KS could be EASILY turned into a 4K remake [CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!]

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Just finished implementing the first version and made a video that shows off the results. First I will send a private message with a secret URL of the video to Silentcook. I will share the URL of the video here as well after I get his confirmation that I will not be eaten alive for sharing it here.
Be excited to see it, but don't set your expectations TO high.

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Nope, it sounded like he didn't want the video to be published.

[Erenussocrates]

Do it and finally bring it to Steam dagnabbit for the love of everything that is holy and unholy

Edit: HOLY HECK, it's available even on JAST's store apparently, somehow.

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Silentcook made it very clear to me that my assistance is unwelcome and that I am VERY close to getting banned (or worse). So I will no longer publish anything with the potential of violating the KS copyrights.

(I think there was a misunderstanding and I might have given him the wrong impression that I made a KS mod. I should have made it more obvious that it is not a KS mod. However it is to late to fix that misunderstanding and now I have to stop, because my *** is at stake.)

Time has passed since then and I learned a few things and realized some of my mistakes.

If you are looking for a good way to play KS on new monitors then the best approach (which does not violate any copyrights) I can currently recommend is running the regular unmodified KS in window mode and using the cheap Steam app "Lossless Scaling" with the configuration "Scaling Type: Anime4K, Size: Ultra Large". The app is 100% unrelated to KS the same way as trains are 100% unrelated to onions.

[Erenussocrates]

That kind of creative restriction comes across to me as unnecessarily mean spirited tbh. Almost reminiscent of what nintendo is, which I hate to my very core. But I still respect KS for the reason that it was free and that not only it's one of the best things ever, but it's a monument of passion and love too.

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Even though I am somewhat frustrated by the mod-paranoia of 4LS, I do not hate them for that.
They made a game for us and they did it for free. If 4LS wants to be left alone by people complaining about broken mods that 4LS was never responsible for in the first place then so be it. It's their right from both moral and legal perspective.

Apparently the mods simply have to chase all the annoying fans (myself included) off with sticks in order to not waste to much of their time with something they do not get paid for. I just wish there would be less "shoot first, ask questions later". I wish it, but i do not demanding it, because I understand the situation.

[Erenussocrates]

Tbh no one would nor should hold 4LS accountable for any fan creation, and even if someone dumb enough did that, there's no need for anyone to answer. That's my simple opinion on it.

[Grayest]

Late reply, but KS mods and fangames are now allowed in case you haven't read the update on the FAQ

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Late reply, but KS mods and fangames are now allowed in case you haven't read the update on the FAQ

Obsolete information. Read the FAQ again.

[DerailedOmegaMale]

Before I leave and forget about the existence of this topic:

I'm not doing anything related to this anymore and currently do not have any related plans for the future. But who knows, maybe someone else is interested regarding making something like this a reality, since the rules regarding derivative works have changed. So for now I'd like to conclude, just to make sure that everything important was communicated:

I also tested out waifu2x neural network up-scaling approach. Waifu2x seemed to be more true to the original, but it produced outlines that were less sharp. RealESRGAN produced cleaner, sharper outlines, but sometimes it messes things up. It's less true to the original in other words. So the optimal solution will probably be a combination of both waifu2x and RealESRGAN (by means of masking explained earlier in this topic) in order to get the advantages of both. Maybe it is also worth it to make a very few exceptions and redraw some details by hand and/or use a more dumb up-scaling approach like DCCI wherever necessary.

[Purezune]

I just discovered your post and it looks really nice! Also sounds like you had problems with the topic in the past, but watching some of the iconic scenes in high resolution feels like a refreshing experience for which I'm thankful. I don't know if this project will resume, but so far I can only tell my thoughts on it... great job! Thanks for daring to try something new while retaining the essence of the game, and of course, to share the results with us

[Siphonata]

I wouldn't mind this as a standalone project, though I do hope you can incorporate something like the Relighting a Scene thread into it as well. Honestly, a 4K remake with dynamic lighting and animated sprites would be great.

[DerailedOmegaMale]

I wouldn't mind this as a standalone project, though I do hope you can incorporate something like the Relighting a Scene thread into it as well. Honestly, a 4K remake with dynamic lighting and animated sprites would be great.

That's far beyond my powers. The only way know to me how to add this kind of lighting is making a huge crowdfunding campaign and than paying some artists to do lots and lots and lots of drawing. KS has a lot of fans. I'd not be surprised if they actually managed to collect enough money for a such a remake. And yes, It'd be nice to see some spires that move a little bit to make the characters look alive and as if they were breathing. But only crowdfunding can make that happen I'm afraid.
As you can see in making the pictures bigger by magic of AI is relatively easy. But properly drawing lighting and animations will require some real people doing the whole work in order to do the work well.