how the traditional Classic Sonic aesthetic and tile-set type of world could exist, then flesh that out. Also, HD doesn't have to be overly detailed, in fact it should not be in this instance because it becomes too distracting and difficult to discern foreground and background layers. I would advocate for 3D models, rendered in a similar manner as the Charlie Brown movie, it's both 3D and FLAT at the same time (BUT Charlie Brown's world mimics ours, that is NOT what I'm advocating, just the rendering technique exclusively). I think that would modernize 2D Classic Sonic perfectly!

Here is a link to how this render style is achieved: https://www.fxguide.com/featured/the-tech-of-the-art-of-the-peanuts-movie/

 

This topic just got a lot more interesting.

 

+ - We should have a Newspaper Zone where Sonic jumps from line to line having to avoid the readers coffee stains. At the end of the level we'd be facing off against the Egg Prophet, a letter swapping machine which lets images of thunder, rain and lightning, danger, waters rising come to life.  

I'm of the mindset that aesthetics come from content. Sonic 4 wasn't good, Generations' Classic Sonic had flaws and Lost World didn't play like the classics at all. And what I'm trying to say is: I truly hope Mania's good reception will fuel Sega's inspiration to create more original Sonic games.

 

https://xcancel.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/812731416479989760 (I can't figure out how to embed Tweets...)

I have a question about these little comics the Sonic social media has been posting. Are these character drawings original or are they recolored and pasted onto new backgrounds?

 

I'm sure the art is infact new, I recall Aaron confirming it but getting the source for it is too much effort for me as of now.

 

https://xcancel.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/813078205531824128

Even more new art, this time modern.

I hate to be that guy, but with things like Tails' feather upgrade from SA1 and a Chao decorating a tree in this image, it's gonna be really mean of them when it turns out they're not bringing back Chao Gardens or Adventure-style gameplay. :v:

 

They're just fun references, not hints or clues. The other baubles are all spheres from the the S3K Special Stages, and Chips necklace/Sonic's bracelet.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKyGOYdoxnQ

The last video of the year from the official Sonic YouTube channel, here's to 2017 being a real blast!

 

I'm loving the new in-house artwork for these recent pictures (if they are actually new, that is). I wonder if any key artist is responsible now for producing "New 1994 design official art" at SEGA, or whether there's just a team of wizards keeping crazy on-model with the old artstyle.

In the same vein, does Uekawa still do new modern 2D artwork? I never get tired of seeing the traditional art over the 3D renders.

 

Have you seen Sonic Channel wallpaper section ? They release a new art each month.

 

Oh man. I didn't even think to visit SonicChannel since forever. Thanks for reminding me. I've got a lot of great art to catch up on! :v:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LP4iEnN71w

ohno.jpg

 

I don't know what this was, but it's gone already.

 

The only notable thing about that video was this image



It's the classic Don't Believe His Lies image of Webber with a bit of Big at the behind but the interesting thing is the numbers 3 and 21 at the bottom corners of that image.

The plot thickens.