Season 1 retros and why they should be updated

Excluding thunder (well almost anyway) for obvious reasons. I really feel that the retros of season 1 should be updated but I’m not sure if the devs have ever given any reason why they haven’t or if they ever will. Anyway, these are some examples of what I think should be done:

Jago:

  • Should have a slightly thicker physique
  • A lot less rips on his pants
  • Slightly longer top (currently looks like a bra)
  • His KI1 gloves should have multiple color options
  • His default shoes should reach up a little higher

[Unfortunately there isn’t a picture for this one]

Sabrewulf:

  • More fur
  • Fix the eyes
  • More muscle

Glacius:

  • [optional] change the head

https://imgur.com/qsvZ5NJ

Thunder:

  • Shirtless option should include face paint and gloves
  • Trade his shorter grey (or is it brown?) mohawk for his KI1 hair
    (I feel these changes are good enough as they don’t interfere with the controversy of his original design)

https://imgur.com/vVbfyqI

Orchid:

  • Fix the hair
  • Make her skin a bit lighter
  • Make her boots longer

http://imgur.com/fdnM1Vj

Fulgore:

  • Make him slimmer
  • Give him more of a solid, realistic shade

Glacius, Spinal and Sadira are alright.

Honestly these changes would be enough to keep me playing KI. If need be, I’d pay to have these changes.

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They addressed this several times and it ha sbeen stated before that they aren’t going to do anything with Thudners retro. The others also look like they do in some way due to the bone rigging.

Come on, Vlad… this is just a repeat of several other threads about the exact same topic, showing the exact same images. And we already know that IG won’t touch the S1 retros.

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But have they said why?

I don’t know, actually.
Either way, it’s disappointing, because some of them could use some real polishing.

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I know, I think even @TempusChaoti told me so himself about thunder. However, I don’t think the changes I’ve suggested would interfere with the controversy of his first costume.

As for thunder, all I really care about is them adding gloves to his shirtless option.

Leave those damn retros alone. Seriously. Fatgore ain’t that fricking bad.

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At this point I think a better option would be to make new models akin to Thunders 3rd for everyone else…something that either improves on the classic designs or gives something entirely different and yet better. Like for Jago, what if he had a more traditional Shaolin outfit? Or perhaps give Shago longer hair and a death metal theme?
Maybe give TJ a pinstripe suit, or a boxer’s robe (yeah that one may be a bit too Balrog)?
Perhaps Orchid could get an outfit akin to Trinity’s from the Matrix (Black Orchid anyone?)
Fulgore could get a complete redesign that may be a better hybrid between KI1 & 2 Fulgore.

The possibilities are blown wide open this way. And giving everyone new outfits could potentially touch on the characters whose retro are lacking without “fixing” what’s already established.

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Black Metal Shago! Let’s go! \m/

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…um, I was thinking more along the lines of something like this:


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I don’t know, man. Those guys look as though they are trying too hard. Also, how can they move in those pants?

If they made new outfits for the characters, then people wouldn’t still complain that the retros still look bad. I really don’t see a problem. Are they so bad that it affects game play? I don’t think so. Even Eyedol’s retro that has the same effects for his 2 heads that the new one has to represent that his head is being held together by magic. It might look really bad, but it is really far from game breaking.

I personally would love to see more threads about actual game play tips and strategies, than all these threads about “x” character is ugly or stupid and it needs to be fixed now.

I always hear phrases like footies, neutral game, frame data, and others, but there are so few threads on these subjects.

Why can’t we have more threads about playing the game, and a few less threads complaining about it.

You would think with all this complaining about the retro outfits that there would be alot of them online.

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Sadly they’ve said they have no intention of going back and updating them.

It’s more about consistency of quality that is the issue. Most of Season 1 retros look horrid or unpolished because they were never planned to be in the game. During the beta of the game most people requested retro looks since many iconic characters undertook heavy redesigns. For about 18 years later a sequel was made and many people wanted to see their old characters back in hd.

Of course the first retros to be released were Jago and Orchid. Both received many complaints due to how “cheap” the costumes look. Fun fact. Jago’s retro is one of the few models that changed his physique and Orchid’s was originally shown to be her KI2 outfit according to a KI Season 1 art book. This outfit was deemed “inappropriate” by MS, most likely due to her intro animation.

Comparing to the original models the S1 retros look like no time was allowed for extra detail or shading. (Thunder’s Face, Sadira’s Tiny Skirt, Saber-rat’s everything) Then you compared this to S2 and S3 retros where a lot more time and effort was put into them, and it would be disheartening for those who were fans of S1 characters. You can tell in the concept art that S1 characters had no time for retros while everyone else had time spared for them.

Personally I would put less time into old retros that will never be updated and more into new costumes that be sold. Even making S1 characters get new costumes based on old concept art would be awesome. A lot of people were happy with Thunder gaining a new costume, why not make money off it? Gold skins seem to be working well.

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I have always wondered why the new characters got retros in the first place. The retros should have just been for the characters that were from the orginal game. Character’s that really do have a old costume or look “Jago, Orchid, Riptor, Gargos, Eyedol, etc.” I never understood why characters like Sadria, Aria, or Kan Ra got them “other than to give them something extra to sell to make more money”. Don’t get me wrong, I do like some of them “Aria’s retro makes me think of Rosie from the Jetsons cartoon”.

I just think that it would be a waste of resources and money to redo the S1 retros. There is so much more good that could come from not wasting time remaking them.

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Personally I kinda look at it in a similar light to multiple ultras. For the longest time all you would ever hear is half the KI-playing internet moaning because when they lost their opponent styled.
But now… not so much. We’ve been given more options via Ultimates, and the multi-ultra whiners have started doing significantly less whining.

Different people have different wants. You might not have an issue with any of the retros. I’m not too terribly concerned with what’s already in the game myself. But I would like to see a lot of characters get a new coat of paint…besides the coats of paint they’ve been getting :confused:…my point is it’d be nice to have something different to look at than the same old same-old…and if they can appease some of the retro-whining in the process, bonus.

& btw Eyedol was your go-to bad retro? His is one of the best ones!! Now Smiley McGarg-goblin on the other hand…barf.

I see threads like these all the time…so…maybe if you want to know something specific join a thread or start a new one and ask about what you want to know.

For Sadira I believe I heard along the lines of them wanting to build a costume based on if she was in KI1 or 2. Instead of someone like the rest of Season 1 cast who they tried to modernized from the 90’s to current year they were curious about doing the opposite, taking a current gen character and redesigning them to fit in a 90’s style.

For S2, most of the new character’s retros are based on pre-transformation states. Kan-ra not being burned alive, Aganos with a shiny body, Hisako pre-death and AIRA’s prototype model.

S3 Mira is based simliar to Sadira. A character redesigned for the 90’s.

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I think the big problem with revisiting these retros is that for instance with sabrewulf they’d have to make an entirely new model for that retro. Not only that but said model could conflict with or not look as smooth with the previous model’s animation. All in all I don’t think it’s an issue of them not being capable but rather it being too costly for too little payoff

Double Helix was soooo awesome amirite?