"DBZ: Battle of Z" (360/PS3/Vita) On-Going Discussion Thread

[Ryuman]

if 3 years dev = 75 chars with trans and they wanted to make it into another sequel that's obv milking the franchise every bit and that gonna make people lose interest.

A lot of that dev-time would've gone into more important things than characters. Things like the engine, stages, cutscenes or any other features of the game. Even the characters themselves had to be made from scratch.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Even the characters themselves had to be made from scratch.

They didn't have to be. Spike did say they would allow their resources from previous games to be used by a new development team after their contract ran out.

Anyway, I'd like to note that the official website I just got the Godku image from actually numbers their character portraits on the roster screen. Son Goku is 01, 100% Power Freeza is 22 and Godku is 67, all in proper order. We can't click on any of the green squares to see their numbers, but adding them to the previous 67 should only get us a count of 70.

...so why are Ozaru Vegeta and Gohan numbers 91 and 92? Why is there a roughly 20 count gap between them? Curious...

[Ryuman]

I didn't know that about the Spike thing, but I guess it makes sense. At the end of the day they did make new models, so yeah. It was their decision and I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it.
Interesting thing about the character numbering though. Did we ever get a official statement on the character count? I'm guessing not.

[Quebaz]

They didn't have to be. Spike did say they would allow their resources from previous games to be used by a new development team after their contract ran out.

Anyway, I'd like to note that the official website I just got the Godku image from actually numbers their character portraits on the roster screen. Son Goku is 01, 100% Power Freeza is 22 and Godku is 67, all in proper order. We can't click on any of the green squares to see their numbers, but adding them to the previous 67 should only get us a count of 70.

...so why are Ozaru Vegeta and Gohan numbers 91 and 92? Why is there a roughly 20 count gap between them? Curious...

So this got me thinking, what if the green buttons are something like page buttons, I mean, It's kinda ridiculous having 201 characters in the first game...but hey, It's something.

[SSuperVegito]

Even the characters themselves had to be made from scratch.

They didn't have to be. Spike did say they would allow their resources from previous games to be used by a new development team after their contract ran out.

Anyway, I'd like to note that the official website I just got the Godku image from actually numbers their character portraits on the roster screen. Son Goku is 01, 100% Power Freeza is 22 and Godku is 67, all in proper order. We can't click on any of the green squares to see their numbers, but adding them to the previous 67 should only get us a count of 70.

...so why are Ozaru Vegeta and Gohan numbers 91 and 92? Why is there a roughly 20 count gap between them? Curious...

Yeah u are right but still roster is important so u can get variety of chars so u wouldn't see every game the same characters being used again over again.


Hmm maybe the green ones are for pages?, if it's then the roster would be bigger then bt3 (161).

[pandamix]

Even the characters themselves had to be made from scratch.

They didn't have to be. Spike did say they would allow their resources from previous games to be used by a new development team after their contract ran out.

In Japan, another company can't use the resources from other company. That means the content that Spike created can only be used by Spike.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

In Japan, another company can't use the resources from other company. That means the content that Spike created can only be used by Spike.

I don't know what can or can't be done. I'm just repeating what the Spike representative said, and that guy would know better than I.

[Quebaz]

Even the characters themselves had to be made from scratch.

They didn't have to be. Spike did say they would allow their resources from previous games to be used by a new development team after their contract ran out.

In Japan, another company can't use the resources from other company. That means the content that Spike created can only be used by Spike.

If Zenkai Battle Royale wasn't made by Spike...then it says Hi.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

If Zenkai Battle Royale wasn't made by Spike...then it says Hi.

Thinking about it, the same goes for J-Stars Victory Vs. That uses a version of Zenkai's Goku model too.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

If Zenkai Battle Royale wasn't made by Spike...then it says Hi.

Thinking about it, the same goes for J-Stars Victory Vs. That uses a version of Zenkai's Goku model too.

While the art style is similar, I don't think Vs.' and Zekai use the same models. The games look fundamentally different from each other and I think it would be more trouble than it's worth to re-rig Zenkai's Goku to fit into Vs.. I'm also pretty sure that even if Spike did make Zenkai Battle Royal, that those models are different from the ones used in Raging Blast.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

While the art style is similar, I don't think Vs.' and Zekai use the same models. The games look fundamentally different from each other and I think it would be more trouble than it's worth to re-rig Zenkai's Goku to fit into Vs.. I'm also pretty sure that even if Spike did make Zenkai Battle Royal, that those models are different from the ones used in Raging Blast.

No. Zenkai's were updated to feature more detail than while they were used in Raging Blast 1&2, Ultimate Blast or Kinect, but they are definitely the same models with the character's skins having been tweaked. The model in J-Stars is the exact same too, down to the exact detail lines in the hair as Zenkai; just with yet another new coat of paint on it.

[Captain-Sora]

No. Zenkai's were updated to feature more detail than while they were used in Raging Blast 1&2, Ultimate Blast or Kinect, but they are definitely the same models with the character's skins having been tweaked.

No they're not. It's pretty clear that they are not the same models as the ones utilized in the RB series and they don't share the same animations either. Spike didn't actually have any involvement with ZBR to boot.

If they were the same ones, you can be sure that it'd be a lot more blatantly similar, such as the jumps from RB1 to RB2 to Ultimate Tenkaichi and Kinect where said models were actually reused and the tweaks were miniscule(such as just changing the colors and shading style) but still clearly the ones that originated from previous installments. ZBR's on the other hand feature slight proportional differences, completely different lighting and shading that don't actually look awkwardly pasted on like with the Spike models, and look much more refined. On closer inspection, you can tell they entirely new ones done from the ground up.

Now, as for the possibility that ZBR's Goku model was reused for that new Jump game, that's a bit trickier to pinpoint. The models do share that very same action figure-esque look, but I haven't actually paid much attention to that game to see just how much actually looks reused or if it's an entirely different model again that just happens to have a similar style to the other.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Not animations. Not skins. Not the lighting. The MODELS. The sculpt placed over the characters's rig is pretty much the exact same across all the games (though Zenkai and J-Stars are more detailed).

[Captain-Sora]

Not animations. Not skins. Not the lighting. The MODELS. The sculpt placed over the characters's rig is the exact same (though Zenkai and J-Stars are more detailed).

But that's what I'm saying. That the models themselves look completely different, hence the mentioning of slight proportional differences and refinement. Usually when you see models reused by Spike in the RB and UT releases, it's pretty blatant that they're using the same exact ones from the first game, only with the shading style altered. However, ZBR's is far more different than a mere style change. The models look smoother, organic, and even lack that black line work you see Spike constantly use on their RB/UT/Kinect titles.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

You and I aren't talking about the same thing apparently. Ignore the the skins, shading, etc. Strip the characters down to something like this (though without a lightsource):

Spoiler:

All the games feature the same models with minor tweaks made to them; like Vegeta's face between the Raging Blast games and Ultimate Blast/Kinect. Some proportions may have been altered, extra lines may have been added to the hair or textures to the clothes while in the sculpting phase, but if you look at Goku in all the games: same shaped hair, generally the same folds in the pants, etc. They all started with the same model sculpt. Ignoring whatever aesthetic differences they may have once the skins and other effects are applied, the models themselves are relatively unchanged in comparison.

[Captain-Sora]

Yes, I am referring to the same thing. Please read again. As I said before, disregarding the shading, lighting and so forth, the basic models look dramatically different from the Spike ones. They're more refined, and have a sense of bulk unlike the RB models. Take a look at this comparison:




The folds, the forms and curvature of the body(especially on the arms), the proportions, and the level of detail are all significantly different, not just minor alterations. Whenever Spike's models are reused, the changes aren't that dramatic.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Yes, the amount of detail is different, but they're still the same models that have had those details added to them. Just look at them. Take Spike's DBZ console games and add some ridges to the hair for detail and actually restructure the the muscles have a more realistic form rather than the anime's simple blobs and you end up with the same result.

I find it fairly impossible that someone could honestly say that Zenkai and J-Stars models weren't created from the same basic build as the one's we've had in the consoles for the past couple years.

[Ryuman]

I think that comparison only makes them look more like each other.

[pandamix]

I think it's pretty clear that it's not the same models.

[omegalucas]

They may not be the same models but they are surely based on the same art. Both have the same style of eyes/face (that is quite different from manga and anime Goku's - Battle of Z's looks closer to the anime and manga versions in that regard).