David Lynch's Josh Brolin's Campo Santo's Fire Watch With Me: A Motion Picture Event

[tberton]

I have to agree about the TF2 hands. They seem incongruously cartoony for such a grounded game. Maybe they just look that way because it's early though.

[melmer]

At some point in the future Olly will show off his 'Henry' concept art and y'all love it and do a 180 on the sausage fingers.

Also

http://youtu.be/krdZ053x3DI

[melmer]

What if theres a twist late in the game. Where Henry looks in a mirror and discovers the reason he has such large hands...

Because he's mutha fuckin donkey kong

[SilentBtAmazing]

Well one of my dirty secrets is that I really despise the Uncharted games because I felt like I had no agency. So in the trailer, I see him rappelling down a cliff and think "ok so that is going to be a place where I push x and then watch an animation." I can't remember exactly what the other shots in the trailer were but they kind of had the same thing going on - a pretty looking but probably set piece moment.

In the gameplay demo I could see that no it is a lot more open. Maybe you guys took that as a given, but I have been a little unclear on the mechanics of gameplay up until that walkthrough. I am an old man enough gamer to honestly be mostly into games for mechanics, they are really all I care about so that is what swung me around so hard.

[Merus]

I think also the focus on having a deep and meaningful conversation signals that the game is going to be a little heavy-handed when it comes to player agency.

[Ben X]

heavy-handed

 

lol

[Fingus]

It's been really interesting following the initial reactions to the game. In my case the feedback on the hands stand out since I was responsible for them.

My impression is that people find them strange because if how stylized they are. And Henry is very stylized, not quite TF2 but definitely in that realm.

The thing is that Firewatch is has a very stylized art direction, so it's interesting to me that people feel there is a disconnect. I mean, it's very likely that I simply failed at nailing the style. But I also wonder if it's because stylization is far more noticeable in characters than objects.

I'd love to hear exactly what stands out about them to you folks.

[Merus]

Probably that the only reference point we have for humans in this art style is Henry's arms. The skinnydipping teens are too far away to be seen so we don't really know what people look like in this art style.

[Ben X]

lol

 

You know, because big hands.

 

I think the hands match the overall style of the game. The world's visuals are not un-TF2-like...

[Jake]

We'll be getting more into what people look like soon on the blog, for that reason!

But yeah, if you look at the man-made objects in the tower, and even the rock shapes, everything is a bit more geometrically shaped, carved/planed out, simplified, and maybe even a little more squat, than real life. For whatever it's worth, in my experience it comes together well and fits when you're actually playing the game; hopefully showing more of everything will help present the whole experience in a way that a teaser trailer doesn't.

[Bjorn]

It's been really interesting following the initial reactions to the game. In my case the feedback on the hands stand out since I was responsible for them.

My impression is that people find them strange because if how stylized they are. And Henry is very stylized, not quite TF2 but definitely in that realm.

The thing is that Firewatch is has a very stylized art direction, so it's interesting to me that people feel there is a disconnect. I mean, it's very likely that I simply failed at nailing the style. But I also wonder if it's because stylization is far more noticeable in characters than objects.

I'd love to hear exactly what stands out about them to you folks.

 

FWIW, while the size of the hands did jump out at me the first time I saw it, they don't bother me at all.  I actually like them.  I'm a bigger guy, with kinda meaty sausage fingers, and the perspective of the size of those hands feels pretty close to my own.  Going back and taking a second look at the video, there's several shots shot of Henry holding a walkie-talkie.  If I had a similar sized walkie-talkie, I think I could almost duplicate that shot and the size difference between my hand and the walkie-talkier wouldn't be much different than the size difference between Henry's and his, his are just on the cartooney side.

[Golden Calf]

FWIW, while the size of the hands did jump out at me the first time I saw it, they don't bother me at all.  I actually like them.

 

Ya I actually remembered liking them when I saw them too. 

 

To each his own, I guess.

[osmosisch]

It's been really interesting following the initial reactions to the game. In my case the feedback on the hands stand out since I was responsible for them.

My impression is that people find them strange because if how stylized they are. And Henry is very stylized, not quite TF2 but definitely in that realm.

The thing is that Firewatch is has a very stylized art direction, so it's interesting to me that people feel there is a disconnect. I mean, it's very likely that I simply failed at nailing the style. But I also wonder if it's because stylization is far more noticeable in characters than objects.

I'd love to hear exactly what stands out about them to you folks.

The thickness of the fingers relative to the rest of the world seems too high to me. That could be a matter of expectations though. There's cartoons where it's much worse, but the beauty and realism of the world makes the cartoonishness of the hands stand out to me in a slightly jarring fashion. I've never really thought about it before this but I guess to me there's a subtle but present difference or continuum between cartoonishness and stylisation.

To me they look good - just a bit out of place. I'm also pretty sure that once I sit down and play the game it won't bother me for very long.

[brkl]

Forget the hands, they are fine. Let's get to the meat of problems with Firewatch. Are you going to fix the clipping at the top of the tower's stairs!?

[GraysonEvans]

Forget the hands, they are fine. Let's get to the meat of problems with Firewatch. Are you going to fix the clipping at the top of the tower's stairs!?

 

If I remember correctly there is a animation in the trailer directly addressing that ledge you walk through. If you are referencing what I think you are referencing.

[brkl]

Ah, okay. I don't actually care all that much, although that ledge could use some cushioning and black and yellow tape to comply with safety regs.

[syntheticgerbil]

Those fucking meaty arms are perfect. You guys are crazy.

 

For once I want to see a game get some significant meaty arm representation and here is all this push to change them. No not muscley, meaty as in this is a big dad's arms. Meats meats meats.

[Latrine]

I feel like the odd thing about Henry's arms isn't their shape or how they match the stylization of other silhouettes in the world, but the relative level of detail that makes them look particularly "cartoony". There's a lot of high frequency details in the environment, particularly in trees and other foliage, whereas the only fine details on Henry's arms are some lines that give the impression of arm hair.

 

That said, I've rewatched the trailer a few times now and I'm starting to get used to how his arms look now and they certainly seem to match the big rocks and man-made objects in the watchtower. 

[syntheticgerbil]

I figure it's fine they look cartoony. Why is cartoon such a bad word?

 

If anything it shouldn't seem odd because it sort of fits the traditional cel cartoon set up of low detail characters over higher detailed painted backgrounds. I feel like decades of putting too much detail in 3D characters just because we can kind of trains the audience towards this.

I actually get a sort of Brutal Legend feel from the way they contrast in comparison to the background.

[melmer]

Personally, i think 3:1 is a good finger meat to world ratio, unless you want to play the piano, then i'd say about 1.5:1

 

Actually the more i think about it, the more absurd it becomes. I mean, how is Henry supposed to get a pickled pickle out of a pickled pickle jar with fingers like that? Am i supposed to believe that pickled pickles don't exist in the universe? Why create such a realistic and grounded world only then to omit pickled pickles?

[JonCole]

Pickle jars are bigger in this alternate reality.

 

New page woot.

[melmer]

I'd absolutely love it if there were a giant pickled pickle jar in the watchtower. Like a massive vat of pickles

 

Actually i hope they make all of Henry's hobbies and pass times really delicate finger work like cross stitch and miniature figurine painting, then just scatter

all that type of stuff around the watchtower to screw with people

 

...but but but SAUSAGE FINGERERERERSRERRSRSSSSSSSS

[BobbyBesar]

I'd absolutely love it if there were a giant pickled pickle jar in the watchtower. Like a massive vat of pickles

 

Actually i hope they make all of Henry's hobbies and pass times really delicate finger work like cross stitch and miniature figurine painting, then just scatter

all that type of stuff around the watchtower to screw with people

 

...but but but SAUSAGE FINGERERERERSRERRSRSSSSSSSS

 

Whittling would probably be historically accurate.

[Spenny]

Chris and Jake get interviewed by PC Gamer.

[RubixsQube]

The best part about that video is the wacky upbeat music throughout, covering the diegetic convention + car sounds.