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"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 (:)

Which is why i posed the question :)

Posh Kid wrote:
> Dringo wrote:
> What about JSR???????????????
>
> According to Rasta it's s***e!


I am not sure but I think he meant that JSR Future is not very good and not the first one.

(:)

Dringo wrote:
> What about JSR???????????????

According to Rasta it's s***e!

I think it's cool though!

:-)

What about JSR???????????????

===SONICRAV---> wrote:>
> I will kill you when i return from holiday......

Heheh.

I hasten to add to the end of my previous statement... "In my opinion."

:-)

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> My response to this is here:
>
> http://ukchatforums.reserve.co.uk
> /display_messages.php?threadid=48282&forumid=416
>
> (Remove space)
>
> Sorry, but Sir Auron beat you to it! :-)


Pfff... I was already writing it!

(:)

Cel shading is perhaps the first step to games standing on their own two feet, rather than constantly trying to mimic reality to the nth degree. Perhaps it will usher in an era where the vibe of a game is more important than just how realistic it looks.

I mean, does a Monopoly board bear any resemblance to central London?

RastaBillySkank wrote:
> Sorry, but JSRF is s***e!



I will kill you when i return from holiday......

My response to this is here:

http://ukchatforums.reserve.co.uk /display_messages.php?threadid=48282&forumid=416

(Remove space)

Sorry, but Sir Auron beat you to it! :-)

Sorry, but JSRF is s***e!