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...since they already have to redo the cutscenes anyway,
Says who?
they could, but the question is whether it's worth the hassle, they don't have infinite manpower and time.
Exactly. Sure, some of the simpler cutscenes could be redone relatively easily, but for the intro cutscene you'd need 3D models of the Von Braun and Rickenbacker, and for the ending cutscene you'd have to reproduce that entire lip-synced SHODAN conversation. Those cutscenes would only be practical for them to redo if they had those original assets.Since they haven't released, for example, any Irrational working texture assets, it seems unlikely they have any of the other development assets either. Now, Ryan Lesser did the SHODAN animation, but lord only knows if he kept backups of a project from almost 25 years ago, or if they'd even still be readable.
It is common sense. Nightdive is a professional team of developers, not an amateur modding group who do this for fun. Existing cutscenes might fit a mod we release here, but it is not fit for an official release. Especially considering they are replacing all NPC models and it would be jarring to see those old cutscenes with entirely different models.It would be.You are vastly overestimating what it would take to recreate those cutscenes, considering how simple and basic every single one of them are. You could create a much better cutscene in Source Filmmaker. You can basically recreate intro scenes shot by shot.Replacing/reproducing that entire lip-synced SHODAN conversation would be trivial considering Shodan in that entire scene is obviously just an animated texture. There are plenty of free software that can lip-sync it to any audio and it will look better than it ever did.
Reading the discussion here made me realize that Muzman's Cutscene Rebirth was 12 years ago! We are getting old.
I mostly agree as there is nothing too complex in the cut scenes and there are no special animations used, so remaking them in Source Filmmaker would not be that difficult. Also, you are right about Shodan in the ending cut scene, it is just a flat texture with some effects on it, I wouldn't exactly call it trivial but it can be done. Having said that, do we even have every map that was used in the cut scenes? There is a corridor used in the first cut scene for example, I don't recall seeing it in any part of the game. That for example would need to be recreated. Also, not every model that was used in the cut scenes might be available. For example, I remember seeing the one of the ship models floating somewhere around here, but I don't think other ship models that was used in the cut scene exists anymore. So those too would need to be remade. So I don't think it would be as easy as you say. Still, at least not impossible.One benefit I see in remaking the cut scenes in Source Filmmaker would be its abundance of animations. You can make Googles press a button in the ending scene instead of just standing in front of screen. You can make it more cinematic. It would be cool.
also remember, they had the same opportunity when working on Blood, and they left it alone (and Blood cutscenes really could use a redo, they are horrifying, and not in a good manner).
again, it's not a matter of whether it can be done - most setups still exist in the maps, and those that don't can be recreated. the real question is whether NDS can afford to spend time and manpower on non-critical tasks - remember, they have the monumental endeavor of making the entire current NewDark ecosystem work under KEX at their hand, probably only having access to the original source code leak. not fun, I'd imagine. plus they want to add working MP, that will probably have to be created almost from scratch, steam integration, yadda yadda.
redone cutscenes sound like a very low priority deal compared to all that. also remember, they had the same opportunity when working on Blood, and they left it alone (and Blood cutscenes really could use a redo, they are horrifying, and not in a good manner).
But... but... they already had to redo the Blood cutscenes anyway!
yes.
anyway, I suppose at this point maybe wait for eldrone to possibly confirm whether there is work being done on the cutscenes. attempting to persuade everybody that you're right will not get you any answer.
I must disagree about the shodan animation being just a static texture with mouth and eyebrows stretching. There are bunch of wires on the backround snaking up and down. They can be made from scratch and put on the background layer after masking out the foreground, but the original assets would be great to have for this.And the ending shodan has her left half unique -- not just a mirrored right half. The hi-res rended that Ryan uploaded in the past century doesn't have the left half long enough.There are two pics taken from gog though, which have something unavailable before. But in low resolution and cut pretty heavily.
You are sorely mistaken. Did you even watch the cutscene before writing this? Wires do not shake at all. There is a general distortion effect applied on it and there is also a pulsing green light along the green lines, but that's about it.
Shodan's face on the cutscene is pretty much symmetrical.
Did you? The snaking wires are cleary visible in the background.
Valet2 was not talking about the face but about how much stuff there is to see to the left and right of her. His first image shows that.
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