Can’t wait for this. May 2021. Finally.
Wow, that has been on my wishlist forever, taunting me without a solid date.
Harold Halibut, adventure game with really nice visual style.
Ultimate Admiral has left early access.
Oh, yeah, that looks lovely!
Additionally, I’ve seen other games try to digitise real stop-motion/claymation media with mixed results (The Dream Machine is one of my favourites) and I think we’re at the stage now where 3D fidelity can effectively fake it, but with proper reactive lighting and physics so everything looks a lot more cohesive and tangible. The result appears to be something like Harold Halibut which is really eye-catching. I also love the almost Wes Anderson-like cutout sets. Even the typeface looks Wes Anderson-like. I’m reminded of Anomalisa too. It’s all good.
I’m not sure I totally understand exactly what kind of game it is, point and click maybe? But it definitely looks up my alley.
I’m more interested in Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts, but Steam reviews on this one are positive so far and I’m tempted. If anyone picks this up I’d love to hear impressions.
I watched a video play of this game by Slitherine by Splattercat and it looks really good. The units have a variety of weapons/attacks,the animations (espcially weapons fire) look really good, the voice acting seems pretty decent also.
Slitherine seems to really know their TB games.
I’ve backed a co-op platformer on Kickstarter called Vokabulantis pretty much purely on the way it looks, again digitising stop-motion - it has just passed its goal, and is scheduled for the end of 2024. Worth keeping an eye out for it, if all goes well.
Oh, I did see this the other day but meant to check it out properly, thanks!
This is a good example of what I mean with the lighting. They have to do all this while animating before its digitised and cut out to make the characters fit into the environments more, whereas a ‘faked’ 3D model achieves this naturally with in-engine lighting. At least with Vokabulantis it seems to be mostly along a 2D plane so the perspective is somewhat limited while playing.
It’s impressive but still seems like a strange mix to me! It looks like they’re using photogrammetry for environmental stuff too. I wonder why they didn’t use that for the player characters? I guess the real models and animation will come into their own in cutscenes.
I can see an aesthetic advantage. I don’t think faking claymation with a 3D model is as easy, specially animation and movement. Doing stop motion, non interpolated, animations on a 3D model is going to require a very specific set of skills, and it’s hard to do. Also while a 3D model can imitate some of the material quality (and would do better integration with the environment under a good lighting system), this approach probably gets a subtler look.
And the big advantage is performance. With mostly static, baked lighting, 3D scenery and characters being 2D, something like this would run in a potato with enough VRAM.
If they are targeting something like Switch, it’s going to be a noticeable performance difference, I think.
Yeah, those are all good points. I adore stop-motion animation so I’m very happy we’re at a stage where there are numerous games achieving that kind of aesthetic.
This game looks to be a cross between Mass Effect, Outer Worlds and Deus Ex, and it’s being made by one guy:
Wow! Wishlisted.
Well, you know how to get my attention at the very least. I’ll put it on my wishlist and see what shakes out in maybe 5 years or so.
Gnomancer has left early access. From the developer of FortressCraft.
Vin take a look at this. Now someone is getting creative… it makes you wonder how many OTHER species in our galaxy created a similar game… if they exists, but i know they do, but you know they are quiet.
That looks amazeballs
I know right? maybe even sorta realistic --if i can say that about a crazy sci fi indie game.