What happened to the art fiedlity

[Blink]

Especially the lighting.

everything looks so flat, no shadows or depth at all... and a bit too smooth

looks like a cheap flash game.

[Fuhrer]

It looks better in action, but yeah, I preferred the old style.

[*]

Some levels have excellent lighting, especially the dark Volcana and some secret areas

[Blanc]

My complaints aren't so much about the flat design so much as the color palette. The push-rocks/dart traps are an ugly shade of gray, the temple blocks are worse, the gold doesn't look half as shiny as Spelunky 1's gold. Look at what happened to Olmec. He looks more like a wax or butter sculpture than a gold idol.

[Raxo]

you kidding? this game looks great!

[Cim]

I get what your saying, but you need to see it in action. It does indeed look a lot better in motion. I think they made the changes to make the game easier to read and it does accomplish that goal.

It's also higher resolution which makes the game just look more crisp than the original. It does not look like a "cheap flash game" when you actually play it.

I thought I would hate the new look but playing the two, one after the other, I actually prefer the new one.

[Toastbrot]

It looks a lot better than spelunky 1 lol.

[{GE} Donté, el exterminador de d]

Yeah no idea what you're on about there buddy, personal preference is a thing I guess

[Wormerine]

Originally posted by Chefen:

you kidding? this game looks great!

I second that. I really disliked look and sound of Spelunky 1 - it felt characterless, flat and offputting. Spelanky2 fits the "spelunky" look, but is actually pretty nice. And I dig the music as well. Good stuff.

[CJones]

I agree that the game looks worse than the original game, but with everything looking cleaner, it's a lot easier to see what's going on.

[>-FISH-D]

Originally posted by CJones:

I agree that the game looks worse than the original game, but with everything looking cleaner, it's a lot easier to see what's going on.

Spiders are a bit harder to see at times but I'm digging the art style. Only thing I don't find as great in 2 is the music. It's still good , just not as good as 1.

[katefreeze]

Its a different style, it'll take a bit to get used to. tbh im starting to like this one better.

[Total Oh No]

I got that impression, too, by first playing an hour of Spelunky 2 and then swapping to Spelunky 1. The first game had some interesting dynamic moving shadows going on that gave the environment more depth.

[Bluddy]

The background art style is the main problem -- it's really flat (deliberately), and the color choices are sometimes awful (like the first world) for very large chunks of the level. What you don't get to see is the amazing detail level of the characters and critters. This thing is built with hi-res in mind, and the extra detail is gorgeous, especially on a large monitor. So yeah, you lose some of the beauty of the original, but you get much more hi-def detail on little elements. The lighting is also better than the original, which was already pretty good in the lighting department.

[katefreeze]

Originally posted by Bluddy:

The background art style is the main problem -- it's really flat (deliberately), and the color choices are sometimes awful (like the first world) for very large chunks of the level. What you don't get to see is the amazing detail level of the characters and critters. This thing is built with hi-res in mind, and the extra detail is gorgeous, especially on a large monitor. So yeah, you lose some of the beauty of the original, but you get much more hi-def detail on little elements. The lighting is also better than the original, which was already pretty good in the lighting department.

Especially with the new fluid sim. Those are great

[Blink]

Originally posted by Total Oh No:

I got that impression, too, by first playing an hour of Spelunky 2 and then swapping to Spelunky 1. The first game had some interesting dynamic moving shadows going on that gave the environment more depth.

It's mainly the lack of shadows that is so off-putting. Like, even if you were to add some static shading / ambient occlusion lines around some edges it would be a massive improvement.