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Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:03 am
by Esppiral
I have many but there is one that has hitted me hard with the video announcement.

Some of you may remember that I did some Widescreen hacks for Shenmue I & II, while I was at it I noticed, that during some custcenes, since characters aren't supposed to be seen they are frozen until they enter the supposed "viewable" area or they just simply pop out from nowhere or in some cases they just do some ramdom animations.

This happens a lot during Shenmue I and II, from the video below I've noticed that every single scene that corresponds to a cutscene its cropped to 4:3, so instead of tweaking the game they are doing the poorest and fastest of the ports.

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My expectations are really low, even the official screenshots that have been posted on STEAM look worse than some emulations shots we all have been seen here.

Don't get me wrong I am happy that the games are getting a new life, but I guess SEGA's porpuse is to somehow reignite (no pun intended) the franchise but with such a poor job they will achive the opposite, and only us the hardcore fans will buy this.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:08 am
by Amir
I'm sure that'll all be fixed by release.

I hope they allow the option to keep the transitions to 2.35:1 ratio in the cutscenes in Shenmue II, that always got me hyped when I played it on Dreamcast.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:10 am
by redline
why not ask adam koralik, sega let him play the game.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:50 am
by Senpai Gamer
They did say that the trailer was early and that the game was still in development. So i would only be worried if it looked that bad post Summer 2018.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:56 am
by BlueMue
Yeah I wouldn't mind too much about what they have shown. It may very much still be in the testing phase.
The trailer isn't all that impressive and telling anyway, almost more of a teaser. So who knows how much proper stuff they actually have.

And while there is that bit from the prologue at the end I think the 4:3 stuff in the beginning is somewhat of a reminder how it used to look. And as they promise multiple resolution setups this might be one of the options.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:30 am
by fischkopf
Senpai Gamer wrote: They did say that the trailer was early and that the game was still in development. So i would only be worried if it looked that bad post Summer 2018.

I really hope so because it would be a shame to have such a lazy port. There is NO reason not to have the complete game running at 16:9 or even ultrawide, other than pure laziness.

I also hope they will port over all the enhanced features from the Xbox port of Shenmue 2 to Shenmue 1 as well, such as improved Textures, better Shadows and better water. I would also love to see some modern post-processing effects added, such as ambient occlusion and depth of field.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:45 am
by shredingskin
While Shenmue had some great texture work for the time, there are some that need to be updated (for example the ground/grass in guilin), some large tileable ones like floor concrete.

Another concern I have is a 60 dollar pricepoint, I hope it'll be 40dls and reach a wider audience, but who knows.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:58 am
by Hyo Razuki
At least we get to worry about SHD and S3 now. Just a few years we had fuck all regarding Shenmue.

I remember how devastated I felt after watching the 2014 Post Mortem Conference and reading depressing interviews like the 1Up interview in Yu's kitchen.

So take a moment to think about the dire situation the Shenmue franchise was in just a few years back. Then look at where we are now, lay back and enjoy the ride.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:05 am
by Giorgio
I just hope they will add the Skip Time ("Wait" option) feature in Shenmue I, just as it is in Shenmue II.

Not for me, but to make it more friendly for the newest generation of gamers.

I believe that not being able to skip time to reach events was the biggest obstacle for the mainstream players to approach and carry on playing. Inevitably their reaction was one of boredom. Of course, there could be other elements which could bore them, but "forced waiting" was the big one.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:35 am
by spud1897
shredingskin wrote: While Shenmue had some great texture work for the time, there are some that need to be updated (for example the ground/grass in guilin), some large tileable ones like floor concrete.

Another concern I have is a 60 dollar pricepoint, I hope it'll be 40dls and reach a wider audience, but who knows.


Some one mentioned to me it would be around the £30 mark in the UK. Hope that's true that would be value for money.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:44 am
by Sonoshee
Hyo Razuki wrote: At least we get to worry about SHD and S3 now. Just a few years we had fuck all regarding Shenmue.


This is pretty much my outlook on it.

A few years ago we had nothing, now people are making complaints about what we do have.

I can understand they want the best for the series, but sometimes you just have to let go, realise what we are lucky to have - and be grateful for it.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:48 am
by Spaghetti
There was a snip of a Shenmue II cutscene in 16:9.

Actually about mid-way through the whole trailer switches from 4:3 to 16:9 until they return to the end, so I think it may be an "old v new" thing for the purposes of the video. Even then, the trailer clearly marks itself as WIP; and it's possible there may be a 4:3/16:9 toggle option for purists.

As for the screens, they'e on-par with emulation. I don't see how in the world they look worse, unless you're talking about the emulated screens that have had SweetFX or the like applied or are hugely downsampled. I'm hoping they add anti-aliasing and texture filtering, however.

EDIT: And on pricepoint, there were wholesaler listings that popped up a few days before this event that put it at €29.99. Take that as you will, because it may not be final and it may just be a wholesale price.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:20 pm
by Reprise
Hyo Razuki wrote:
So take a moment to think about the dire situation the Shenmue franchise was in just a few years back. Then look at where we are now, lay back and enjoy the ride.


So true and well said.

But, if I were to discuss my concerns, then yes, I would agree that a 'rushed' or 'lazy' upgrade is a concern. I think it's a bit of a myth, particularly from the more casual media and consumers, thinking automatically that a HD remaster is the 'definitive' version of any game. That's not always the case. Sometimes it's clearly inferior, other times it's just more debatable. Digital Foundry cover things like that really well. For example, how some of the Resident Evil 4 HD remasters have been sourced from the PS2 or PC versions that had textures from the GameCube version missing. Then there's more glaring examples of poor remasters like what happened with Silent Hill or Splinter Cell. I really want this to undeniably be the definitive version of the games.

One issue I think that might stop this from happening is Shenmue 2. Some people prefer the XBox version, some people prefer the Dreamcast original. Having owned both (got rid of the XBox version years ago, but still have my DC original of course), I honestly think, hand on heart, that the Dreamcast version is superior, despite a few graphical advantages on the XBox version. I really hate the washed out and blurry look of the XBox version (DC version is sharper), the at times over used bloom lighting and especially dislike the motion blurring used in fights. So I hope that they use the DC original source material, but I suspect they won't. A definitive version would of course combine elements and assets from both versions, but I can't see that happening (I guess they'll use the XBox version and then will add the importing the save file from Shenmue 1 functionality). It's not a huge deal though I guess.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:17 pm
by GYO6161
Censorship still being intact S2 would suck. I doubt they are gonna redub Yuan's lines in english, who knows if they are gonna use the Japanese Yuan voice or the Female Japanese EU voice. They will also have to bring in actors in English to do that tape recording scene that is missing in English and i doubt SEGA is gonna put in the budget for all of that. Those are my biggest concerns.

Re: Concerns about Shenmue HD.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:25 pm
by Reprise
GYO6161 wrote: Censorship still being intact S2 would suck. I doubt they are gonna redub Yuan's lines in english, who knows if they are gonna use the Japanese Yuan voice or the Female Japanese EU voice. That is my biggest concern.


Yeah, that will suck. That said, both English and Japanese voice soundtracks will be available.