Originally Posted by
Triiodine
Due to our legacy sprite policy, (which the old HPR, and you can infer, majority weapons presently fall under. M39 Re-draw soonTM) will not be reverted as we move towards a unified firearms palette and further develop the art-style as a whole.
The M41AE2 and M41A MK1 were tests for this move in a different stylistic direction.
Regarding �Why did we change it?�, well beside being a test, that's just, our job as spriters. If there's something someone wants to change, and the spriter team general agrees it is an improvement, it is considered fair game. Even aliens fall under this category. Not to say we're adjusting them, as certainly no one wants to (biological sprites are very difficult), but just to make an example. Even iconic content isn't 'protected' so to speak, however understand that even one voice on the development team can block a re-sprite going forward. We offer credit to any developer who wishes to make comment.
Will iconic content likely change? Probably not. We're interested in expanding the visual language of the game, not re-writing it. As we replace bay12 and TG content, we consider other CM content that's fallen out of date with our standards, but are unlikely to usually change it due to the codification of that content into player culture. But, as said earlier, iconic content changes can and sometimes will get considered and move forward.
The HPR design was seen as a test into the universal palette, and simply put, the niche weapon at the time was ripe for re-draw given that the old sprite violated a large slew of our art standards. It had around 50+ colors. Armor on the other hand, has around 8 to 9. Less colors is more ideal.
A good example is the trauma pack, it only has 4 shades of green, and 3 browns.
There were multiple HPR designs put forward, such as one with an M60 style barrel, one with a large single 20mm cannon like look to it (more akin to the original). However all of these were shot down for �Not being Aliens enough�. And while we are only inspired by that franchise, the comment was valid as is.
The same goes for the sound design. The original proposed sounds (The sound code itself had the following: //placeholder FX, since forever) were also viewed as �Not Pulse Rifle enough�.
If you happen to be an audio engineer, get in contact with us, none of us are professionals in that regard.
The original sound itself is also recycled onto a bunch of other guns, we changed it because we wanted the M41AE2 to be unique in the soundscape. Similar to the turret sound change.
The present sound is a mix of the sampled Pulse Rifle FX and distortion elements.
If you'd like to see us actually consider changing the M41AE2 visuals (I personally would love to edit again, and am also not satisfied with the present visual), as well as the sounds, please direct yourself to the Gitlab.
If you'd like more long form answers like this in the future explaining the background and context, direct yourself to the Development Forums that have just opened.
Don't forget to be polite, not everyone likes having their hard work rained upon. Hostility and aggression does not incentivize or inspire us developers to work on or fix content. We do work for free after all.
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