Cell Shading : Amiga's next holy grail?

[KingTutt]

ign.com[/url] are in the process of running a poll for the most eagerly anticipated titles, across all platforms for 2003/4.

Apparently Legend of Zelda beat Doom III by more than 15 places to reach number one. As everyone knows, Doom III has been touted as the be all and end all of 3d gaming. It is revered to be the standard setter for years to come. But how come a Nintendo title based on heavy cell shading technology makes the cut and by such a large margin?

Who knows? but it gave me an excellent idea. Would cell shading 2.5D games give the Amiga a distinct feel. Bringing back the Zool series or Turrican series under cell shading would be fun and different. Cell shading if done right.. can yield amazing results. As seen with the latest Zelda installment. And being not as demanding graphically, cell shading may be the holy grail for Amiga, to set it apart from run of the mill PC 3d titles.

If amiga were to whole heartedly embrace cell shading, it could capitalise on the fact that very few cell shaded games have been made successes. Cell shaded games would work superbly for restoring old classics to their former glory, without the compromises in gameplay 3D games bring. As many are aware, Amiga games have an incredible gap to fill technologically. 10 years to be exact. Cell shading is a good stopgap for games that would be almost unrecognizable if done in 3D from the word go.

Some games I believe would benefit from the Cell shading treatment are:
New Zealand Story
Lemmings (ala 2.5D side view-esque style)
Rainbow Islands
International Karate +
James Pond series
PP Hammer
RickDangerous (and mainly other cartoonishly drawn Amiga titles)

I would for one love to see a fully cell shaded Superfrog or Marble madness too. For those of you who haven't yet seen Nintendo's latest Zelda masterpeice. Click here[/url]. Some have attested to Zelda being akin to a big budget Disney film, with all the bells and whistles.

I'm not sure how much more difficult cell shading is to code than 3D, but given cell shading doesn't have nearly as much frantic development as OpenGL or Direct3D, its safe to assume, that games written today in high res cell shading will still look very aesthetically appealing 10 years from now, as opposed to a horribly aged OpenGL title. Not to mention the lower specs required to run a cell shaded title without the constant frame drops synonymous with 3D pc gaming.

Looking into my crystal ball, It wouldn't be too far fetched to assume a strong movement towards Amiga gaming on the premise of very outstandingly made, nostalgia inspired cell_shaded_titles(which would Amiga exclusives). This would also bring more game developers, wanting to try their hand at making a successful cell shaded game. But without the risks of making a big budget console release. Amiga could in the first short years, become a sort of testing the waters platform, which would aid it in the long run as it attracts more projects while establishing itself more and more.

Not everything has to center around 3D you know, Amiga can again lead gaming into a new direction. And focus on gameplay over graphics, not that gfx on cell shading are a pushover, far from that in fact. It just seems to me that gameplay was much more important in the 80s, 90s as it is now. Cell shading being an almost perfected art doesn't need improving, therefore gameplay can take precedence again! Allowing developers to focus on the game and lessen the distraction of bleedin edge 3D.

So who's with me for a Cell shaded Space Ace!!

[Hammer]

In terms technical excellence, DOOM III would be the cutting edge (just like DOOM 1 or Quake 1 during their introduction). As for story plot…........

DOOM III engine would form the basis for other games i.e. the games that has some story plots and game play.  

[Hammer]

Amiga games have an incredible gap to fill technologically. 10 years to be exact. Cell shading is a good stopgap for games that would be almost unrecognizable if done in 3D from the word go.

Note that a 600Mhz PPC G3 and ATI Radeon 9100 (or even SIS Xabre) should have enough 3D power to blow away the Nintendo’s Game Cube out of the water.

I wonder IF there would be a N-Box (Nintendo Game Cube sandbox) for the modern PPC G3/G4 Amiga machines. (Other issues aside).

[odin]

What's this cell shading business then? I've never heard of it  yet.

[meerschaum]

cell shadeing is basically making 3D objects look like 2D Cell animation stuff...like high quality 2D... alot of newer games for the GameCube/Xbox are mixing reguler OpenGL textured stuff with cell shaded stuff and its an awesome effect

[odin]

Got a link explaining it a bit more in-depth?

[Hammer]

meerschaum wrote:
cell shadeing is basically making 3D objects look like 2D Cell animation stuff...like high quality 2D... alot of newer games for the GameCube/Xbox are mixing reguler OpenGL textured stuff with cell shaded stuff and its an awesome effect

It’s probably targets people who like anime/magna movies. Anime/magna titles can range from G(kids) to R(adults, 18+) rated.

[KingTutt]

odin wrote:
Got a link explaining it a bit more in-depth?

Odin, think of Dragons Lair and Space Ace on the Amiga. But on a whole new level as far as interactivity goes.

And yes, cell shading uses 3D models but renders(shades) the surfaces using high res sprites, making the whole experience reminiscent of a well animated Disney film.

@Hammer.
True, I agree that A1 coupled with an ATi 8500 or above will eat up a gamecube, but I was thinking more or less in terms of the financial & technical viability of cell shading vs 3d games.

Everyone knows that to rival Doom 3, you will require huge levels of investment. But a cell shaded game, seems more attainable, due to its lower graphical requirements. I say lower not by quality but by the means of the cell shading art, which doesn't require bleedin edge technology to run.

Like I stated already, I can see many old classics getting a new lease on life with a cell shaded remasters.

Cell shading combines the best elements of 3D gaming physics, without the enormous strains of massive 3D texture maps ie Doom III. Instead it replaces it with aesthetically pleasing cartoon rendered high res sprites. To give the overall impression of a real time animated cartoon.

I'm pretty sure this technology is a little more flexible and workable, than reinventing the wheel with every 3D engine revision that games like Half-Life 2 generate.

In a reduced market size which is Amiga, I think this tech offers the best opportunity in providing low budget titles that are still new, original and ultimately competitive with todays games. It also provides a vehicle, which has the potential to allow a new generation of creative minds to embrace the Amiga platform once again.

[CodeSmith]

I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but cel shaded graphics (as done by eg zelda) only *look* primitive.  There's still a ton of fast math going on in the background, and you pretty much need a 3d accelerator card to get smooth framerates.  The technique itself is not too complex (a good introduction is here), but it basically boils down to doing all the usual 3D stuff you'd find in Quake2, but using custom textures and tweaking the rendering settings to get the effect.
Not only games use cel-shading, I've seen it used in the cartoons Futurama and Lost Universe (you can tell because the frame rate goes way up :-D )

[KingTutt]

Thanks for the link CodeSmith. Some real good reading there.

I know that alot of mathematical computations take place with cell shading, and yes it is not any less sophisticated than normal 3D. But my arguement, is that you could essentially use the same engine, many times over and just add newer flashier anime textures for different games. On the other hand, this method would work against a 3D rendered title. How many times can you use the Quake3 engine before it starts to show its age.

I think cell shading hides its age really well. And being less intensive on a gfx standpoint, it makes for really appealing development. Especially on a platform like Amiga, which is starved on good h/w and good cash flow.

My real focus behind all this, was that a game like Zelda has managed to stir more interest than Doom3. This poll was done by over 600,000 ign registered members. So its quite a bold statement. In light of this, it really raises the question of gfx over gameplay. I am a firm believer that Amiga can still strive in the games market, if it uses every possible device to its advantage. Cell shading is just one of those devices.

:: EDIT :: Another Doom3 vs Zelda link[/url]

[Siggy]

Zelda beating Doom3 - really I'm not all that suprised - although I don't think that cell-shading was the be-all deciding factor in this coming about.

The Zelda games I have played in the past have always managed to hold my interest longer than the Wolfenstein/Doom/Quake games have -- they are just more involving. And by the looks of it, other people are starting to think the same way.

Theres only so much running around, getting the ammo, frag the other guy, you can take -- and there really isn't that much more to the games from Wolf to Quake.  Duke Nukem held me for a bit longer, with his Bruce Campbell quotes and in-jokes.  Unreal Tournament didn't even bother with a story.
Network play is fun -- but even with that it wasn't long till we shuffled away. Total Annihilation became the longest running game of choice at some of the lan parties my buddies had (before my job ate my life).

I think gameplay has got to be key if you want to have killer games.  A crappy game on my C64 - H.E.R.O by Activision had very little graphically to recomend it, but still had me scrambling for an emulator nearly 20 years later. Now THATS a lasting game!

Siggy.

[yssing]

While it might be technical to do. I think it looks really great.

This could also work really well in Click and Point adventures.. Just think of games like "Who framed Roger Rabbit"..

This is really some thing the amiga gaming "industry" should use.. Looks great.

[KingTutt]

Finally, someone who agrees with me.

[samdu]

Cel Shading is a fad. Trust me. By the time our new machines are in enough people's hands to matter, the fad will have passed. Not that it isn't kind of cool. For those looking for more examples of recent cell shaded games, check these shots of Auto Modellista for the PS2 out:

[yssing]

Way to cool :-)
Looks great...