Who should be redesigned for next MI?
Guybrush: Only slightly, I think. Perhaps no beard and no HUGE dangling bang in front, new coat, etc.
MORGAN: For the love of god make her look more like a hardened woman ie: Kate Krebbs. She looks like Fairly Oddparents right now and I personally think she just looks silly in the game. Her eyes are the size of Elaine's head! WAY too cartoony, even for MI.
Elaine: She's pretty good how she is.
LeChuck: Fix the teeth / mouth, maybe taller and a bit thinner, more defined eyes that have both eyeball and pupil. I highly preferred Chapter 5 version to earlier demonic version, that's for sure.
Voodoo Lady: Older, taller, less EMI more CMI.
Stan: Bigger eyes, otherwise fine
Winslow is fine, if he comes back for another season.
Murray, also fine, exactly how I imagined him in 3D.
MORGAN: For the love of god make her look more like a hardened woman ie: Kate Krebbs. She looks like Fairly Oddparents right now and I personally think she just looks silly in the game. Her eyes are the size of Elaine's head! WAY too cartoony, even for MI.
Elaine: She's pretty good how she is.
LeChuck: Fix the teeth / mouth, maybe taller and a bit thinner, more defined eyes that have both eyeball and pupil. I highly preferred Chapter 5 version to earlier demonic version, that's for sure.
Voodoo Lady: Older, taller, less EMI more CMI.
Stan: Bigger eyes, otherwise fine
Winslow is fine, if he comes back for another season.
Murray, also fine, exactly how I imagined him in 3D.
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Comments
I agree with pretty much all of this, except I'm not sure about making Morgan look harder... maybe give her smaller hips/ a wider waist, but if they dread her hair or give her a load of piercings or facial tattoos or anything like that it'll just be annoying in my opinion.
And Guybrush's chin needs to be restored to its former glory. If you look at a picture of him, just shaving him would leave him with an incredibly pointed chin. I'd really love to see him with a full beard (albeit a short one) like in LCR and a normal chin.
Elaine needs to look younger, I think, maybe her hair fly a little bit with the wind. She looks a bit older than Guybrush, which is oddly offputting (I say this with the knowledge that my last two girlfriends were both 1-2 years older than I am).
Morgan: Her eyes are pretty big, almost Anime esq. I don't mind her being cute and spunkey, but slightly more human proportioned would help. And I can't help but feel like she should be slightly shorter.
Elaine: Hair is a little too curly for my liking, I prefered her in CMI, however this design is a world and a half better than EMI so I don't want to complain too much. Rather than redesigning her look I'd rather a look into developing her character. She felt 2 dimensional to me in this series personality wise.
Winslow: Make him more unique. I was bugged a lot by the recycling of body types and faces in this series. Winslow's wardrobe was unique and fun so they can keep that. I'd just like to see him with a new face that makes him much more clearly defined from nipperkin and doro and all the other pirates of similar structure.
Voodoo Lady: Tone down the makeup. Yes voodoo priests do that sort of thing, but I found it distracting. If her makeup was more like bugeyes tattoos that would make more sense to me. Otherwise I think voodoo ladys body structure is fine and her wardrobe ok.
LeChuck: More face less lips. And make him Larger. His proportions distort my perception of whether or not Guybrush was larger than him or not. I know he's bigger than Guybrush, but some scenes don't feel that way. Make him clearly bigger since so he is clearly supposed to be menacing LeChuck.
Pirates: Make the pirate population more unique in facial structure. The recycling was too obvious even with the wardrobe changes.
And uh, use Laserschwert's lighting style.
Guybrush - Design Change. More hair, smaller or no beard. Rounder face. New duds. I love the coat but the coat is a trademark of Tales and the next season should distinguish itself.
Elaine - For the love of the pirate god get her some longer hair. Make her hair more like it was in SMI. And give her a few more curves. She looks like a housewife. Keep the face the same.
Morgan - Don't listen to these haters, she looks fine.
Voodoo Lady is fine, Stan is fine. Get rid of the recurring models. Or at least hide it better. If there are Flotsam models in Season 2 I will RAGE.
Next time make the Voodoo Lady's place more memorable, and dramatic. LeChuck's ship is a good idea of what I mean by "dramatic".
What about Winslow?
I'd also rather see the concept/modelling artists' talent and time spent on creating unique new charcters, rather than substantially remodelling existing ones.
Costume changes are another matter.
New clothes, facial hair or polygon count? -Absolutely, but unless a new game is going to be built in a totally different way, e.g. 2D/Stereoscopic 3D, there is no need. Even if you don’t like them, surely continuity is favourable at this point? As suggested elsewhere, the MI2 Guybrush wasn’t indented to be a redesign, just an update.
Obviously the Curse and Escape Guybrushes had to look different due to the way they were created.
"I really do like the look Guybrush had in Tales, and would like it to carry over to a Season 2. Except for a couple of things.
First, the buckles on his belt and shoulder baldric were missing for some reason! REAL belts would have buckles of some sort. In a season 2 they should really be added to his model. It's a minor detail but it just bugs me. (Note that Ryan Jones DID include such buckles in his concept drawings of Guybrush's look for Tales.)
Second, I don't like how the cuffs of Guybrush's boots have trim matching his jacket cuffs. Such gold trim on pirate boots is HIGHLY unusual. Make the costume more historically accurate and leave off the gold edging on the boots!
Finally, I think Guybrush should have more authentically piratey facial hair. Maybe lose the sideburns, and give him a Van Dyke beard (that is, give him a mustache to go with his goatee.) That was a very common look for 17th century facial hair. You can see it in the game Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, as sported by Flint, a blond ponytailed pirate who looks suspiciously like our hero.
I'd also be happy if Guybrush got a full beard, as he has on some of the Tarot cards.
Or, if we want to imagine Tales Guybrush with a full beard, look at this concept art LucasArts did in the course of making the MI1 Special Edition."
As for Elaine... I know her green eyes were mentioned repeatedly in dialogue in Tales, pretty much making them canon, but I'd still like to see her blue eye color from MI1 and CMI return.
Elaine in CMI:
Elaine in TMI:
I'm aware Telltale basically gave her green eyes to create a contrast with Guybrush's blue eyes, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem. In fact, the Tales episode data sets currently contain 3 different shades for blue eyes.
Guybrush--medium blue eyes:
Bosun Krebbs--light blue eyes:
Human LeChuck--dark blue eyes:
See? Just pick one of these two other shades of blue eyes for Elaine.
I really like your considered posts ATMachine. Thanks for the Guybrush concept sketches! Very interesting.
It would be awesome if Telltale used an original sketch sheet like that one as a prize in their next MI-related competition. Would be something unique and special to own.
I like Elaine's hair here (the pattern of swirls all over her design is fun) though I wouldn't mind losing the swirls, as long as they still make the hair bouncy and fluffy and tied in some way at the top. The length of it is just perfect for me. Speaking as someone who has had longer hair than that before, it sure would make me uncomfortable watching her be all active in her pirate adventures with hair that long. :I I did not like her out-of-control and stiff round hair in the older games, so I'd rather not have that back. I like the color of her eyes if only because I feel it goes really well with the color of her hair. I would rather not have the blue/purple eyes return. In fact, I'd much prefer a hazel, light brown or darker green eye color if they were to change them.
I really liked Voodoo Lady this time around. Seeing as her role has now been brought into question, I prefer the ambiguously menacing look rather than something like her Curse look.
I've never liked LeChuck's giant monster lips.
Morgan could do with a lot of changes. I don't really mind her baby-faced look since I got the feeling they were trying to make us see her as young, child-like person, (with the matching voice) but if she gets a nice tough change, (which I feel she needs) she could do with lots of re-designing. Her hair I never cared for, the length is ok but the pointy ends bother me. I actually would not mind dreads or braids of some kind. It worked great for Carla and Krebbs, so why not? The short, sharp hair would work if it were more layered-looking and wilder, with length reaching to just below her jaw. (maybe something like Faith Connors) I like the coloring of her clothes a lot, but something about the actual clothes bug me. The belt, coat and vest are a cool combination, but I do not care for the really skin-tight pants. (especially on a character with such huge hips, Elaine has pretty big hips but the baggy pants help not to emphasize them) I never cared for the weird single shoulder plate, and I also would like a little less cleavage. (the vest is open enough to almost pass the entire cleavage line for goodness' sake!) This is probably because characters that show too much obvious fan service bug me, but it bugs me more because the look does not match the child-like mannerisms of the character. If she were to get a more sly makeover, like I said, I wouldn't mind the voluptuous look as long as it's not overdone. Of course, I also got to remember
Winslow is "just there" for me in terms of design. Like, it's nothing great or bad, it just gets the job done. Thus, I don't really know what to suggest, but I'd love to see if anyone came up with anything cool!
Stan is just fine the way he is, but I'd like a longer coat. As long as it's not like the EMI disaster, Stan seems like an easy character to always get right. Though I would like to see some re-animating. His mouth could be crazier, for example.
That's all the characters I can think of, though I'd still really like to see Wally return with a really cool design!
Honestly, I'd be perfectly fine with keeping her eye color green like it is now. After all, Elaine's eye color is stated outright as green (by Guybrush!) in dialogue in TMI, pretty much the first explicit mention of it ever in an MI game. So that rather solidly makes her current green eyes canon.
(Plus, her eyes changed to green in MI1 Special Edition, replacing the original blue color of MI1 VGA, at the same time!)
Me advocating a change back to blue was just some serious old-school MI-fan nerdery on my part. (Also, I like to mess with the heads of the ultra-serious fans who complain about continuity errors. Myself included.
I really liked the character designs for the characters over all, though LeChuck I see no reason to change. Perhaps in future seasons depending on storyline, PLEASE TELLTALE reprise the fiery beard and fiery everything. When I first thought, "Pirate God" I immediately imagined infernal LeChuck*, but I think the design team posited that as an expected cliché.
And yes ZOMBIE GOD was awesome.
*Remember in CMI when Zombie LeChuck was obliterated by the Voodoo cannonball, then came back as the Demon-pirate, same thing!
LeChuck's ethereal voodoo essence now in the hands of the Voodoo Lady shall rise again like he did from those BOOTS.
I can't believe there are so many people who want to get rid of Guybrush's awesome beard. Let's not make him look like a lil boy, people. I really did not like his appearance in Curse after MI2. He is a pirate, he needs a beard. If he's a mighty pirate, that can only mean he needs an even mightier one.
Morgan's out of reasonable proportions. That's true. But Monkey Island is a cartoony franchise anyway (well... maybe not before Curse). Only reasonable change would be thickening her waist. Well, I admit her waist is in Jessica Rabbit standarts. But don't change her eyes please.
PLEASE. It's important. Really.
I also thought something about Stan wasn't quite right. Maybe a bigger chin/jaw or something?
I didn't think Morgan looked too bad, even if she was a bit on the cartoony side. I can live with it, but I wouldn't object to her being a little less cartoony in the next season.
Elaine and Winslow looked fine. TOMI Elaine is my favourite visual design of her so far, and Winslow was great too. Murray and LeChuck - got no complaints about either really.
Guybrush looked fine too. The only thing I think would be cool for the second season is if he grows his beard into a full beard (like the tarot cards). He was fine for season 1, it'd be good visual development I think.
No beard? What is this madness?
i wouldnt mind seeing the next season all in cartoon style like this, the illustrations are outstanding, and that way you dont have to worry about re using models....btw might sound like a silly question but who drew the art for tales?
I love the art, but i don't think i would like it as a whole 2D game. I just don't think it would look right. But then again, alot of people probably said that about Curse.
They do include that style of art in the games though (like on photos and whatnot), and the 3D character models are pretty much 3D versions of the 2D artwork, though not exact. Probably the nearest they could do is tweak the character models a bit to see how close they can get them to resemble the 2D artwork, though I can't really see the visual style completely changing for season 2.
I like Telltale's use of 3D, because they actually use it very well in terms of providing a cinematic feel. Which is just as well, because they won't be changing it anyway.
The concept artist was Ryan Jones, and he is pretty awesome!
When has that ever stopped fictional females from wearing sexy clothes?
The more impractical the clothing the more likely it is to appear anything fantasy related.
LeChuck should look more CMI-like. He really had some character when he had those fiery eyes and a burning beard. Plus he was talking with kinda echo, which he doesn't do here. I guess they tried to make him appear LCR-like, but his Curse styling was so fascinating I think you can't overcome that.
Stan and Voodoo Lady are fine. Winslow looked too typical among same models in Tales, but if they make a new game, he can be kept just the way he is. He has this weird sexual ambiguity I really liked, and with his deep male voice it becomes funny.
So my guess is that the characters are ok in general, maybe do redesign on LeChuck, and if creating new characters, don't just use two models for side-chars, well, maybe do, but customize them from what Winslow looks like right now, and it would be great.
I also hope to see the democratic trio again, though Noogie died. Putting them in another subplot where they also do nothing but par-tay would be cool. Guybrush could meet them and say: "Gee, guys, don't you ever change?", with Bugeye responding something like "Look who's talking!" alluding to Guybrush being 20ish for over 20 years now.
I think Morgan could do with having narrower hips or a wider waist, (because her hips are REALLY wide) but apart from that I really like her design. She doesn't look like a hardened fighter, but in her line of work that's probably a good thing. If she doesn't look threatening then people will underestimate her, which makes it easier for her to take them down.
Guybrush kinda bugged me but I'm not sure why. I do really like the "The Lovers" illustration though, so maybe if he looked more like that?
And Morgan's appearance kinda bugged me too, but at the same time it just makes her very cartoony which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn't be against a more realistic waist/hips ratio (mostly, a wider waist. I keep worrying she's going to break into two, it's so thin), but if she appears again and looks the same I won't complain.
The others I either really liked (I really liked LeChuck and Stan for instance) or didn't really care about one way or the other.
agreed. I think they made Morgan perfect as an attractive young woman. One that could conceivably be an additional love interest for Guybrush and create a possible love-triangle in the story, except for the fact that Guybrush is wholly devoted to his wife and that he felt betrayed by Morgan selling him out to DeSinge.
Wait, I'm confused by your statement. If she doesn't look like a hardened fighter how does she look threatening?
After a long time of thinking, I think what bugs me the most about her design is just that. She doesn't look threatening enough. Personally, I really, really liked her tarot card look.
Her current appearance wouldn't really have her opponents going "oh, she looks scary, I'd better be on my guard", it's more "awwww, she's cute... OH GOD SHE'S STABBING ME IN THE EYE!" And I think that works for her, plus it also explains why she doesn't want anyone knowing what she looks like. ("beware of the cute one, she'll stab you in the eye!")
I never really saw that kind of characterization, and I don't really like it either way. Guybrush only underestimated her because she softened him up with her fangirl talk and then let his guard down with the whole friends thing. Backstabbing was more of a thing she seemed to have decided at the last second, and I doubt she would have been all "ok, put 'em up, I'm betraying you, so let's fight." I also feel as if someone who spreads menacing flyers about herself would like to be taken at least a bit seriously in her profession, but that's just me.
I would really hate it if she came back to the series and served as more vixen drama fodder. I really feel as if her childish personality should be something she should outgrow by the next game. ("I'm over it, let's just kill some pirates and make jokes about it.") I was disappointed that her characterization went from "MIGHTY PIRATE HUNTER YEEEAAAA" to "fangirling over Guybrush" to "mighty backstabbing pirate hunter YEEEAAA?" to "depressed pirate hunter + drama fodder x 2" I felt a little better about it after the credits, but after that whole downhill flight I was all indifferent about her by that point.
I also liked Morgan's development, but again that's just my opinion. But if she comes back I certainly don't want to see any kind of love triangle nonsense going on, I'd hope that if she returns then she'd have accepted that she's not got a chance with Guybrush anyway. (plus there's the whole ghost thing) And I'd also hope that they don't have any jealousy thing going on with Elaine, because when she (Elaine) is in her right mind I'd imagine she wouldn't see Morgan as a threat anyway, she's got enough faith in Guybrush and security in their relationship to be sure that he wouldn't be interested in Morgan anyway.
Worst-case scenario would have Morgan being to Guybrush what LeChuck is to Elaine. DO NOT WANT. (unless it's all part of some clever ruse)