The Ethereal Dreamworlds of Spyro the Dragon

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  @gospyro · 2 years ago · pinned

  WOW... where to start!?!? &nbsp;I was Art Director/Lead Artist on the original trilogy. &nbsp;You hit on SO many different points that there&apos;s no way I can say all the things I would like to say... but here&apos;s a few of my thoughts.<br><br>While I think Toy&apos;s For Bob did a wonderful job with Reignited, they made a few changes that I really disagree with. &nbsp;The biggest one, as you pointed out, their messing with the color pallets of the worlds. &nbsp;One of my responsibilities was working out the over pallet(s) of the game, so the changes they made make no sense to me. &nbsp;It feels like they were changed simply for the sake of change. &nbsp; In particular I have issue with their color choice for Spyro! &nbsp;I chose the colors for Spyro and painted his textures, so this is very personal for me!! &nbsp; I will say that I LOVE their model for Spyro, but they made him... eh... fuchsia!!?? &nbsp;(for those who don&apos;t know, Spyro was orginally GREEN! &nbsp;There is a whole story behind his ending up purple!)<br><br>I did all the skyboxes, so I have to thank you for all the wonderful things you had to say about them!! &nbsp;In the beginning I hated doing them (the tools were VERY basic) but by the end the skyboxes had become my single most favorite thing to make!<br><br>I love the fact that you talked about longing to know and see what was beyond the boundaries! &nbsp;That was one of the things I felt and strived for as well when creating the &apos;edges&apos; of each world and their skyboxes!!<br><br>If we could have used more polys in everything we would have!!! &nbsp;It wasn&apos;t a choice to limit the number of polys in anything, it was all about frame-rate. &nbsp;That being said, we embraced the limitation, and like in so many things, it&apos;s often the limitations that force you to be better.<br><br>Great video!!

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  @martn_manhuntr · 2 years ago (edited)

  Something that can never be replicated is the sense of wonder and mystery about these worlds. The technological limitations of the time added to the artistic liberties, making these worlds feel so timeless and awe inspiring. There’s a serenity to it, yet it’s uncanny and at times unsettling. It’s hard to fully explain but I agree that no other game has accomplished the same feel.

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  @gospyro · 2 years ago

  Skyboxes! &nbsp;I did all of the skyboxes in the trilogy. &nbsp;I have to admit that when I first started doing them I did NOT want to do them. &nbsp;They were very labor intensive and were boring to do. &nbsp;But then I started realizing what was possible. &nbsp;Add that to the tools to make them getting better and better, by half way through development, making the skyboxes was one of my vary favorite things to do! <br><br>It has meant a lot ot me, over the years, to hear people talk about how much they love the skies in Spyro! &nbsp; They are definately one of the pieces of art, my art, that I look at and think, &quot;WOW... those are beautiful!! &nbsp;I wonder who did them!?!?&quot;

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  @gospyro · 2 years ago

  I was the art director/lead artist on the original trilogy, I wrote a long response to so many of the great things you pointed out here, but it looks like maybe I didn&apos;t hit &apos;comment&apos; or it got lost! &nbsp;I&apos;ll have to go back and try again since I really enjoyed your video and so many of your observations and comments!

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  @gospyro · 2 years ago

  One of the main reasons the flying rounds were added is that dragons FLY! &nbsp;While in the very early stages of developemnt we realized that haveing a character that could fly really made game design hard. &nbsp;So it was decided to &apos;ground&apos; Spyro and limit him to gliding. &nbsp;But we still wanted to be able to let him fly.<br><br>It was also the oringal plan to have Spyro be able to swim in the first game. &nbsp;Unfortunately, later in the development, Alex Hastings, &nbsp;the lead programmer, told us that he was not going to have time to program Spyro swimming.<br><br>The animations were already done, and while there were not dedicated swimming levels, there were several challenges and hidden areas that required Spyro to swim. &nbsp;Very quickly we had to pull out those areas. &nbsp;<br><br>This leads to my thoughts regarding Spyro 2 being better than Spyro 1 or vice-versa. &nbsp;While I am of the belief that very often the second game in a series is actyally what the developers WANTED to do the first time around, I don&apos;t think that takes away from the first game. &nbsp;As was pointed out in the video, there is something special and powerful about something being done the first time.<br><br>Another example of this is Sonic 1 vs Sonic 2. &nbsp; Sonic 2 is arguably a more polished, better game, but Sonic 1 broke ground and was first in so many things.

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  @GregCubed · 2 years ago

  One of my favorite details about this game is that each world has its own unique flag you can see scattered throughout the levels within it. It’s something you’d never notice unless you really studied the environments, yet they made sure to include it. Details like that made these worlds come to life

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• JO

  @jonbourgoin182 · 2 years ago

  I happen to be someone who has very vivid dreams, and to say that Spyro&apos;s world is a place I&apos;d like to visit whilst I sleep would be putting it lightly

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• SI

  @SickBoyOC · 2 years ago

  The reignited trilogy is a fantastic remake of the trilogy. I play it a lot to this day. However, that &quot;vibe&quot; of the original games cannot be replicated. Spryo 2 especially filled me with a true sense of magic as a kid that I haven&apos;t felt again after all these years.

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  @ivercingetorix1367 · 2 years ago

  The Spyro games will always have a special place in my heart. Thinking back to when I had time to just hang out in the game&apos;s worlds.

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  @SgtZook · 2 years ago

  I enjoyed myself with it, but I still regret that the reignited trilogy didn&apos;t have an &apos;old graphics&apos; option. PS1 Spyro&apos;s worlds are something truly special and I don&apos;t think they can ever be properly replicated. Thank you for this video, what a wonderful journey.

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  @ChampionofNamira · 2 years ago

  Spyro was my escape as a young girl battling childhood depression.

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  @Kamil2142 · 2 years ago

  The OG Spyro trilogy&apos;s art direction is awesome, especially the skyboxes. Thank you for the video Joyless!

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