xSuperMario64x
I am a Bug, please be gentle 🪲💜
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I find myself constantly having to defend the N64 and the fact that it is the best video game console ever. I've seen a lot of people criticize it for its functionality, in-game camera, graphics, and overall game play. But I think the one that hits the hardest is the graphics.
Alohan_Apple has pointed out numerous times that "the N64's graphics have aged HORRIBLY". To be completely honest, I will have to agree with that. Particularly for games that were the first to step into the world of 3D gaming, the graphics were not necessarily up to par. After all, this was back when people weren't as knowledgeable with 3D software and weren't as advanced. They just worked with what they had. Therefore, graphics were up-to-date for their time (and were actually praised because, you know, 3D videogames!!), but not now.
Take this model from SM64 for example:
View attachment 236888
(Please excuse the textures, they're not mapped correctly.)
All models in SM64, and pretty much every other N64 game, are made up with triangles. This was back in the dinosaur age, when other shapes didn't exist yet. You can't see them here though, because the designers of the model cleverly smoothed out the shading on the model to make it appear to be more flat.
You may also note that his body appears to have segments to it. Why is that? Well, to put it simply, nowadays, models are controlled with "bones". Bones are rigged to the model and that's how the person animating the model can move the different parts. Bones can be a mesh, a lattice, or an actual thing called a "bone" (though it really doesn't look like one). However, back in the time of the N64, animators did not use bones to move models. They didn't have them yet. Instead, they created a model out of multiple segments, and just moved and rotated the segments in the same way that they would move bones now. Cearly, segments are not a favorable choice; they make the model look "chunky", and blocky.
Here's the exploded Mario model:
View attachment 236889
Now you can see the individual segments in the model.
I'm personally really glad that they don't use this method of model animation anymore. It looks really gross. I find that the models, especially the ones that are meant to be rounded like people and animals, look very unappealing. But most of the time, I don't pay attention to how terrible the graphics are, because the game play makes up for it. From that perspective, I can see why so many people would disagree with me that the N64 is the best video game console ever.
But hey! Those models are worth a good laugh!
Alohan_Apple has pointed out numerous times that "the N64's graphics have aged HORRIBLY". To be completely honest, I will have to agree with that. Particularly for games that were the first to step into the world of 3D gaming, the graphics were not necessarily up to par. After all, this was back when people weren't as knowledgeable with 3D software and weren't as advanced. They just worked with what they had. Therefore, graphics were up-to-date for their time (and were actually praised because, you know, 3D videogames!!), but not now.
Take this model from SM64 for example:
View attachment 236888
(Please excuse the textures, they're not mapped correctly.)
All models in SM64, and pretty much every other N64 game, are made up with triangles. This was back in the dinosaur age, when other shapes didn't exist yet. You can't see them here though, because the designers of the model cleverly smoothed out the shading on the model to make it appear to be more flat.
You may also note that his body appears to have segments to it. Why is that? Well, to put it simply, nowadays, models are controlled with "bones". Bones are rigged to the model and that's how the person animating the model can move the different parts. Bones can be a mesh, a lattice, or an actual thing called a "bone" (though it really doesn't look like one). However, back in the time of the N64, animators did not use bones to move models. They didn't have them yet. Instead, they created a model out of multiple segments, and just moved and rotated the segments in the same way that they would move bones now. Cearly, segments are not a favorable choice; they make the model look "chunky", and blocky.
Here's the exploded Mario model:
View attachment 236889
Now you can see the individual segments in the model.
I'm personally really glad that they don't use this method of model animation anymore. It looks really gross. I find that the models, especially the ones that are meant to be rounded like people and animals, look very unappealing. But most of the time, I don't pay attention to how terrible the graphics are, because the game play makes up for it. From that perspective, I can see why so many people would disagree with me that the N64 is the best video game console ever.
But hey! Those models are worth a good laugh!
