Heavenly Sword showcased in London - Click this-

[XtromaniaK]

The hair is all done with physics (lowered gravity for the hair makes it all floaty and such). Her hair looks awesome catching the light and stuff, even though saying it looks like real hair would be really inaccurate. I don't have a problem with it since it looks all pretty like waving around in nicely lit environments, and it's still thinned out and long enough for me to look at it and think "Hair' and not "sausage rolls!" But I can see why people might automatically think "Sausage rolls!".

The Fluidity of it really helps imo.

Maybe if they thinned out the strands a bit more, would it look better to you?

I think she'd look awful with short hair. =\

That's probably the thing. It looks like she has really shiny dreads. So it leaves me with the impression of sort of a clay-ish, low res hair with a high-res face. A small peeve, but still bothers me.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

looks perfect to me, her hair design looks great and makes her more unique, i can care less, about seeing every single strained of hair. and her hair looks like long ribbons not dreads.

 

[XtromaniaK]

looks perfect to me, her hair design looks great and makes her more unique, i can care less, about seeing every single strained of hair. and her hair looks like long ribbons not dreads.

Looks like clay dreads to me.

Each strand seems wayyy too thick and glossy.

 

[Avalanche]

looks perfect to me, her hair design looks great and makes her more unique, i can care less, about seeing every single strained of hair. and her hair looks like long ribbons not dreads.

I'm with you. I love the design.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

Looks like clay dreads to me.

Each strand seems wayyy too thick and glossy.

its the opposite with me,i suggest you get a pair of glasses. her hair is thin and has a certain dull sheen(sp?) to it.

 

[XtromaniaK]

its the opposite with me,i suggest you get a pair of glasses. her hair is thin and has a certain dull sheen(sp?) to it.

I suggest that you go out into the real world and see just how glossy and thick strands of real world hair are. Those, in contrast, are ridiculously thick and have an exceptionally greasy gloss/shine to them.

Don't be a moron and tell people they're blind because they have a different opinion than you.

 

[Zenien]

HS Blog

Question Theme #1
· Is there going to be a special edition of Heavenly Sword?
· Will there be a very nice book of art that will be maybe a collectors box?
· Is there gonna be a limited edition with all the behind the scenes, art work and stuff (and please remastered in 1080p)? People will
spend for quality.

[mat answer] We have talked with Sony about a special edition of Heavenly Sword. After lots of ideas and discussions we decided that there will be no special edition as such...instead we would cram the retail release with as many extras as we could fit onto a BR! The retail disk will feature a series of behind the scenes features as well as the first 2 episodes of a special 'animated series' exploring the history of the Heavenly Sword prior to the start of the game

Question Theme #2
· How long will it take to finish the game from start to finish, for the avarage player?
· Are we gonna be getting atleast 5hrs of gameplay?

[mat answer] Heh, this is a good question…we were a little concerned with game length around E3 last year and have worked very hard to make sure this isn’t an issue. It’s hard to estimate exactly how long it’ll take someone to run through it the first time but we believe that you can expect somewhere between 12-15 hours of play.

Question Theme #3
· Have you managed to push it to 1080p/60frames yet?
· The game still needs more work, the Cinematics look Perfect its time to focus more on the GAMEPLAY, fix the bugs and try to get it run at 1080p/60.

[mat answer] Heavenly Sword will be delivered in 720p HD

Question Theme #4
· When are we getting a demo?

[mat answer] I can confirm that we are, of course, going to be releasing a demo for Heavenly Sword…and soon! This will be downloadable via the Playstation Network…so keep an eye out for this in the very near future…and i mean very near future!

Single Question #1
· If the opening segments of the game depict Nariko dying with Heavenly Sword in hand, what will you guys do if this game is wildly successful and there is a demand for a sequel? I mean obviously you could have some "omg divine intervention she's really alive after all" sort of thing, but those are hard to pull off. Are you going to maybe show her "dying" but not actually "dead"? Or maybe a prequel would be in order?

[mat answer] The story of the Heavenly Sword was developed with a much longer arc in mind than just a single game. In the event that the demand for a sequel is great enough the next ‘chapter’ will be very exciting indeed!

Single Question #2
· Is it seriously hard to develop a game on the ps3, if you dont mind a 2 part question ^_^ on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the difficulty lvl as 10 being the hardest?

[mat answer] Now this sounds like a journalist question! They always ask the tricksiest ones… happy Anyways, developing for a next-gen console whether it be the PS3 or the 360 is always going to have it’s up’s and down’s…what Sony have done that has helped massively is they have enabled all PS3 developers to openly communicate, if they wish to, without restriction which has meant that we have been able to work as a global community to learn and harness the power available to us in the PS3 hardware.



Single Question #3
· Is there a jump button by any chance?
[mat answer] no, HS is a cinematic action-adventure game and not a platform game

Single Question #4
· Have you thought of having super star moves for each of the fighting stances plus the cool cinematic throws?? Just incase the enemies start to get too intelligent or in the case where you stand against 100s of enemies, a pay off superstar move will be good. Maybe do this holding down the square or the triangle button. (like in ninja gaiden)
[mat answer] we have and yes, there are specific Superstyle moves for each of the stances and at multiple power levels…the highest levels of Superstyle will enable you to take out several hundred enemies if you are skillful enough

Single Question #5
· My biggest concern however is that The Heavenly Sword does not really look that Heavenly at all to me. It's kinda grey and looks quite normal, there needs to be light and colours on it if you ask me.

[mat answer] Surely the lesson to be learnt from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is that flashy ostentatiousness is not the remit of the heavens? The Heavenly Sword demonstrates its divinity on the battlefield which is where it counts! happy Plus it has some seriously cool special FX that you have to see in motion to believe!

Single Question #7
· Hate to be the devil's advocate here, because I'm really looking forward to this game, but how would you respond to the criticism that - with chain blades and timed button presses - this game is really just a God of War clone?

[mat answer] Since E3 last year this has been a perennial question about Heavenly Sword…as we’ve said before; to be compared favourably to one of the best games ever made is no bad thing! Having played both games, I don't see that much of a similarity other than the fact that both are combat-focused adventure games. The gameplay experience and the emotional journey for Nariko in Heavenly Sword is very different from that of Kratos I assure you!


Keep the questions coming guys...it is good fun to hear what thoughts and ideas you're having about the game

mat

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

I suggest that you go out into the real world and see just how glossy and thick strands of real world hair are. Those, in contrast, are ridiculously thick and have an exceptionally greasy gloss/shine to them.

Don't be a moron and tell people they're blind because they have a different opinion than you.

last time i checked the designers were'nt basing her hair on real-world design,which throws your point out the window. and FYI, not everyone has the same hair type.there are thin,thick,curly, or straight. your opinion is based on poor taste and judgement.

just saying

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

great job zenien,although i did'nt understand the whole jump button part,mind explaining it?

 

[XtromaniaK]

last time i checked the designers were'nt basing her hair on real-world design,which throws your point out the window. and FYI, not everyone has the same hair type.there are thin,thick,curly, or straight. your opinion is based on poor taste and judgement.

just saying

No, my judgement is based on wanting hair to look like hair. Not greased dreads. And that's what thick hair (like that) is, dreads. Which that is basically a smaller-scale example over, greased up dreads. More importantly, though, is that they look sort of clay-ish because of that.

I love the face, but the hair bothers me.

 

[Avalanche]

great job zenien,although i did'nt understand the whole jump button part,mind explaining it?

Presumably anything that requires a jump will be executed by following on-screen commands. It's obviously an area we're they're trying to distinguish from God of War and its platforming elements. Personally, I quite liked them, but we'll see.

 

[Cyrusbales]

looks interesting, more power ot the ps3 I say, and people buy 360's, lol

 

[Superman1314]

The more I read about this game the more excited I get.

 

[Benstamania]

It'll be the game I buy once the PS3 price drops.

 

[Zenien]

A ton of new footage is coming out for it from the event. here's the first two minutes.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XEIDBMPA

 

[Avalanche]

That downloadable video ran at about 5 sodding frames a second for me. Crap.

But oooh, raven spirit.

 

[Zenien]

http://www.mininova.org/tor/783329

Torrent for the High quality stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR7e8HOm9ag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWev2oogYp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aa0lIyjUNc

Youtube quality! YEahhh!

 

[Avalanche]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR7e8HOm9ag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWev2oogYp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aa0lIyjUNc

I'd recommend anyone with an interest in Heavenly Sword clicks on the links and watches the video. Annoying as hell presenter aside (sounded like Dave Berry to me ) the videos are actyally pretty informative about the mechanics of the game, and show off areas and levels previously unseen.

And are also a little spoilery in places, but hey.

The stance system seems complicated. I'm used to God of War combat. Heavenly Sword is going to be much more complex. Whether that's better or worse I don't know.

 

[Zenien]

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

As much as I want to watch it I have to hold out for its release in early SEPTEMBER.

)_*()*(&u**(_&e@(*!@_*!@$)%*!)@%(@*+

Talk about how awesome it is or something, ugh, I just can't spoil it for myself.

EDIT:

I'm glad people seemed to like it, I watched it this morning before going into work and saw loads of bugs and issues that we've ironed out by now.

Especially the army stuff, but then that's my baby so I see all the old bugs and cringe...

So it was a bit "Oh god, what the AI doing there? why did they film that bug" hehe

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=1590004&postcount=1857

Its almost one in the morning here, I need sleep else I won't want to get to work tomorrow (can you tell where in final ship crunch hehe). I'll take a look tomorrow during a full compile and post some thoughts.

Off the top of my head, Shadows as mentioned, AI guys standing around looking stupid in one of the army scenes. Glitches in the army movement.

 

[Zenien]

http://stage6.divx.com/user/y2kev/video/1394282/Heavenly-Sword---Gamer-tv

High Quality version (Youtube sucks)

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

damn, i want to download these

 

[Zenien]

Yarrr

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3CHHQ3A8

The full thing

FYI the Army Swoop scene was 100 percent realtime locked 30fps. The later decided to record it instead of having the game run it in realtime so they could speed up load times for the level itself and because they didn't have the texture space to spend that much to make the eye run as awesome as it looks in the video.

 

[Havok83]

Looking good

 

[Superman1314]

Yes, looking damn good. I am very interested in finding out how deep the combat styles for each version of your weapon is. A few moves for each would be depressing for a next gen title. I'm hoping for depth to the weapons, like Ninja Gaiden Sigma (or the previous titles).

 

[Zenien]

The scene with the army is like whoa.