Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Discussions regarding the development of the mod "Grim Fandango Deluxe"

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JohnnyWalker2001
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by JohnnyWalker2001 »

Release date: January 27 (including Windows, OSX and Linux)

Videos!

TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ghlIhHOf4M

http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/12/07/gr ... y-psx-2014

TIM PLAYING IT
http://youtu.be/62Rxtz6kwiU

Wow. The new lighting is incredible. Love it. Even better than I'd hoped. But it is a bit dark in places But maybe that's the video itself, or the "film noir" look being amped up. Eva seems to work in total darkness, and Glottis is mostly shadow when you first meet him. Maybe a style choice. Looks good, generally, though.

The graphical glitches from the original game are still there, to my surprise. Manny's shadow can be seen when he's in the elevator (on the wall). The tie rope disconnects when Manny climbs it. The perspective of the tie rope is still off when looking down from the roof. Manny doesn't have any shadow in the garage, despite the strong light source above the door.

Kinda disappointed that these little irks haven't been fixed as part of the remastering :(
klusark
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by klusark »

They fixed at least one bug. When you exit the DOD via the front door, in the original game the door starts closed, then snaps open, and then plays the closing animation. They fixed that, so they are probably still working on improving things.

I wonder if they're still using the same version of lua. It would be interesting do diff the scripts.
Robot_Maker20
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by Robot_Maker20 »

Regarding updating the character models: you guys do remember that the skeletal characters were always supposed to look like crude, rectangular puppets, right? They're meant to be calacas!
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JohnnyWalker2001
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by JohnnyWalker2001 »

Robot_Maker20 wrote:Regarding updating the character models: you guys do remember that the skeletal characters were always supposed to look like crude, rectangular puppets, right? They're meant to be calacas!
Calacas made from bone?

They're inspired by calacas, but they're actual bone (as referenced many times in the game). Also, what have we done here that makes you think we're making them look less like calacas?
Robot_Maker20
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by Robot_Maker20 »

It's not like anyone is going to complain that Manny's sleeve isn't a rectangle anymore
I guess I'm that guy... :P

Although I should clarify, I specifically meant Calaca marionettes - crude, blocky and squarish, with a boxy, hand-made carnival-float / papier mache toy sort of look. At least, that was always my impression, and I'm sure I remember reading an interview or designer diary or something back in the day that mentioned that that was what they were going for. Hence the really simplistic hands and so on. (I always assumed that was why Monkey Island 4 looked terrible - because they wrote it reusing a 3D engine that was originally designed for crude puppety models, and it really doesn't fit the Monkey Island art style at all!)

I suppose it could be consistent with the original aesthetic intent if just the characters actual bodies (the skeletons, and the demons' skins) stayed blocky and angular but the clothes they wear and other objects were made smoother and more realistic. That would actually correspond nicely with the cutscene where Meche takes her stocking off and it follows the shape of where the skin surface of her leg used to be, even though it's actually just hanging on empty space around the bone (I always thought that was a really clever bit of art design!)
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JohnnyWalker2001
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by JohnnyWalker2001 »

The characters were limited by the technology, not by a desire to stay true to marionettes. You can see this yourself in Peter Chan's wonderful concept artwork. However much you've convinced yourself that the square sleeves are reminiscent of puppets, I think you'd be hard pressed to find one in real life.

And again, I'll ask: What exactly do you think we're doing that makes Manny looks less like a calaca?
Robot_Maker20
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by Robot_Maker20 »

I still think they look like calacas, I was just a bit alarmed at the idea of getting rid of the distinctive boxy shape of the characters, which I'm still fairly sure was intentional - other 3D games from 1998 already had significantly better 3D character models. I think I probably overreacted, though, and I've definitely got the impression I've annoyed you, so I apologise.
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JohnnyWalker2001
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Re: Grim Fandango Remastered being made by Double Fine!

Post by JohnnyWalker2001 »

Robot_Maker20 wrote:I still think they look like calacas, I was just a bit alarmed at the idea of getting rid of the distinctive boxy shape of the characters, which I'm still fairly sure was intentional - other 3D games from 1998 already had significantly better 3D character models. I think I probably overreacted, though, and I've definitely got the impression I've annoyed you, so I apologise.
:) It's OK. Anyways, that said, you're wrong about the models. They were definitely limited by the engine at the time.
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