New Art Renders

[DZComposer]

Nintendo dropped some new SFZ art renders today:

 

[CrypticQuery]

These are actually quite good.  The boots are a little odd in terms of color scheme in my personal opinion, but I do like these character designs a lot.  They even gave Fox whiskers, and it seems like the Shiba Inu vs. fox look is balancing out a little bit.

Fox's muzzle looks a helluva lot better in that photo than the earlier render currently in the site's banner IMO.

[Fookes]

Those are pretty good! Falco's render looks the coolest imo even though Fox will always be my favorite. XD

[StarFoxMaster64]

I like how they're going back to the puppet style like it was during the older Star Fox games, they look really nice!

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

It looks like the robot legs are back. I never did like those.

[Mecha-Katt]

I like how they're going back to the puppet style like it was during the older Star Fox games, they look really nice!

Yeah, that was my first thought as well. Kinda like it on one side, not to keen on it the other side. It gives the characters a somewhat odd look. But hey, those renders still look great! Peppy is my favourite here.

 

[Xidphel]

It looks like the robot legs are back. I never did like those.

They're called boots.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

They're called boots.

B-b-b-b-b-boots?

What mystical objects are those?

[Leon]

Slippy looks really good here, I think this is his best render to date. 

[Joseph.]

Slippy & Peppy are the only ones that look decent. Fox looks wired & Falco just looks bad.... Overall, the teams design looks ugly.

What were they thinking??

 

And why do they all have scouters?? It looks cool on Flaco & Fox but they over did it by putting it on every team member. Instead of being a unique/personal equipment its now a team gimmick... 

Edited August 7, 2015 by Joseph.

[DZComposer]

And why do they all have scouters?? It looks cool on Flaco & Fox but they over did it by putting it on every team member. Instead of being a unique/personal equipment its now a team gimmick... 

Practicality.

In the real world, military pilots wear something similar. The aircraft tracks where they are looking and points the gun/looks for locks in that direction. It can also display night vision. The big thing with SFZ is that the Arwing now has this feature. Those things are obviously how the team knows what they are aiming at. It probably shows the indications of the basic flight instruments as well, much like a HUD.

Edited August 8, 2015 by DZComposer

[Joseph.]

Practicality.

In the real world, military pilots wear something similar. The aircraft tracks where they are looking and points the gun/looks for locks in that direction. It can also display night vision. The big thing with SFZ is that the Arwing now has this feature. Those things are obviously how the team knows what they are aiming at. It probably shows the indications of the basic flight instruments as well, much like a HUD.

 

Comparing real life things to a group of animals in space isn't justifiable, especially when Fox didn't have a scouter in SF64 but still locked-on to enemies.

At least Fox used his communicator in SF64 but now it looks like the artist just put it on the other characters just for the sake of adding new equipment.   

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by Joseph.

[Pgpaw3]

 

Comparing real life things to a group of animals in space isn't justifiable, especially when Fox didn't have a scouter in SF64 but still locked-on to enemies.

At least Fox used his communicator in SF64 but now it looks like the artist just put it on the other characters just for the sake of adding new equipment.   

 

The difference is that in SF64 aiming was based on the direction of the ship, whereas the point DZ was making is in this game and real life weapon aiming on fighter planes is based independently of the movement and position of the craft. Just because they are animals in space doesn't mean they can't have technology similar to us.

That said, if you simply don't like the design, that is your personal opinion and is just as valid as anyone else's.

[ArwingFan]

I like it.  It's a good mix of the snes puppets and 64 designs.

[Joseph.]

The difference is that in SF64 aiming was based on the direction of the ship, whereas the point DZ was making is in this game and real life weapon aiming on fighter planes is based independently of the movement and position of the craft. Just because they are animals in space doesn't mean they can't have technology similar to us.

That said, if you simply don't like the design, that is your personal opinion and is just as valid as anyone else's.

 

What im trying to say is that the scouter looks odd on every member & out of place. For example, Peppy is suppose to be the wise guy of the team & Slippy is the smart guy so there's no need to give them new junk. As for Fox & Falco, its understandable since Fox is the leader & Falco isn't too bright at times. Adding a scouter to them just makes them lose character in a way. Imagine if the creators of DBZ decided to add a scouter to the entire Z team?? it would just look odd & unnecessary.

Wolf looked cool in assault with a scouter but wouldn't you say if every star wolf member had a scouter, it would look odd & over the top? 

 I know my opinion is just as valid as anyone else's but im just pointing out some unnecessary changes to the star fox team whether or not the design looks good.

[WolfOD64]

I wonder what the Star Wolf Team is going to look like in this Art Style. We've already seen Pigma, but I'm anxious to see how Wolf and Leon look.

[Setsuna]

you know i just realized...the scouters feel like a homage to wolfs cyber eye patch from assault only waaay less cool. i never liked the head gear on fox's head (i call it the diaper headgear cuz i dislike it that much) and those reflectors, ugh. leave those in smash unless you plan on getting out of your arwing in game.

[CrypticQuery]

I like the headset and targeting equipment personally.  They are pieces of attire with justifiable functions, and add to the futuristic aesthetic of the games IMO.

[The VGM Lover]

B-b-b-b-b-boots?

What mystical objects are those?

(Hey guys! I'm not dead yet!) 

To me, they look like steel-toe boots, except quite visually literal. 

 

[DZComposer]

What im trying to say is that the scouter looks odd on every member & out of place. For example, Peppy is suppose to be the wise guy of the team & Slippy is the smart guy so there's no need to give them new junk. As for Fox & Falco, its understandable since Fox is the leader & Falco isn't too bright at times. Adding a scouter to them just makes them lose character in a way. Imagine if the creators of DBZ decided to add a scouter to the entire Z team?? it would just look odd & unnecessary.

Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) are completely reasonable equipment for a space fighter pilot to wear. Perhaps you've let DBZ set certain standards in your mind about HMDs, but I really don't see why Peppy and Slippy should not have a piece of equipment that makes operating a new Arwing feature more intuitive. Especially since the whole using an HMD to aim just so happens to be what they are emulating with SFZ's big mechanic of aiming with the gamepad. You're basically saying that Falco and Fox should be able to aim by looking, but Peppy and Slippy should use a joystick because they're wiser/smarter. That doesn't make any sense.

[Komenja]

I like 'em! Great mix of the SNES/64/SSB designs, especially love how Fox and Falco have the Reflectors from their Smash Bros incarnations. Fox and Slippy in particular look better than they ever have before in my opinion. 

[Joseph.]

Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) are completely reasonable equipment for a space fighter pilot to wear. Perhaps you've let DBZ set certain standards in your mind about HMDs, but I really don't see why Peppy and Slippy should not have a piece of equipment that makes operating a new Arwing feature more intuitive. Especially since the whole using an HMD to aim just so happens to be what they are emulating with SFZ's big mechanic of aiming with the gamepad. You're basically saying that Falco and Fox should be able to aim by looking, but Peppy and Slippy should use a joystick because they're wiser/smarter. That doesn't make any sense.

No, im not saying that because none of us know what the scouter's actual functions are. You can assume they are for aiming but none of us really no that. Just because there's an aiming gimmick for the wii u pad, it doesn't necessary mean the scouters are used for that purpose only. Look at command, there was an aiming gimmick on the ds touch screen & no characters had a scouter other then wolf. 

 

What has set certain standards in my mind is the fact that Fox & Falco have been seen with scouters in Smash 4 & in brawl but not their teammates. Heck, even Wolf had a scouter in Assault & Command but his teammates didn't have one. Now, did this equipment make wolf any better at aiming? No, it was just tech added to make him look cool.

 

My whole point is the team looks goofy & over the top with the scouters. The art team could have at least given each SF member a different colored scouter to make them unique in a way.

For all we know, these scouters were added because they wanted the character designs to be similar to Smash's considering the fact that Falco is carrying what appears to be two reflectors.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Joseph.

[Ala1n-J]

No, im not saying that because none of us know what the scouter's actual functions are. You can assume they are for aiming but none of us really no that. Just because there's an aiming gimmick for the wii u pad, it doesn't necessary mean the scouters are used for that purpose only. Look at command, there was an aiming gimmick on the ds touch screen & no characters had a scouter other then wolf. 

 

What has set certain standards in my mind is the fact that Fox & Falco have been seen with scouters in Smash 4 & in brawl but not their teammates. Heck, even Wolf had a scouter in Assault & Command but his teammates didn't have one. Now, did this equipment make wolf any better at aiming? No, it was just tech added to make him look cool.

 

My whole point is the team looks goofy & over the top with the scouters. The art team could have at least given each SF member a different colored scouter to make them unique in a way.

For all we know, these scouters were added because they wanted the character designs to be similar to Smash's considering the fact that Falco is carrying what appears to be two reflectors.

- In SNES SF and SF64, Fox was the only SF team member known to have a comlink (except for Fara in the SNES comics and Fay in the cancelled SF2). They keep talking to each other in these games. If Fox is the only one with a comlink, how are his friends supposed to call him for help? Do they open their cockpit and yell in space "HELP ME, FOX!" while trying to get free of their pursuers?
My point is, graphic design sometimes doesn't take the game's mechanics into consideration. This is why Fox was the only guy with a comlink, the artists wanted to make Fox stand out of the crowd, but thus the other SF pilots were left missing a vital device. This problem was put aside in Assault (not a signle comlink) and only solved in Command (each of the active SF members had a comlink).
Whatever the scouters are for, if they're useful for Fox and Falco, there's no reason Peppy and Slippy shouldn't benefit from them.

- The reason why Fox and Falco were the only SF ones in the SF team with a scouter/comlink device in SSBB and SSB4 is that they were the only playable SF pilots. They had to be entirely redesigned and remodeled from scratch for these games and making a game character takes a lot of energy. However, the other characters would only appear in communications and motionless trophies. When you have a large cast to work on, with usually a tight deadline, any shortcut will do if possible. The SSB developpers didn't bother remodel the entire SF cast, they only did it for those playable. For the rest, they just took the already existing Assault models (none had a comlink/scouter) and went with it.

As for Wolf, even if he's literally a furry version of Vegeta, we don't know if he has a scouter on his left eye. In SF64, he has an eyepatch instead, implying he cannot see from his left eye. So it could be either a scouter or a cool-looking eyepatch. And the former would be stupid if indeed he cannot see from his left eye. (BTW, do we already know if Wolf has a plain black eyepatch or a scouter-like eyepatch in SFZ?)

- Take a closer look, each of them has a different design : Fox is the only one with a three-branch comlink/scouter; Slippy's has bronze/orange accents; Peppy's has white accents; can't say for Falco though. Besides, there are enough other details to tell the SF pilots apart : the animals they're (supposedly) designed from, their silhouettes, their clothes, their colours, etc. Also, Falco doesn't have two reflectors, the thing on his right hip is his blaster pistol.

I'll give you that one, though. While game mechanics may enter the formula, it's ultimately about art direction. If Nintendo wants to make the next SF games follow SSB's design, they will do it. And since the scouters and the deflectors are pretty distinctive elements in SSB design, then it's likely all SF members will get at least one of those.

It's just that, in the game's context, it makes more sense for each SF pilot to have a scouter/comlink. They'll use it for communication, targeting, aiming, enemy analysis, etc. Now everyone should also have a blaster and a deflector, but it's very unlikely that we'll ever use them in-game, so this doesn't affect the characters as badly as the lack of scouters, as far as the game goes.

To finish, art direction can be inconsistant, it all depends of who's holding the pencil and who's in charge above.

-------------------

I like these designs. They feel fresh and lively, with a lot of details. I like how each jacket is unique and how the belts function. My favorite is Slippy.
Now I wish they'd ditch Command's head design (wtf is wrong with Fox's mouth, looks shaped like a duck's beak from the front?!) and take more accurate references and designs but I guess you can't have it all. The boots texture looks weird though.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Ala1n-J

[Joseph.]

It's just that, in the game's context, it makes more sense for each SF pilot to have a scouter/comlink. They'll use it for communication, targeting, aiming, enemy analysis, etc. Now everyone should also have a blaster and a deflector, but it's very unlikely that we'll ever use them in-game, so this doesn't affect the characters as badly as the lack of scouters, as far as the game goes.

To finish, art direction can be inconsistant, it all depends of who's holding the pencil and who's in charge above.

-------------------

I like these designs. They feel fresh and lively, with a lot of details. I like how each jacket is unique and how the belts function. My favorite is Slippy.
Now I wish they'd ditch Command's head design (wtf is wrong with Fox's mouth, looks shaped like a duck's beak from the front?!) and take more accurate references and designs but I guess you can't have it all. The boots texture looks weird though.

Well said mate but we'll just have to see when the game comes out. SFZ does have multiplayer so maybe we'll be able to play as Star Wolf members. If so, then the whole purpose of the scouters being some sort of aiming equipment falls apart because some SW members are seen without scouters. Then questions come up like "Oh, well this makes no sense. How is Pigma aiming his lasers if he doesn't have a scouter?" 

Personal, I think the scouters will be used for finding new routes within on-rail missions. The player will be able to switch between thermal vision or X-ray vision to find hidden areas similar to the Metroid Prime series.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Joseph.

[Arn-Hahhhad]

They're called boots.

Someone who understands