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As a man of innovation, it
pains me to dive into yet another remake of yet another industry sim - but
there's one last project that deserves to make use of Reach's graphical
advances. The music industry simulator, Popscene, remains my most
popular concept outside of wrestling - and after sitting on the sidelines for
4 long years, there's a lot for it to catch up on! Here's how the developments
of the latest games are helping to make this old one something special...
17th July 2008
The new character model even
looks better in silhouette, as we can now see from Popscene 2's updated
new logo! It's the same old concept, but with sharper new images this time and a
"2" clamped onto the side to remind you that it's a sequel. If your memory needs
refreshing,
this is how the clunky old logo looked at this stage. This new identity
has arrived just in time to wrap things up. Everything is hurtling along nicely
towards the finish line, and the project should be complete by the end of the
month. The range of
venues
has been finalized (along with the process of
booking
them), characters are pouring in on a daily basis, and the
career
possibilities are being brought up to date - with court cases once again
joining the various meetings and negotiations. All good stuff that should hit
the spot with anyone that was remotely entertained by the last game...
10th July
2008
Classic MDickie scenes
continue to pour into the game to pad out the selection of venues. As you can
see, the latest is the coast from Wrecked. And it's joined by the
military base
from Sure Shot 3D, the
cinema
from Popcorn, and even the
prison block
from Hard Time (which is strangely appropriate for re-enacting Johnny
Cash's famous gig!). Elsewhere, even the most ordinary of locations have been
re-worked as places to perform - ranging from
the office
to the courtroom. The only downside to all of this is that bizarre locations
seem to outrank realistic ones by 10 to 1 - but I'll figure out a way of keeping
things in check. The venue booking system is just about to go into production
when the range of stages is 100% finalized...
2nd July 2008
Rest assured that all is quiet
because I'm too busy to talk about the games nowadays - NOT because progress
isn't being made! On the contrary, the Popscene remake has finally hit
its stride and is progressing very well indeed in many key areas. The range of
venues continues to be expanded and updated on a daily basis, with many classic
locations from other games being reworked for this one. A couple of recent
examples are the
suburban street
from Popcorn and the ghetto-like
city streets
of Grass Roots - both of which are superior replacements for the crappy
old street setting from
the last game.
Some old favourites have also been refurbished - such as the
music store,
which no longer feels so claustrophobic thanks to windows that look out onto the
street. Meanwhile, the character possibilities promise to be equally improved.
There's already a vast array of casual wear that goes far beyond what we had in
Wrestling MPire 2008 or Reach, and all kinds of dedicated new
faces are seeping in to help with the caricatures. Hip Hop artists are faring
particularly well - with a great
Pharrell Williams
and a good
Jay-Z already in the vault. However, one of the things I was most
excited about was making the meetings in this game as visually interesting as
they have been in recent games. Not only do the office meetings benefit from
that great skyline view, but the band meetings also benefit from actually taking
place inside the studio. You talk to your band members in various parts of that
room as surely as you did in the locker rooms of the fighting games, and as you
can tell from the shot it's even possible to sit and chat next to the mixing
desk! All great stuff that makes the process seem more involving than ever
before...
23rd June 2008
The new version of Popscene
continues to progress slowly but surely. Mostly boring behind-the-scenes stuff
that involves re-introducing key parts of the game engine - such as publishing,
meetings, news reports, and reviews. The meetings, in particular, have improved
drastically since 2004's ugly Popscene and now make use of Reach's
nice office with a skyline view! Most noticeably, the camera work is smoother
too. Not to mention the fact that contract negotiations are more sophisticated
than ever and pan out perfectly. Elsewhere, I'm slowly getting a grip on the
characterization by finalizing the range of costumes and adding more that are
unique to this game. That basically means a hell of a lot more casual wear than
we ever saw in the fighting games! The caricatures are coming along better this
time too, with Justin Timberlake (above far right) more recognizable now that he
has a curious penchant for waistcoats and ties. However, I must say that famous
faces will be a lot rarer this time. I felt they spoiled the game last time
because they all had to be somewhat talented (otherwise they wouldn't be
particularly famous!). I'll be throwing in a lot more unpredictable fictitious
characters this time. That's more fun for me too...
14th June 2008
One development that I couldn't
quite shoehorn into the latest update is that Popscene has tinkered with
the editing possibilities a little. As in real life, the characters are slimmer
than wrestlers by default so I had to make sure the "Slim" model was especially
thin this time. The "Normal" model looks positively muscular by comparison, so
things are definitely being put into perspective! We can expect a similarly
modified "Female" model soon too (the one shown above is still a weighty
wrestler). This game also does away with "Weight" as a means of choosing the
model, and once again allows you to select a specific build. That freed me up to
reinstate the "Big Jaw" and "Chubby Cheeks" variations, which are handy for
caricatures of people like Elvis and Jay-Z respectively. An entirely new
development is that there's now a separate "Accessory" option for applying
things like jewellery and watches as if they were hats or spectacles. As in
Hard Time, they're 3D too so they look better than they would as 2D drawings
(and it also means they can be mixed and matched with ANY outfit)...
9th June 2008
In amongst the day-to-day slog of
getting the game engine back up and running, the new and improved venues
continue to build up. As you can see above, there's a new stadium venue that's
largely based on the latest wrestling arena (which is quite appropriate when you
consider that most music venues are altered sports venues in real life). It
replaces the northern seating area with a huge stage and fills the empty ring
area with moshers to create a realistic sea of people. Basically, it looks like
a real building this time instead of a stage surrounded by random faces. The
outdoor festival
locations have been similarly modified, with better crowd sprites
stretching back towards a realistic horizon. The very latest addition is a
modified bar
scene, which takes the same structure as last time but fulfils its
potential with all the usual 2008 trimmings - from framed doors and light
fittings to decorative plants and other furniture. Speaking of light fittings,
one of the biggest developments since last time is that the lighting effects are
as good as they were during Reach's entrances. That basically means we've
got bulbs shining and colours changing all over the place instead of one
all-encompassing light...
3rd June 2008
The range of instruments has
already been brought up to speed with the original Popscene thanks to the
arrival of the
keyboard
and the DJ
decks. Compared to the new guitars and drum kit, they're relatively
unchanged - with only slightly improved textures painted onto the same old
modelling. That's a big step forward in the case of the keyboard though, which
finally has a proper key layout. Now that I'm a pianist, it's with some
embarrassment that I look back on what I thought passed for a keyboard the first
time around! The individual fingers also ensure that the instrument is played
with a little more precision too. The decks also benefit from being a little
more interactive this time - with real discs that turn to match the actions of
each hand. Now that the basics of a performance are in place, I've finally been
able to turn my attention to the locations too. Up until now the musicians have
been plying their trade in Wrestling MPire 2008's ring, but I'm slowly
working through dozens of classic sets to make them compatible for this game.
First up was the recording studio itself, which is structurally the same but has
benefited from all the usual trimmings of framed doors, high resolution wall
textures, and light fittings on the ceiling. Tiny adjustments that make all the
difference in the world, as this crusty
old shot
testifies...
27th May 2008
I can't promise Popscene 2
will be a "conceptual" revolution, but it's already guaranteed to be a visual
one! The revamped new instruments continue to complement the improved character
models. As you can see, a polished new drum kit is the latest example. It has
been redrawn from scratch with a more realistic structure (including a hi-hat
instead of 2 cymbals) and better texturing. The animation for interacting with
it is equally good too - right down to the cymbals shaking every time they're
struck! Even the
microphone
has been redrawn for the first time in 5 years. It's such a small piece of
equipment that I never worried about it before, but I thought I might as well
give it an overhaul for this game. The result isn't drastically different, but
it is noticeably better when the camera gets up close. So far the only downside
is that the animations aren't as foolproof as I'd like (although they're still
substantially better than what we had before). As with walking animations, the
problem is that you're taking lengthy, unpredictable movements and trying to
break them down into short loops - which can be painfully noticeable at times.
Still, I'll be hoping to alleviate the repetition by throwing more routines in
than ever and having the performers switch between them from moment to moment.
If you'd like to put things in perspective once again, I'll leave you with a
reminder that
this is what the drum kit looked like last time...
25th May 2008
The promised sequel to
Popscene has been progressing slowly but surely all month, and already looks
set to be special! The new and improved visual style was always going to
guarantee that the characters looked better than before, and the instruments
have been quick to follow suit. As you can see, they've already got their hands
on a vastly modified guitar - which boasts a more realistic shape and polished
high resolution texturing. It even features real 3D strings this time rather
than painted on ones! The superior character modelling and animation helps the
characters get to grips with it too. It's easy to forget that the characters
didn't even have individual fingers last time, but now they're gripping and
interacting with the instruments properly. For those of you that like to put
things in perspective,
this is
what the original Popscene looked like at this stage 4 years ago...
Copyright © MDickie 2000 - 2008
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