Final Fantasy 7 and Hexen will receive AI-enhanced HD Texture Packs, first screenshots

DSOGaming writes: "Yesterday we informed you about a new HD Texture Pack for Max Payne. And today, I’m happy to report that modders are currently working on AI-enhanced HD texture packs for two classic games; Final Fantasy 7 and Hexen."

[MeteorPanda]

no amount of textures will help a game with 3d characters on 2d backgrounds XD

[RabbitFly]

Well considering what is being upscaled is the 2d background yes it will.

As it stands the 3d models, while crude, will still look better with higher resolutions, the 2d background however will not because higher quality background textures do not exist.

I would even argue that games such as FF7 that does use a painted 2d background has the most potential for these kind of upscales. Full 3d games will still be low polygons no matter how many fancy textures you throw at them.

[MeteorPanda]

you contradict yourself a bit there. yes it will and then mention exactly what l meant...we cant upgrade th 2d backgrounds.

l love the game but even l can admit defeat here. it did not hold up well. ff9 probably held the best outta the ps1 games

full 3d games can have their models upscaled... what?

[RabbitFly]

No you clearly didn't look at the pictures. The 2d Backgrounds is exactly the textures that have been upscaled with the AI.

You can apply higher resolutions to a low poly model, it will look cleaner, but you can't magically create polygons where polygons don't exist.

What about that is hard to understand? low poly models benefit from higher resolutions in that they look cleaner, but low poly models will forever stay low poly models no matter how many fancy textures you throw at them.

Textures and models are two entirely different things.

[MeteorPanda]

l work in animation, rabbit...you can add polys by putting the characters into a program and adding edgeloops to the poly, however this needs the original rig and models to be used, as baked animation on models imported into game engines cannot get an increased poly count without seeing whack shit happen. Also low poly models can get bump, normal and texture maps that let the engine mimic increased detail on a flat surface.

so the original creators could easily fix 3d.

l read the article, its about ai doing the 2d textures into a mess of hd. it still looks bad

[KyRo]

REmake says hello. 2d backgrounds can work brilliantly if made in the HD era. I understand the issues with older games before the HD era but 3D models on 2D background definetly can look good.

[MeteorPanda]

a remake is a whole other thing! what were you thinking writing that.

and l disagree. ff7 faired the worse out of all the ff's because of it in age.

[KyRo]

@Panda It was a REmake in 2001. Before HD consoles were a thing. This images still hold the test of time nearly 20 years later. It has 2D background and 3D models ans looks fantastic. Stop looking for a argument. I even stated the issues before the HD era. Bellend.

[MeteorPanda]

l'm not looking for an argument @KyRo l'm saying flat backgrounds and 3d models will never hold out as good as a pure 2d/3d game. if you're okay playing it its fine, doesnt make it fantastic, lol

[Orionsangel]

or clouds popeye arms lol

[RabbitFly]

@meteorpanda that is what we call moving the goalposts.

First you clam they can't upgrade the 2d backgrounds when that is exactly what they are doing. Then you claim 3d models can get upscaled or can't get upscaled. Your wording here is ambigious.

When i clarify what you can and can't do by upscaling a 3d model you come back with this left field idea that developers can redo the models through some sort of program.
Not to mention the typical appeal to authority you always see on the Internett.

First off. I have no reason to believe you work in animation, and even if you do, that does not help your argument.

The process you describe is not upscaling. It would be to effectively remake the models. Which they potentially could do, but now we are in a different ballpark all-together.

I don't know. It comes off as if you got caught in a lie and are doing everything you can to pretend otherwise. Which leaves me thinking you are acting in bad faith.

[MeteorPanda]

l'm not moving anything, upgrade the 2d flat background all you want, it's still a 3d sprite walking around with no lighting or contrast reflected from the environment, there is no shared lighting, no global lighting, no correct shadows... or have you not noticed that? it doesn't mix in ff7 because of that obvious walking on the void look we can spot now.

l am not acting in bad faith at all, when you work in the field you get very judgey in anything that pertains to it, be it chefs on cooking shows, etc.

adding a few loops of polys l'd laugh if they called a remaking of models, it's a 5 min job and it eases placing high end textures for the reasons you listed.

fixing ff7 has always been a challenge, people have tried for years, it's the only one in the series so affected by age. 3d was new, they tried what worked and looked good then. not saying it's a bad game or that l guess the 2d doesnt look good, it just doesnt save the game from the shit tonne of flaws that it has.

[RabbitFly]

I question the credentials of anyone that uses the term "3d sprite" as that in of itself would be paradoxical. In that a sprite is a term used to describe a 2d bitmap that is part of a larger scene.

I agree the 3d is what makes ff7 age badly. However you have come with contradicting statements on this issue and I no longer have any idea what your stance is. Which is why I said you were moving goalposts.

If what you describe requires a separate program and the source data to create extra polygons before being imported into the engine again, yes then that would effectively be a new model. Which again is not the same as upscaling at all. Which makes it a red herring to what was being discussed.

[MrGameAndWatch]

That's a very interesting usage of upscaling AI, hope this mod will come out very soon !

[Segata]

Games look even better than those backgrounds these days but upscaled like this they hold up fairly well. While there is no need for pre-rendered areas anymore, I kinda miss them. I'm playing Onimusha Warlords and not knowing what is around every corner has some tension. Final Fantasy IX I sometimes would just stare at the backdrops.

[LightofDarkness]

Wow, AI upscalers are really revolutionizing HD retextures. They keep the original artwork intact; most attempts at high res retexturing end up looking awful.

I hope someone does the original Quake this way too!

[pyroxxx]

Looks pretty nice,.. never really had the problem with it in the first place,.. but it will look better on large HD displays.

[Cikatriz_ESP]

I’m actually waiting for something like this to drop before playing FFIX. Unfortunately Square Enix has a history of releasing half-assed ports and letting modders clean them up.

[Atomicjuicer]

It’s hard to view the difference properly the way this crappy website has linked them via Imgur

I came across these myself a few days ago on Neogaf I think and was blown away

This new AI tech is really cool

[Father__Merrin]

who is issuing these are they an official patch?

[zodiac909]

I get the feeling that the fans of this game, will re-create the proper HD Remake of this game, before Square Enix even manages to give us an update on the status of their "remake."

[Question_Mark]

The Hexen textures look really nice! I hope some of the RPG mods will work with it.

[Pyrofire95]

Looks so much better, holy cow.

[deathtok]

As a remaster, this would have been fine with some other minor tweaks. I’m excited for the remake but the wait is a bit much.