Guild Wars 2 fans are starting their morning with an interesting update and some entertainment, thanks to ArenaNet's motion capture and cinematic guru Chuck Jackman. Chuck is the mind behind the newest ArenaNet blog entry, all about the recent improvements to Guild Wars 2's cinematic conversations.
The cinematic conversations in Guild Wars 2 are the brief cutscenes that take place between player characters and NPCs at significant points in the story line. Until now, players trying the demo have only seen the placeholder versions of these cinematics, which consisted of a lot of seemingly-random emotes and what Chuck describes as "some very basic lip-synch that resembled more of a duck's bill than a human's mouth."
The team has been hard at work on improvements, though, and today's blog entry unveiled two videos of the new cinematics. It's a fairly lengthy read, with plenty of explanation of everything from emotes to facial animations to voice work. If your eyes glaze over at even a hint of tech-speak, fear not. While we have our doubts about Chuck's claims of blotting out the sun and tearing code from the minds of ancient gods, it's definitely an entertaining and informative read for any gaming fan. Check out the full entry at the ArenaNet blog.
Reader Comments (34)
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 10:37AM nightsong89 said
The cinematics are much improved now. Lip synching is great. It's a little lifelike, it's starting to scare me.
Does look like ArenaNet is into the polishing phase on many aspects now which is a good thing.
Does look like ArenaNet is into the polishing phase on many aspects now which is a good thing.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 10:39AM kurosenshu said
Miles better than it was before imo.
before it was static and the mouth movement didn't quite match what they were saying, Now with the facial and lip expressions it is on a whole new level of immersion and realism not to mention now they will be able to also convey feelings as well.
You hit the jackpot with this one arena net.
before it was static and the mouth movement didn't quite match what they were saying, Now with the facial and lip expressions it is on a whole new level of immersion and realism not to mention now they will be able to also convey feelings as well.
You hit the jackpot with this one arena net.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 10:47AM ArcherAvatar said
That write up by Chuck Jackman was an entertaining and humorous read. Very well done.
The improvements in the cinematic cut scenes are significant and easily noticable to anyone familiar with the earlier placeholder versions. This was another positive step towards all of us eventually getting our hands on this game.
The improvements in the cinematic cut scenes are significant and easily noticable to anyone familiar with the earlier placeholder versions. This was another positive step towards all of us eventually getting our hands on this game.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 10:54AM Channel84 said
Imo they need to zoom in more on the character instead...like maybe top half of their body only.
Ever notice how games like mass effect or dragon age don't show the whole character during conversation?
Ever notice how games like mass effect or dragon age don't show the whole character during conversation?
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 11:39AM (Unverified) said
@Channel84 Well dragon age and mass effect are made by the same people... but you have a point. Close up on the faces wound be great to show off their new technology in play and in general full body view are only good when you want to show some full body animation other than lightly swaying from side to side when you talk. Perhaps they'll include both.
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Posted: Nov 11th 2011 11:20AM GW2waiting said
They are certainly givng SWTOR a run for their money in terms of the quality, immersion and realism in their cutscenes......wow Bioware, where did all the money go??
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 12:36PM (Unverified) said
@GW2waiting
Very nice improvements indeed. I don't really think GW2's new cutscenes approach the level of quality and immersion that TOR will have, but it's really nice to see games moving away from text only.
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Very nice improvements indeed. I don't really think GW2's new cutscenes approach the level of quality and immersion that TOR will have, but it's really nice to see games moving away from text only.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 12:43PM (Unverified) said
@GW2waiting
"......wow Bioware, where did all the money go??"
I don't think EA nor NCSoft has publicly released development costs for either of their games. Who's to say one has spent a vast amount of money over the other?
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"......wow Bioware, where did all the money go??"
I don't think EA nor NCSoft has publicly released development costs for either of their games. Who's to say one has spent a vast amount of money over the other?
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 12:49PM Unshra said
@GW2waiting I would say into adding a more cinematic feel to their conversations instead of pulling the characters out of their environment and using a fixed camera. This has been my biggest complaint with GW2 dialog scenes that and the dead eyes and no emotion which thankfully was addressed though something still looks off about the scene shown as if the characters are waiting for their moment to talk before expressing emotion (they constantly loop through the same facial expression before talking, really shows on the female.)
Anyways it's a good improvement and I look forward to future installments.
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Anyways it's a good improvement and I look forward to future installments.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 1:53PM gamegamerson said
@Lucidus
Yeah, i would have to agree, I am playing SWTOR, and the cutscenes are lacking. They don't even seem to be up to the quality BW had in ME or DA.
I've been a big fan of SWTOR, but after two builds in beta, even i will admit, if GW2 was sub based, SWTOR would lose me. They still might anyhow, as the game just plays like WoW in space, with a few minor twists, and is still missing much of the modern MMO polish.
Looking forward to GW2 either way.
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Yeah, i would have to agree, I am playing SWTOR, and the cutscenes are lacking. They don't even seem to be up to the quality BW had in ME or DA.
I've been a big fan of SWTOR, but after two builds in beta, even i will admit, if GW2 was sub based, SWTOR would lose me. They still might anyhow, as the game just plays like WoW in space, with a few minor twists, and is still missing much of the modern MMO polish.
Looking forward to GW2 either way.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 3:11PM (Unverified) said
@Lucidus
You think two people standing on either side of a painted cutscene is better than TOR, and you are calling TOR "linear?" I'm not knocking GW2, I plan to play it, but I can't see how you would think it's "superior."
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You think two people standing on either side of a painted cutscene is better than TOR, and you are calling TOR "linear?" I'm not knocking GW2, I plan to play it, but I can't see how you would think it's "superior."
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 3:21PM (Unverified) said
@gamegamerson
"I've been a big fan of SWTOR, but after two builds in beta, even i will admit, if GW2 was sub based, SWTOR would lose me."
By your own logic being a "big fan" prior to a beta is no guarantee you would sub to that game.
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"I've been a big fan of SWTOR, but after two builds in beta, even i will admit, if GW2 was sub based, SWTOR would lose me."
By your own logic being a "big fan" prior to a beta is no guarantee you would sub to that game.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 3:44PM Lucidus said
@(Unverified) The ANIMATION is superior. In SWTOR they do make use of camera angles, but they are very generic and there is little to no blocking or action -- and what action there is, is from their generic ME/DA action library. Consequently, their cutscenes are very static and the pacing is terrible throughout.
While I'm not a big fan of the more abstract view in GW2, it gets the job done, is more "believable" and entertaining.
(Also, since GW2 has facial deformation, you'll get huge variety of NPCs to look at instead of constantly encountering Fat Male Body, Face 4, Hair 1 all the time)
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While I'm not a big fan of the more abstract view in GW2, it gets the job done, is more "believable" and entertaining.
(Also, since GW2 has facial deformation, you'll get huge variety of NPCs to look at instead of constantly encountering Fat Male Body, Face 4, Hair 1 all the time)
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 4:42PM (Unverified) said
@Lucidus
I just watched the Esseles trailer again because it had a couple of long cutscenes. I'll agree with you there about the facial animations being better in GW2. I still prefer the full character animations and background immersiveness in TOR over the static models in GW2, but that's personal opinion. Anyways, both games are steps in the right direction - anything to get away from text walls ala WoW and Rift.
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I just watched the Esseles trailer again because it had a couple of long cutscenes. I'll agree with you there about the facial animations being better in GW2. I still prefer the full character animations and background immersiveness in TOR over the static models in GW2, but that's personal opinion. Anyways, both games are steps in the right direction - anything to get away from text walls ala WoW and Rift.
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 11:48AM Protheus said
This game will compete heavily with SWTOR... so far I am choosing for GW2 :-)
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 12:52PM Unshra said
@Protheus Still picking both on my end, two completely different games with two completely different experiences and as only one has a month subscription it works out perfectly (and seeing I normally sub to two games the other sub will most likely go to TSW.) ^_^
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Posted: Nov 11th 2011 1:57PM gamegamerson said
@Unshra
It's not really your money that these two will be competing for, but your time, which is finite. Something about paying for a sub to a game I may not be playing because I'm engrossed in another game doesn't sit well with me. But I guess you just cancel your sub until you are ready to play...
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It's not really your money that these two will be competing for, but your time, which is finite. Something about paying for a sub to a game I may not be playing because I'm engrossed in another game doesn't sit well with me. But I guess you just cancel your sub until you are ready to play...
Posted: Nov 11th 2011 11:49AM Dumac said
I don't like cinematic conversations. They remind me of those commercials for fabric softeners where a person smells a shirt and starts hallucinating about flowers and meadows.









