Are we stuck with these character models?

[Komakinox]

The changes to the player models are... really difficult for me to get past. I love SMB3 and have poured a bunch of hours into it, so I'm not looking for realism. I liked that beefy meant it looks like the guy from the Incredibles. It fit the theme just right IMO.

But now just about everyone looks as if they need medical attention. Beefy now means a massive beer gut and no muscles. The slimmer model barely has a neck.. at all. I understand they didn't spend any time doing the models for the legends. That is an annoyance, but not a deal breaker since we can change them with a custom league, etc. But my fear is that we won't have other player models to choose from. I hope that, somehow, Metalhead delivers the old (or as close as possible) models so we can get our fun baseball buddies back!

Because right now it is far more distracting than I thought something like this would be to me. Wish I could look past it, but it is really tough to see around that huge balloon in their bellies.

[D1g1tal Underd0g]

Komakino:

YES. I LOVE 3. Love it. I was beyond excited to fire this up. Dove right into an exhibition.

Before I continue, this player issue may well be on my end. That's always a possibility. Anyway.

I think my reaction was far more immediate and aggressive than yours -- visceral, even. I was actually shocked -- no exaggeration -- at how bad the players look. Gravelly textures, blindingly saturated colors that make players look like glow-y blobs, and contrast so high I can only see players as half shadow and half washed-out. SMB3's characters looked fantastic, and I was incensed at these hideous players within three batters. (Messed with settings, all at max, and it got no better.)

Seriously, I saw the first batter and thought my graphics card was malfunctioning. Didn't make it through an inning. Requested a refund in 18 minutes.

Sorry, I was just so disappointed, but the drop in quality is a little amazing to me. I don't want to risk the game never looking better, and I won't pay any amount for this. For me, it's simply unplayable. Maybe they'll fix it later. For now, I'm just not sure who could look at 3's and 4's players side by side and say, "Yeah, those new ones look pretty good."

SMB3 is excellent, so I'll play that.

I hope they fix it, so you can play more comfortably. Good luck!

-- DU

[Floyyd]

oh my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ god get over it. Theyre not going to completely change the player models just because you don't like them.

SMB3 had even more dramatic body shapes so I have no idea what you are going on about.

[Lions]

I just want to know if it's the same old boring Pennant Race that needed tweaked a long time ago. I'd almost be annoyed if it wouldn't make me laugh. SMB2 > 3

[Floyyd]

Originally posted by Fred Simmons:

I just want to know if it's the same old boring Pennant Race that needed tweaked a long time ago. I'd almost be annoyed if it wouldn't make me laugh. SMB2 > 3

Yep, same exact pennant race. This is definitely something worthwhile complaining about. They did not expand on Pennant at all. Or anything online for that matter.

[Wenzel]

I agree that SMB3 looked better. Not game breaking but still slightly annoying.

It's not just the models but I think it's also the light. The light in SMB4 is much harsher and stronger, casting very strong, dark shadows. And there seems to be a lot of "bloom" effect which everyone I know detests. The softer light in SMB3 was much easier for the eye and enhanced the happy, cartoony atmosphere.

My biggest gripes with model customization are:
1) A lack of head and haircut options for female players. Basically, all female players look the same. Also, I have to point out that the female hips in the game are anatomically impossible. What went wrong here?
2) Randomization does not match head types to body types. If your body is "beefy", it should also show in your head. If there are several ounces of fat around your belly, you will not have a jagged jaw line (and vice versa). The games' randomization doesn't care about this, which results in very weird looking characters. (Also for immersion and better readability, the beefy body type should correlate with the speed stat).

---------
Point 2) can be edited with a lot of effort (going through all the players in my custom franchise league and editing their body type). As for point 1), I usually reduce the amount of female players in my league. Not due to ideological reasons, but because I don't want to play with same-looking clone players.

[G Willikers]

Originally posted by Wenzel:

It's not just the models but I think it's also the light. The light in SMB4 is much harsher and stronger, casting very strong, dark shadows. And there seems to be a lot of "bloom" effect which everyone I know detests. The softer light in SMB3 was much easier for the eye and enhanced the happy, cartoony atmosphere.

Yeah it's kinda weird. This game looks like there's a gray film over everything. It's a bit better if you turn antistropic filtering down (started with it maxed and decreased it to 4), but overall everything looks very drab and dull.

There's a lot to like here, I think the gameplay is better so far, but there's a lot here that definitely earned those mixed reviews.