A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces in

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A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces in

Postby O Rei do Frango Assado » Fri Sep 16, 2016 9:52 am

Not sure if anyone around these forums have mentioned this already. If so, my apologies.

As we all know, some of the Kickstarter rewards include having the backer's face in the game.
It seems to me that, as nice a gesture of appreciation as that may be, we are all worried that it may be immersion-breaking. After all, I certainly don't want to, while walking around 1980's China, everywhere I go seeing the face of a person who funded the game's development, looking completely out of place, or simply to have constant reminders about KS and the game's funding.

Warhorse Studios, the studio developing Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which was also funded through KS, has released a video showing how they are including backers' likenesses within the game and I must say it's brilliant and looks fucking awesome.
Basically, they are turning them into saints painted on the church's walls, and all in keeping with the appropriate art style.

Take a look.
phpBB [video]


I sure hope Suzuki and co have seen this video, and are aware of the importance of keeping immersion, and will come up with an equally tasteful way of getting backers' faces in the game and not break its immersion. After all, one of Shenmue's strongest points has always been its immersion.

P.S.: By the way, and getting a bit off topic now, I'm getting so many Shenmue vibes from Kingdom Come. While they're certainly very different games, the amount of attention to detail and to realism, and just its overall ambition, really remind me of Shenmue back then. And, like Shenmue, I get the feeling that it will be a game that people will either love or hate. As for me, if they make sure the game also has good characters and good story and quests (and the animations do need some work still), I'll probably love it, though I remain cautiously optimistic, as I know how such ambitious games often turn out to be a disappointment.
Anyway, there already quite a few developer videos and interviews, but a good taste of the aforementioned attention to detail and to realism can be seen in this video, for example:
phpBB [video]

O Rei do Frango Assado has received 3 thanks from: Anonymous81, Switch, Yokosuka
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Re: A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces i

Postby Hyo Razuki » Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:25 am

I don't see much of an issue about backers' faces, tbh. The Guilin region is a very touristy area and nowadays it is hard to find some place with no western tourists around, even in the rural areas of that region.

While western tourists might have been somewhat rare in the 1980s Guilin region, Reform and Opening policy had been implemented since the late 70s so I totally see a few western tourists hanging out in the villages or the countryside make sense.

As for the combat NPCs: The Chi You Men is an organized crime syndicate, so it is basically a company which operates internationally. Why would they not have some American/European staff members? Just give them the good old black Chi You Men suit and you're good.

The capsule toys have always been some kind of "fourth wall break" since there has always been Sonic and VF figures in there although both franchises originated in the 90s. I don't see some backer capsule toys breaking the immersion either.

The only critical point I see is the shop/stall. If my memory is correct, one person bought their own shop in the Baisha (?) market. I understand that if someone spent a big sum of money on this, of course they want to use it as advertising space for their company but I hope the company can at least somewhat fit in to 1980s Guilin region.

I don't know what company it will be but I hope that won't be something like "Jimmy's Auto Supplies- 25 branches in Texas and New Mexico". :D
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Re: A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces i

Postby Let's Get Sweaty » Sun Sep 18, 2016 5:43 am

Hyo Razuki wrote: I don't know what company it will be but I hope that won't be something like "Jimmy's Auto Supplies- 25 branches in Texas and New Mexico". :D

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Re: A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces i

Postby O Rei do Frango Assado » Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:19 am

Hyo Razuki wrote: I don't see much of an issue about backers' faces, tbh. The Guilin region is a very touristy area and nowadays it is hard to find some place with no western tourists around, even in the rural areas of that region.

While western tourists might have been somewhat rare in the 1980s Guilin region, Reform and Opening policy had been implemented since the late 70s so I totally see a few western tourists hanging out in the villages or the countryside make sense.

As for the combat NPCs: The Chi You Men is an organized crime syndicate, so it is basically a company which operates internationally. Why would they not have some American/European staff members? Just give them the good old black Chi You Men suit and you're good.

The capsule toys have always been some kind of "fourth wall break" since there has always been Sonic and VF figures in there although both franchises originated in the 90s. I don't see some backer capsule toys breaking the immersion either.

The only critical point I see is the shop/stall. If my memory is correct, one person bought their own shop in the Baisha (?) market. I understand that if someone spent a big sum of money on this, of course they want to use it as advertising space for their company but I hope the company can at least somewhat fit in to 1980s Guilin region.

I don't know what company it will be but I hope that won't be something like "Jimmy's Auto Supplies- 25 branches in Texas and New Mexico". :D


You make some really good points.

Having been in Guilin myself, back in 2010, I can attest that it has become an extremely popular place among Western tourists. But, for sure, in 1987, they'd be quite rare (though not non-existent, true). From the descriptions, Choubu seems like the typical place where most tourists would hang out, but I guess we'll also be hanging around more remote places, deep in the mountains, where even nowadays you hardly see any foreign tourists, let alone in 1987.

But yeah, my main worry is not really that we will see some foreigners' faces in the game, but the way they implement it. Basically, I don't want to be constantly reminded about KS, while playing the game, and that too in a very in-your-face manner.

This example from Kingdom Come is, I think, the right way to do it, because, if they hadn't told us, we would never have even guessed that those "saints" were actually backers.
Not saying that Shenmue 3's world should have a church with backers as saints, obviously, but they should find an equally subtle and tasteful way to do it. Just a nod to the backers themselves, who will recognize their likeness within the game, but keep it low key to everyone else, instead of turning it into an in-your-face cameo-fest.
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Re: A good example of how to tastefully put backers' faces i

Postby fittersau » Thu Sep 22, 2016 10:20 am

O Rei do Frango Assado wrote:
Having been in Guilin myself, back in 2010, I can attest that it has become an extremely popular place among Western tourists. But, for sure, in 1987, they'd be quite rare (though not non-existent, true).


I don't see a problem with fusing now with back then for western tourism.
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O Rei do Frango Assado

Postby Hyo Razuki » Thu Sep 22, 2016 4:21 pm

The real issue will perhaps be giving each backer NPC approximately the same amount of "screen time" each. But rest assured, I don't think the game will turn out to be a "cameo fest".
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