Yep, the biggest problem with most of the backgrounds is that low resolution images look awful on modern compute monitor (it's no so bad on a TV); the pixels are massive. If we could just do with the battle background textures what can hypothetically be done with the field backgrounds (of course, the two kinds of background are in very different formats), and improve some of the obvious awful things like the trees in the forest scenes that Borde mentioned, I'll be satisfied.Wow, awesome! I'm glad you guys are up for re-doing the battle backgrounds, that's something I've wanted to see for a long time.
I'm sure just putting new higher-res textures over the existing models would be great on it's own!
That, or they get embarrassed when hobbyists make a better game than they can. I wonder whether part of the reason they've been shutting down so many Chrono Trigger projects is that they make Squeenix (who have only added a few dungeons in their DS remake AFAIK) look bad.That is an unfortunate truth nowadays. It's all about copyright protection. If there was a poorly done fan remake of FF7, and it doesn't get popular, Square wouldn't mind. But if it was a masterpiece, it turns into a potential cash cow, and Square may sue.
You really have to wonder what's going through their minds when people do that. They aren't going to lose a penny from letting a few fans make fanart. If anything, potentially copyright breaching stuff that falls short of episodes made available for download (like fanart, image macros, music videos etc.) can sometimes raise awareness of anime, at least in the West (admittedly most people will then just pirate the episodes, but a few will buy the DVDs and other paraphernalia). I know that I discovered all of the anime I watch (which isn't actually very much) from stuff like that. Does anyone other than lawyers benefit from such protectiveness?But at least they are not as bad as one anime company I heard, which even banned fanart of their material because of copyright. Not that the anime they were so eagerly protecting was good or popular in the first place. The anime was a pile of sh*t, and they probably thought banning fanart might help ease that problem. Digging a deeper grave is what they're doing right now.
If anything, I suspect that fanart and fan-led projects can really keep a franchise alive. I'm not saying that a few pics of Sephiroth on Deviantart have made Advent Children a success, but I do think that the 'cool' factor to watching people rebuild or tinker with games they fondly remember really can keep a brand in mind. I can't see how that's harmful to the holder of the intellectual copyright.You really have to wonder what's going through their minds when people do that. They aren't going to lose a penny from letting a few fans make fanart. If anything, potentially copyright breaching stuff that falls short of episodes made available for download (like fanart, image macros, music videos etc.) can sometimes raise awareness of anime, at least in the West (admittedly most people will then just pirate the episodes, but a few will buy the DVDs and other paraphernalia). I know that I discovered all of the anime I watch (which isn't actually very much) from stuff like that. Does anyone other than lawyers benefit from such protectiveness?
I too was pretty impressed when I saw them. Of course, getting them back into the game seems to be a bit harder, but I'm sure that Aali will be able to get Palmer working properly quite quickly.Those fractal interpolated pictures look really amazing. I never expected a filter to get such impresive results out of those old low res images.
My point exactly :-DIf anything, I suspect that fanart and fan-led projects can really keep a franchise alive. I'm not saying that a few pics of Sephiroth on Deviantart have made Advent Children a success, but I do think that the 'cool' factor to watching people rebuild or tinker with games they fondly remember really can keep a brand in mind. I can't see how that's harmful to the holder of the intellectual copyright.