No blob shadows? 3D platforming needs them.

[Jellyfunk]

It's not the hardest thing to implement, and it's in none of the gameplay we have so far. I'm sure they'll add it now because of the complaining. It had better be an option though because I hate it.

[Rueckkoppler]

[Dracul JOSHI]

[Psychobeans]

Maybe we can get more discussion on this now that the kickstarter hype is cooling off a little.

[Shawnsim]

Fricken first world problems. Waaah blob shadows.
Playtonic arises from the ashes to create games for us and we complain about shadows.
Shadows.
Really. SHADOWS.

So laughable.

[GrayMagicΓ]

[Taylor]

I'm pretty sure a blob shadow can be added pretty easily at any point during development. If it's truly needed, everyone can rest assured that Playtonic won't overlook it. For example, when the Toybox games are released, Playtonic will surely be inundated with constructive criticism; if lacking a blob shadow proves ineffective, Playtonic will add it in.

(If they haven't already added one in before the Toybox games are released).

[Shawnsim]

[Yavga]

Now I wonder... I played mario 64 to death, but never realy noticed the blob shadow until now. Soooo, is it something that works on an unconscious level or what?

I think as long as the controls are responsive I can enjoy a good jumping challenge. eventually I believe you will get accustomed to the character in such a way you will become able to predict the timing of every jump.

But that's merely speculation, apparently studies in these kind of games prove me wrong :/

[Authentic]

Ah, I posted a new thread about this issue only to find that it's already been brought up. Anyway, I feel strongly that these "blob shadows" are absolutely necessary. As a side note, the term "blob" is misleading. It should really be called a "top-down shadow" or something, but that's a personal gripe, I guess.

It appears to me that those who prefer the angled shadows over blob shadows never pay attention to how blob shadows may help when playing 3D platformers. My guess is that these people base their understanding of the space they're playing in on instinct and muscle memory, and therefore their jumping accuracy may suffer a bit. It seems that it's an essential elegant tool for most platforming veterans and an ugly shadow to everyone else.

An option to turn on or off this kind of shadow seems to be a decent solution. Then the smaller issue arises: which is the default?

[Rueckkoppler]

[Dracul JOSHI]

[Typo]

[Yavga]

I would totally love Playtonic when they add an enemy/npc called 'shadow blob' at this point.

[Dracul JOSHI]

[Dracul JOSHI]

[Typo]

[Yavga]

Let me just say that... I just replayed Super Mario 64 a wee bit with a ps3 controller on my pc.
I came in unbiased and thought the blob shadow did not matter.
Now I used a cheat in the game that removes the blob shadow to see how that played.

Well I can only say I now understand why Blob shadows are necessary. They truly are!
I noticed it right at the first star when I tried a sideswing/jump to grab the star, there was a lack of depth perception. It felt unnatural not being able to predict where I will land.

[GrayMagicΓ]

[Lugbzurg]

My opinion is in favor of realistic shadows, despite this not being a realistic game.

It's not just because blob shadows were technical limitations at the time and realistic shadows would look better in this beautiful game. (Though those are also valid reasons.) Blob shadows are training wheels. At the time of Banjo-Kazooie, 3D platform games, or 3D games of any kind for that matter, were still a new thing for most people. Even the first level was absolutely minuscule, compared to any of the others. It was a new genre and a new dimension.

Today, this is unneeded. We don't need training wheels anymore. I don't have trouble blasting around at high speeds from platform to platform in a Sonic game, nor do I have any trouble landing jumps correctly in a Mario game. Besides, while people often clarify Banjo-Kazooie as a platform game, that was never particularity accurate. Seriously, how often did you actually have to jump on things in that game? (ESPECIALLY with accuracy?) There was mostly just running. And it looks like that will be very much the same here.

We don't need pinpoint blob shadows in a game about running around vast, open spaces.

The only way I can see something like blob shadows actually being necessary at this point is if the game has multiple difficulties, and blob shadows are used in the easy skill level(s).