Viewing Thread:
"Cel shading- Brill or Bland?"

Flicking through a Gamecube magazine a few months ago I saw a whole new type of game that I (being out of the games arena for a while) had never seen. It is ‘Cel damage’ and it uses a very different concept of graphics, making it seem cartoony and unique to look at but at the same time being simple. Of course I had seen some Cel work on the dreamcast with wacky races, which had some, and games like Jet Set Radio Future or Herdy Gerdy as well. But this concept makes games look very different and it got me thinking, is this the future of gaming, or is it just because the designers are getting lazy with this easy way of making graphics. But I have seen some techniques of making cel graphics and it may look simple but it isn’t that straightforward to do as several techniques go into getting the way it looks when it is finished.
The definition of cel shading “is the technique of making 3D models and scenes so that they look "hand drawn" like a Disney movie or "The Simpsons." Maxoncomputers.com
But will we see a lot more of this new vision or not?

These simple graphics make games different and if you are getting bored with your collection, then why not get something that looks and maybe even plays differently to anything else out.
I believe that some of the smaller developers are making the odd game in this format to be different and get more attention from the customer, and being different always attracts notice, if not interest. The game I first saw in full cel form was Cel Damage and personally after seeing it played, I thought it look like a lot of fun, but then I saw some reviews who hated the game and the idea, which put me off the concept. But being a long time Zelda fan, I have to say it makes me twice as excited to play a whole new type of Zelda game (through anticipation and not knowing what we will find), but I know I can still expect first-rate storylines and thrilling action and smooth gameplay as the designers wouldn’t alter that. Also, I ask the people who are especially put off by the game because of the cel shading, would have really wanted it to be in it’s normal form, where as now we will see the game in different light. Ok, so I wouldn’t want to see all games like this, but at least it adds new variety and gives something fresh if only for a while. But I have to say that it does not appeal to all gamers (including me) playing in a cartoon the whole time as the realism is gone and everyone likes stunning landscaped and detail too and I think that the novelty of these plainer graphics could become old very soon.

There are cell games blooming across all platforms at the moment from Zelda and Cel Damage on the Gamecube and Xbox to Auto Modelista and even Dark Chronicle, the sequel of Dark Cloud (which also has some cel shading) on the Ps2.
Maybe some of these games do look like they are underachieving, but we have to remain seated until the final results of these games and judge whether if it is a good long term investment for the games of the future or whether we should go back to highly detailed graphics which are gorgeous to look at. But the one game that is using cel graphics, which everyone is talking about, will surely be the maker or breaker of the new design and I’ll give you three guesses to what that is.

As for the rest of the public’s reactions to it, I am not sure if you will either love it or hate it but it is certain that the two different looks are like chalk and cheese.

Only Time will tell...

Cheers


Time_Warp (:)

JSRF wouldn't be the same without cel shaded graphics, the technique is perfect for that game series. And RBS, for saying JSR is s***e I will, erm...shake my fist!

Cel shading looks great in motion. It's not the furure of graphics but a very nice style that some games benifit from.

i'm not overly keen on celshading, to me it seems like a slight copout on adding decent textures; but while i do feel like this alot of the time, i also appreciate the fact that it can do a lot for a game.

Zelda looks amazing, and you only need to see the E3 footage to know how good it WILL be. Metal Gear-type stealthiness, facial animations, hiding in barrels, amazing special effects.... the list goes on.

But, when i compare Zelda to StarFox Adventures, I can't help but think that Rare's game looks miles better. The Effects are better, The Textures, although unrivaled by Zelda's, are phenomenal in their own right... and the lip-synch is astounding! I'll get Zelda, and probably enjoy every minute of it, but the chances are, I'll enjoy StarFox more... Because it's a prettier game and the gameplay isn't to disimilar to Zelda's anyway.

GAME: Has broken keyboard.

I think that it's not the case of cel-shading being brill or bland it's a case of does it work well with the game it's put to.

In my opionon, I think that it worked well with the cartonny feel of Zeld thi time, but for other games, e.g. Cel Damage and XIII its not really the case. I thinkl with those sortd of games, you need the graphics to complement the style of gameplay.

Good post though Time Warp.

Well Done

I think cell shaded games are awesome, Games such as Jet Set Radio Future shows off what cell shading can do.

Also XIII is a cell shaded first person shooter coming out soon, i wonder how that will work..

I think cell shading is a great idea: in moderation.

For conversions of cartoons and animated films into games I think that its brilliant, it captures the essence and the feel of these programs. Occasionally cell shading could be used in other genres, mainly fantasy, however I believe that gamers prefer realisim.

I'm quite upset about the new Zelda personally, I thought It headed in the right direction on the N64, the realistic graphics producing what are now for me classic dungeons, it captured the feel of the situation.

However cell shading won't. I can't imnagine Link running down dark halls, still a bright green as he went in etc. Cartoony is not good for Zelda, as the Nintys expect progression for the N64. Cell shading may be harder, but I personally think it looks worse.

fitz wrote:
> Re JSRF: I haven't played it, but it looks identical to its
> predecesor, and there aren't that many things they could've added to
> it.

That's not true. Cel shaded graphics can improve and be enhanced just like "normal" graphics. Of course JSRF looks similar to the original Jet Set, but the graphics are definately more detailed with more dynamic effects added.

I think cel-shading has had its day. It was great back in the days when it was a fresh and new idea, I think it was Fear Effect on the PS1, which first used this graphical style, and the first time I saw it, it amazed me. Then more and more games picked up on this technique, the less impressive it became.

That's because there is no real way to improve or tweak cel-shading, so the games which use this graphical style now, look no different to what cel-shaded games looked like a couple of years ago. We've seen all that can be pushed from this type of graphics. As more developers pick up on cel-shading, more games begin to look exactly the same, and the blander cel-shading begins to look.

Cel-shading was, a few years ago, a great and original idea, but now it's more of a gimmick used to make games stand out more. I think it's about time developers abandoned this graphical gimmick and try something new to exploit.

Its turned into a bandwagon really, and often it looks like the artists couldn't really be bothered to go through the whole third dimension bit.

Re JSRF: I haven't played it, but it looks identical to its predecesor, and there aren't that many things they could've added to it.

I think it is the present of graphics as its the most realistic movement graphics out at the moment.

In the right context I really like cel-shading, especially on Jet Set Radio & Jet Set Radio Future where it compliments perfectly the whole "graffiti street art" comic book atmosphere.
But I don't think it's the future of graphics, more just a trend which will pass once the current batch of cel-shaded games are released - i.e. Zelda, XIII, Auto Modellista, etc.