KoW - D.R.E.A.M.

[King of Worms]

Double post :X

[King of Worms]

Yes, that Queen of Sentinel sprite is way older than generative AI, it is human made. It has also changed the color scheme by me and the sprite was remade. And Ive changed this specific one because the original sprite is a white skinned lady which looked really wrong to me, given the region. Also, the art style of the original did not look too good to me. I might remake this sprite in a future.

If some sprites look bad, its because the source was bad as hell Even the original game has conflicting styles, as the animated sprites in many cases look like they were made from 3d models. And I believe some hand painted sprites also were either made by different authors or with different attention to detail.

If you can post here the sprites you really dont like, I can take a look and maybe improve them laters, if I find it possible or to my liking.

[MrFlibble]

Even the original game has conflicting styles, as the animated sprites in many cases look like they were made from 3d models. And I believe some hand painted sprites also were either made by different authors or with different attention to detail.

If I remember correctly, Mark Jones mentioned that he was first tasked with making character flats in the style similar to that from Arena. Some are in fact slightly modified characters from that game, and others drawn in a similar style. Looking at the credits for both games, it doesn't seem that actual artists from Arena were involved, but don't quote me on that.

Later on Mark took a liberty of creating pre-rendered sprites for the human enemies and monsters, which Julian and Todd approved of, and some of the NPCs, especially the animated ones, were also pre-rendered as well. I'm not sure who drew the larger NPC flats like the royalty, the bearded innkeep guy, etc. You can see a lot of concept art in the Imperial Library archives that very closely matches some of the in-game characters, both pre-rendered and hand-drawn. This might be an indication that the corresponding sprites were created by separate artists who used whatever techniques they saw fit over the same period of time.

We know from existing pre-release screenshots that walking commoners outdoors were originally hand-drawn, and there's one really badly preserved shot from a magazine scan that shows an Orc with a scimitar in a dungeon, presumably a fully mobile enemy, drawn in a style that might be similar to Gortwog from the final game.

[King of Worms]

Thanks a lot for feedback and info. This confirms the feeling I had from working on the NPC sprites for so long - that they are made in basically 3 various styles. I think if I ever get myself to finish the AI remaster of them, it could unify them, but I know it will not be for everyone... and it also is so much work, as you need to somehow recreate all the portraits as well. And than there are the commoners....

The concept art is superb, a bit sad I did not have it when I worked on some of those NPCs, but still, I can use it to add some details which are missing, somewhere down the line, if I find myself working on this project again, which will possibly happen.

[MrFlibble]

I think if I ever get myself to finish the AI remaster of them, it could unify them, but I know it will not be for everyone... and it also is so much work, as you need to somehow recreate all the portraits as well. And than there are the commoners....

I'm still hoping that maybe an artist could recreate everything in a single style, like what sebabdukeboss20 did with some of the Daggerfall characters for the Demon Throne Duke Nukem 3 TC. These were made as 3D models with some skillful touching-upafterwards.

Also a bit off-topic, if Daggerfall were to be truly remade -- or perhaps someone would be making an inspired game based on DFU or whatever -- it would not hurt if the NPC flats actually had all rotations, movement and attack animations, if only for quests where you need to fight a person that suddenly transforms from a hand-drawn flat into a fully animated enemy that looks nothing like the flat. I know it's daydreaming at this point, but not theoretically impossible.

[King of Worms]

I think if I ever get myself to finish the AI remaster of them, it could unify them, but I know it will not be for everyone... and it also is so much work, as you need to somehow recreate all the portraits as well. And than there are the commoners....

I'm still hoping that maybe an artist could recreate everything in a single style, like what sebabdukeboss20 did with some of the Daggerfall characters for the Demon Throne Duke Nukem 3 TC. These were made as 3D models with some skillful touching-upafterwards.

Also a bit off-topic, if Daggerfall were to be truly remade -- or perhaps someone would be making an inspired game based on DFU or whatever -- it would not hurt if the NPC flats actually had all rotations, movement and attack animations, if only for quests where you need to fight a person that suddenly transforms from a hand-drawn flat into a fully animated enemy that looks nothing like the flat. I know it's daydreaming at this point, but not theoretically impossible.

Honestly, nothing is theoretically impossible. But in this time and age, nobody will redraw all the NPC sprites, because thats a work which costs like 10 000 USD (500 images x 20 usd). And thats just for the NPCs, than u need the matching portraits, add another 10k. When the AI is readily available and evolving exponentially, its not something anyone will dive into. I think I was the only mad man who poured so much hours into this for free.

Dreaming about animated NPCs with many axis etc, is dreaming. That will also be done by AI, if the need arises.