Telltale Games

Lebostein · 07/02/2010, 05:05 am

What says Grickle about the graphics in the game?

- many locations consist of textures glued together (it flickers between)
- textures with different brush weights are displayed together
- close-ups are blurry
- many edges are straight (for the 3D models) and without "drive" by hand
- models of background trees or textures repeated several times in one scene

If I were the artist, I would not be satisfied with the result.

Why did you not use real painted background images? It lacks the soul a little bit, sorry.

DaVince · 07/02/2010, 05:09 am

I think they went with just texturing the lines, so you get line width and texture cutoff problems. This could have been fixed; they should have used some sort of special "fuzzy line" shader to shade the object sides and lines. That would have fixed any and all inconsistencies in line size, too sharply-cut borders, etcetera.

Still, I don't think it looks particularly bad or out-of-style most of the time.

EDIT: you mean Annable, right?

elzbenz · 07/02/2010, 07:44 pm

Elaborating on what DaVince has already said:

Grickle is the name of his comics, videos, and game. Basically anything in that sort of artstyle.

Graham Annable is the artist/author who draws Grickle.

MusicallyInspired · 07/02/2010, 07:47 pm

Annable said in the video featurette about Puzzle Agent that he was extremely impressed with the way the art style was handled with the Telltale Tool.

Hayden · 07/02/2010, 07:58 pm

I really like the whole art style used. It's imperfect, but that's what makes it unique and gives it character. For sure, Telltale could have made the lines perfectly straight and clean, and they could have made the animation silky smooth, but that would have been boring. I like the art style used because it's different. Yes, its not perfect, but it suits the whole tone and feel of the game.

Truck · 07/10/2010, 03:31 am

I love the _style_ of the graphics.

The _implementation_ bothers me. The 'shading by horizontal smooth filter' on some of the walls (such as the eraser factory) looks cheap; the 'gnomes in the window appear to be a 2d texture that has been squished; so they look like a flat surface, not gnomes' issue - which also comes about in the 'straight lines' that are textured to the RAZOR edge with a 'wavy, hand drawn' look.

These are NOT things I'm used to seeing in the Telltale engine; so I'm thinking there's something up with a new engine or something. Also, it may just be the artists felt fine with it as these are mainly background items.

The problem is, of course, if it were me, I'd have spent hours _fixing_ it because it's a puzzle as to why they weren't like that. And this is a puzzle game. So, my buttons are getting pressed here: "Go fix the graphics! GO FIX THE GRAPHICS THEY LOOK CRAP! DUDE! THAT FILTER LOOKS CRAP GO FIX THE GRAPHICS" and I miss things like "oh there's a conversation going on."

So, yeah, I agree, this is a polish level that, well, I'd like to see return to the TellTale standard I'm used to. Cuz I love the games y'all make (: This one, too, but, I'd love a finished 'polished' version for, ya know, the sequel? and series? (: Hint? (:

07/02/2010, 05:05 am	#1
Lebostein Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 21	Is Grickle happy with it? What says Grickle about the graphics in the game? - many locations consist of textures glued together (it flickers between) - textures with different brush weights are displayed together - close-ups are blurry - many edges are straight (for the 3D models) and without "drive" by hand - models of background trees or textures repeated several times in one scene If I were the artist, I would not be satisfied with the result. Why did you not use real painted background images? It lacks the soul a little bit, sorry. Last edited by Lebostein; 07/02/2010 at 05:11 am.

07/02/2010, 05:09 am	#2
DaVince Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 131	I think they went with just texturing the lines, so you get line width and texture cutoff problems. This could have been fixed; they should have used some sort of special "fuzzy line" shader to shade the object sides and lines. That would have fixed any and all inconsistencies in line size, too sharply-cut borders, etcetera. Still, I don't think it looks particularly bad or out-of-style most of the time. EDIT: you mean Annable, right? Last edited by DaVince; 07/02/2010 at 09:39 am.

07/02/2010, 07:58 pm	#5
Hayden ...is procrastinating Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 3,485	I really like the whole art style used. It's imperfect, but that's what makes it unique and gives it character. For sure, Telltale could have made the lines perfectly straight and clean, and they could have made the animation silky smooth, but that would have been boring. I like the art style used because it's different. Yes, its not perfect, but it suits the whole tone and feel of the game. __________________ Read that instead ^. Last edited by Hayden; 07/02/2010 at 08:01 pm.

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07/02/2010, 07:44 pm	#3
elzbenz Still Have an Eye Avatar Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 87	Elaborating on what DaVince has already said: Grickle is the name of his comics, videos, and game. Basically anything in that sort of artstyle. Graham Annable is the artist/author who draws Grickle.

07/10/2010, 03:31 am	#6
Truck Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 4	I love the _style_ of the graphics. The _implementation_ bothers me. The 'shading by horizontal smooth filter' on some of the walls (such as the eraser factory) looks cheap; the 'gnomes in the window appear to be a 2d texture that has been squished; so they look like a flat surface, not gnomes' issue - which also comes about in the 'straight lines' that are textured to the RAZOR edge with a 'wavy, hand drawn' look. These are NOT things I'm used to seeing in the Telltale engine; so I'm thinking there's something up with a new engine or something. Also, it may just be the artists felt fine with it as these are mainly background items. The problem is, of course, if it were me, I'd have spent hours _fixing_ it because it's a puzzle as to why they weren't like that. And this is a puzzle game. So, my buttons are getting pressed here: "Go fix the graphics! GO FIX THE GRAPHICS THEY LOOK CRAP! DUDE! THAT FILTER LOOKS CRAP GO FIX THE GRAPHICS" and I miss things like "oh there's a conversation going on." So, yeah, I agree, this is a polish level that, well, I'd like to see return to the TellTale standard I'm used to. Cuz I love the games y'all make (: This one, too, but, I'd love a finished 'polished' version for, ya know, the sequel? and series? (: Hint? (: