Could character actors ever be used in a civ game again?

[Clement]

Should they have been used for civ 5?

I just remember how fun Civ 2's panel of advisers were, and i thought to myself, actually they are really great, i would have even loved to see leaders this way, and not just in civ 2, i'd have loved to have seen character actors in civ 5.

Some time ago i asked a question on these forums, and it was this:

Why was a fun feature from Civs 2 and 3, where the leaders change their clothing to suit the time period, not implemented in either civ 4 or civ 5?

The answer was:

It's a technical problem, doing that would just take massive amounts of resources and could not be done.

Then i thought to myself, could not be done digitally perhaps, but with character actors it would have once again been possible, i'm not saying civ 5 had to use the same standard of quality that was used in civ 2, (not talking about the acting which was great, talking about the props, which were non-existant) civ 5 could have splashed out on some actors and good quality backgrounds and props, and it would have been awesome.

Must todays audience always have digital leaders, or could character actors ever make a come-back if done well? one of the benefits would be that we would see different styles of clothing on our leaders again, they'd be more expressive, and they would also be pretty memorable as were the advisors from civ 2.

Would you ever want to see character actors in a civ game again as leaders? or should they always be graphically made, even if that means they won't have time-period specific clothing?

 

[Optional]

...civ 5 could have splashed out on some actors and good quality backgrounds and props, and it would have been awesome.

I can certainly imagine that from an artistic point of view, but I'm afraid if you want to do it well every leader's bit would end up costing the same amount as a tv commercial.

It's a cost-driven thing, no doubt about that. Civ III's leaders were amazing. High quality artwork, fully animated and era transmissions (read different clothing). Those leaders came across as real personalities.
Civ 5 went a slightly different route. No era transmissions, but indigenous voice actors. I would have liked the leaders going through the ages as well, but it's not a big thing. They cut a bit of cost and I understand that. Civ fans mainly want a strategy game.

 

[Uberfrog]

I can certainly imagine that from an artistic point of view, but I'm afraid if you want to do it well every leader's bit would end up costing the same amount as a tv commercial.

I guess that's the crux of it. Live-action FMVs can be done well, if you have the money, but otherwise can end up looking rather tacky. That can work in things like Command & Conquer, which always likes the melodrama, but I don't think it would suit Civ V.

I imagine animation gives the artists more freedom in their concepts- take Kamehameha in front of the catamarans. That would be unfeasible to do with props, and look a bit wonky on green-screen.

 

[The_J]

Even more problems.
Just remember the Civ2 advisors: You clicked a button, they began to speak, and after the end of the film they flipped back into a static position.
And that's something which should not or just could not happen here. If you had a actor leader screen, then these actors would have to be...living, moving around, looking at you, and not be static. You would need cut scenes for in between every possible combination of every possible action with the leaders, and they would have to fit together perfectly. That's then an awful amount of film material, and you'd need an excellent cutter.

Another thing which is a problem is the already mentioned freedom. Just imagine there was an expansion which added new diplomacy options...no, would not be possible, because you would have to get all the actors back into the studio. They might want more money. They might not be availabe. An older one might just have stopped working or died. You can't make additions to such a setting, and everything would need to be ironed out before you go to the studios...and that's definitely nothing which happens in the gaming industry .

A third thing is, that game developers don't do films, they do computer games. 3D art is something which they are familiar with, what they have to do, and they know about this stuff. Doing films with RL actors is nothing what is in this area, and no one will bother due to above mentioned reasons.


But i have to say...it would be damn cool.

 

[aatami]

A word on leader clothes changing by era:
I actually hate this feature and think it is much more flavorful to have it the way it is in V.

 

[Ravellion]

A word on leader clothes changing by era:
I actually hate this feature and think it is much more flavorful to have it the way it is in V.

Agreed, seeing Shaka Zulu in top hat and monocle was silly and immersion breaking.