Aside from the game’s lackluster launch roster, the other big complaint thrown at Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was against its even worse graphical / art style that many fans found unappealing to downright comical.
This may eventually no longer need to be the case, however, with a fan-led project now attempting to improve Marvel Infinite’s graphics that is looking pretty darn impressive even in the early stages.
Talented programmer and modder Ryn / WistfulHopes recently began sharing images and footage of some Infinite characters using an applied cel shader, which started garnering a bit of attention.
The initial results weren’t exactly the prettiest, but things started to rapidly improve with some more testing and experimentation.
made the mvci cel shader a bit fancier pic.twitter.com/xw5atvSf2Y
— Ryn (@WistfulHopes) April 29, 2024
video pic.twitter.com/Kxv9bzmso5
— Ryn (@WistfulHopes) April 29, 2024
Cel shading is what Marvel vs. Capcom 3 used and became iconic for with its vibrant colors and deep shadows that worked exceptionally well with a comic book aesthetic.
After just a few more days of tinkering around, Ryn’s custom shader (that she apparently built in less than a day) was already much closer to what many fans probably hoped Infinite did look like officially, especially with the lighting fixed.
trying a different direction for the mvci cel shader now, more comic book like pic.twitter.com/i4x58caW3m
— Ryn (@WistfulHopes) April 30, 2024
fixed the lighting direction on the character cel shader
next up is background cel shader pic.twitter.com/0om8J9g0gI
— Ryn (@WistfulHopes) April 30, 2024
It was unclear for a while if this was being made with plans to release it as a mod to the public eventually or just a private project for WistfulHopes to learn from and mess around with, but now we have an answer it seems.
After showing off an early attempt at a background cel shader and probably the most dramatic improvements yet, we got a bit of an announcement.
Fighting game streamer and content creator Maximilian Dood revealed he has commissioned Ryn to develop this work into a full new art style for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite that presumably anyone could use on PC as a mod to the original game.
Everything is still very early on in the works, and it’s not like this is a blanket setting Ryn can just apply over everything and call it good. This is going to take a lot of work and manual adjustments, corrections and care.
Happy to announce that I’ve recently commissioned @WistfulHopes and we’re developing a new art style for Marvel Vs CAPCOM Infinite. We’re in the early stages, with only a couple days of tinkering, but already the results are absolutely incredible. https://t.co/PnU8pFPnrp
— Maximilian Dood (@maximilian_) May 2, 2024
Again, I can’t compliment @WistfulHopes more on the hardwork and talent on display. We’re getting close to something that makes me really happy, and hopefully many others who adverted their eyes from MVCI originally. pic.twitter.com/VGkNOsvAaW
— Maximilian Dood (@maximilian_) May 2, 2024
The project should be in good and capable hands, however, since you may also remember WistfulHopes as the person who added Super Saiyan Goku from Dragon Ball FighterZ functionally into Guilty Gear Strive as well as a bunch of other impressive modding feats like helping make custom character slots in DBFZ.
You can check out how different the game looks with the cel shader next to the original in the image below.
Click images for larger versions
This isn’t the first time Maximilian has stepped in to help push the Marvel modding community forward either since he previously put out a $5,000 bounty for anyone who could make character slots for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 too, which was eventually claimed almost exactly a year ago.
Due to its lacking popularity, however, Marvel Infinite’s modding scene hasn’t seen nearly the amount of work and dedication that UMvC3 has received in recent years to the point the game was essentially reverse engineered without any documentation.
Making Infinite look more visually pleasing may open the door to more modders and players becoming interested in the game again to perhaps get a new chance at life like its predecessor.
A game that Capcom and Disney basically abandoned after six months may soon have its torch carried on by fans almost seven years later.
This graphical overhaul project is probably going to take a significant amount of time until its ready for public use (without a full promise that day will eventually come), but things have gotten a lot more interesting in the world of Marvel Infinite.
Plus, maybe Chris and Spencer won’t look so ugly and weird anymore.