Ranno model and VFX adjustment examples/suggestions#169

For a while I’ve definitely noticed Ranno’s model in Rivals 2 feels off. I painted over his model to make a bunch of adjustments which to me make him feel much more refined. This is just a 2d edit made to try and mimic how it would look as if his model was actually adjusted. My vision for this being making him more accurate to his illustration.

My edit is the 1st image and the unedited version is the 2nd image.

Important changes I did

• Made his lower lip smaller to make it not extend past the rest of his face
• Adjusted expression of his mouth and eye to make him not so “unaware/out of it”
• Changed the scelera color from orange to yellow how it originally was
• Removed the painted on lines around the back and front of his eyes
• Adjusted the eye socket area to not have so much excess unused space
• Extended the arm wrappings to go over his hands
• Accentuated his fingers and toe shapes to make them more angular
• Made the wrappings on his forearms follow the form of the muscles
• Completely redrew his pants to make them feel more like a gi, and slightly saturated their color
• Increased the brightness and saturation of his light blue skin tone, slightly darkened and saturated the dark blue skin tone to make both tones pop more against eachother
• slightly darkend sash shading, added a slightly brighter highlight to increase the contrast of both colors
• In Rivals 1 his sash had small bubbles flowing off it as it spun around Ranno, I added the implication of that here

Some extra various adjustments I’d like to see. For these following images I didn’t carry over the edits I made in the initial image as that would be a ton of extra work so you’ll just have to imagine they’re there also.

• Make his tongue during side-b get thinner and come to a more bulbous rounded tip. This emphasizes it stretching outward. It’s worth noting his low-poly skin does do this effect as it’s the only skin that has an entirely unique model for him from the rest. Also in some of Ranno’s initial concept art for Rivals 1 his tongue has lil extra bits flying off it which I think could be a nice tiny detail to include. His tongue also currently just barely clips through his throat during the animation.

• In Rivals 1 his needle charge has some wooshing effect on the ground which makes it feel more intense. I tried to paint that effect in but with Ranno’s pose and VFX currently in Rivals 2 it definitely clashes. It would be cool to see that detail return with some adjustments.

• In Rivals 1 the VFX for his up-b has his poison sash coil around him and come to a sharp tip. You can also make out the implication of his hand being just barely visible through the poison which is a nice detail I never noticed until now. His body is also very visible during the move. Currently in Rivals 2 the VFX for his up-b is a much less defined cone that obstructs majority of his body and lacks the coiling effect. You can also see his hand is clipping through it as well. The tip of the cone also is oddly bend for some reason. The VFX also is lacking in any highlights which doesn’t make it pop as much as the Rivals 1 version.

• His f-strong hand projectile in Rivals 1 has a nice bubbling dissolve effect for when it vanishes. Currently in Rivals 2 it just shrinks out of existence which is much less interesting.

• Ranno’s down-b is a meditate pose. I think with both his large lower lip making the edges of his mouth not visible and with those darker painted on lines between his eyes you don’t really get that “zen” vibe he should be coneying. I do enjoy how this looks in Rivals 1 with the straight line frog eyes he’s doing, but I do also think him having his eyes closed works as well. If his face shape was adjusted like mentioned earlier and his expression tweaked a bit I think the “zen” vibe would come through a lot better. I hope my sketch shows this well enough.

Overall in my opinon many character models in this game could benefit from an adjustment pass to make them look just that much more refined. I definitely don’t think they look bad or anything I want to make that clear. But at the same time in art I think it’s always worth pointing out when something can still be improved further.

I hope when there’s time to do so that adjustments like these can be considered by the team.