Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS - Settle It In Smash!

[Chaos Warp]

 

lolimprovements

 

Since when has Smash or animation in general (as VisonaryBlur has pointed out below me) had any semblance of realistic poses

 

It's about what looks cool, man. 

[VO.SUPER]

Meh, this is just something we in animation have done for years. It's called breaking the joints. It's used for style and flair. 

[Salamander]

To be fair, Samus is flexible enough to roll up into a ball. These are hardly something that will hurt her in any way.

 

She can only roll into a ball when she's wearing an enormous suit of armour, though.

[Chaos Warp]

She can only roll into a ball when she's wearing an enormous suit of armour, though.

In theory that would hamper her flexibility thus making it easier for her to do it outside of the suit?

[Diogenes]

Since when has Smash or animation in general (as VisonaryBlur has pointed out below me) had any semblance of realistic poses

Her firing pose was pretty reasonable in Brawl. Certainly wasn't as dramatically twisted as this.

Also in the Primes the morph ball turned her into energy, she wasn't just contorted up inside it.

[azoo]

Since when has Smash or animation in general (as VisonaryBlur has pointed out below me) had any semblance of realistic poses

 

It's about what looks cool, man. 

 

Meh, this is just something we in animation have done for years. It's called breaking the joints. It's used for style and flair. 

 

There's a difference between some exaggeration and breaking the character's anatomy completely, especially when you're using a 3D model. Stylizing a character can be done without that, and it shouldn't really justify really broken posing unless the character is elastic, already stretching the suspension of disbelief or somehow parodizing the concept.

 

That's an issue I have not only with this but some anime as well, so it's not exclusive to Samus.

[Chaos Warp]

Her firing pose was pretty reasonable in Brawl. Certainly wasn't as dramatically twisted as this.

Also in the Primes the morph ball turned her into energy, she wasn't just contorted up inside it.

I'd argue that as long as it looks good in motion it's not really relevant, as in animation there are many unrealistic poses for the sake of looking good in motion. 

 

In Prime 1 when you get the morph ball it shows her physically rolling into a ball as the Morph Ball envelopes her, if I recall correctly. Not quite turning her into energy, possibly. 

[Diogenes]

I'd argue that as long as it looks good in motion it's not really relevant, as in animation there are many unrealistic poses for the sake of looking good in motion.

Well, maybe, but I'm not sure if that is going to look good in motion.

In Prime 1 when you get the morph ball it shows her physically rolling into a ball as the Morph Ball envelopes her, if I recall correctly. Not quite turning her into energy, possibly.

Yeah but you can see in through the seam and it's just glowy energy inside.

[Chaos Warp]

Well, maybe, but I'm not sure if that is going to look good in motion.

 

I suppose we'll have to wait until we actually see it in motion to make that judgement. 

[VO.SUPER]

There's a difference between some exaggeration and breaking the character's anatomy completely, especially when you're using a 3D model. Stylizing a character can be done without that, and it shouldn't really justify really broken posing unless the character is elastic, already stretching the suspension of disbelief or somehow parodizing the concept.

 

That's an issue I have not only with this but some anime as well, so it's not exclusive to Samus.

 

Most exaggeration is just breaking a character's anatomy; once you have a grasp of it you can play with it to make it work in motion. In 2D animation we've done this for decades and it looks fine all the same; 3D shouldn't be limited by it's models. And in the case of this Smash, exaggeration seems to be the name of the game all around; every character is getting some sort of exaggeration added to them for the sake of chaotic motions and fast paces movement.

[azoo]

Most exaggeration is just breaking a character's anatomy; once you have a grasp of it you can play with it to make it work in motion. In 2D animation we've done this for decades and it looks fine all the same; 3D shouldn't be limited by it's models. And in the case of this Smash, exaggeration seems to be the name of the game all around; every character is getting some sort of exaggeration added to them for the sake of chaotic motions and fast paces movement.

 

Not really, though. There's a massive difference between pose exaggeration / squash-and-stretch and Escher Girls.

 

Plus, if it makes a difference for anything, I stated that these weird poses seems to be a thing happening with a lot of the Smash cast this time around. Like poses where the models are so twisted that their geometry and textures get a bit warped from it. It doesn't deteriorate the game's quality in either art or design since it's so far away, but it's certainly a little confusing how they'd settle for that.

[VO.SUPER]

Not really, though. There's a massive difference between pose exaggeration / squash-and-stretch and Escher Girls.

 

Plus, if it makes a difference for anything, I stated that these weird poses seems to be a thing happening with a lot of the Smash cast this time around. Like poses where the models are so twisted that their geometry and textures get a bit warped from it. It doesn't deteriorate the game's quality in either art or design since it's so far away, but it's certainly a little confusing how they'd settle for that.

 

I said, "breaking the joints" it's an actual thing, not just pose exaggeration. Even the best animators in history have used it just for the sake of making dynamic movement. You shouldn't limit it to anything.

 

 

It looks awkward when you pause, but it's supposed to be there for the sake of exaggeration and movement. 

[SilentDoom]

Broken posing is a very common technique in animation, although this isn't a particularly amazing example of how it's done well because this is clearly a key pose that she'll pretty much be holding until she fires the paralyzer as opposed to a moment of interpolation deliberately exaggerated for the sake of making the animation overall stronger.

 

Animation doesn't always need to aim to be realistic but regardless of how stylised it is it needs to aim to be believable.  It's pretty much a rule of animation.  The argument for Samus here is a strange one.  We know Samus is naturally extremely flexible and athletic (how would she be able to contort into her Morph Ball otherwise), so it's not exactly too farfetched for her to contort into that kind of pose.  What it boils down to really is just the quality of the pose isn't particularly nice.  The arcs formed by the pose aren't clean and the line of action feels rather wonky.  I appreciate them trying to spruce up the pose some more, but this isn't quite the most elegant way to go about it.  Mind you I've been pretty impressed with quite a lot of Smash 4's animation.  Pit's Neutral B for example is a much better example of them strengthening and stylising a pose:

 

 

 

[azoo]

Okay, well that could be an exception for most of them. The problem with Samus of course though is that just about every photo taken of her features her in a pose like that. XD

 

But anyways I'll drop the topic. I know there are eyes rolling for miles at this still being discussed.

[VO.SUPER]

Part of the fault of it I find is those damned heels. While her arms are a problem, her body and legs are at the mercy of some shitty heels that shouldn't allow her to bend that way comfortably either.

 

So this is basically what it looked like before, if you want a comparison. You can tell Sakurai tried to push the dynamics with the new one.

 

[Xenos]

I just don't understand how she can line up a good shot in an uncomfortable pose like that in the first place.

[-Robin-]

I just don't understand how she can line up a good shot in an uncomfortable pose like that in the first place.

For much the same reason Falco can line up a shot one handed with his arms crossed. Rule of Cool.

[Xenos]

Samus is doing a lot more than that though, for one, look at that arm. Why is she bending her abdomen like it's taffy? And the foot sticking out doesn't look quite stable.

 

I'm not even sure I'd say this looks cool, just a bit awkward to be honest.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Well she does have contorionist-ish abilities, perhaps it comes from being part bird and part metroid

[Mania Pipe]

I guess Samus is in that pose, because she's trying make the gun-wielding-crouch pose look cool and more dynamic.

[Carbo]

 

lolimprovements

 

Though to be fair a lot of characters in this Smash seem to be making some bone-breaking poses. Kind of strange.

 

On another note, I'm so ready for E3. It's gonna be a daang good time.

This image is a bunch of dogshit because a non-dislocated shoulder wouldn't conceal her chest.

[VO.SUPER]

In other news, Sakurai explains global Smash Power again.

 

 

 

"You could call it (Global Smash Power system) a 'reverse ranking.' It counts how far you are from the bottom instead of how far you are from the top. It's simple, but in solves a lot of the problems with conventional ranking systems! By calling [your rank] 'power,' it makes it fun to see the number rise. I believe it's a very versatile system, but what do you think? It's not just about encouraging competition."

 

I think he has a point. Leaderboards and crap like that piss me off, mostly because the guys who are usually at the top are hackers, so you'll never know for sure how you really rank compared to the top. This way there's little to no point in even hacking if you can't tell who the top is. And even then; the chase for the top can just be so hostile and demanding at times that it creates a really unfriendly environment. It's best to keep titles like that for actual tournament play.

 

However, this does cause a problem if you happen to be the unlucky guys who are at the bottom. How disheartening would it be to read something like, "You are better than 20 people." 

 

However, I'd think it'd be funny if there was a contest to see who could be number 0 in the world. XD

[MegasonicZX]

In other news, Sakurai explains global Smash Power again.

 

 

I think he has a point. Leaderboards and crap like that piss me off, mostly because the guys who are usually at the top are hackers, so you'll never know for sure how you really rank compared to the top. This way there's little to no point in even hacking if you can't tell who the top is. And even then; the chase for the top can just be so hostile and demanding at times that it creates a really unfriendly environment. It's best to keep titles like that for actual tournament play.

 

However, this does cause a problem if you happen to be the unlucky guys who are at the bottom. How disheartening would it be to read something like, "You are better than 20 people." 

 

However, I'd think it'd be funny if there was a contest to see who could be number 0 in the world. XD

I like this, it makes things easier for people who want to just battle with people who are on their level instead of just random people who may or may not fight all too well or just don't fight at all (looking at you taunt parties >_>).

[jords]

Damn its gonna be interesting to see who gets the highest number. 

 

We should have like a small contest of this. For the first month of  release whoever has the highest GSP (Global Smash Power). Anyone agree? 

 

It depends on who is getting the 3DS version Day 1.

[StaticMania]

(Taunt Parties): The group that is is entirely like to just play in For Fun mode, or For Glory just to troll people.